They remained in this way for several beats, the race of her pulse felt clearly against his wounded palm. From this distance—closer than he'd ever been to her before—he couldn't help taking in the faint quiver of her soft lips, the innocence of her wide, watery eyes. Sure, she was a Fae—but he couldn't deny her loveliness. She didn't pull away from him, didn't make an immediate effort to break free, and the quickening of her pulse almost gave him the impression she liked being in his grasp.
Get ahold of yourself, he thought, letting her go gently when he was sure she would no longer lash out. He shook his head, sporting an almost embarrassed grin. There are more important things to worry about. Are you really going to let yourself get carried away with this girl? She's a Fae, after all! What are you thinking?
Minx's face had taken on an uncharacteristic flush. She drew away from him, lowering her gaze and slowly picking up her weapon. Running a hand through her dark, tousled locks, she couldn't seem to find her voice and stood silently beside the cage where Mau watched in silence.
He had to force himself to look away from Minx, to distract himself and quiet the thumping of his own heart. A Dragon and a Fae? You're really losing it, aren't you? But then, maybe...
The new captive tried breaking free, pulling away from the dragon shifter with a grunt. “Let me go!” she pleaded.
“This is Mau, then?” asked Kaleb, pulling the mysterious Fae warrior to her feet. “Tell me, miss, how did you and the Faelyr become acquainted?”
The captured Fae refused to answer him, instead looking longingly to her sword.
“This girl is Fae,” said Minx, breaking her long silence. She adjusted her quiver and paced around to the front of the cage, inspecting the lock.
“Yes,” replied Kaleb. “And she smells like a dragon.”
“It was her all along, then?” asked Minx.
Kaleb grinned at the pale-eyed Fae in his grasp. “It's nice to finally put a face to the scent. But like it or not, you've got some explaining to do. Let's start with a name.”
The dragon-scented Fae did not wish to answer, but at the tensing of Kaleb's fist around her arm, she squeaked out, “Alla.”
“Why can't I communicate with Mau telepathically?” asked Minx, sending daggers at the other Fae. “What did you do to her? I should be able to hear her thoughts.” She reached into the cage, running her fingers through the Faelyr's fur and eliciting a great purr.
“Is she hurt?” chanced Kaleb.
“N-No,” replied Minx, looking her caged companion over once more. “At least, not that I can tell. But I can't communicate with her in the usual way. This has never happened before...”
“Well, hopefully our friend Alla here can clear this up for us,” replied the dragon shifter.
Alla glared up at him, her pale eyes narrowed in fury. “You should let me go. The longer you stick around here, the lower the chances of your survival.”
“Oh? You've got friends here, huh?” Kaleb nodded. “Can you get that lock open?” he asked, turning to Minx.
The Fae huntress had already slipped one of her arrowheads into the locking mechanism, and was testing the pins with slight twists of the shaft. A few moments of tinkering overpowered the simple lock. It gave with a loud KA-THUNK and the door swung open. Mau slipped out of the cage and rubbed up against Minx's side. “All set.” Minx knelt down to embrace the creature, noticing as she did so a thin, black collar around the Faelyr's neck. “What's this?” she asked. Slipping her fingers around it, she carefully pulled it from around Mau's neck and took a moment to inspect it.
The Faelyr gave her companion a knowing glance. She seemed pleased to be rid of the collar.
“This... the stones in it... This is a tool of the Zuscha, isn't it? Dark ley-line magic. I've seen these before—they sometimes fasten them around the necks of their creations to keep them from speaking.” The slender black band, studded with small red stones, broke to pieces when Minx threw it to the ground. “So, that's how you did it, huh? You put that thing on her to keep her from communicating with me—to interfere with our connection?”
Alla turned away from her questioner, still struggling to break away from Kaleb. “It worked, didn't it? If I hadn't done it, you would have been able to communicate with her from a distance and she would have clued you in to our whereabouts.”
Kaleb sniffed the air playfully. “Funny thing is that you've got a trademark scent. Bet you never expected we'd find you that way, huh? Anyhow, seeing as how we found the one we were looking for, there's no sense in our hanging around here, is there?” announced Kaleb, sounding almost as though he planned to release Alla. Instead, he quickly pulled her close. “What say we have a little chat outside of the city, where your friends won't be able to find you?”
“Excuse me? What are you saying?” demanded Alla.
No sooner had she spat the words did Kaleb take on his dragon form.
The whole of the square was eclipsed by the night-black shadow of his wings, and his long, serpentine neck stretched high above the crumbling walls and neighboring buildings, so that his fire-yellow eyes met those of third and fourth story onlookers. He outstretched his tail, offering it to Minx and her Faelyr companion as a walkway, and wasted no time in scooping up the mystified Alla in his talons.
Mau backed away from the dragon immediately, ears drooping and whimpers rising in her throat. Minx wrapped an arm around her and dragged her up onto the shining red carapace all the same, stationing herself between Kaleb's powerful wings. “Relax, Mau. We can trust him.”
The Faelyr didn't seem so sure, and crouching down against the dragon's hide, she
