Ouch! Are you serious? I'm going to have to fly around with this thing on my back? I'm not a pin cushion! Kaleb's tremendous wings spread out, the coal-colored membranes testing the wind. Then, with a great wingbeat that stirred up a dust storm in the square, he began to take flight.
“W-What're you doing?” demanded Alla, trapped firmly within his rock-hard talons. “Let go of me! You can't do this! How dare you—” Her voice retreated back into her throat as the dragon rose from the ground.
Another wingbeat, then another, brought them several feet into the air. With a massive effort, Kaleb lifted the lot of them over the tops of the buildings. This is a lot to carry, he thought, ascending higher still and trying to ignore the sharp pain of Mau's claws in his back. I'm going to get us outside the city limits. Then I'm done carrying these ingrates around. The dragon sailed through the air, sending onlookers in the city below into a frenzy. His long shadow blanketed the merchant's alley, then the residential sector where Vevne lived; a few wingbeats later, they passed the auction house and then soared beyond the city limits of Karn.
Chapter 13
Go on, then. Transform. Transform so that I can send an arrow through that heart of yours and take your hide. Minx glowered at the captive, watching her as she sat on the log opposite, head low.
Alla had said nothing since they'd touched down outside the city. Tired of hauling them around, Kaleb had found a decent clearing not far from the city walls and had let them down, returning to his human form. The prisoner hadn't attempted to make a break for it, surprisingly enough; perhaps she didn't like her odds. Unarmed and facing the fury of a Fae huntress, a dragon shifter and a Faelyr, there was nothing she could do but submit. Sitting in the shade of a tall tree and inspecting the tips of her reptilian claws, the pale-eyed Fae kept her lips pursed.
Impatient, Minx drew up her bow and toyed with one of the arrows in her quiver.
As though he could read her thoughts, Kaleb cleared his throat and nudged her in the arm. “Put that away, will you? She can't answer our questions if she's dead.”
Minx gripped the arrow tightly. “Maybe I don't want her to answer questions, Kaleb. Maybe I just want her hide. If she can shift into a dragon, my people could use her hide for the warding spell. Or have you forgotten about the army of darkness that's supposed to be on the way?”
The dragon shifter chose his words very carefully. “No, I haven't forgotten. But there's no reason to rob some poor dragon of their hide. Didn't I tell you we'd find another way?”
“You did,” shot back Minx, “but you conveniently left out this 'other way'. What do you have in mind? Because if we don't act—and fast—my people are going to suffer.” The relief she'd felt at being reunited with Mau had quickly faded. Now, only ice-cold dread filled her heart. The clock was ticking. Not only was her mother still being held by Valry and her army, but allegedly seers all throughout the realms had been receiving visions of some bigger, darker army soon to sweep across the land. This was a monumental threat, and the only way forward—that she could see, anyway—involved getting ahold of a dragon's hide and handing it over the the Fae elders.
“You two bicker like an old married couple,” spat Alla, arms crossed in her lap.
She's got a point, chimed in Mau.
Minx looked to Kaleb, doing her best to fight back a blush. “Oh, so now you're in the talking mood, huh? Instead of getting smart with us, why don't you tell us what you were doing with Mau? Who are you, and where do you come from?”
Kaleb nodded diplomatically. “Yeah, I reckon that would be a good place to start, Alla.”
Perhaps she was just tired of listening to her captors argue, or else she thought she could curry favor by opening up a bit, but finally Alla spoke up. Toying with the ends of her silver locks, she trained her pale eyes on Minx. “I need to eat, just like everyone else.” She motioned to Mau, who reclined lazily in the grass. “I was passing through and thought this Faelyr could fetch an awesome price.”
“And these friends of yours—who are they?” asked Kaleb. “Buyers? Sellers? Who are you affiliated with?”
At this, something like pain entered into Alla's eyes. “I... I have a friend.” She frowned, correcting herself. “I had something like a friend, once.”
“So, you were bluffing back there?” continued Kaleb. “There weren't reinforcements on the way?”
Alla shook her head.
“Where do you come from, then? Where is your home?” demanded Minx.
“I don't have one,” said the girl simply.
Minx rolled her eyes. “Don't give me that. Everyone comes from somewhere. Where are you from?” She studied Alla's clawed hands, regarded her strange features with some curiosity. “I've never seen anyone like you around Pandling Grounds, that's for sure.”
“I'm half Dragon, half Fae. There's no place for someone like me in either realm. I... I was forced out of dragon country when I was sixteen because of my Fae lineage.” Alla shrugged, appearing deflated. “I'm used to being ignored, despised. Lately, I've been trying to get by and maintain a low profile. It's easier that way, just keeping to one's self.”
Like so many things she'd heard in recent days, Minx wasn't sure she could believe the strange half-breed's testimony. Even so, the pain in her transfixing eyes seemed genuine enough, and she couldn't help being a bit moved. “I see... Well,” she snapped back, “that doesn't give you an excuse to capture Mau. She wasn't for sale.” She channeled her thoughts to the Faelyr. Do you believe this? Is
