Far above the tops of the trees, she spied what appeared to be genuine dragons. A handful of the beasts, most of them small, sailed through the air in a tight formation. One among them, with ruby red scales that stood out in the ghostly moonlight, seemed to be in command, and this fearsome specimen was larger than the others by an order of magnitude. The beast's great wings blotted out the twilight as it streaked by overhead, and it cued up a second fireball, loosing it with a great roar and sending the retreating Wuffs into a fury of howls and cries. This red titan, unlike the others, was clearly a Royal dragon.
Minx wasn't sure what dragons were doing in this area. Unless the Wuffs had wandered back toward the Talon Range, they were almost certainly quite far from the homeland of these airborne beasts. Had the Wuffs accidentally disturbed dragons sleeping in the woods? Watching the great dragon glide overhead and sensing something familiar in its majestic shape, Minx half-wondered whether this meeting was as random as it seemed.
“Mau,” began the Fae huntress vocally, “I... I think that's Kaleb. He came to help us—he's here to rescue us both!” Still unable to communicate telepathically, she led the Faelyr further on, to a clearing, and pointed up into the sky. “Look! It's him! I'm sure of it!”
As if on cue, the great red dragon sailed downward, landing just beyond the edge of the woods and setting every leaf fluttering violently with each flap of his obsidian wings. Minx and Mau dashed toward the treeline, passing a handful of cowering Wuffs in the process. They broke free of the woods and met the winged titan mere moments before he suddenly adopted a human form. The immense tail, wings and horned snout were gone in an instant, replaced by the form of a tall, broad-shouldered youth with silky black hair and sharp features.
“Kaleb!” cried the Fae huntress, almost dropping her bow as she sprinted toward him. “It's really you! You came after all!” Moments ago she would have written him off completely, would have professed to hate him for his indifference. Her excitement, replete with tears of joy welling in her eyes, betrayed the true feelings she'd carried all along. I wasn't wrong to trust him. He actually cares. I knew it.
Kaleb spared a sharp grin, signaling to the mass of smaller dragons still circling overhead. At the wave of his hand, the beasts dispersed, each flying off in its own direction. “I had a little help from some friends—the lesser dragons. These commoners don't shift, but they can still be very useful. I pulled the rank card on them and they agreed to help out.” He stepped toward the woods, gaze narrowing. “How many were there? Did I hit at least a few of them?”
“There were at least ten Wuffs, maybe more,” replied Minx. “And Alla is here, too. I don't understand why, but... she's acting as if she doesn't know me.” She surveyed the edge of the woods for a beat, bow at the ready. “It's possible that Torrent put her up to this, but I'm not certain we can trust her.”
Kaleb seemed to understand, but urged her not to do anything rash. “There's no telling what Torrent has her doing these days. You saved Alla's life—she's a friend. Better to give her the benefit of the doubt, don't you think?”
“Easy for you to say,” she spat. “You weren't getting dragged around in chains by her buddies!” Appraising him with a faint smile and hardly able to believe he was actually there, she asked, “So... What are you doing here? Why did you come?”
Kaleb demurred, hands on his hips. “Me? Oh, I was just passing through. Saw some Wuffs and thought, you know, it would be a great opportunity to blow off some steam.” He grinned. “After everything that happened back home... I couldn't just let you leave that way. My father will throw a fit once he finds out I'm missing again, but he'll get over it eventually. The only thing I care about is making sure you're safe.”
Minx was taken aback at this admission, and even though she'd spent hours in chains her heart swelled with gladness. He really does care.
“But at this moment, we have some concerns,” added Kaleb, training his nose on the air. “There are more on the way—Krah among them. We may not have much time. Do you and Mau feel all right? If so, we can get out of here and find some place safer to talk—”
An arrow barreled out of the woods, streaking past the crown of Kaleb's head. He ducked, barely avoiding it. Its sender, a tall Wuff, stood between two towering trees and was presently nocking another.
Minx stood before the dragon shifter and let her own arrow rip, returning fire with a scowl. The shot missed its mark by a hair's breadth, splintering the trunk of one of the great trees. “So much for getting out of here peacefully. Looks like we're going to have to fight our way out. Are you ready, Mau?”
The Faelyr snarled, sizing up the new arrivals. There was more than just a single archer to worry about, they soon discovered. The spaces between the trees were filled with shifting shapes. Krah and Plurn began to emerge from the gaps, weapons in hand.
A sizable remnant of the dark army was upon them.
Chapter 9
When Minx had been a captive of the Wuff raiding party, she'd counted only ten or so individuals in the group, aside from Alla. The unit had seemed small, manageable at the time. Now, she found that their numbers had more than doubled since the dragons had made their appearance, and mixed in with the Wuffs were several well-armed Krah.
