Kaleb donned his dragon form and waited for Minx and Mau to climb on. “If they want to ignore what's happening all around them, then forget it. We don't need their help. We'll ride for Pandling Grounds and handle this ourselves. You and I together, Minx.”
The Fae huntress appeared thankful for his aid, but the sadness in her eyes was unmistakable. She looked to Mau, then uttered, “Thank you, Kaleb. We'll just have to give it our all. The odds have always been stacked against us. This time won't be any different.”
The dragon gained altitude and left the peaks of the Talon Range far behind, not bothering to look back at them as he glided through the clouds. Perhaps, he thought to himself in a blind rage, he would never return. Kaleb couldn't live amongst such backwards creatures, couldn't stand their stubbornness. I can't believe I ever thought they'd be capable of change. They know what's coming, but they just don't care. I should never have wasted time, asking them for help. We should have returned immediately to Pandling Grounds.
Kaleb's gaze narrowed and he caught a surging tailwind, picking up speed.
Propelled by anger, Kaleb flew harder that day than ever before.
Chapter 13
Minx had to hold on tight as Kaleb met a patch of turbulence.
Mau clung to her leg, shuddering all the while. Can we please find some other way to travel from here on out? We don't have any use for the dragons anymore, so we can probably spend the rest of our lives safely on the ground, right?
The flying conditions had been rough almost from the onset of their retreat from the Talon Range. Rather than adding hours to their travel by taking a roundabout path, Kaleb had opted to plow through a brewing storm system. The going was difficult, but the angry young dragon shifter had more than enough energy to burn and assured the other two that they'd be safe so long as he hurried. The headwinds proved fierce and thunder had begun rumbling in the distance. It would take them hours to arrive at the edge of Fae territory under the circumstances.
Minx was pleased with Kaleb, thankful that he'd stood up before the leaders of the Talon Range and demanded their help. She was gutted, though, at their almost unanimous refusal. They really do hate us, Mau. A few of them seemed willing to go along with it, but it looks like this is really the end. The dragons want nothing to do with us. If the Fae are conquered, they won't care in the least. It pained her to return home without the reinforcements she'd promised her father, but the chief source of her anguish was what the vote had done to Kaleb.
The dragon shifter had hardly spoken since they'd taken flight, and his angry maneuvers bespoke immense frustration. He'd stood before the generals, making an earnest plea. Rather than securing their cooperation, he'd been censured and threatened with minor charges. That he felt hurt and betrayed was plain to her, and the fact that she could do nothing to ease his hurt only made her feel more hopeless.
Hours of stilted silence, of reckless flying, ultimately delivered them to their destination. Minx had found ample time during the journey to berate herself, to entertain sorrows for Kaleb's situation and to worry after the safety of her people. She'd been gone for days on this fool's errand; how many attacks had her people been forced to repel? Do you think they've been all right back home without us, Mau?
The Faelyr, eyes shut in terror as Kaleb wove between swirling clouds, had little to say. I hope they're getting by without us. If we get back there and find the whole territory in ruins it's going to be a real punch to the gut.
The long flight eventually brought them through the storm system and into familiar territory. They arrived before dark, just as the sun was beginning to wane, and upon arriving within miles of the Pandling Ground Trading Center, Minx could already tell something was wrong. Smoke rose up from the ground where swaths of surrounding forest had been left to burn, and the adjacent plains were left muddy and grassless for the ceaseless stampings of unnumbered feet.
The fields directly beyond the borders of the Trading Center were occupied by a large force—the largest she had seen since the day of the great battle itself. The agitators were not yet engaged in battle—they were marching on the front entrance in orderly rows, weapons at the ready. The militancy of their movements worried her; this force appeared better-trained and more cohesive than the roving bands of marauders they'd lately had to deal with outside the walls. This is going to be a problem. We aren't dealing with a simple mob here—this is a full-on army.
Mau concurred. Let's hope that things within the Trading Center aren't too bad. Maybe your father has worked out a new strategy since we left. Otherwise... it's going to be hard to compete against these numbers.
Kaleb brought them soaring past the columns of enemy combatants and over the edge of the Trading Center wall, landing in the bustling square. Fae swordsmen and lancers scattered at the sight of the dragon, and various High Council members, dressed in ill-fitting armor, watched with awe as
