Chapter Twenty-Five

The early morning sun cast a pink glow on the Triad Mountains making them look spectacular as we flew over them.

A thousand emotions coursed through me as we crested the peak near Frokontas. Guilt about my people, fear of what we would find when we got back to Ash’s village. Most of all, I was sad. Sad and utterly exhausted. I yawned as Ash flew lower over the other side of the mountain.

The plan had been to land in the village square, but as we flew over the fire pit by Ash’s house, it became apparent that everyone had chosen to land there. Below us was a hive of activity. It looked like the whole town had come out to find out what had happened. Ash circled around a couple of times before landing. 

Someone threw him some clothes, so I ran towards Edeline while Ash changed. She was busy bandaging the arm of one of the people who had gone to the village. All around me was chaos—people hurt and bleeding. Someone was shouting, another crying.

“Edeline, what happened?”

“I was going to ask you the same question. Is Ash with you?” Her face held an expression of worry.

“Yeah, he’s safe. He’s just getting changed. It was a disaster down there. Spear’s group managed to wake the whole village. Do you know where he is?”

If anyone knew what had happened, Spear would be it. 

Edeline nodded into the crowd. “Last I saw, he was having his foot seen to over there. Just to warn you, he’s pretty mad.”

He was pretty mad? I was fuming! I found him deep in conversation with another dragon. His right foot was bandaged and I could see he was putting most of his weight on his left. 

I butted in, not caring how rude I looked.

“What happened? Wasn’t this supposed to be a stealth attack? Do you need me to buy you a dictionary so you understand what stealth means? You couldn’t have been noisier if you tried.”

“Stop shouting. Come with me.” He grabbed me by the arm and took me away from everyone else, to the base of the cliff.

“We did go in silently, but someone saw us. It only took that one person to raise the alarm. You should be happy I kept to my side of the bargain.”

“What?” Was he kidding?

“None of your people were killed. Just before you rudely butted in, I was talking to Keth. He was the last one to leave the village, just after you. He confirmed that none of your people died. Those that were hurt were only superficially so. They will all live to see another day. Something that can’t be said for us. Three of my team were killed.” He held up three fingers. “Count ‘em. Three! Three dead dragons and you can see the injured.” He motioned to the people around the fire pit. It looked like most of those that went down to my village had been hurt in one way or another. 

“Oh.”

“Oh?” he growled. “Is that all you have to say?”

“Okay, I’m sorry. Thank you. Who...?”

“Ally, Gem and Fiona.”

I didn’t know Gem or Fiona, but the thought of Ally being hurt was bittersweet. Of course, I didn’t want him hurt, but with some luck, the same slayer that pierced him was the one who had captured Stone. There was a possibility that they were reunited. 

“They aren’t really dead, though, are they?”

“Oh, well that’s okay then,” Spear responded with ill-disguised sarcasm.

“You know what I mean. We can get them back. We can get them all back. We just need to find where the bodies are being kept.”

“We?” He raised his eyebrow. 

“Yes, we! You were right all along. My father knew. He’s always known. My whole life has been a lie. Some of the others know too, but not all. I think it’s only the village elders. My mother and brother knew nothing about it.”

Something else occurred to me then. That’s what the eighteenth birthday tradition of killing dragons was all about. It was not just a rite of passage, but also a way to find out who was safe to tell the secret to. Those that killed the dragons willingly joined the hunting group. It was those slayers who would eventually be told about the dragons being shifters. The ones who were bloodthirsty and after years of killing, lacking empathy for the lives of dragons. They were the ones who would be brought into the inner circle. Jasper might not have known the truth yet, but there was no doubt in my mind that he would eventually have found out. 

“That’s all well and good, but your map was next to useless. After all that, we only managed to recover three swords.”

“Four!” I drew my mother’s sword from my belt and threw it to him. “This was my mother’s. It only holds one dragon, but one dragon is better than none, right?”

“If you think this changes anything, you’re wrong. You need to go back to Dronios where you belong.”

“No!” I replied forcefully. “You’re wrong. I don’t belong there. Not anymore. I can do more good here than I can back home. Let me stay. There’s so much I can do.”

“What can you do?” he spat.

“Pass me my mother’s sword back.”

“Why?”

“What’s happening here?” Ash put his arm around my shoulder. 

“Your girlfriend was leaving. Ash, Take her home.”

“I wasn’t leaving. I was just going to tell Spear that I was going to let him use my blood to release the dragons.”

Spear regarded me curiously. “You’d do that?” 

“Of course I would. I’m not a slayer anymore.” I took a deep breath. “My father was a hero in my mind. Last night I found out he was a murderer. I’m not like him. Most of the villagers in Dronios aren’t. Last night, they were defending themselves from an enemy. You have to know that. They need to know the truth and you need me for that. Setting the dragons free will mean nothing if the slayers carry on doing what they’re doing. I only have so much blood to release them. Who are you going to use to free them once all my blood is spent?”

“There will be others,” Spear stated confidently.

“Other slayers that give up their blood willingly?” I shook my head at the thought.

“Who said it has to be given willingly?” Spear countered.

“What are you saying, Spear?” Ash’s arm tightened around me.

“That’s not who you are,” I said. “The dragons have always been peaceful. This needs to end for good. Peace needs to reign on both sides. We need to educate both sides. It’s going to take a lot of work, but we can do it. Together.”

“She has a point, Spear,” interjected Ash. “This is what I’ve been saying all along. The people of Dronios are not going to listen to us, but they might listen to her. Without Julianna, we have nothing.”

“If she does what she says she will.”

The time for words was over. Now was the time for action. I lunged forward and took my mother’s sword from Spear. Before he had the chance to stop me, I ran the blade down the palm of my hand. The cut was small, but it was enough. A burst of flame shot out of the end of the sword, sending us all flying backward. The flames swirled into the air, taking on the appearance of a dragon completely made of flames. It spread its wings and flew into the sky. At the very top of the cliff, the flames rearranged themselves and turned into a howling tornado of bright orange fire. Then it disappeared over the top of the cliff. 

I picked myself up from the floor where I’d fallen from the intensity of the blast and dusted myself off. One look at Spear’s face was enough to tell me that he hadn’t expected it to work. His mouth formed a perfect O and he was filthy with dirt from falling to the ground. 

Silence rained down on us. I looked over to the others. They might not have seen how it happened, but there was no missing the escaped soul of the dragon. The gaze of the people lowered until a hundred eyes were on me.

“That’s right!” I shouted loud enough for them all to hear. “You saw a dragon being freed. I used my own blood.” I held aloft my hand to show them the cut I’d made with the sword. 

“I’ve got an apology to make to you all. My father knew all along you were shifters. He’s not the only one. There are others. I’ve never been so angry in my whole life, but this must stop. I’m going to stand with you if you’ll let me, and fight this abomination. I’m going to save them all. We are going to save them all. I will not rest until every single dragon is freed.”

A couple people began to clap. Then another, then another, until the air was filled with the sound of applause.

“It’s not going to be easy,” I said when the clapping died down. “What you just saw was the soul of one of your people. That soul is now heading back to the body it came from. That person is going to wake up scared and confused. They’re going to be so weak that it will be difficult for them to escape. Fiere flew out from the prison, but I think we can assume that now the elders of Dronios know that we are freeing dragons, they will lock the bodies up more securely and make it impossible to just fly out. The good news is, there are a lot more of us than there are of them, and when the rest of the people in my village know the truth, there will be even more people on our side. Not everyone will believe us and of those that do, some may choose to fight with the elders. It’s up to us to convince as many as possible to fight for what is fair and what is right. We need to go back to the village as soon as possible, before they have time to regroup and tell more lies. We need to find where the bodies of the other dragons are kept and free them.”

“That could take days,” shouted someone.

“Actually, that’s going to be the easy part. We have three more swords with dragons trapped inside. You saw yourselves that the souls take the form of fire when outside the body. All we need to do it set one free and be ready to follow it. It will lead us back to the prison. You guys can fly so it should be easy. More than one dragon should go because, after last night, it will be heavily guarded. The biggest problem we face is getting the swords. Look at how many of you were injured and we only got four of them. We need to come up with a better plan.”

I looked to where Spear was just pulling himself up from the ground.

“I’m going to be working closely with Spear. Today we will come up with a better plan and this time, I’m going to be more involved.” I emphasized the “this time.” “Tonight, we go down to the village again and get the swords back. It’s going to take more of you than before. I know many of you are not hunters or fighters, but the ten that went there last night wasn’t enough. Everyone over eighteen and fit needs to go. We need to swamp them so there is no point in fighting. This has got to end tonight!”

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned, expecting to see Ash, but it was Spear. He had a look of grim determination on his face.

“I admit to being wary of Julianna since she first set foot in the village. Why would a slayer help us? But now I see the truth. It takes a great deal of strength and courage to sacrifice yourself for someone else, but it takes a whole lot more courage to stand up to your family. I need those of you who were out last night to rest. The rest of you, be prepared to save our ancestors. We’re going in tonight! Who is with us?”

Some of the dragons cheered. Some, like Edeline, looked stunned. But they all raised their hands. 

My hand instinctively found the hilt of my sword, like a moth to a flame. The sword that started it all. How quickly my life had changed. Just a few days ago I held this sword with the promise of slaying my first dragon, and today I held it as a promise to save the dragons.

The goblin-made gold held strong as my fingers wrapped around the intricate detail of the handle. With a clean whoosh, I unsheathed my sword and held it out in front of me. The rising sun glinted off the blade as the cheers of the dragons met my ears once again. 

Tonight, I would make right all the wrong my ancestors caused. Tonight, I would stand with the dragons and bring their families home.