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Daegan teleported into Treoir realm with the Beladors who had stood with him in Atlanta during the Ferris wheel incident. Each one appeared near where he stood on the grounds leading up to Treoir Castle.
Belador guards in the realm came running up.
Daegan lifted his hand to halt his guards, then addressed the men standing with him. “As soon as I meet with my Council of Seven, we’ll have a plan for how to protect our people in the human realm. I realize you have families, some of whom are human, and worry for their safety. Would you prefer to stay here until I know more or return right away?”
Vincent said, “I speak for myself, but I’m pretty sure many here agree. I wish to return to Atlanta and protect our people, but I would like to move my human family out of there.”
The other five nodded in agreement.
“Very well, I shall teleport you back. I’ll inform Trey McCree of our plan which will address the human family members first. He’ll alert you immediately. You will have to shield your presence from humans who might recognize you after tonight, especially with media filming everything. Work only in pairs. Trey will schedule times for you to check in. Do not miss those.”
“Yes, sir,” replied all around.
Daegan didn’t like sending them back without him to protect his Beladors, but with everything going to hell, they would be targets after tonight. He had no choice but to comply with their wishes and instructed, “Put your hand on the shoulder next to you. Vincent, envision a specific place for me to teleport your team where you can appear safely.” Once they all clamped a shoulder and Vincent nodded, Daegan sent them on their way.
He turned to Allyn, the guard in charge of Beladors on Treoir. “I want an accounting of how many visitors we can accommodate to spend an extended time here.”
The guards glanced at each other, but Allyn ordered, “You heard him. Get busy. I want all applicable information to me in thirty minutes.”
“Thank you,” Daegan said, striding away.
Before he made three steps, Allyn called out, “Sir? The dragon in the dungeon is making loud noises.”
Daegan had forgotten about that one. “Has he spoken?”
“No, sir. He bangs around and ices all the surfaces in the dungeon. Our warriors fear he will eat them when they deliver food. Tzader took over that task when he learned I had been feeding the dragon. I argued, but Tzader reminded me he was immortal where I am not.”
“I shall deal with it,” Daegan said, sighing. Turning for the castle, he called telepathically to Tristan, who was still in the human realm. I had to teleport to Treoir. What is your status?
Not good, boss. I arrived in Sandy Springs to find a juiced-up troll tossing Devon off a building. I couldn’t get to them fast enough to stop him, but I had six Beladors below use their kinetics to prevent Devon from hitting the ground head-first. The humans saw it all. I’m sorry.
Don’t apologize, Tristan. I had a similar situation. We have much to discuss. Bring any Belador whose identity was exposed here if you feel they’re in danger and they wish to leave. I’m calling an immediate meeting of the council. Tzader and Brina are, of course, here in Treoir. Find the other four council members and teleport them here. Contact me if you require assistance.
Okay, boss.
There had been many possible outcomes for tonight in Daegan’s mind, but tonight had been what Tristan would call a clusterfuck.
Bile rushed up his throat at the terror Renata suffered. The longer Imortiks held her captive, the more she would endure. Ruadh had not calmed, still banging at Daegan to free his dragon and destroy their enemies.
If only he could. But with all his power, he’d still left without freeing Renata.
Just as he’d been helpless to protect his family while trapped in TÅμr Medb.
What good was it to be a dragon, the most powerful one to live, and not be able to defend those who looked to him for protection?
Shaking with fury, Daegan teleported to the top of the highest point in Treoir, far from the castle. His fisted hands shook with fury. He dropped his head back to roar. Fire burst from his mouth, shooting high in the air.
Faces of his family flew through his mind. Then Renata’s.
He had held the peace for years and years only to lose everything. Blood colored his world, pounding his failures until his knees threatened to buckle under the weight of memories turned into nightmares. They were all dead and gone.
He screamed, “Noooo!” Fire joined the words, blasting his anguish and fury.
Ruadh had stilled and now asked telepathically, Better now?
“No!” Daegan shouted out loud. “Not until all those who have harmed mine pay with their lives.”
Release me, Ruadh snarled. I will burn them all.
Daegan lowered his arms and heaved hard breaths. “If only I could do so, old friend. We will have our chance, but I will not win this battle if I allow them to kill you or see any weakness. You have been patient. Shift and return to the castle. I need this time to clear my head.”
With that, Daegan’s red dragon burst forth and blasted out a stream of fire far greater than Daegan could do in human form. Ruadh lowered his body then leaped from the cliff and flew over valleys between the mountains. He soared over the gryphon village where the Alterants living there waved and called out to him.
As they crossed the great island of Treoir realm, Daegan surveyed his people. His to protect and he would not let them down. Never again.
As Ruadh approached the castle grounds, guards looked up, no doubt catching the sound of his giant wings.
Guards shouted at each other, scattering as they opened a wide landing area.
Ruadh set his wings and landed in two steps.
Daegan thanked his dragon and shifted into his human form, clothing himself in jeans and a long-sleeved pullover as he headed to the castle. Once he climbed the steps, he pushed open the tall double doors with a shove of his hand.
“Garwyli!”
A door opened and closed down one hall off to the left of the main entrance. Loud grumbling approached. The old druid eventually rounded the corner. Snowy hair hung to his waist, almost blending into the robe of the same color. He carried one of the chronicles from Daegan’s family library, which Daegan had only recently discovered hidden in the realm of Scamall.
“What is it, dragon?” Garwyli asked in a gruff tone followed by an amused smile. He liked to poke at Daegan by calling him a dragon.
Daegan could not humor the old druid today as he normally would. “’Tis not good, Garwyli.”
That’s when the druid realized Daegan’s serious mood. This time, Garwyli’s thick white eyebrows pulled together and he spoke with quiet reservation. “What has happened?”
“I have exposed us to the humans,” Daegan admitted.
That admission lifted Garwyli’s eyebrows. “How did that happen?”
“By trying to rescue one of ours.” Daegan should feel more guilt for his part, but he could not justify keeping his people hidden over saving one life.
“Some may question rescuing one when considering the needs of the many—”
“No.” Daegan turned his glare to Garwyli. “The needs of the many do not take precedence over the needs of the few. I will not sacrifice anyone. Even one life matters. The Beladors cannot remain hidden forever. I would have preferred such, but nothing ever stays the same in any life, I have learned. We will get through this.”
Garwyli gave Daegan a long look, one of assessment. At the end, the druid nodded. “’Tis the right of it. How can I help ya?”
“Have you ever heard of an Imortik?”
Garwyli’s wrinkled eyes widened. “Not in many a century. Long ago, they were locked away in an alternate world. That happened before either of us were children.”
Not for the first time, Daegan wondered at Garwyli’s age. He’d never known a druid to live so long besides Cathbad, a dark druid who had gone into a deep sleep then reincarnated recently with Queen Maeve in her realm.
Thinking of Cathbad, a powerful being who had lived thousands of years, brought Daegan back to the upcoming meeting with his Council of Seven. “We have to determine who is behind the Imortiks and how to locate two volumes of a grimoire related to them. I need you to locate everything you can on the Imortiks and bring it to the meeting. The rest of the council should be here soon.”
“Do ya fear some Imortiks will escape?” Garwyli sounded appalled at the very idea.
Daegan’s tone deepened. “Worse. Some have absolutely escaped.”
What little color painted that old face leached out. Garwyli whispered, “’Tis not possible.”
“I assure you it is. I met one while trying to save Renata. He controlled her body.”
Garwyli rubbed his forehead. “I need some time to dig through all the chronicles.”
“We cannot waste a minute. At least two of our people have been attacked by these things.” Daegan realized he had not asked Tristan what happened to Devon. With Tristan busy rounding up the council, Daegan would wait for a full report with everyone present.
Sparing Daegan a worried glance, Garwyli said, “I’ll return quickly with all I can find.”
As the druid tottered away, Daegan turned his mind to the closest he had to blood relations. His great niece from many generations, Brina, and her new mate, Tzader, ruled as king and queen of Treoir with Daegan remaining in a patriarchal role as dragon king.
Belador power originated with a blood Treoir living in this realm, which at the moment was Brina and the twin babes she carried.
He called out telepathically, Tzader, I have called a council meeting. Tristan is bringing the others. I wish for you and Brina to join us, if she is available.
Tzader called back, Brina is resting, but she’ll have both of our heads if I fail to wake her. Would you call me when everyone is assembled?
Yes.
Tzader also asked, Would you see what you can do about keeping that damn dragon quiet? The whole castle shakes and disturbs her rest.
Daegan gritted his teeth at the stubborn beast locked away below ground. I will deal with him.
He could understand the dragon shifter wanting to be freed, but that one had yet to shift to human form or communicate with Daegan, even though he’d saved the beast from Scamall. No, Daegan empathized more with Tzader at the moment. With Brina so close to birthing, she slept in spurts. Once the babes were born, she’d again enjoy the vitality befitting a Belador warrior queen.
Those two would be the first children of Daegan’s bloodline he would see born in thousands of years. He wished to hold them in his arms and know a joy only births can bring a family.
They would be descendants of his sister Jennyver.
His chest ached with the reminder of losing her, Lesley, and his father. He swore to himself he would not fail these innocents the way he’d left his family vulnerable by allowing Queen Maeve to capture him.
He had to find Renata and any others the Imortik master held captive.
The Treoir realm could have shielded all the Beladors and their families centuries ago, but not today. Belador warriors were spread across the human world with their families and—BOOM!
The castle floor shook beneath his feet.
Daegan teleported to the dungeon. He’d saved the ice dragon’s life when he found him in the realm, living a life under a cruel master who had captured him. Like Daegan, this dragon had spent the past two thousand years hidden from all he’d known.
Daegan tried to keep that in mind as the annoying beast refused to simply shift into human form so they could talk or speak to him telepathically in any form. He would prefer to not house that dragon in the dungeon, but Daegan wanted confirmation of his identity and frame of mind before freeing him around those on Treoir Island.
It had been many centuries since being free and they had not known each other well back then.
He might be wrong, but Daegan believed this dragon to be Skarde, the younger of the two male ice dragons.
No other dragon from Daegan’s time could teleport as he could, but all possessed the ability to speak out loud as a dragon or telepathically. The fact that this one had not shown an interest in communicating reinforced Daegan’s decision to keep him contained.
He could not risk bringing an enemy inside Treoir. When Daegan last spoke to his father, the ice dragons were mounting an attack.
As soon as Daegan appeared in the Treoir dungeon, he felt the frigid change in temperature. He shook his head at the walls, ceiling, and ground covered in ice. He had taken it upon himself to remake this area so it would be habitable for any dragon. A forty-foot-high ceiling stretched across an area seventy feet wide by one hundred feet deep, with a granite floor and stone walls. He’d informed Skarde how to make the lights come on and go dark. He’d provided a bed, chairs, and food for his human form, none of which had been used.
His dragon had fed on a diet of buffalo. Tristan had teleported a small herd to Treoir for those who had to feed the dragon once every two to three days.
Daegan had also provided a soft earth foundation for the last fifty feet at the rear of the dungeon, which Ruadh had suggested for sleeping in dragon form.
Short of being freed, this ice dragon had been treated well and given a pretty nice lair for an unappreciative visitor.
Deep into the dark area against the back wall, Skarde’s dragon’s scales and wings had an iridescent color that shifted from blue to violet. His massive body lay curled on the ground as if sleeping. A lie.
Two searing blue eyes with vertical black irises stared at Daegan.
The dragon lifted his massive tail and thumped it hard. The room shook and ice broke away from the ceiling, pounding as it hit all around.
Daegan didn’t lift a finger to prevent the chunks from hitting him. When the ice hit his body, it sizzled and melted.
An earth dragon could have caused much more damage, but Daegan would not tolerate this one bothering Brina. “I would have expected ya to be askin’ to leave here by now.”
The bright blue glare didn’t change.
Daegan tried reaching the human inside the dragon again. “My people have treated you well, as have I. All I have asked of you is to speak to me. If you have forgotten how to shift into human form, it will come. But you cannot tell me you are unable to speak either out loud or telepathically.”
Lifting his big head and long neck first, Skarde’s dragon continued rising until he sat balanced between his tail and rear legs. Then he dropped forward, standing on all four legs.
He opened his wings as if testing them and flapped, causing sparks to flick from the wings.
Skarde had enough room to move around in here and stretch, but not to fly. Daegan would take this dragon out to fly if Skarde would simply communicate. He had to know if this ice dragon presented a threat to his people.
“What is it going to be ... Skarde?” Daegan caught enough surprise in the dragon’s eyes to confirm he had been correct. “I will treat you fairly if you can show me that my people will not be harmed.”
In reply, Skarde’s dragon reared back and blew out a stream of icy air at Daegan.
Ruadh growled as Daegan stood there while layers of ice piled waist-deep in the room. It would have frozen a human, and some nonhumans, to death in seconds.
Daegan soothed Ruadh silently with, I wish to give this one a chance to meet me halfway.
Ruadh replied, Ice dragon no longer ally.
Perhaps he will be once he realizes the world he now lives in requires allies.
Unconvinced, Ruadh grumbled but settled down. Daegan opened his arms out wide and placed his hands on the cold surface, sending his energy in every direction.
The ice melted quickly until the room flooded, pooling around the ice dragon where the floor dropped off in the back.
Ruadh might be right, but Daegan wanted powerful allies with what he saw coming for supernaturals now exposed to humans.
The last time he’d seen his father, Daegan had planned to meet with the ice dragon clan to find out who had started the Dragani War.
Someone who had been able to emulate Daegan’s dragon to attack his allies.
He’d expected the ice dragons to be reasonable back then.
He’d also expected to return from TÅμr Medb with his sister, not to spend eternity cursed into the shape of a dragon throne.
More angry now than when he’d arrived, Daegan said, “Enjoy your pond, Skarde. I will not remove it until you come to your senses and decide to talk. Continued to bash the ground and create problems with the castle and you will land somewhere less comfortable.”
Daegan teleported out of the dungeon and up to the entrance of the castle again. When he appeared, Tzader, Evalle, and Tristan were in a shouting match. Storm stood next to Evalle observing.
“Silence!” Daegan ordered. “What are you yelling about?”
They all turned to him.
Tristan said, “I was trying to explain about how the freaky being that attacked Devon inhabited his body like a demon would, but it didn’t really seem to be a demon.”
“Tell him about Devon,” Evalle urged.
Tristan crossed his arms and gave Daegan a grim expression. “I didn’t want to hold you up with all the details when you said you were here and calling a meeting. The troll had Devon’s body wrapped up with cables. I told you how the troll was throwing Devon off the roof of a twelve-story building. I missed grabbing his feet by a hair. Also, at the last second before Devon’s body dropped, this glowing yellow ghost-like creature jumped from the troll to Devon. The Beladors down below stopped Devon’s body from hitting the ground, but the minute they touched his body, that yellow thing interfered with their powers.”
“I ran into something similar, but it didn’t take Noah’s body,” Evalle added.
Daegan frowned. “I have more information, but in the interest of time, we need to go through this once with everyone present.”
“We have to hurry.” Evalle grabbed Storm’s hand, turning for the meeting room.
“True, but we have time.”
Tristan’s expression soured. “No we don’t, boss.”
Daegan had turned to leave and stopped. “Why not?”
“Once our people used their kinetics to hold Devon in place, I teleported down. Sen appeared. Have no idea who called him. Could have been one of Queen Maeve’s warlocks. I saw two in the area. After ranting about dealing with our screwups, Sen said he was putting Devon into an isolation cell below VIPER, because the Tribunal wants to keep peace with you.”
Daegan had his doubts of the Tribunal’s sincerity about wanting peace. It was more like they feared him bringing in his goddess mother none of them knew.
Huffing out a deep breath of frustration, Daegan nodded. “I doubt they care about peace with me so much as fear of me calling in my mother. They have enough survival sense not to go up against an unknown deity.”
Evalle called over her shoulder, “Tell him about the deadline, Tristan.”
Daegan crossed his arms. “Whose deadline?”
Tristan explained, “Sen said if Devon did not recover from this possession in three days, the Tribunal had given him authority to kill any out-of-control supernaturals or those who were a threat. The Tribunal believes you would agree to not return Devon to the human realm if he’s possessed. We have seventy-two hours before they terminate Devon. That deadline started an hour ago.”
Daegan’s head throbbed when he’d never suffered headaches. “I will not allow Sen or the Tribunal to kill Devon.”
Storm turned Evalle back around. “Can you teleport Devon out of VIPER?”
“A valid question, but not possible,” Daegan admitted. “I can teleport myself and anyone with me in or out of Tribunal meetings or the entrance to VIPER. There are many levels I can’t access. I have recently discovered that VIPER and the Tribunal were created and warded by multiple deities. My guess is different ones have access to everything, but probably no one can go everywhere. Not a trusting group.”
“What deities?” Storm’s eyes darkened until they appeared black against his teak-colored skin from his mix of Navajo and Ashaninka blood.
“I am not sure, but Macha claimed she played a role in building the Tribunal realm,” Daegan replied.
“We’ll find no sympathizers there,” Evalle grumbled, anger sparking in her voice. “What about Maeve and Cathbad?”
Daegan confirmed, “No. VIPER had not been created when those two faked their deaths to reincarnate in today’s world many centuries later.”
Tristan shook his head and started toward Evalle. “We need to get everyone together.”
Daegan would love to shift and rain hellfire on Sen, but killing the Tribunal’s enforcer would start war on a new front.
