She is a healer of dragons. She wishes to remind the other races that dragons are all-powerful and to be obeyed. She eats their kind to make a statement.
“Wouldn’t she just eat Sindari?”
That made Sindari look over at me, green eyes bland. Nobody eats Del’nothian tigers. As I’ve informed you previously, we are apex predators.
“Uh huh. Worms and insects eat even predators when they die. Circle of life, buddy.”
The Del’nothian tigers have long been allies to the dragons, Zav said. She would not eat one. I believe she would even heal one, though she would hate to help a Stormforge dragon, especially one who has battled so many of her kin.
“Yeah, this sounds like a bad idea. Are you sure Zondia can’t heal him?” Never would I have thought that I’d long for her to help me.
Maybe Zoltan has a potion that would do. Sindari must not have been eager to be treated by a grumpy old dragon.
You may not have time for experimentation, Zav said. Once you return to your world, if the wound advances far enough and the magic of the realm charm believes you are an undead creature rather than a tiger, it may keep you from traveling again from your realm. You would be stuck there.
Where I would die—or be killed by my people.
That is possible.
I tried to swallow a lump of emotion swelling in my throat. It didn’t work. “He’ll go with you, Zav. I know you can find a way to help him.”
Very well, Zav said. I must also ask my people about Braytokinor and if anyone knows what’s going on here. If he has been slain, or this world is truly threatened, my kind should act. They should be willing to come deal with the situation here. Zav’s head turned, his long neck shifting as he looked over at me. I must return you to your home. I cannot leave you here. It is too dangerous.
“Wait, I’m coming with you. I have to go with Sindari.” I waved to the feline-shaped charm on my thong.
Would the magic allow Sindari to travel through a portal without me? Or would he poof back to his world? We could usually only be separated by a mile, so it was hard to believe that being on different worlds would work. And if he got stuck back there…
It will be safer for you at your home. Lend me the charm, and I will take Sindari to the dragon home world.
“Why can’t you take both of us?”
Did you not hear his warning about the human- and elf-eating dragon, Val? Sindari asked.
“I’ll poke her in the ass with Chopper if she tries to eat me.”
Sindari and Zav exchanged looks, as if they both thought it was a bad idea for me to go along.
You and your blade are now known among dragon kind, Zav said. As you know from your incident with the assassin that a Silverclaw dragon hired, you are most hated. I believe the Silverclaw healer would go out of her way to slay you. Of course, as your mate and protector, I could not allow this, and we would do battle, but if I slew or incapacitated her… Zav extended a wingtip toward Sindari.
“She might be disinclined to heal my buddy?”
She will be disinclined to heal him if she learns that he is linked to, and an ally to, you. It will be better if I claim that his charm belongs to me.
“Wait, if she’s a Silverclaw dragon, doesn’t she hate you as well?” Though I had questions and concerns, I removed my leather thong, the charms clinking against each other, and unthreaded the feline one.
She loathes me, yes.
“And that’s not a problem?”
I will have to promise a return favor in exchange for her help. Zav’s lips rippled back, revealing his fangs.
“That doesn’t mean having sex with her, does it?” I thought of the assassin’s favors for the fae queen. To save Sindari’s life, I would look the other way—extremely far the other way—while he got jiggy with a dragon, but I wouldn’t like it.
No. Dragons are not like fae. I will have to bring her meat or, more likely, she will expect political favors in future court sessions. There was the lip ripple again. Who would have guessed a dragon could do that?
I held the charm up for Zav—he used his magic to lift it from my hand and store it in some invisible pocket—then rested a hand on Sindari’s back. Will you be all right? I didn’t want to delay things, not when he had to get this healing treatment before the magic dictated that he return to his realm, but I was worried and felt guilty. I’m sorry I brought you out to fight when this was a possibility.
Injuries are always a possibility in battle, and I live to hunt prey and destroy enemies. Sindari tilted his head in consideration. I would always rather fight than not. Unless it is in a bog, pond, lake, or under torrential rainfall.
Yes, I’ve noted your aversion to water except on warm sunny days.
Good.
With a swell of magic, a portal formed.
Zav pointed his wing at it. You will return to your world.
“I could stay here while you take care of him,” I offered, hating the idea of sitting back home and twiddling my thumbs. “Isn’t it possible the dwarves would come out and talk to me if no dragons were in the area?”
I envisioned camping out in front of those stone doors in my tent, but then I remembered Zav’s words, that it probably wasn’t the dragons keeping the dwarves in their mountain.
It is too dangerous for you to stay here alone. Zav pointed at the portal again. You will stay in the protection of your abode, and I will bring Sindari back to you on Earth when he is healed.
He was probably right—even if he was getting uppity and making it a command—but I was curious about one thing. Do you think the big bad sensed your arrival here—your dragonly aura—and that was why the, uh, minions were sent? If I activated my camouflaging charm, would I be able to travel around here unnoticed?
I supposed there was little point. If I was camouflaged, the dwarves wouldn’t know I was here, either, and nobody would come out and chat. Also, Mount Crenel could be a thousand miles away, and I didn’t see any public transportation systems.
Possibly, Zav said as I returned my thong, bereft of my favorite charm, to my neck, but it is still too dangerous and there is little you could do here on foot. I will bring you back after this world has been dealt with and made safe again. If dragons defeat whoever is responsible for the undead minions, then perhaps the dwarves will come out, and it will be easier for you to find someone to answer your sword questions or guide you to that mountain.
“I understand. Thanks for helping Sindari.” I hugged Zav’s leg and my furry ally before stepping through the portal.
My last thought before the swirling tunnel of magic enveloped me was that this had not only been a waste of time but that I’d gotten one of my best friends hurt. That crusty old dragon had better be willing to heal him.
13
Rain and darkness had descended on Seattle by the time I returned. A text message from Amber informed me that she’d scheduled my next dress fitting, making me wish I’d argued harder to stay on Dun Kroth. Who wouldn’t want to battle creepy skeletal enemies instead of being poked and prodded and tape-measured by a seamstress while half-naked?
Dimitri wasn’t home, but I sensed Zoltan in the basement, and surprisingly Freysha was down there too. I hadn’t seen her since visiting our father in their homeland. Maybe she’d returned to finish her engineering class.