They didn’t travel long, though Tori was pretty sure it was just a hair shy of forever, before the dragon shifted the flap of his wings and started to descend. Tori clenched his eyes shut, not wanting to watch the process. And then the dragon released his arms. He sucked in a breath to scream, but before a sound could leave his lips, his feet landed on the ground. He’d dropped less than half a meter.
His knees buckled, and Tori didn’t even try to catch himself as he crumpled onto soft, cool, green grass. He ran his trembling fingers through the blades, letting his fingernails dig into the dark soil. Ground. He was on the ground. He touched his forehead to the lovely earth and swore to never ever leave it again. Never, never, never, never was he flying again. The only thing that could convince him to leave solid land again was a lobotomy.
Stupid dragons.
Yes, maybe they saved him from the mages who were trying to kidnap him for whatever scary reason.
And yes, maybe they helped him escape a whole lot of questions from authorities.
But all of that was never an excuse to scoop a poor person up and fly them across the city in the air. People were not meant to fly. If they were, they would have been born dragons.
Soon he would have questions for the dragons, but right now he just wanted to hold the earth and whisper sweet promises of never leaving it again.
“You could have fucking told me that the Jaeggi are the ones kidnapping mages!” Tori snapped as he put a key into the lock on his motel door.
Baldewin did feel a little contrite about that, but in his defense, how was he to know that Tori would stumble across them soon? “I couldn’t tell you in that setting. You were so sure the Jaeggi were allies. How would it have sounded if I pointed a finger at them, claiming them as the enemy?”
Tori stopped with his door only partially opened, and glared over his shoulder at Baldewin. He seemed unwilling to admit Baldewin had a valid point. “Fine. Fine, alright, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Next time, give me the heads-up anyway. Before I go chatting with would-be-kidnappers like a fucking idiot.”
“Cross my heart,” Baldewin promised solemnly.
Tori looked only slightly mollified as he pushed the door open with more violence than necessary and stalked through. Baldewin immediately followed him, Warin at his heels, but he barely had a foot inside before his nose revolted.
It smelled musty in here, as if the ventilation hadn’t worked properly since the building was built (likely the case), and nothing got particularly well cleaned in between visitors (also likely the case.) Tori flopped down on the edge of a twin bed and gestured them to the other.
Baldewin sat, more than a little gingerly, although Warin didn’t seem to find an issue. He flopped down, leaning forward.
“You see now why we’re so anxious for your sake?” Warin waved a hand to indicate the world outside the room. “We’re not set up for long-term protection. Baldewin and I came out here just to meet you, invite you into the clan, and provide a safe escort. Not to serve as a protection detail.”
Tori groaned, looking visibly torn. “But what do they want? I mean, I’m from an allied clan. I should be the last person they try to kidnap! What is their goal?”
“I told you the truth when I said we don’t know.” The words were sour in Baldewin’s mouth. “We’ve tried investigating but have little to work from. They’ve been entirely too good at keeping their tracks covered.”
“But you’re sure they’re kidnapping mages, so that means you’ve run into them before, right? You mentioned them grabbing the king’s mate, but anyone else?”
“Ja, Cassie. She’s Cameron’s twin.”
Tori blinked at him. “A twin, huh. Just those two?”
Baldewin exchanged a weighted glance with Warin, not sure how to answer that question. But Warin seemed to think complete honesty was best with Tori, as he responded forthrightly, “We don’t know for sure. Cameron was the first mage we’d seen in almost five hundred years. In fact, you’re one of the handful of mages we’ve found since the war ended.”
Tori’s clear grey eyes widened, and his jaw slowly dropped. “That can’t be right. There are hundreds of mage clans! I know magic isn’t as common as it used to be—”
This would bring up a whole other argument, but Baldewin didn’t see any way around it. “Magic almost died because of the Jaeggi. They enacted a spell that traced all the main mage clans and destroyed them in one fell swoop. Only the smaller clans, like yours, have survived. They mostly went into hiding, and some did such a thorough job of it that they lost their legacy altogether. We had to tell Cameron and Cassie they were mages, that’s how much of their heritage had been lost.”
Tori looked between the two of them, brows drawn. “Wait. That’s it. That’s why you’re campaigning so hard to take me back. Because you have no mages.”
“Basically the case,” Warin admitted. “Any mage we find these days, we protect automatically. You’re far more precious than you realize, Nestori.”
“Oh hell. It makes so much more sense now.” A bitter laugh escaped him. “Even a male mage has some value to you, eh. Even one with no magical talent.”
Baldewin didn’t want to use this as an in-road to convince the mage to come with them, but his unease was strong. He didn’t like sitting here in this dank room. He didn’t like being away from his clan’s defenses when the Jaeggi were swarming like sharks scenting blood. And he truly didn’t want to stay here another minute longer. “No, that’s not the only reason. I told you, we don’t care about gender. You are a mage. That’s all that matters to us. All mages are precious to this world, whether you are mated to a dragon or not. Whether you are a magical prodigy or not. Mages represent a beauty and wonder that has been lost from this world for far too long. Your existence, your gifts, make this world a better place. And it is the duty and honor of every living dragon to protect every mage he finds. Even if you refuse to ever come to our clan, it is my honor to protect your life.”
Tori stared at him, his lips slightly parted in surprise. He wasn’t sure if Tori believed him, but at least he was listening.
“Shit,” Tori sighed, running a hand through his short hair, only to wince and jerk it away.
Baldewin got a good look at his palms and realized he was scraped up and lightly bleeding. Swearing, he immediately left the bed and knelt in front of Tori, capturing his hand to examine it. The mage flinched, and Baldewin immediately lightened his grip, making sure Tori felt free to pull completely away.
The injuries weren’t bad. Road rash. No doubt from where he’d been thrown against the pavement following the explosion. It wasn’t just his palms, but one of his knees, too. He could make out a blood stain on the left leg of his jeans.
Tori squirmed. “Stop. I’m fine. It’ll heal.”
“It needs tending, and there’s nothing here to aid with that.” The idea of having open wounds, no matter how minor, in this room made Baldewin shudder. That was just asking for an infection.
Baldewin’s heart couldn’t take much more. It had stopped when he saw the explosion, and he might have lost his temper a bit when it came to taking out those Jaeggi. He was just coming back to his senses, but the mage was injured. A mage under his protection was hurt. Frustration and a deeper ache echoed in his chest. He’d failed to keep Tori safe. The mage had already suffered so much. He needed to fix this.