“We have an agreement. All the Jinn commanders have accepted the treaty and will act on it immediately.” Theros stood on the bench and motioned for everyone around him to listen. He got their instant attention, and Luc was impressed by the respect this Jinn captain commanded of his people. “My friends, King Alric is annexing these lands under his banner, but ceding the holding to us. Each Jinn company will be responsible for a part of this land, formerly known as wasteland, forming towns and communities here in the buffer zone between Alric’s original domain and the northern neighbors. We will police these towns, and our companies will have real homes.” A cheer went up from the assembled Jinn fighters that went on for a long moment. It was clear to Luc that the fighters were overwhelmingly in favor of the deal.
Theros went on after the cheering died down a bit. “We’ll talk more about the logistics later, but for now, our new liege lord needs our help in repelling the rabble that is even now marching on his old border. To arms and mount up! We ride within the hour.” He was already moving as the mercenaries rallied to action.
One minute, they were all listening to Theros’ stirring speech. The next, there was purposeful shouting of orders among the mercs as the group burst into activity. Those who hadn’t been witness to Theros’ words were told of them by others, and the mobilization orders trickled throughout the camp. What had been a camp at rest, watching others move out around them, suddenly became a hive of activity. It was clear to Luc that the former look of the camp had been a ruse. These fighters were ready for action and had just been awaiting orders.
“I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t quite this,” Lilly commented as they stood in the center of the encampment, watching the Jinn mercenaries moving purposefully around them.
“Looks like we woke the sleeping snowcat,” Luc agreed.
“Yes, and now, it’s ignoring us in favor of bigger game to hunt,” Lilly mused, grinning slightly as she watched a warrior bristling with weapons trotting off toward the string of horses they’d seen picketed at one side of the camp. Then, she frowned slightly. “I should be riding out with them.”
Luc was taken aback. He’d gotten so used to Lilly being with him that he’d almost forgotten she was a warrior sworn to the service of King Alric. He understood that she wanted to be in on the fight, but he felt torn. Luc wanted her with him.
“There’s no help for it now,” he told her gently. “When Shilayla returns, we’ll be in the thick of things. You can probably do more with Shi and me than on your own with these mercs and no horse.”
Lilly turned to look at him and nodded. “You’re right. I’m just impatient to be part of this. It’s the first real invasion we’ve had to repel in my lifetime. In Alric’s reign, too. I want to be sure I do my part to help him keep his throne.”
“You’ve already done more in bringing him two powerful new alliances than anyone else,” Luc reminded her. “But do not fear. We will do more. We are not giving up now.”
Just at that moment, Shilayla’s thoughts broke into their conversation, coming into both of their minds. “Your brother comes! Detlif and Grennulf, plus other pairs from their Guard battalion.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Thanks be to the Mother of All,” Luc said softly, shaking his head with relief. “Do you know how many?” he asked Shilayla as she winged into view, a small white dot in the distance.
“Many,” she replied quickly, growing bigger with every wingbeat. “Very many. And some of the ice dragons are coming, too. They are interested in what goes on here and would help King Alric, whom they respect as a good King for his people. They have not liked the mercenaries being here. Some have intruded on their ice caves and been dealt with, but others still try the same thing. The situation has been getting worse, day by day, and the ice dragons are glad to see the mercenaries moving but concerned for the people living along Alric’s border who have been kind to the ice dragons. Apparently, some of the farmers have been leaving offerings of livestock and food in the wasteland. One of them is able to communicate with dragons and made it clear the gifts were an offer of friendship.”
Luc’s eyebrows rose at that statement. He hadn’t expected anyone to have had contact with the ice dragons, who were notoriously reclusive, yet some enterprising farmer had gone out and made contact. More than that, they’d been neighborly and made friends among the group of eccentric dragons.
Luc spotted Shilayla winging closer and moved to the edge of the clearing that had been full of mercs just a few minutes ago. They certainly moved fast once given orders. Even now, he could see the first of the Jinn mercenaries heading out of the camp at a trot, their horses arranged in some kind of formation.
“Can you suggest to the dragons that they might want to take the high ground on the rocks along the riverbank?” Lilly said, checking her weapons and securing her hat in place in preparation for flight. She’d become quite the dragon rider in their time together, Luc realized.
“I will pass along the message to my brother, but you’ve met him. He does what he likes. It’s rare that he takes any advice from me,” Luc admitted. “Still, from the air, your plan looks sound. It’s probably what he’d decide to do anyway.”
“So, Detlif is in charge?” Lilly seemed to want to make sure she had her facts right.
Luc nodded as Shilayla arrowed down toward them. “He is the Guard Captain. He is the ultimate commander in any battle where we and our heartmates fight.”
Lilly nodded. “I thought so, but I wanted to be certain. As Scout Captain, do you come under his authority, as well?”
“This is a unique situation. If more scouts were here, I would be their leader, and I suppose we would function under Det’s overall command, but the Scouts and the Guard have very different missions, and we do not generally fight in the same battles. Historically, when the Guard goes off to fight, the Scouts stay behind to protect those under the Veil. I do not know of any battle in recent memory where both Scouts and Guard have fought together,” he replied, even as he watched Shilayla’s approach.
The dragoness landed fast and waited impatiently while Luc and Lilly mounted. Within moments, she was airborne again. She carved a path through the sky as she raced to meet up with the ice dragons who were now visible rising from the mountains to the west. They were visible by the glint of light reflected off their shiny scales and their massive size. They were among the biggest dragons Luc had ever seen.
“The leader of the ice dragons is a female named Essalynn. She is the matriarch of this brood, and several of those who agreed to help are her offspring,” Shilayla told them as they sped through the sky.
Luc was intrigued. He knew very little of ice dragon society. It sounded like they organized themselves a bit differently than the dragons he knew. He hoped to learn more, but first, they had an invasion to stop.
“Lady Essalynn,” Shilayla said, including Luc and Lilly in her address of the ice dragon matriarch as they drew closer together in the sky. “I have retrieved my heartmate, Luc, who is Scout Captain of the Veil, and Lilly, who came to us on behalf of King Alric. She is his trusted messenger and can speak with our kind.”