Page 7 of Fortune's Blade

A new group took that moment to burst onto the scene, and I had no idea who or even what they were. They looked like a cross between dragons and humans, but not in the way that Claire did. She had tell-tale signs in human form of her other lineage, like faint lilac in the hollows of her cheeks and over her eyes that had nothing to do with make-up, but for the most part, you couldn’t tell.

Not so with these guys.

They were humanoid, although larger by a good two feet and several hundred pounds, but were covered in the bumpy skin that I’d seen under the black and yellow dragon’s missing scales. They were subdued in coloring, mostly greens and grays with huge, dark eyes. But the biggest difference was the head.

It was smoother than those of their scaley cousins, without all the intricate crests and ridges. But it was undeniably a dragon head. Which looked exactly as terrifying as you’d expect on a human body.

They also had tails, stumpy little things, and were riding the animal-type dragons with saddles and bridles as if they were horses. They were small in comparison to their scaley cousins, but there were about a hundred of them. And they had long spear-like weapons that seemed to be electrified, judging by the sparks they let off and the shriek that the black and yellow male gave when several targeted him.

It was a shock, not a killing blow, but he wheeled away nonetheless, his cries echoing over the mountains. One of the humanoid dragons paused by our railing, his mount snarling and snorting as it fought against the reins. He was wearing a tabard over his scales, like some sort of uniform, and had on leather gauntlets and boots.

I just stared at him.

“Stay inside,” he said, his voice harsh and guttural, but clear enough.

And then we had to jump back as the shutters came rattling down, right in our faces.

I stayed inside, but through gaps in the lattice I watched the guards, which was what I guessed they were, clearing the area. Most of their larger cousins had already fled, but a small group had decided to be belligerent. And for a moment, I didn’t know who would win.

Really didn’t, I thought, my fingers tightening on gaps in the lattice as one of the guards got knocked off his mount by a viciously swinging tail, and was only saved when another, situated slightly below, managed to snag him out of the air. Several more were chased off by the bright red dragon with the sunset stomach, and another fell along with his mount when its head was bitten off by the red and green version. Blood spurted onto the clear, cold air, bright as rubies against the pale blue sky, and dragons’ screeches echoed everywhere.

But the rest of the guards rallied, and circled three of the biggest offenders, shocking the hell out of them with multiple weapons at a time. Causing them to screech and flap and, ultimately, to peel off. The conflict didn’t last long, after that.

“Come away,” Louis-Cesare said softly.

But I stayed for another moment, to watch half of the remaining guards clear the skies, and the rest start flooding downward, their mounts’ wings tucked close to their bodies, their faces impassive.

On the way to retrieve their dead.

“I’m beginning to understand why our host came to get us himself,” I said, and then turned and strode inside.

Chapter Three

Dorina

“Let me out! Goddamnit, do you hear me?”

“He is becoming very loud,” I said, glancing back at the curly haired man in the cage behind us.

It was quite a sight, as the cage in question was perched on the back of a gigantic land crab like the one that my companion and I were riding. The creatures were used by the local fey for transport, as their home was the same huge forest that we were traveling through, and which they could navigate either on the ground or by scuttling through the treetops. We were on the ground at present, following a trail that was wide and well-known to our companions and was considered safe.

Or as safe as anything here.

“He’s an asshole,” Ray, my partner on this adventure, yelled back over his shoulder. “And an idiot who doesn’t realize that he’s only making things worse for himself!”

“I’ve been kidnapped, trussed up like a turkey, and am currently in prison!” the man shouted back. “Would you like to tell me how much worse it can get?”

“You’re gonna find out,” Ray muttered, obviously tired of the constant back and forth.

I did not blame him, as the conversation had been going on for days with no particular point that I could see. The fey were not likely to release a master vampire who they had caught prowling around their lands, particularly the dark fey, who had more than sufficient reason not to trust outsiders. And not when said master, instead of trying to make friends and reassure them, kept trying to escape, forcing them to chase after him.

They had finally dumped him in one of the cages they used for transporting exotic animals, which they occasionally stumbled upon and trapped for the royal court, and were taking him to their queen. They had told Ray that she would decide his fate, which seemed fair. Only he did not seem to think so.

Perhaps because Ray and I were also outsiders, as the captive man continually pointed out, and Ray was another master, and yet we were not trussed up.

“Such is the power of Little Debbies,” Ray had said, referencing one of the more popular items he traded with the fey.

He’d been a smuggler for years, although not to the highborn type of fey, which was where most of the trade from Earth went. The great houses who ruled much of Faerie had contacts who supplied them with whatever human items they required. That was technically illegal, but the Vampire Senate was not above such things, and I strongly suspected that the Silver Circle, the leading society of mages, felt the same.

---