Page 21 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

Less than an hour later, Leuffen arrived with a small cart. We loaded the still unconscious Ezren into it and made our way back to camp. It had only been about a fifteen-minute journey by flight to the coast, but the trip would be much longer on the way back, Leuffen informed me. We would be lucky to make it before nightfall.

Our pace was slow due to the colorful, varying beatings Leiya and I had sustained. Finally, I looked up at them, dazed. “Why? Why did he want to kill us?” I turned to Ezren’s unconscious body in the cart. He wouldn’t wake for hours. Leuffen ensured that with a dose of an unfamiliar herb concoction.

“Eh, well, he’s a wee bit unusual, fer a Fae,” Leuffen replied. “Sheften’ takes a lot from all a’ us, that’s why ye rare see us fightin’ with magic after a sheft. But Ezren here, well, et gives him somethin’ too. A thirst fer blood, ye see. Dragon shefters have never been known fer their control.”

“The last known Dragon shefter lived a millennium ago,” Leiya continued. “At the time, they were common. Dragons as a species were, too. But they were tools a’ war, ye see. Violent beasts, aye, but remarkably controllable under the rightcommand. Many Fae and Wetch alike sought out Dragons and Dragon shefters for battle. Eventually, the animal species became so brutal they wouldna’ breed and died out on their own. As fer the Fae, they were terrified a’ being used as tools a’ battle again, so they dispersed. When Ezren’s shape was discovered many years ago, his master at arms sent hem away from Viribrum. He didna’ want Ezren te fall te the same fate as many before hem.”

“How exactly does this make him violent beyond recognition?” I probed. “Is that just the curse of the Dragon?”

“He shefts very rarely—ets too risky fer others te know his form. When a’ Fae doesna spend time en their form… well, et makes the sheft very hard te control, akin te yer power. And even a practiced Dragon shefter would be dangerous, fer they have many millennia of battle bred en them. Et takes several hours for Dragon blood te clear his veins after a sheft ef he doesna have a Wetch controllin’ him.”

“Why did he save me, then? How could he, if he has no control?”

Leiya sighed. “That, I dinna’ know, lassy. We all felt the Earth move when ye split et en two. I was with hem. But how he knew ye were en trouble, I dinna’ know. He just took off flyin’. Must’ve had such a straight mission, so even hes Dragon mind knew he needed te grab ye. Now the whole camp’s aware we have a Dragon shefter, I ‘spect.”

I considered her words as we walked, remembering the last few days. “And why did he volunteer for scouting? If he can barely control his shift?”

Leuffen chucked. “Good question. That dinna’ have much more te do with anythin’ but pride, en me opinion.”

“Well, te be fair,” Leiya reasoned, “hecanbe controlled. Dane has flown hem a time or two fer such missions. Wasdrainin’ from what I gathered, fer the both a’ ‘em. Had to be spellin’ the whole time, Dane did.”

There was another question, one I didn’t want to ask, but couldn’t quite keep in. “Has he…” I trailed off, unsure of my phrasing. “Is it usual for him to become dangerous in that… that male way?”

Leuffen looked bewildered. “What’re ye referrin’ te?”

Leiya ignored him. “No. I’ve seen hem change a dozen times, many a’ them brutal, but I’ve not seen that. He’ll be feelin’ right sorry about et tomorrow.”

“What do ye lassies mean?” Leuffen asked.

“Ets none of yer business, ye oaf,” Leiya responded at the same time I said blankly, “He licked my face.”

Leuffen huffed out a sound of disturbed surprise. After that we were silent again, both of them afraid to speak, I thought.

We madeit back to camp by nightfall. Though everything looked the same, a sense of restlessness hovered over the group, like they anticipated a move.

Jana ushered us into her personal tent. From the outside, it appeared to be the standard tent size and triangular shape. The inside spread circular and wide, though, with a large bed frame, dining table, and other chamber furnishings—nothing like Ezren’s tent.

We laid Ezren on her bed. She extended her hands over his face and midsection, murmuring. His eyes blinked open, and he shot upright, wincing.

“For the gods, Leiya, you couldn’t have gone easy on me, eh?” he said, clutching his abdomen.

She gave him a weary look. “I’d usually be embarrassed te admit thes, but yer injuries are mostly Terra’s handiwork,” she said, a smirk forming behind her words.

I stood the furthest back, somewhat blocked from Ezren’s view by Leuffen’s large stature. But I saw him freeze, eyes searching the room. The burning emeralds landed on me.

A ghost of a smile flickered across Ezren’s face. “Why does that not surprise me?”

I could stand only a second of his searing gaze before I cleared my throat. “Jana, where is Dane? I’d visit him, if I may.”

“Six tents to the left of here. He is resting now. The healers have been with him all day. You can sit with him if you like.”

I nodded. I had prayed on the walk back that Dane was unharmed, but alive was better than dead. I darted for the exit, feeling the urgency of leaving that tent before it threatened to swallow me whole.

CHAPTER TEN

HUMAN HEART

Ipeeked my head into the sixth tent. The inside also contrasted with the deceptively small exterior frame but less so than Jana’s. A young Witch, one of the original six that had taken me from Argention, sat in a large chair next to Dane’s bed, his limp hand in hers. She looked young, maybe fourteen or fifteen at the most. Light strawberry hair exploded around her unmarked, round face. She shot up from the chair upon my entrance, stumbling into a half curtsy.

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