Page 217 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
They met with other leaders in secret, sorting out allies from enemies and searching for those they could trust with the truth. But time was running out, and Alezya was growing frustrated. It wasn’t just about being trapped indoors, confined to a handful of caves so she and Niiru wouldn’t risk encountering someone who might inadvertently spread the word. After all, she had been in tighter spaces before. What unnerved her was how little she knew about what was happening and how powerless she felt because of it.
The Munsa Clan’s mountain was low, offering little view of the south, and each day spent waiting only made her more anxious. If not for the very real risk of being struck down by an arrow the moment she stepped outside, she would have left long ago or attended the gatherings herself. She only held back because one wrong move wouldn’t just endanger her and Niiru, but the entire Munsa Clan as well. These people had been good to her, and she knew they were working tirelessly to secure meetings with clan leaders she could trust, but it wasn’t enough. How many more clans would be forced from their homes in the meantime?
The Dragon Clan was advancing at an alarming pace, and some clans were fleeing before they even arrived. The pressure was mounting, Alezya could feel the situation spiraling further out of control every day, and being confined to a cave did not sit well with her.
“Let’s go, Niiru,” she called to the young dragon.
Their little duo had been assigned to a tiny cave, either to give her some privacy or to keep her away from curious eyes. Either way, Alezya appreciated the gesture, but quiet was the last thing she needed at that moment. She quickly climbed down to reach the lower caves, Niiru sticking to her side as the young dragon had for the last couple of days. Whenever given the occasion, Niiru would play with the Munsa Clan children, but it never let Alezya out of its sight; if she was going somewhere, Niiru would follow like a little shadow. Thus, many children were delighted with Alezya’s arrival into the main cave, and Niiru ran off to play in the water right away while she walked toward the gathering of elders.
“Ekata,” she greeted the female Clan Chief upon seeing her there. “Any news?”
“Good and bad,” Ekata said, standing up from the circle. “I was about to come and get you. The Dragon Clan attacked its ninth mountain today. Two of those they raided were empty, but they seem to stop at sundown, like before. I think you were right; they’re searching for you. There are too few clans reporting deaths, except for the Deklaan Clan, which claims half their warriors were brutally massacred, but it doesn’t match the others, and I wouldn’t trust a single word that comes out of your father’s mouth.”
“Neither would I,” Alezya nodded. “So? What’s the word out there? What are the clans doing?”
“Fighting over what to do, as usual,” Ekata grimaced. “Your father seemed to be really raising an army, with an‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us’ mindset that is seriously irking some and making other clans feel intimidated. I wish I could say many are ignoring him, but there’s too much unrest. Even if there are many survivors, no one wants to wait for the Dragon Clan to get to them. Since the dragon isn’t attacking, many think we stand a chance.”
“We don’t,” Alezya said. “Kein would take seconds to annihilate them all!”
“That’s not all,” Ekata sighed. “There are accounts of... small dragons attacking with them. People disagreed on how many small dragons there were, so the information was confusing, but they all agreed small dragons were charging in with the Dragon Clan. Some said a dozen, others three or four... Either way, the Dragon Clan is unleashing them in the mountains and causing chaos. Do you know anything about that?”
Alezya’s jaw dropped, and her eyes drifted toward Niiru, who was playing in the water with the children again. She remembered a conversation she’d had with Kassein, or at least some sentences she’d tried to understand. His siblings had dragons, and his siblings’ children had dragons... Were they using baby dragons, like Niiru? Why? Because Kein and Kiki were too big to attack inside the mountains? Why would they finally decide to send dragons inside? Had Kassein lost patience and summoned smaller dragons to attack the clans?
“I-I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I knew small dragons existed, young dragons like Niiru, but... I-I don’t know.”
“Well, the fact that you were right and there are more dragons than we know is also scaring the other clans,” Ekata explained, “and your father keeps trying to convince everyone that everything will stop if you die.”
“I can make it stop,” Alezya declared confidently, “but not with my death. I can tell Kassein, I mean, their Clan Chief, to stop the attacks. I promise. He listens to me.”
Or at least she hoped he still would, and she hoped they were right in thinking the attacks were mainly to find her.
“I trust you, Alezya. Trust me, we believe you; we’ve seen how the small dragon is with you and what happened at the gathering. The problem is, it is tough to convince the other clans when we can’t outright tell them that we’ve got you. Wedon’t even have enough time to meet those we can convince; the situation is evolving minute by minute. As soon as the daylight comes, the Dragon Clan starts attacking, and every clan starts freaking out, thinking that they’re next. At this rate, the Dragon Clan might even reach us in three or four days.”
“Let me help,” Alezya insisted. “Please, just let me talk to the clan chiefs who might listen. If I just tell them–”
“I know,” Ekata said, raising a hand to interrupt her. “That’s our plan, and I was about to come get you for that purpose. We don’t have much time, and Ekut is talking to some clan chiefs we think we can trust. We’re having a gathering in a clearing a couple of hours from here. We picked a place not too far from the Dragon Clan to show them we’re not afraid, and we believe our claim.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That we know how to prevent attacks from the Dragon Clan and that Darak’s word is goat shit. Trust me, they are very much inclined to believe the latter. But I need to bring you there this time.”
“That’s what I want,” Alezya gave her a firm nod. “I’ll convince them.”
“I hope so,” Ekata sighed. “This is a big risk we’re all taking, Alezya. If we are attacked...”
“I know,” she muttered.
Alezya had spent enough time with the Munsa Clan to know they weren’t fighters. They did have some men who could be decent fighters, but compared to other clans, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Unlike clans like hers, they had never been bothered much by the dragon, and they relied more on how unremarkable their mountain was to avoid fighting with their neighbors. With much of the Munsa Clan’s strategy being about remaining unnoticed, it was already remarkable that they weregoing to such lengths to stop the war with the Dragon Clan and her father’s plans.
“You should bring the small dragon,” Ekata said after a beat. “We’ll give you a bag to carry it.”
Thankfully, Niiru was small enough that the young dragon would fit into a large leather bag that Alezya could put on her shoulder.
She wasn’t sure how long the young dragon would endure being stuck in there, but at least it got in and out of the bag when she asked it to without a fuss. She packed a few dried fish for the road, and just like that, she, Ekata, and a handful of the Munsa Clan’s fighters left the caves of their clan to meet the others.
While in the tunnels, they let Niiru roam around them, sometimes rushing ahead but always coming back to keep Alezya in sight or when she whistled for the small dragon. She felt strangely pleased with how obedient the young dragon was and with the admirative looks of the Munsa Clan people whenever Niiru came back to rub its warm scales against her ankles, its big eyes looking up at her.
For whatever reason, the young dragon seemed to obey and adore her the same way Kein did, sticking to her side unprompted even when she could tell it was dying to run off and explore. It was for the best, however, given that they had now left the Munsa Clan territory and were navigating through unclaimed, neutral tunnels.
