Page 77 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
Galadon turned and left, shutting her out of his mind.
He found Bailey and Rayna a few minutes later, sitting together on a street curb and talking quietly. The others from their group were on the grass not far from them, thankfully alive, though covered in blood and injuries. It was a testament to their fighting skills that they’d survived the assault for as long as they had until help arrived.
Conrad nodded at him. “Good job, big guy. Thanks for havin’ my back out there.”
At one point during the battle, the male slayer had received a blow to the head that had knocked him unconscious for a few seconds. Galadon had chomped the tail of a Kandoran about to finish him and flung the beast across the battlefield. He wasn’t fond of this vexatious man, but Bailey liked him for some odd reason. It seemed like the right thing to do by keeping him alive. Not to mention, he was the primary guardian of the orb, which was supposed to help them defeat the Kandoran somehow.
Galadon shifted into his human form, calling forth his clothing from shiggara.
“I did it for her,” he said gruffly, gesturing toward Bailey. “Not for you.”
Conrad laughed. “And here I thought I’d grown on you.”
Galadon snorted hard enough for a puff of steam to escape his nostrils.
Titan gripped his injured side as he laughed. “Perhaps like a terrible fungus.”
“Or mold,” Freya said drolly. She held a bandage over her knee, which had been crushed when she had fallen from the sky and hit the ground. He’d spotted bone protruding earlier.
Conrad lifted a brow as he pretended to glower at them. “Glad I can help you guys find common ground to bond.”
“That’s your specialty,” Bailey said from her seat at the curb.
Galadon wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to these strange conversations. Despite the insults, Conrad didn’t seem bothered, and everyone else appeared happy to banter about unimportant matters. For Zorya’s sake, they had just fought a brutal battleandwere all wounded. How could they make jokes at such a time?
A female shifter with a petite, toned body, blue-black hair cut to shoulder-length, and light olive skin approached him. She wore the typical camrium warrior garb. Galadon had only seen her in passing but recognized her as from the Taugud. Ozara had a young daughter with Lorcan. What was she doing arriving with the Craegud?
“I heard the meeting with your mother didn’t go well,” she said, giving him a contrite look. “My apologies. Under the circumstances, there was no way to warn you ahead of time.”
He frowned. “You traveled with them from the west?”
“Yes. Aidan sent me to plead for their support.”
Confusion filled him. “Only you? Traveling for that distance?”
Galadon couldn’t imagine what possessed the pendragon to send a lone female so far away, especially since she had a young child. Anything could have happened to her during the journey, and there were no guarantees she’d gain the support she requested.
“We had little choice.” She shrugged. “But it’s a complicated story I’d rather not get into here. The important part is I succeeded, and we arrived at the right time.”
That much was true. They wouldn’t have lasted another five minutes if the Craegud hadn’t shown up and would have all died. The timing had been eerily perfect, especially after such a long journey that could have had many complications.
“Do not worry about my mother. It is my problem and no one else’s.” He paused, recognizing his tone was gruff. “I appreciate your concern.”
Ozara dipped her chin. “Of course.”
Bailey limped over to join them, clutching at her side. She looked at Ozara. “Since you know the Craegud better, can you see if one of their healers can help us? I saw someone got to Eliam quickly, but Freya and Titan can’t fly, and none of us are in any shape to travel long distances.”
Certainly, Aidan’s mate would have trouble being carried with broken ribs.
“My mother should be finished healing Eliam soon,” Galadon said, gesturing toward the shifter a couple hundred feet away. “She can help some of you after that.”
“Your mother is a healer?” Bailey asked, surprised.
He nodded. “She is among the most powerful, though I didn’t inherit her gift.”
Magical powers usually jumped generations, so instead, he received his seer talent from his paternal grandfatherand his control of theweather from his maternal great-grandmother. In addition to that, he had several other minor skills. A dragon inheriting rare gifts from both sides of the family was almost unheard of, which was partly why the toriqan for both his parents rejected him when his abilities came to light. According to his mother, it went even deeper than that. Galadon didn’t know if he wanted to hear the whole story or if it even mattered.
“You inherited what you needed,” the slayer said sagely.
