Page 119 of The Exiled Dragon

“Is that his?” Alaneo giggled like a little girl until Melina cried in laughter. “That is great! Who did this!? I need a camera!” Shaking my head, I tapped Creed’s shoulder.

“Can we leave now? I think I’m done here.” He rubbed the side of my head, placing a chaste kiss on my forehead.

We climbed out of the hole in the middle of the forest, only to be met with dead bodies lying on the ground in pools of blood. A fire had started, and pieces of Vampires were being put on top of the blaze. I rubbed my arms together, trying to seek warmth even though I knew my Dragon could keep me warm.. It was now a new nervous habit that I needed to break.

King Osirus pointed his sword to various piles of Vampires while the dead Witches and Warlocks were pulled out of the forest and into an open clearing to decide what to do with them. Witches and Vampires that were captured were bound, gagged, and sat up against trees.

Grabbing onto Creed’s arm, I looked at the Vampires still awake and watching us intently. “They can’t break out of those bindings.” Alaneo stood beside me. “Remember, dogwood is impossible for them to break. They will return to the palace and stay in the dungeons until we figure out if they know anything.” I hummed, watching part of Osirus’ army continue with their duties.

From the corner of my eye, a person with green skin picked up a lifeless body to move to the others. He was tall, obviously green, with tusks protruding from his jaw. He didn’t strike my fancy, but I could see some human women might like him.

“Creed.” I pulled his arm, pointing to the creature. “Who are they?”

“Orcs,” he grunted. “For two years, these creatures have let the Vampires in. Their dark magic didn’t work on them, so they had to become friendly. Once the Orcs found out they were bringing in humans, using them for blood when they did not give permission, the Orcs attacked. The memory powder the rogues used on us before your dragon started bringing the magic back doesn’t work on Orcs. No magic does. Glamour spells cloaked the bunker and the entrance where you stayed, so they couldn’t help us find you, but they wanted to help.

“Are they going to fight in the big war that could be coming?” I bit my fingernail. If this were true, they could be of great help if black magic didn’t affect them. We might have a fighting chance if there were more of them. So far, I have only seen three. Surely it wasn’t just the three fighting against all these supernaturals enhanced by black magic?

“They are powerful, mostly muscle, but they are swift as well. Plenty of power in their steps. They remind me of small Dragon Alphas with immunity to magic,” Alaneo added.

“They wish to strike a deal if they help. I know nothing about it. I followed my heart to you as quickly as I could once I felt the light leave my chest.” Creed touched my face with the pads of his thumbs.

He makes me melt.

“You felt the light, too?” I craned my neck back to get a better look at my mate.

“Yes, it came straight from here.” He traced his chest. “I received great power from it. I jumped the wall, and it pulled me right to you.” Creed and I were connected much more than I realized. We both really made each other stronger with this special bond.

Osirus sheathed his sword, walking towards us with a lightened step. Melina flew to him, planting a kiss on his cheek and fluttering to the ground. “You are lucky this was quick, darling. Otherwise, you would have walked into a bloodbath.” Melina stuck out her lip, which Osirus immediately took after with a swift kiss.

“I knew it was over. I flew overhead. Those orcs pack a punch.” Osirus stopped in front of us, letting out a mighty sigh.

“T-thank you, King Osirus. Thank you for coming for me.” Osirus’ smirk ran up his cheek. He held his hand for me to take and quickly placed his other hand on top.

“I think you are the one that should receive thanks. You wielded your magic, causing the black magic to run dry on the rogues. I believe the light from Creed that you had procured weakened the small band here. This is magic that will take care of us in the future.” Tilting my head to the side, I did not know what he was talking about.

“You will play a major part in this war. Maybe you don’t see it now, but you are strong, Odessa. I urge you to continue your lessons with Cyrene.”

“Hey!” Melina interrupted. “How did you know?”

“I know everything, darling. You are an open book. A smutty book, at that.” Melina’s face blushed, turning her face away.

“I just want to go home, back to our cave. I don’t want to fight.” I laced my fingers with Creed’s. He only squeezed in response, but the look in his eye told me there was much more for us to discuss.

King Osirus commanded the soldiers in the area to destroy the remaining dead bodies. Melina explained how the three Orcs, Sugha, Valpar, and Thorn, helped them. They all had raging muscles, at least seven feet tall, maybe 8, and had crazy hair and tattoos on their bodies. Massive swords, clubs, and spears hung on their backs, thick bindings on their arms and legs to use as armor. Not that they were needed, as Melina put it.

They were cousins of Ogres, so to speak, except these Orcs were not hostile and didn’t dare to do unspeakable things to women or children. The Orcs had found humans that had escaped during transport to this new secret bunker, mostly males because the females were too weak to keep up. The males now lived within their tribe in their own huts.

Once the males were strong enough, they led the orcs back to where they thought the bunker was, only to be greeted by more forest. The glamour spell the rogues had cast kept even the Orcs away.

More humans were here, hidden, and finding the rest of the women would be much easier since Creed found me using the same hole he dug into.

“Men, here!” Osirus pointed to the hole Creed had created. Soldier Faes dropped in, carrying their swords, and the Orcs followed.

The Orcs were eager to find the rest of the humans. For that, I was grateful. I still felt terrible that the rest of the humans all had to suffer so much over the past month, even if they weren’t relatively nice to me.

“They want women.” Osirus walked to us as he watched his men jump in. “There are no female Orcs anymore. They all died of sickness.” My mouth hung open as I turned to glare at Osirus.

“Don’t tell me you promised the women to them, did you!?” I squealed. Osirus stood back, holding up his hands.

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