Page 43 of The Exiled Dragon

“Some slave to the Duke in Vermillion,” he rasped. “Please let me go.” I snarled, my fire burning into my neck.

“What slave?” I pushed.

“A girl named Odessa. She is the Duke’s old blood bag. She is supposed to become the duchess. Taking her as a mate.” His breathing was labored, spitting out blood from his mouth. Blood pooled at the base of the tree, surely a gash in his gut.

“Why are there so many of you?” My claws sunk into the dirt, trying to keep my Dragon from killing him too soon.

“Reward, big reward for her return.” I hissed, stomping away as his heartbeat faded behind me. He would not survive the night. As I left the bloody battle, the worst Dragon to stumble upon me showed up.

Adam.

His red Dragon lit up the area, the snow falling from his head. He had been watching the entire time since the snow had built up enough to fall off his horns. I had hoped he had not seen or smelled Odessa before she ran off. “Bravo,” his Dragon spoke. His voice did not rumble as mine. It was smooth and slick, like the true snake he was. “I see you are taking your position of protecting the tribe more seriously.”

My Dragon hissed at his words. “You told them they could look,” my Dragon argued. “You are going back on your word for the Dragons to look for the girl.” Adam’s Dragon shrugged. His Dragon sniffed the remains of the Fairies that turned back into their smaller form.

“The quicker they find the girl, the quicker they are out of our scales.”

“This could lead to Vampires and the Witches coming here. You know that? They could disguise themselves just like they did a few weeks ago!” I roared out my complaint. “We are under the Cerulean Moon Kingdom’s jurisdiction. We are to protect unknown species, especially humans.”

Adam licked the blood in the snow. “I know,” Adam spoke uncaringly. “We are doing this my way. Get rid of the girl and rid of the Vampires. We don’t need to rely on a bunch of other Shifters. We are the superior race.”

“We are not,” I snapped. Adam’s Dragon snarled, stomping towards me. My Dragon stood a full head taller as we stared into the Alpha’s eyes. We were challenging him, but it would be in vain without an audience.

“Watch it, half-brother,” he snapped. “I can make your life a lot worse.” I squinted my eyes, still not wavering. I would normally give up by this time, but now I had a new cause to fight for Odessa’s safety. My Dragon stood tall, huffing smoke into the red Dragon’s eyes.

“The dark Fairies will scout the mountain. If they come into the territory, you leave them be. I was just enjoying a brief show and will let the tribe know you killed some innocent Fairies trying to do their jobs,” he snarled.

My face remained neutral, not caring about the tribe any longer. I was tired of being beaten down. He had his claws in every one of his people to listen to every hanging word. He was just riding out on his father’s good name.

Adam’s fleeting figure had me turn to the blood in the snow. The falling snow quickly covered the blood, and my breath sighed in relief. Now I had to find my Odessa and pray she was all right.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Creed

OnceAdam’ssmellleftthe area, I returned to the narrow clearing where I chopped wood. The trees I had selected to discard for the fire were barely holding up. This would leave fresh new trees to grow in its place. I pulled on my spare cloak, my cloth covering my nakedness was still around my hips, but my leathers to cover my legs were gone. I was not expecting to shift while hiding in the small ravine cutting down trees. This proved to be a terrible mistake. I will be sure to always be prepared when my fawn is with me. Even with my warm body and my comfortableness walking around in just my cloth, Odessa would always become flustered, becoming a bright shade of pink.

Maybe I should just forget my leathers. My Dragon agreed wholeheartedly.

Hoping that the search for Odessa had slowed, I was mistaken again. The Duke was set on having Odessa, and the next steps would be futile to make him believe she was dead. I still held onto the rags of her dress from the first night, unable to part with it. It was to be a reminder to me of the life she once had and that I needed to give her everything she would ever want, along with my protection. With those rags, I will have to leave them in a nearby stream for some poor soul to find. Once they brought it back to the Duke, the searching could cease.

Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I kept my footsteps light crossing into the snow-filled forest. The snow had grown heavy, faster than what I expected even with all the signs from the mountain it was coming. The snow had dulled Odessa’s smell, but not enough that I could not find her. Razak had taken her on a series of paths leading away from the scuffle. The animal would have to be rewarded for his endeavors.

Unfortunately, their smell hit the edge of the forest just past the mountainous terrain. Kneeling to the ground, my hand rubbed the dirt, and I brought it to my nose. She had fallen off into the mud. It was too warm below the mountain; now heavy drifts of fog and rain had washed away her smell. Now running into a jog, the quickness of the turn of their aromas headed back towards the forest foothills. Running faster, now losing more of her smell, it stopped suddenly again. Razak’s body odor was buried deep into the fallen leaves, and that was when I smelled it. The faint smell of tinged blood. It was not Razak’s. I had smelled this time and time again. This was my fawn’s, the same smell that came from her the night we first met. It was not much, maybe a scratch. Even so, my fawn was hurt.

Gripping my fist, pounding the ground with my fist, I abruptly landed on a dart-like device. A sharp needle with properly groomed feathers on a small stake. Sniffing the needle, I knew exactly what it was. Klotrotoxin is a poison made by crushing two leaves together into a paste, found in the Elven Territories.

My fawn was taken by the Elves.

My Dragon growled low, his claws reaching my mind's forefront. Elves believed every gossiping Fairy traveler of my supposed transgressions. If Odessa had mentioned my name, they could take her from me, or worse, take her to Adam, who looks like a golden Dragon to all the nations. He then would gain the reward I’m sure he wants to take from the Duke.

Taking off into a sprint, my Dragon waited no longer. We shifted quickly. He would fight to the death of anyone between our fawn and us. We wove through the trees, leaving them unscathed and flame-free, preserving our home. Even their own home of the innocent children and women who had no part in taking Odessa would be harmed. I wasn’t heartless. I wouldn’t hurt the innocent.

That doesn’t go to say for those who laid a hand on her.

Fast as the black smoke of the campfire fleeting into the night. I arrived at the village's border that lay deep within the Elven forest. Not one scout detected me, not yet anyway. That is until I let the beat of my own heart become loud, and my claw pinched the dirt between my clawed toes as I entered the clearing. Smoke trails came out of my nostrils, my tongue sniffing the air. Ruminants of Odessa were still fleeting around the area, but no powerful sense of where she could be.

Screams from children and women pierced my ears, causing a slight shake of my horns. The black feather-like fluff down my neck stiffened, standing straight up. A loud roar ripped through my throat as the warriors of the Elven tribe gathered with their pathetic spears, laced with the poison they had touched my Odessa with.

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