Page 39 of The Exiled Dragon

“Lore, get over here and at least stand by her. We will lead her back.” Jhaan ignored me, taking the lead of the small band of Elves leading me further away from the mountain I had grown so fond of.

“I need to get back! Just get out of my way. If you are so scared of Creed, then you know he will come hunt for me!” Jhaan stopped, and turned, scowling me. It wasn’t intimidating since he was my height, so it didn’t stop me from kneeing him in his crotch. Several elves laughed, grabbing my shoulders and holding me back in place. I struggled. Jhaan chuckled hoarsely.

“Maybe she is in trouble.” He stood up, using his hands on his knees to push him back to standing. “What’s your name?”

“Odessa,” I snapped. My breath hitched, then cringed. I shouldn’t have said that. The Vampires could have spread my name throughout the land in search of me. Great.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

Jhaan hand continued to hold his crotch, ready for me to strike again. “We are going to help save you from his inhumanity. Now, you should be fine if you listen to what we say. Now come on.”

“I don’t want to be saved!” I yelled, “I want to go back. Now let me go!” The elves continued to pull me deeper into the forest, Fluffy being dragged behind us on a makeshift stretcher. I really hoped they wouldn’t eat him, and I would be sure that wouldn’t happen. What kind of weird people would eat a pet!?

The large branches and vines covered the little light the suns could penetrate through the forest. Small beams of light hit on the trunks of the trees as we passed. Daine stayed close to me, too close for comfort. I didn’t feel like he didn’t have malicious intentions, but the only man I was comfortable with was Creed, and this Elf was different. I felt like he believed me but didn’t want to trust him. Just not yet.

All the Elves wore the same clothing, wrapped in brown or green leaf-like material. It was stretchy, using any movement they wanted like a second skin.

Some had decorations of tattoos, but not black like Creed’s. They were in colors of purples and blues. Some had braids in their hair, but most wore their hair long. Besides the half updo some had to pull it away from their faces. The little boy sported a large smock-like attire. His crazy hair didn’t look brushed, and looked like he was one with the forest. They all were barefoot, their feet still relatively clean even with the dirty soil beneath them. The small glow of their feet as they touched the ground made me wonder.

Daine watched me intently. He certainly was more flamboyant than the others and his attitude to me was certainly more friendly. Out of all the Elves, he wore the most color. There was brightly colored thread wrapped around a few tendrils of hair, some parts dyed in light blue and purple.

“Are we the first Elves you have seen?” Daine burst with excitement. I only nodded, feeling like I should revert to my submissive ways like with the Vampires. It got me to survive. Pain was not as bad as it could have been. It also got me away after they would never have expected I would slit the Duke’s throat. After being with Creed, however, my thoughts only drifted to him and the urgency to get back. The first chance I get to escape, I would, but I would have to wait until Fluffy woke up.

“Wow, and you had to meet us first, the protectors of the east side territory, you lucky thing,” he cooed. He tried to grab my hand again, but I pulled away.

“Stop that,” I hissed.

“Why? Do you think I am going to hurt you?” His lip curled around one side of his face. “Because I won’t. I’ll make sure you’re fine and taken care of.”

“I’ve heard that before,” I muttered under my breath. The Duke told me many times I would be taken care of, and I got stuck in just a bigger cage and only dolled up to meet him in the feeding room. Yeah, that was really taking care of me.

“I’m serious,” Daine said, holding pain in his eyes. “Do you really not trust me?” I wanted to trust him. I wanted to believe there were good people in this place other than Creed, but the track record was not going so well.

“Well, let’s see,” I began. “I try to get away from your territory, and I get shot with a dart that would kill me if you didn’t give me the antidote. You guys think I’m a rogue, but I’m not. I’m with Creed, and now you want me to forget the only person I care about? So no, I don’t trust you,” I snapped.

Daine’s shoulders slumped. “All right, we got off on the dirty foot. It’s just that rogues are everywhere right now, and we must be careful. Magic is going odd, and we no longer know who is who. Some Witches can be vile.” The sadness in his voice made me soften. I didn’t enjoy talking harshly, but I was worried about Creed. I needed to get back to him.

Was he all right? Were the Vampires after him, or was it something else entirely? My heart squeezed in my chest, thinking he was hurt somewhere. Alone. I didn’t want him to feel alone.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Daine’s arm went around my cloak. With the heavy drizzle, almost rain, mud had washed away, but also Creed’s comforting smell. I continued to slip on the ground below me, but the Elves walked like this was a regular occurrence, walking gracefully.

“I just want to go back. I had to run away because Creed was fighting something off and wanted to ensure I was safe.” Jhaan looked behind him. His thick braided hair swung again, hitting Lore in the face. The little boy began giggling hysterically while Lore hissed at the antics.

“Listen.” Jhaan did a complete turn to look me straight in the eye. His eyes wandered at my dirtied cloak, and bit back a grimace. “I just want to make sure you are okay. We are sorry about earlier. Please let us have you checked out, and then we will figure out what to do next.”

I wanted to believe Jhaan’s words but couldn’t bring myself to. I didn’t trust anyone, not the same trust I had in Creed the morning he helped me. Sucking in a breath, I let it out slowly. “Fine, but I need to get back. I need to find Creed.” Jhaan didn’t look convinced. He continued leading the way while Daine glanced at me several times.

“What’s a rogue?” I spoke to Daine, who was now excited as I began the conversation first.

“Someone who doesn’t have a group they belong to. So shifters have packs or prides, Elves have territories, Dragons have tribes, and so forth. It’s like a family, almost. You don’t have a definitive smell, so that upset us because rogues don’t have a group. They are outcasts because they have done something wrong. They like to cause trouble.” Daine made a face of disgust. “We aren’t used to human smells because they aren’t part of any pack or tribe, and humans don’t come around much.” I pondered his words in comfortable silence. Humans can’t be rogue, and they don’t have a group they belong to. Since there are few of us, does that mean I have to leave? Back to where I came from? I had nothing there. Here I had Creed.

The color in his hair had hints of gold as the rays of light passed through. His high cheekbones and his feminine mannerisms had me questioning his intention. He wasn’t trying to hit on me, but he was certainly touchy.

As we traveled for another hour, my feet were tired and were soaked to the bone. My toes were numb, and the pads of my feet wrinkled, not to mention my knee was sore from Fluffy landing on it. Sensing my weakness, Daine put his arms around my back, having me lean on him. “Sorry your pet landed on you,” Daine said in a whisper. My head popped up, and I gave a small smile. Maybe they weren’t so bad after all, especially Daine.

The trees overhead turned from the dark green, hiding the sunlight into translucent leaves that reminded me of a large glass ceiling. The sun's rays were easily guided through the now sizeable area of a village. “Welcome to one of the Elven territories. It’s the largest of the several tribes around here. The others aren’t too far either, maybe an hour's walk. We don’t like to be overcrowded,” Daine mentioned off-handedly.

There were no tents on the ground, but structures in the winding trees above. Makeshift wooden bridges wrapped around with branches, leaves and flowers woven between the planks' slats. Large tree houses adorned the area, while a massive bonfire sat in the middle. Grass was everywhere in the middle of this meadow, stuck in the middle of the forest. It was its own paradise.

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