Page 63 of The Lost Nation

He twitched, but didn't back down. "Alright, fine.We didn’t kidnap three random humans. I kidnapped threevery specificindividuals to garner this exact result. It’s all according to plan.”

Conan growled in irritation.“Whatplan? To have us wipe the humans off the face of the earth?! Because the magickal creatures herewill nottake their shit asecondtime. Half of them still feel theydeservedto be enslaved!”

Beros wasn’t happy with Ronan either. The tension in the throne room was high, and we needed to be on the same page if we were going to have to fightall of humanity.

A feminine voice cut through our posturing.“Not that anyone cares whatIthink, but perhaps we should talk it through first.”

Astrid had finally joined us after situating her witches strategically around the fortress.

“Ronan. Talknow.”I demanded.

The little shit brushed me off, and pointed to the window. “No time. They’re moving.”

Three riders moved through the tide of humanity seamlessly, and I easily recognized Kali and Georg. The third rider looked older than Georg, but the blonde hair and his age made it easy to guess he was...Davos's son.

I glared at Ronan, who ignored me.“Everybody stick a hand out. Benedict will shift us out there to negotiate a peace before all hell breaks loose.”

I was tempted to breakhim,but dutifully shifted all of us directly in front of the gates.

The trio halted upon seeing us, shock being the first emotion as their eyes took in the magickal royalty that stood before them. Lykos, draken, witch, and unicorn.

Ronan darted forward, his wings and ears tipped back in a submissive, non-threatening gesture. But the rulers only had eyes for me.

“YOU.”Kali screamed.

Ronan dove in front of me, his hands waving wildly.

“It is Benedict! Not Thad—”

Water hit me hard in face from no where, sending me to the ground.It was like drowning in the river all over again, and unending stream of violence until Astrid held up her hands and a wall of air collided with the water, pushing it back in on itself.Kali hissed, but withdrew her hands.

The black sap ran down my upper body, revealing my purple scales. Kali’s eyes flared, and her hands clenched into fists. Astridrose an eyebrow, as if daring her to try.

“Did you, or did younotkidnap my advisor?” She snarled.

“And my father,” the blonde man snapped.

“AND my Supa,” hissed Georg, the hurt in his eyes the worst to see out of all of them.

I tried to duck around Ronan, but he flared his wings to cover me. “It was my idea." He admitted. "All of it. We needed to bring all three of you here, and didn’t have time to do it thediplomaticway. Will you come inside and meet with us?”

The trio of human leaders eyed each other, and then us.

“Where is the Demon King, and his legions?” Kali finally asked, settling into her saddle.

I shoved Ronan aside, ignoring his squawk of protest. “Gone. We had planned to storm the fortress after he kidnapped one of my females. There is also a pit of destructive white magick, which the blood witches believe to be the remnants of the Overlord. We can safely disperse it, but we need one of every creature from Dorea to share the burden. Including humans.”

Ronan ducked back in front of me. “I decided it would be most efficient to kidnap someone close to all of you that would bring you all running.”He admitted, not the least bit sorry.

That little shit. The worst part was it was a genius plan.

I disappeared, grabbed theextremelypissed off prisoners from their chains, and reappeared in front of everyone. All three of them fell to the ground. With a complicated twirl of her fingers, Astrid vanished the bindings holding them.

They shakily stood. Erik looked ready to murder someone, Davos was nearly pissing himself, but Supa just looked disappointed.

I couldn’t meet Supa’s gaze.

The leaders dismounted immediately, and ensured their charges were in good health. Georg threw himself into his Supa’s arms, and the blonde man dragged his father to his feet. Kali fell into the man’s arms, kissing him passionately despite the audience.

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