Page 60 of The Lost Nation

Benedict looked as though he’d hadplentyto say about being told what to do, but it was a testament to how much he’d grown that he kept his mouth shut and simply followed.

We flew for a little towards the city of Aldur, then stashed Davos behind a tree.I shifted into my human form, but told Benedict to stay in his draken body. He growled, but obeyed. I knew his inner draken was likely seething at being pushed.

Good, that's what Benedict had wanted.

Together we walked boldly through the town's gates. I walked in first, ready to give him the signal when I saw our target. Iknew exactly who I was looking for, and I wanted everyone in Aldur to know who took him.The black tree sap had hardened on Benedict, hiding even a hint of his purple coloring.

Then I spotted our target.It was easy—he was a hulking man, but he had nothing on Benedict. I pointed him out, and together we roughly bumped into the man's shoulder. The man stumbled, confusion in his blue eyes as I grabbed him as if to steady ourselves. Benedict put his arm on me and shifted us all away in broad daylight, to the shrieks and screams of the townspeoplearound us.

As soon as we dropped back into the forest, the man fought like a true warrior. I hissed as he landed a blow to my jaw, but he had nothing on the strength of two drakens. Benedict grabbed his wrists with one hand, and in no time at all he was trussed up and tossed next to Davos.

“I thought you haddiplomacyin mind,” Benedict chided, checking over the knots in the ropes. “Not that I don’t mind the more direct approach.”

“Just trust me,” I grinned. “Now, let’s dump them back at the fortress and start tracking.”

???

Conan clearly thought we’d kidnapped the humans, and he was technically correct. I could tell he was ready to argue as Benedict dumped their unconscious bodies in the throne room, and secured them to the heavy chains that hung from the ceiling. I tapped my temples twice, a code between Conan and I that all wasn’t as it seemed, and to trust me.

Conan rolled his eyes, and walked away.

“Alright. We’re going to have to track Georg" I said.

Benedict raised an eyebrow, but obediently took us to the foot of the mountains outside the fortress. This was the part where I hoped we had some luck. It could take minutes, hours, ordaysto track down the mountain men.

“Are you sure about this?" Benedict asked worriedly. "If Wren finds out we involved him—”

I considered this.“Actually, you’re right. Let’s track his Supa. That would work better.”

It would piss off Georg more, actually, and that was the entire point, unbeknownst to my king.

Benedict frowned, then stopped and turned towards me. “The ritual won’t actuallyhurtany of these people, right? I couldn’t give a shit about the others, but Supa helped us...and I can’t abide doing anything else to those people.”

Guilt welled in his eyes, and he looked away.

I sighed. “Benedict, they won’t be hurt. We just need them to help disburse the magick. Humans are neutralizers—beings without magick that's meant to balance between the white and black. The more we have participate, the more likely are our chances for success. Plus, having one representative from all three human kingdoms will hopefully be an important symbol.”

He huffed at that, but kept walking. With a mighty lunge he thrust himself into the air, and I followed.

We searched for hours over the unhospitable land, spitting dust and unable to pick up any scents or trace of anything. There were no tracks, no settlements...it was as though they'd all vanished.

Hopefully the demons hadn't eradicated them.

"It's like they've all packed up and gone," Benedict muttered. It hit me instantly then—we’d been going at it all wrong. We couldn't find any traces of them because quite simply, they weren't here. “They’ve moved back into the mountain." I breathed. "They’ve retaken their birthright.”

Benedict cursed, realizing our error immediately. I held out my hand and he seized it, shifting us to the entrance of what had been our home for nearly a thousand years.

I swallowed heavily.“Did you really turn them away when they came to you for help?”

Benedict looked down at the ground. “I’m not proud of it. I made a lot of mistakes as a young king. I should have let them in. There was enough room for all of us." He looked up at the front gate, and laughed hollowly. "I deserve this."

The irony of the reversal of our situations wasn't lost on me.“You won’t make those same mistakes anymore.”I insisted.

Benedict took a deep breath, then banged heavily on the door three time.“Let’s hope they’re wiser than I was.”

We waited for a moments, hardly daring to breathe. Then we heard it—the creaking sound of the gate swinging inwards. A gate that hadn't been opened the last time a king had begged at its entrance.

A familiar, aged face opened the door, and I couldn’t believe our luck. “Supa—” I began, but Benedict reached through the door and grabbed the old man’s collar. My jaw dropped open and I cursed at him tostop, but it was too late.We all spun away in darkness.

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