Page 63 of The Lost Princess

Gods, it was marvelous.

A sea of forest stretched out below me, green and plentiful. It was nothing like this on my side of the mountain where the wind and desert sand rubbed your skin raw on the best of days.

I spotted roads in the distance, but they looked old and unused. Interesting.

Perhaps on the other side of this forest lay the ocean. My homeland was an island. That would obviously require an ocean.

My stomach grumbled, reminding me I’d finished the meat strips hours ago. I grinned at the trees below. It would be good to hunt again with my wits about me. I pushed off the mountain, and glided down to the oasis below me.

Scents long forgotten assaulted me, jogging memories I hadn’t even realized I was missing.

I saw myself tracking deer at dusk, intent on getting back in time for stories around the fire with the other men. I’d always been proud to be included with them. I could smell the fresh pines all around me in the woods of Dorea, green no matter what time of year it was. There were song birds, singing sweetly to each other, a reminder of our females and how they sang. Back in the desert, the only birds I could recall hearing were falcons and buzzards screeching as they went in for the kill.

Not exactly heartwarming.

All around me memories and names sprung to life: rabbits, and. squirrels. There were other vermin, but their names escaped me. It was like walking into a feast with all the choices before me. I wondered what Kaida would like best.

Kaida has all she wants and more at her palace, the voice in my head scoffed. A bead of darkness flared in my mind. I stubbornly pushed it away.

That was her choice, I argued back.We have a new task.

The voice went blessedly silent, and I started tracking the largest animal I caught wind of. Its image filled my head: black fur, a large body, and claws and teeth. I couldn’t name it. Then it came to me: bear.

This was a smaller one, which was just as well. I didn’t have the ability to carry a large amount of meat with me. I tracked him to a glen of berry bushes, sniffing around and trying to find his own dinner. I took my largest knife out of its holder next to my water skin, and took aim.

FWOOSH.

The knife flew straight, burying itself in the creature’s shoulder. It roared in pain, and I rushed forward while it was distracted. I pulled the knife out of the bear’s shoulder, and knocked the animal to the ground with my claws. It cried out again, and I drove my knife down through its skull as hard as I could.

It died instantly.

Instead of reveling in my victory, my ears pricked as the sound of snapping twigs coming from two directions. I grabbed my knife and dove up the nearest tree on instinct, automatically positioning myself between the highest branches I could while maintaining cover.

A memory came to me unbidden. I saw an older male draken, teaching me to do this, and practicing with me. Was he my father? I tried to make out his features, but only saw magenta scales and bright blue eyes. I saw a flash of gold wings, similar to mine.

Five creatures burst into the glen I’d just escaped. I stared, having never seen beings like this before. If the humans on the other side of the mountains had calledmea monster, they’d clearly never seenthesecreatures.

They were large, hulking brutes with black and brown skin. Odd white markings surrounded their necks and shoulders.Tattoos, whispered my mind. I tried to remember what they were for. I knew they were for something important, whatever it was. They were decked out in fighting leathers with spikes, carrying a small arsenal in their hands and across their backs.

They oozed aggression.

“See! I told you somethin’ came in ‘ere!”

The middle-sized one had a large gold hoop in one ear, and pointed at my kill with triumph. The smaller one rolled his eyes. “Probably was a Lykos. Or a vamp. Who cares?”

The largest one was clearly the leader, smacking the two others’ heads together while the remaining two remained silent.

“Idiots. Shut up.”

The fighting pair went silent immediately. The leader bent down to the bear, frowning at the clean knife wounds in the shoulder and head.

“Lykos don’t use knives. Neither do vampyres. Don’t need them, do they?” He paced around the small area, sniffing.

I clutched the trunk of the tree tighter. I could always fly away if needed.

“Whatever was here smells familiar,” the leader commented, his face scrunched in thought. “I can’t place it though.”

The others frowned, taking tentative sniffs of their own.

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