She nodded, but I sensed a resurgence of her trepidation.She’d been so strong, a stunning actress, for that confession, but it had taken a lot out of her. She was already drained, and exhaustion never helped to keep up one’s spirits.
I gave her more strength from my spirit, and she smiled.
“Thank you,” she said again. “For being here, for… keeping me strong.”
“Maybe you should rest for now, you’ve been through a lot, I’ll watch over you and make sure you’re safe. Sleep, if you can, then wake refreshed and tackle the binding on your collar.”
She nodded to that and lay down on the simple cot in her cell.
I remained as close as I could, watching over her, as I’d promised.
My phone rang a little while later. It was Koar.
“We’ve had a meeting,” he said, voice clipped, unhappy. “Lhorine is quite certain she can’t break Izzy’s collar on her own and we have few other options… so we’re going to do as you suggested and reach out to the titans.” Strain lay heavy in his voice. He didn’t like it, but he’d go along with it… for Izzy.
And I was thankful. As much as I believed Izzy could break the binding on her collar, the question was:could she do it in time to face Saldrea? If someone else could break the binding for her, Izzy could save some strength for the fight with the false princess.
“Safir and Zora have confirmed that Myel is in Saldrea’s dungeon, guarded by ten dragons when Saldrea isn’t around. We can’t take on a force that size without help. We’re reaching out to other contacts, but… it seems we may need the titans for that as well.”
Yeah. Ten dragons comprised a significant force. Tenpowerful dwarves could take them, but I didn’t think we had the connections for that. Otherwise, it would take a small army to take them on. In the limited confines of the dungeons, the ten defenders would have the advantage, since only so many attackers could come at them at once. But a single titan, depending on how strong they were, could take a dragon or two.
“That’s it for now. We’re looking for the leader of the titans, a man named Bayn. Haven’t found him yet. I’ll keep you in the loop.”
“Thanks, old friend. Keep up your resolve. We can do this. Izzy is strong and will survive this. Remember that.”
He grunted. I don’t think he doubted me. I assumed the non-committal response was from his dislike of the whole situation.
He hung up and that was that.
Now, it was a waiting game, at least for me. I’d keep Izzy strong in here, while the others did what they needed to, to free us and Myel.
Heavens, I hoped they could do it.
Time was so short.
Honestly, it would be a miracle if we pulled this off.
BAYN
I didn’t getmuch time away from Saldrea, so I took advantage of any breaks I got. Nearly always, my first stop was the campus stables, to visit the only things in this world which brought me joy: my creations.
Other races referred to them as abominations, but only because they couldn’t see the beauty in what we titans created. A horse could be strong and proud and beautiful, so could a dove, but a silvery-white horse with gleaming feathery wings… no, that was evil.
I patted Skycleaver’s neck bending my head to lean against his.
“They’re all fools,” I whispered. He couldn’t understand me. Even so, I talked with my creations more than anyone else. At least they listened. Some days I felt like Skycleaver was the only one who truly understood me.
In many ways, I was more animal than man. Animals were simple creatures. They lived in a complex hierarchy of predation, sure, but I was an apex predator, and at that level, there was peace. All I needed was to hunt, eat, rest, and fuck. Not that I’d done a lot of the latter since… Osserime. I hadn’t been able to trust any woman since my betrothed had betrayed me. Perhaps that was why I trusted beasts more than people.
Unbidden, an image of the half-breed woman came to mind. Izzy. She was strong and durable. She could probably take my affections. My arousal stirred.
I shook my head. Why was I thinking of her? I barely knew her. How could she arouse me, when no woman had… since Osserime? Perhaps it was her nymph side? Nymphs could become whoever you desired. And with her elven side, she’d be tough enough to endure my… aggressive nature.
I grunted and pushed thoughts of the woman from my mind. They were a distraction. What I needed was to focus on the problem before me: freeing my sister from Saldrea’s clutches.
My titan companions had finally found where Wensuria was being held, or at least, they were mostly certain. They’d located an underground compound well off campus. The trouble was their earth-sense couldn’t penetrate its walls; some magic protected the place from outside senses. The only reason they believed my sister was there was because they’d tracked Saldrea to that location before my last check-in with my sister.
Given all of that, we were nearly certain that’s where Wensuria was being held. But I had to assume that the physical guards on the place were as strong as the metaphysical barriers keeping us from sensing inside.
