We weren’tthirty minutes from Bryna’s mountain estate when the call went out from one of the guardsmen.
“Dragon coming in from three o’clock high with speed!”
I bit back a snarl. There was always something else. All I longed for was to get Anna back to the safety of the chalet and have her to myself.
Soon.
It wasn’t so much a word but an echoed sentiment coming through my mate bond.
“Better go investigate, Dirk,” I replied, looking around to watch the approaching dragon.
The white scales pronounced them an ice dragon, but the notches missing in the wings and the thick dark smears down the flank and belly removed any sense of relaxation. Something was wrong.
Dirk barked orders, and four dragons banked up and out of formation with him to close on the lone ice dragon frantically pumping its wings to catch us. Something was panicked about theirflight.
“What do you think this is about?” Anna asked from where she sat on my spine, anchoring Milly in place.
The other woman was alert but in no condition to do much of anything on her own. We’d fed her a light bit of food from Bryna’s stores, but it would take time and careful ramping up in meal size to return Milly to full health.
I continued to watch the dragon approach, noting the condition of its scales and a long burn along its snout that had seared one eye shut. “She’s seen combat. One of our border patrol most likely. She’s on a straight line to the nearest frontier fort, or was before she saw us.”
My guess was confirmed when Dirk returned, easing up next to me. “Brother. The Red King’s forces are pushing again. Our border forces are under attack.”
I could sense his eagerness. Dirk was still smarting from being jumped by some of the fire dragons the last time he was in the region. He wanted revenge.
“Take the guardsmen,” I ordered, making my decision. “Pay his men back.”
“Yes, Alpha!” Dirk snarled, starting to turn away.
“But, Dirk.”
His head whippedback to me.
“Do not press them across the border. Deal with them here. Make sure everyone is okay. Then you are to return to the citadel immediately. I will need you there when we bring Bryna in. Things are going to be … interesting.”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Dirk said with a wink and bob of his snout.
Then he and more than a dozen guardsmen changed direction and picked up speed, winging their way northeast into the mountains where some of our forces were already under attack. The border dragon went with them.
“Will he be okay?” Anna said as the departing dragons swiftly became little more than black dots in the distance.
I laughed, trying not to bounce my cargo. “Don’t be concerned for him. Dirk and his men will be far more of a danger to the fire dragons than they will to him. They won’t be expecting a force that strong. The base nearby has only one squad. Six dragons. Dirk has sixteen with him. I’d say feel bad for the reds, but they shouldn’t have crossed the border if they wanted pity.”
I watched them go, wishing I could have joined in on the fun, but the still form in the claws of my right foreleg wouldn’t let me. Some things were bigger than dealing the reds a bloody snout when they least expected it.
Forty-Seven
Casimir
We landedat the chalet a few hours later. Florian and Ella came out to greet us. I noted that Anna’s friend looked much more rejuvenated since I’d last seen her. That was good. One less thing for Anna to worry about.
The two women gathered Milly between them and hustled her off to bed to rest while discussing the best types of food for her to begin regaining her strength. I longed to go with them, but Florian was staring at me, his arms crossed, looking ready to explode.
“Did something happen?” I asked.
“It sure looks like it.” He gestured at the floor.
I glanced down at Bryna. Her eyes burned with hatred, but her hands were locked at her sides, and she didn’t move, courtesy of the slave collar around her neck. I’d played around with a few ideas on how to keep her from trying to escape, but in the end, Anna suggested the entirely fitting punishment of wearing one of the collars.
