I sighed. “Dad says they captured the dragons they used. There were many different types. Fire, ice, wind.”
Mason cocked his head. “And what kind are you?”
“Dad says we’re the most powerful known dragon type. Storm.”
He nodded, as if he heard this kind of thing every day. “Okay, back to the story.”
“Fifty knights were ‘voluntold’ their mission, which was to undergo this process.”
“‘Voluntold’?”
“Yeah. See, when they asked the knights, they spun tales of great glory, of serving king and country, of how they’d be the heroes of the ages. What theyhadn’tcounted on was only five people agreeing to join. That was far less than they expected.”
“Gee, I wonder why.”
“So they went to other knights and told them they were to volunteer for this melding of dragon and man. Hence, voluntold.” I gave another shrug. “It went well, and most dragons were eliminated by the hybrids. Of course, oncethathappened, there was no need for dragon knights anymore.”
Mason went very still. “What happened to them?”
I fought to keep my voice even. “The humans slew most of them, keeping a small core should the need for them ever arise again.”
He gasped, sounding horrified.
I gaped at him. “That surprises you? Humans are kinda like that, ya know.”
Mason’s eyes twinkled. “I’m still getting used to the idea that you’re not one of them.”
“Anyway. Some of the dragon knights escaped and because they looked human, they were able to mix in with the people. Except that left the humans with a problem. What if they reproduced? So the plan was to hunt down all the escaping knights, and once they were discovered, they would be killed. And if they had babies? That meantallof them—the knight, the mother, and any offspring.”
“That is so fucked up,” Mason croaked.
“Yeah, I know.” I took a deep breath. “My dad was one of the original knights.”
His eyes widened. “You’re telling me your father is…” He started counting on his fingers.
“Almost fifteen hundred years old.”
“I would have gotten there eventually,” he groused.
I snickered. “Sure, if I’d waited another fifteen hundred years.”
“He’s aging well, then. He doesn’t look a day over one thousand. Is that a dragon thing?”
“I guess.”
“Are you saying your dad isimmortal?”
“No, I’m not saying that. To be honest, we don’t know. The spell transferred some of the dragon’s abilities and obviously extended Dad’s life, but there are no notes or journals, so we just don’t know. So yeah, he’s pretty mature, his sense of humor notwithstanding. He’s the one who came up with the idea that we’d bounce around from small town to small town. Most of the dragon knights that escaped made their way to the big cities, but they were found out quickly. The smaller towns? No one pays that much attention, so we get to fly under the radar. Then, every so oftenwe move to a different small town. That’s how we ended up here.”
Mason’s eyes widened once more. “Wait. If your dad is fifteen hundred, how old are you?”
“I’m twenty-two, like you.”
“My head is spinning here. Then how old is your mom?”
“Oh, she’s only about eight hundred.”
His jaw dropped. “Please, tell me you’re joking.”
