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“You’re welcome,” Ivanna replied as Niletean spoke to the human garage attendant to secure the vehicle he’d requested. The man had lost his wife and sister to Nikoli’s rage, and Luca had given him a new position so he could provide for his daughter and his sister’s orphaned children. Ivanna and Niletean had been asked to check in with him and ensure that all his needs were being met.
I don’t like the way Deniz is watching that human. He disapproves of you treating him with respect, Ivanna told Niletean through telepathy. We need to keep a close eye on him.
I am.
The party piled into a Ford Expedition with fuel and supplies loaded on exterior racks. They were heading into a remote and sparsely populated area, so Ivanna couldn’t count on being able to secure outside resources. The ride was uneventful and largely quiet. Dakota and Krish tried to start conversations a few times, but they eventually lapsed into silence. They drove for five hours, stopping only to refuel.
The group was investigating a town with less than a thousand humans. It had been a thriving settlement a century ago. When the factory that employed most of the residents closed, the population declined. Neither of the Russian Therians had been there since the place had nothing the empire wanted.
When they reached the outskirts, Ivanna’s senses told her something wasn’t right. She didn’t see any people or signs of life, and they should see something. “Go into town. The whole point of driving was to blend with the humans, so we should be able to go through without anyone being the wiser.”
“This is a special edition imported American vehicle loaded with expensive gear. We aren’t incognito,” Dakota noted.
Niletean turned down a road that looked like it would go through the town’s center. Ivanna scanned the area. The buildings had obviously been built by humans. Therian craftsmanship was significantly different. However, she didn’t sense a single human.
“Niletean, something is wrong. There are no humans here,” Ivanna reported. She struggled to extend her senses, but the whole town was a dead spot. “I can’t sense anything. Can you?”
“Pull over, please,” Dakota requested, digging into his pack. “My drones will let us scout the area without revealing ourselves.”
“What is that?” Deniz asked distrustfully.
Dakota shrugged. “Human technology. Machines we can fly over the area to show us what’s there without putting ourselves at risk.”
Deniz scowled as Dakota pulled out a drone and connected it to a controller that displayed its camera feed. The lynx leaned over to watch the screen after Dakota rolled down the window and launched the device. As he flew the drone toward the center, everything continued to look rundown and abandoned. They didn’t see any people, nor did their senses reveal the presence of other life. He piloted the drone to the other side of town and back, but they didn’t see anything of interest.
“Well, that wasn’t as helpful as I’d hoped,” Dakota grumbled.
“It looks safe to proceed,” Deniz remarked.
Niletean drove slowly so they could examine the surroundings as they progressed. After five minutes, they crossed an invisible magical barrier, and the veil that obscured the town’s true nature dropped.
Hundreds of Therians of all species surrounded them.
“Get us the fuck out of here!” Deniz shouted from the backseat. “It’s an ambush.”
“He’s right,” Ivanna agreed. “We can’t take on this many. Floor it and get us away from here.”
Niletean hit the gas as Therians flooded the street, with larger creatures in Therian form blocking the exits. “Damn it! We don’t have a choice. Either we fight, or we surrender.”
Ivanna’s eyes got cold. “I will never be a slave again. They will have to kill me since I will not surrender to that monster.”
“It looks like it will be a hell of a fight.” Niletean smiled grimly. “Now!”
They jumped out of the vehicle seconds before the first opponents came into range. “Cover me while I change,” Ivanna shouted, stripping off her clothes.
The others held off the approaching enemies as Ivanna let the magic of the change flow through her. Her dragon’s superior size and fighting ability to deal with the attackers were their only chances to survive. She heard an explosion a heartbeat before pain burst through her head.
Ivanna cried out and fell to her knees, and the change stopped while she was in human form. She heard screams around her, but she couldn’t place the direction they came from. Her vision was fuzzy, and she saw three of everything and everyone. Terror shot through her as she realized how fucked they were.
“Stand down!” someone shouted.
The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place where she had heard it.
“That’s a royal, you morons. Don’t you smell the difference? Don’t kill him. We can use that one. He will be worth a lot. Kill the rest.”
Ivanna tried to turn her head to search for the owner of the voice, but she couldn’t. Her vision had produced only blurred shapes. She lifted a hand to her forehead, where the worst of the pain was, and felt something lodged in the bone. As she lay there in agony, the object fell from her forehead. She touched the entrance wound, which was rapidly closing.
The explosion had been a gunshot. She’d been shot in the head…and survived. I have something to thank Nadya for after all.
