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“I would be jealous too if it was me you were running your fingers over,” Desmond whispered in Claire’s ear causing her to blush.
“You are incorrigible,” Claire rolled her eyes, pushing him away playfully but she couldn’t deny the shiver from the heat of his breath against her ear.
Any retort Desmond was going to make was cut off when Everett’s head shot up from her lap. His golden eyes narrowed fiercely at something in the woods behind them. Malcolm’s head shot up a half second later and Claire and Desmond scrambled to their feet. Claire called Puck to her with a silent thought and the Notus landed on her shoulders a half second later.
Claire palmed the daggers at her hips but didn’t draw them yet. Instead, she let her magic fill her fingertips. She barely restrained her instincts from firing off a blast when a squad of six soldiers, weapons drawn, burst into the clearing clad in the black and gold colors of the Council. What in the Realm were Council troops doing here?
“Halt,” the apparent leader of the squad commanded. “You are violating Council order 268 that prohibits travel.”
Malcolm shifted back and Desmond conjured some pants for him and threw them over. “I am Malcolm Stonemont, son of Roderick, the Dragon Clan Leader. We are traveling on his direct orders to the Dragon Mountains.”
“Clan Leader orders supersede Council laws,” Desmond added, his tone measured but even.
“Not when the Council Orders are declared in a crisis state.” The squad leader was stubborn and unyielding. “Council Order 269 declared the Unitam Realm in crisis.”
“In crisis from what?” Desmond asked, bewildered. “We aren’t under attack.”
“That is not for you to question,” the squad leader barked, advancing on them. “You violated the Orders so we have to bring you in.”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to be happening. Claire could tell that from the way Malcolm dug his heels in and Desmond let the magic spark at his fingertips. The Council’s troops must have been able to tell that to as they hesitated a moment. Apparently, they had been confident that the Council’s authority would be enough but her Triad were trained warriors and good ones if the troop’s hesitation was any indicator.
Everett’s gryphon pulled at her shirt with his beak. Claire wanted to refuse, she didn’t want to leave them, but he pulled again.
Go, Desmond sent down their bond, startlingly Claire with another word instead of just a feeling down their bond.
She bit her lip but sent back her agreement. Malcolm pushed the plan at them. He would shift into his dragon, grabbing their packs while Desmond clambered onto his back. They would lay down cover for Claire to swing up on Everett and get out of there. They didn’t want to engage the Council’s troops any more than necessary but they wouldn’t be detained by them. They didn’t know what kind of magic they had but Malcolm seemed confident the plan would work.
Be safe,Claire sent down their bond as she waited on Malcolm’s mark.
The men ignored her but she knew they heard her. Malcolm exploded into his dragon causing the Council’s troops to scatter and Desmond to dive out of the way of being squished. Everett dragged her backwards by her shirt and she turned and swung a leg up onto him, struggling to clamber up. Puck gave her a small boost and then settled onto her lap as Everett launched into the sky.
She twisted in her seat to see Desmond clambering onto Malcolm as the dragon sent a stream of fire at the Council’s troops, sending them running for cover before he took to the air.
Malcolm catches up quickly and his wings buffet Everett’s smaller form before he settled a few wingspans away. He let out a challenging roar that ruffled Claire’s hair from the force of the wind. The sound dared anyone to mess with them as they sped towards the Dragon Mountains. On Everett’s smaller body, Claire felt the changes in the wind more. Everett’s body was nimble underneath of her and she felt her core muscles work harder to stay steady on his back. Even so, Claire wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
While the flights on Malcolm were amazing, his large powerful body propelled them through the air that it was sometimes like Claire was sitting still. On Everett, she felt every adjustment and it was truly like she was riding the wind as his wings flapped and coasted. Everett dropped behind Malcolm and coasted on his tailwinds. Claire released her grip around his neck and sat up taller, throwing her arms out wide and ignoring Puck’s squawk against her stomach. Everett’s gryphon let out a shrieking cry of joy at her laughter. She knew she should be more worried. They had just defied a Council squad and evaded them and who knows what the repercussions would be but up here in the air she felt invincible.
The mountain peaks were looming closer now and Malcolm let out another roar as Claire dropped her hands back into Everett’s soft feathers. This time, Claire could hear an answering roar from the distance and she sat up taller, scanning the horizon for the answering dragon. Malcolm must have recognized the roar as he sent a stream of fire up into the sky.
Claire couldn’t see Desmond’s face but she could feel his queasiness and knew he had his eyes tightly closed. She felt bad for leaving her wizard but there was no way he would have survived the flight on Everett and Claire doubted Everett would take kindly to his feathers being pulled out.
Two dragons rose on the horizon in the distance from the mountains. One was green and one was blue and they grew larger as both sides closed the distance. Malcolm didn’t react so she figured he must recognize them but that didn’t stop Claire from tensing a bit as they got closer and circled to flank them. Claire’s trust outside of her family was little to none with everything going on.
The green and blue dragons kept a respectful distance but followed them for the next twenty minutes until Claire could see their destination. A series of caverns with tall yawning mouths opened into the sides of the mountains. Above the caverns, it looked like a city had been carved into the mountains with buildings and towers rising from the dark rock. A wide platform loomed open in front of one of the caverns and the dragons headed towards it.
Malcolm landed first with the other dragons causing a soft thud to shake the ground. A few pebbles from the ledge broke off and tumbled down the side of the mountain. Claire avoided looking down after them. She hadn’t been scared of heights so far even after her experience with the bridge breaking. She wasn’t about to start now.
Desmond slid off Malcolm’s back less than gracefully and retrieved the packs from in between his claws before Malcolm shifted back to human form. The other dragons did as well, retrieving clothes from boxes along the edge of the platform that looked like they had been carved for that purpose.
Everett touched down on the platform with Claire and Puck while Malcolm enthusiastically greeted the now dressed men. Claire went to dismount and Everett shifted underneath her, shaking his head. Claire frowned. Why didn’t he want her to dismount? Was all not as well with the dragons as her Triad had led her to believe?
She took in their surroundings with a keener eye at that thought. The cavern they had landed in front of was easily two dragon wingspans’ long and and one wingspan high. Comfortable to fit one, maybe two shifted dragons easily, well maybe not two Malcolm’s anymore. Out of the looming darkness, two figures emerged, a woman and a man. With their dark hair and golden eyes, Claire realized these must be Malcolm’s parents.
Desmond reached her side but didn’t make a move to assist her down as Malcolm walked to greet his parents. “Are you okay?” His normally playful blue eyes were serious and his color was still a little pale from the flight.
“I’m fine. How are you? I know you hate flying on a good day.” Claire winced.
Desmond wrinkled his nose. “Yes it wasn’t ideal but it’s over now. Malcolm’s father will blow a gasket once he hears what happens. Dragons are very big on etiquette and honor and he will not be thrilled that the Council snubbed both.”
