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“Well, you got hurt working for me…”
“True enough, but I have insurance to cover my costs, and it certainly isn’t your fault that some big bird came at me, and I tripped.”
“I don’t think it was a bird, and I don’t believe you think so, either. Might we sit down?”
“Sure. Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you some coffee or tea?”
“No. No. I’m fine.” He waited until she was seated before leaning forward in his chair. “This may sound crazy to you, but I have reason to believe your accident may not have been an accident.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I haven’t been as honest with you as I might have been.”
“Go on,” said Delaney with a cautious tone.
“I don’t think it was a bird that came at you. And I don’t think you think so, either. I think what you saw was a dragon.”
The word hung in the air between them.
“A dragon?”
“Yes. Dragons exist, or at least those who can shift between man and beast.”
She’d been quasi-prepared to believe she hadn’t imagined two dragons, but dragons that could be shapeshifters? That was a bit beyond the pale even for her.
“Now I know you’re pulling my leg.”
“I assure you, Delaney, I’m not.”
Delaney stood. “I think perhaps you should leave.”
“Please, Delaney, sit down and hear me out.” Reluctantly, she did so. “Can you honestly tell me that it was a bird you saw?”
“No,” she said quietly. “No, it was not. I’ve pictured what I saw in my mind over and over and I can’t shake the image I see. A dragon flying directly out of the sun with its talons outstretched and another dragon coming up to intercept it. I saw them grapple with each other, tumbling through the air.”
Whistler nodded. “It’s worse than I feared. Look, what I’m about to tell you is fantastical, but I swear it’s the truth. There are forces at work in the shadows that we humans know nothing or very little about. A long time ago, as man began his ascension to the top of the food chain, dragons and other animals began to split off. Somehow, they managed to evolve a hybrid form of themselves, one that could live in perfect harmony with man. At times they appear to be completely human; at others they shift and become their animal half, taking on all its qualities.”
“I can’t decide if you’re trying to punk me or if you’ve gone completely mad.”
“I can assure you nothing is further from the truth. I was as shocked and horrified as you must be when I began to uncover irrefutable truth about these shifters. I have well-placed sources who maintain that there is a war brewing amongst the shifters. One side wants to continue to live peacefully with humans, who do not even know they exist. The other, led by a powerful and very old dragon, believe that the age of man is over and that dragons should ascend to their rightful place. They want to take over and enslave humans.”
He paused for dramatic effect, waiting to see how she would react. He waited in vain, as there seemed to be no reaction forthcoming.
“What does my looking at a site for your plant have to do with that?”
Whistler smiled. “I knew you were the right person for the job. All the myth and lore I can find about dragons say there are two ways to kill them—behead them or use a weapon made of obsidian to inflict a mortal wound. I’ve found a third way…”
“Norle,” she whispered.
Whistler nodded. “Norle. Somewhere in the Winds there is a dragon stronghold where their most fierce fighters live and breathe. They are known as the Phantom Fire, and there is a prophecy that they will destroy mankind. That prophecy, how to defeat them, and their fortress is hidden somewhere in the Winds.”
“You sent me up there to provoke them?” she asked, outraged.
“No, not at all.”
“Bullshit. You knew all of this and chose not to share it with me. You sent me up there alone. Thank god, Tevryn was there.”
“I need your help in finding those dragons and the monument that holds the key to their destruction. Without it, I do not believe mankind will survive.”
