Everyone that came with me had left with Charles, Marcus and the new guy that came. I sat in the kitchen with the women and two guys.
August, a guy around my age, woken up from the conversations and got so excited about the entire thing that he’d struggled to go back to bed.
The other one was the guy that cocked the gun in our face, Tom. He held a packet of steaks against his head. He kept staring at me.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, stop staring at her.” The woman with brown hair that looked like a man said.
“They almost killed me, Daisy.”
“If you had listened, they wouldn’t have to take extra measures. They come from a road that only led to the snatchers. You should’ve used your head, think, brother. They are here to free us all, not kill us.”
“It’s okay. What all of you must have gone through in the past fifteen years? I can’t imagine,” I said.
“That is so sweet of you, Elena,” Gertrude said as she placed another pot of tea in the middle of the table.
“So, you are really the only one that can get through the creepers. They don’t harm you,” the woman that came with Annie and the other man asked. I think they called her Olive.
I nodded. “King Helmut thinks it was my dad that created the creepers to keep Paegeia safe. I doubted he thought it would’ve enclosed the entire Etan. It’s like they sense us and they are still on alert when we pass through, but they don’t attack.”
Gertrude had her hand fanned over her chest. “Oh, that must have been so terrifying.”
“It is. I’m still trying to get used to it. The inside is beautiful though. There are these beautiful glowing flowers. David is analyzing if they have any magical qualities.”
“My father-in-law’s dragon always had a thing for plants.”
“He still tries to figure out the creepers. He is so brave, living so close to them. Speaks about them as if they are not dangerous at all.”
Gertrude’s laughter bubbled out of her. “That sounds like him.”
“So how did nobody know about you?” Olive asked.
“Olive!” Gertrude said.
“Did you know?” Olive asked with wide eyes, staring at Gertrude.
“They had a foretelling that someone was going to betray them, so my parents didn’t tell anyone, except Tanya, my mom’s dragons.”
“That is why she left?” Olive squinted.
I nodded.
Everyone stared at each other.
“I told you all not to think badly of our king. He wasn’t that type of person. Our queen’s depression was deeper. I knew it wasn’t infidelity.”
Olive and Daisy looked down.
“You want to tell me that all these years he’s innocent, Mom?” Daisy asked.
“He’s the greatest king Paegeia ever had. He loved his queen, and now we know why she was depressed the last year. It wasn’t because her dragon had an affair with her husband. They were protecting their child.”
“How did you get past the wall?” Tom asked.
“Tom?”
“Mom, no human can get past the wall.”
“Blake and Sir Robert think they gave me the coward potion.”
Silence lingered again.
“There you have it. The Malones were smart,” Gertrude said.
“You certainly look like him,” Tom said.
“So, you really have all of your dragon’s abilities?” August asked. He had brown hair and was quite handsome, but not Blake’s category handsome.
“Yes, I do. I just suck at showing them at the moment. I’m still learning at Paegeia.”
“Don’t.” Tom said. “Goran knows when Dragonians wield their dragon’s magic. With the dragons it’s different, though. He thinks all of them are dead or refused to show the rest what they truly are.”
“Blake really looks like Billy?” August asked.
“Yes, he does.” Gertrude said. “You will meet him when your grandfather and dad finish discussing the evacuation plan.”
“Are we really leaving? What about the rest, Mom?”
“The snatchers are coming down soon. They just want to evacuate the people closest to the snatchers, Augustus. You might have grown up with all this darkness, but a full on war isn’t a place for a kid.”
“Dragonia really exists?” He was a real blabbermouth now.
“Yeah, it’s amazing.” I started telling him everything about Dragonia. I mentioned Master Longwei, and they all gasped, looking at Annie.
I stopped, and my gaze flickered to Annie.
“Your grandfather is still alive.” Gertrude walked over to her and rubbed her arms.
“Grandfather?”
“My dad was his son,” she answered.
“General Lee?”
She nodded.
I knew what King Helmut felt like. My dad caused his death because he tried to free him. Just like Goran killed so many people. “I’m sorry for your loss. If he didn’t try to rescue my father—”
“Don’t. He was the bravest dragon. I don’t care that they said it was a suicide mission. He tried to make a difference. He ran the rebellion for four years before they caught him. When he died, a lot of things changed for the worse.”
Gertrude rubbed her arm. I felt even more stupid now. “Sorry that you lost him.”
The corner of her lips curled downward. “Sorry that you lost your mom. She was my favorite queen. So kind and so sad at the end. It must have been hard for her to give you up.”
“Okay, enough of that now, cause you are going to make my bawl my eyes out,” Gertrude said, and Annie’s lips thinned, trying to suppress her laughter.
“You really are here to free us all?” August asked.
I nodded.
“What are we going to do on the other side? Where are we going to live?”
His mother touched his shoulders. “The possibilities are endless, Augy. You will go to Dragonia, become a rider. Your niece is going to become a rider when she turns sixteen.”
Daisy gasped. “Oh, mom.”
“There are dragons on the other side, Daisy. They didn’t die. We are not the only ones still alive.” Gertrude sniffed and wiped tears away.
“What takes them so long?”
“It’s war talk, little bro. You are way too young for war talk. So be patient,” Tom said.
“One really knocked you out?”
“Haha,” Tom said.
“Just asking.”
“The gun went off. Nobody heard a thing?”
“No, Blake dampened the noise,” I answered.
They all looked at each other with enormous eyes. “Did he use a spell or his gift?” August wanted to know.
“Oh, crap, Mom,” Daisy yelled with her hands in her hair. Annie took deep breaths. Gertrude handed her a brown bag, and she took it, breathing into it.
Tom grabbed his mother’s arm. “Mom, if Goran—”
“Enough,” Gertrude yelled. “Elena, how did he dampen the sound?”
“I don’t know what he used, but there was no noise.”
She took off her apron and rushed out of the kitchen.
“If he is coming tonight, we are all dead, including her,” Tom said to Daisy.
“Calm down. He would’ve been here already,” Olive said.
Gertrude finally came back. She poured herself a cup of tea and the pot trembled so much.
“Let me, please.” I took the teapot, and she sat down.
“Is he coming?” Tom wanted to know.
“Calm down. My nerves are just shot, thinking that he might come here. No, he didn’t use magic. He used one of his abilities. He was clear on that.”
They all sighed.
I gave Gertrude her tea. “Thank you,” she said with a smile, and took a sip.
“You can’t use enchantments or any spells.”
“No, it alerts the Wyvern King, and he always punishes those that used magic,” Olive said.
“I see.”
Annie put the bag away, and Gertrude stroked her back.
“Are you really my cousin’s rider?” Annie asked.
I nodded.
“Treat him right. He is a gentle giant.”
“I know. But he can be vicious if he wants to be.”
“Vicious? Plucky?”
I laughed at the name she had for him. “How did you come up with that name?”
She smiled. “His mouth used to look like a duck’s beak and we grew up with this story about a duck named Plucky. It stuck. He called me Jelly-Bean as I had way too much energy than a Sun Blast should have.”
“You are a Sun-Blast?”
“Was. I haven’t shifted in eleven years. My dad made sure that I shed regularly, but after his death, they killed all the dragons and fear kept her away.”
Tears pooled in my eyes. “Sorry. Maybe training could help get her back.”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t give up. You are a Sun-Blast. One of the most vicious dragons out there,” Gertrude said. “If there is a way to be reunited with her. Then you should try everything.”
“I don’t even think that it’s heard off. It’s not normal.”
“Well, I didn’t know my dad was a dragon. He didn’t show me a scale or anything. He kept his other form away for at least eight to ten years, as I never recall seeing his other form.”
“You didn’t know he was a dragon?”
I shook my head.
“Have you lived near forests?”
My face slacked.
“He changed.”
“No, he didn’t. Every time he shifted, the guy that wanted to kill us knew.”
“Someone wanted to kill you?” Annie’s eyebrows knitted.
I nodded. “So it’s not unheard of. I’ll ask my dad, okay? As he got his other form out pretty fast when he needed it.”
“See, they will help.” Gertrude planted a kiss on her temple.
“I’m so scared I’m going to wake up and find this is all a dream.” Olive shoulders shook as she sobbed into her palms.
“Oh, Olive.” Gertrude rushed to her and wrapped her arms around her. “Then we are all experiencing the same dream. I pinched myself so many times, and it hurt. It’s not a dream.”
She sniffed.
I wiped tears away. The relief was too much for these people. The door opened in the hallway.
“Finally,” August said.
“Your manners.” Gertrude pointed her finger at him.
Dad walked in first and bent down and kissed me on the head. Sir Robert and Emanual followed, and Charles was in a deep discussion with Blake. Sir Robert gave Annie a one arm hug, and she almost disappeared beside him.
“Dad, how did you get your dragon form back after you kept it hidden for such a long time?”
“What do you mean?”
“Annie feels she lost hers.”
He looked at Annie. “You can’t lose something that you are, Anouk. It’s fear keeping her at bay. She is still inside of you. Ready to come out when you are ready.”
“Really?” Her gaze shifted from Dad to her uncle.
Sir Robert nodded. “Sounds about right to me.”
“How long have you been without yours?” she asked Dad.
“About eight years. Every time I shifted, I put us in danger and we had to run again, station ourselves in another place.”
“It must have been horrible, running all the time,” Gertrude said.
“It was nothing to be compared to how you live,” I said, and Dad winked.
“Mom!” August whispered, and I giggled as Gertrude sighed.
“August is a Dragonian, Dad. He has the ability of persuasion but can’t practice his gift, because it’s linked to magic.”
“I see.”
“Dad is a Copper-horn. Sir Robert is a Night-Villain and my father’s dragon.”
“King Albert’s dragon?”
Sir Robert nodded.
“Emanual is like Annie. A Sun-Blast and King Helmut’s dragon.”
His face fell. “Goran’s brother.”
“Yes,” Emanual said. “He is nothing like his brother, just looks like him.”
“And Blake is the Rubicon.”
Blake reached over and left out his hand for August to shake. “I’m her dragon.”
“Royal dragons.” Augustus shook Blake’s hand. “Can you teach me how to practice my chloroform?”
“August! You know your grandfather’s rules.”
“Pops?”
“I think it’s time we all should learn how to get in touch with our abilities again,” Charles said.
“Dad?”
“Marcus, there is a time to submit, and there is a time to fight.”
“Which none of you are going to do. You paid enough,” Sir Robert said. “You are not part of this war. Besides, you need to learn how to be a Dragonian first before you can become a soldier. You need a dragon to protect you.”
“I’m getting a dragon?” August’s eyes grew as he looked at his mom and then at his dad.
Sir Robert laughed. “There are plenty of Green-Vapors at Dragonia to choose from.”
He looked at his mom. “I’m getting a dragon?”
“You need to train first. It’s difficult to claim a dragon, son,” Marcus said. “Many men lost their lives in the colosseums.”
Fear pulled Augustus’ eyebrows, and we all chuckled.
Gertrude ruffled his hair. “He is so proud of having the same gift as the queen.”
“It’s an amazing gift,” Sir Robert answered. “She could even compel animals to do her bidding for her.”
“That is awesome,” Blake said as if he knew exactly what his dad was talking about.
“You compel animals?”
“Yeah, a neat party trick.”
“Blake!”
All of them laughed as he shrugged.
“Gentle my butt.” I looked at Annie.
“You compel animals to do what?” she asked.
“Dance, all those sorts of things.”
“Plucky, poor animals.”
“What, it’s fun. They don’t get hurt.”
“You changed.”
“No shit. I think Will will crap his pants now if he tries to pluck one of my scales.”
More laughter erupted. Tom still stared at him.
“Okay, how much do I resemble him?” Blake asked.
“Spitting image. His eyes are just dark where yours are light.”
“And you are bigger around the shoulders,” August said.
“Great.” Blake’s eyes grew once and left out his breath.
“Son, he is your cousin and didn’t get the best of fathers out there.”
“Who also terrorised my other cousin. And to make it worse, I look like the idiot.”
“Relax, you are far from him.” Anne hugged his arm.
“Look, we don’t want to keep you up all night. We basically just woke up,” Emanual said.
“Woke up?” Olive asked as everyone looked at Emanual.
“It’s daytime on the other side, not night.”
“What?”
“So if you want to rest, we will just keep guard, have a look around the farms and see where we can set up stations.”
“Be careful, Emanual. Please take the clothes. That way, you won’t stick out like a sore thumb,” Charles said.
“How long are you staying?” Olive wanted to know.
“We are leaving tomorrow. But we will be back to station men on this side. I want a few dragons closer to Boliva,” Sir Robert said.
“Boliva, Charles?” Olive panicked.
“They are not like us, Olive. They are trained soldiers. This is what they do.”
“He got stronger!” She sounded as if she was going to panic soon.
“And we are dragons. They won’t be able to break us that easily. Hope is on our side. It’s time that all of you hope again, and fight to live a normal life again. My rider is going to be free. I don’t care how bloody strong he is,” Sir Robert said. “I would love it if you could house some soldiers here on the farm. We will come with supplies.”
“We will arrange everything.”
“The buoys should be ready in the next few days too, then we can start getting some of them out with the children,” Emanual said.
“What is a buyo?” August asked.
“Later,” Charles said. “I will tell them that too in the meeting.”
“We will help tomorrow on the lands, meet everyone, help before we leave. Helmut wanted a full report and stationed some men at Sovereign, where Goran keeps everyone. We are going to get word to them that help is coming.”
“We can always station someone with them,” Blake said.
“Son, we told you we don’t know if the guards are going to station that person with them,” Charles said. “If a dragon uses his persuasion that close to Goran, he will know.”
“It was a brilliant idea, but Charles is right. We can’t take that chance.” Emanual slapped Blake on the shoulder and he moved slightly forward from the momentum. “Besides, Albert knows we are coming. He knows Elena would tell us he is alive. He will give it time.”
“Goran might try to get to him first,” Blake said.
Sir Robert cleared his throat. “Someone will be there to stop him. That is a promise.”
