Chapter 47: The Dragon''s are Here
Ian saw enough of the first dragon shifter’s appearance he understood they were old and formal. First,
they wore a modern take on medieval clothing. They looked like they were part of a Viking
documentary. Tunics, pants, and boots. The women wore simple dresses that ended just past the knee.
In ce of winter jackets, they wore a heavy type of cloak. Ian realized the packages they carried were
the cloaks wrapped around their clothing. He left the scene. Ian wondered how many generations of
dragons flew that same way?
Walking through the woods in the dark. It was his job to make sure that nonegged or
became lost. Behind him there were vehicles, trucks, SUVs, trailers, and several campers. Ian
overheard a child ahead of him asked his mother if they’d stay here for a while or would they be moving
again. They didn’t have a stable home. This wasn’t the first event they needed to run from. It broke his
heart.
Once they handed off themunity of bear shifters, Ian’s team returned to their patrol. This
time Mario stayed in human form. Ian whispered to them as they walked the tiny path through the trees.
“Is it that bad for the Bears? I heard a kid ask if they’d need to move again.”
“We were lucky after the Lich. Wolves live in packs like this estate. Bears, though, live in
family units like humans, but not in close-knitmunities. The Lich used that istion to prey on them
for victims. No time to mourn any deaths. The Bears decided to start amunity like ours. The time to
build buildings, security, and services wasn’t there. Our Alpha has tried to help them. Lend them
equipment and supplies. He offered services until they set their own up. He helped them connect them
with vendors. Even offered our construction services. Time, however, wasn’t on our side. Winter and
then this happened. We can’t leave them exposed. It’s wrong, and a breach of the secrecy of our
existence. In my opinion. It’s an enormous mess. This started three months ago. We’ve been working
to fix it, and stop one disaster after another.”
“Yet, every human around is ignorant of the chaos your lives are. Your struggle to survive,
and not force this on the human poption.”
“If history tells me one thing. We’re forced to rely on humans the first time. But humans are
the ones that changed. It’s our ce to protect others this time. We aren’t the ves this time.”
“Last time?”
“We’re taught that the Fae created us as ves and foot soldiers for their private armies. We
were beasts to be ughtered for their whims and entertainment. Humans banished the Fae after a
great battle thatsted ages. In doing so they broke our bond with the Fae, freeing us. Our ancestors
pledged to protect those in need of protection from things beyond their control. In other words, the
supernatural.”
“The Lich, and now the Fae.”
“Our rogue elements. Other mythological creatures wake from sometimes. Magical mishaps.
The list goes on. Our reach and power aren’t just to keep our secret. It enables us to do what we must
do. Humans wouldn’t react well to some of our rulings. Our punishments can be severe, but it matches
the need for peace, and safety.”
“The ‘yeah but.’ When they use the saying, ‘two wrongs don’t make a right.’”
“How do you imprison something that can’t be imprisoned? How do you kill the unkible?
You kill the ones that can’t be imprisoned, you imprison the unkible and pray it never gets out.”
Belonging to N?velDrama.Org.
“The Lich?”
“Drain the magic from the thing he keeps his soul shard in. Then execute him. Otherwise, he
lives forever. It’s a when he gets out, not an if. It all starts again. That’s why the mages were involved.
It’s not just their research skills and portals. They have some scary talents.”
“So you’re saying if I see a bunny. Run.”
“Don’t joke. The fae race called Pooka favour turning into bunnies. Those are not friendly
creatures once they have you trapped.”
“I was joking, but I’ll take that as a fair warning.” Ian realized with that information, he was out
gunned, outnumbered, and uneducated. He’s so far out of his element that he was endangering himself
and others. The overwhelming urge to run and hide gued him for the rest of his shift. Nothing else
happened except the sun came up on the gray world. Thankfully, no tinges of blood in sight.
His team returned to the packhouse to find the area in chaos. A dragon shifter in Gregory’s
office demanding to know the why of something. He seemed panicked and angry. Ian stopped a shifter
as she passed, “You know what’s going on?” It was one of Edith’s assistants, he couldn’t remember her
name.
“Yeah, Fae spotted in the Dream Realm and the Dragons are taking exception to the fact
they didn’t receive an invite to participate. The Alpha is trying to exin to him he didn’t n this. They
stumbled upon one of the low-ranking ones.”
Someone else stopped beside them. “They found a monster called a Barghest. Think giant
dog with nasty temper. Their teeth and ws rival that temper. Those found it are tracking it. Hopefully,
they’ll find them and not get killed in the process.”
“Who’s they? Which group found it?”
“Not sure, actually. Sorry. We’re all worried.”
“So it was bad timing. Their arrival after this finding?”
“Yeah, I don’t know about you. But if I was in the Dream Realm, a Dragon could cover my
back. I’d be all over that.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to keep them in the background. Pretend the human belief ‘dragons
have gone extinct or never existed’ is real and let the Fae hear it. Then, use abined force with
dragons in the mix to attack? It’s just the thought of a dumb human here. I don’t know if you could fool
the Fae like that.”
“It would be the perfect, if my darling mate didn’t have a thirst for revenge like he does.” A
raven-haired woman stood on the stairs looking down at the crowded entrance lobby. Food and people
crowded the entrance way. The lobby now boasted a take-out counter of sorts. People from the kitchen
could pass out food and keep drinks stocked there. The kitchen was blocked off from the rest of the
house this way. Ian figured it made sense with all the extra people to keep the number people crowding
it. The dining room was now arge briefing area. Ian discovered a set of doors open now, led to a
ballroom that became amunications centre. Though he wasn’t sure why the doors leading from the
ballroom were blocked off. That was odd.
“Sherri ckstone, Representative of the Dragon Faction. Ian Bt, Ynda Redgrave’s
mate. Ian’s been helping with patrols within this realm, and one of the members who found the
evidence of thistest fiasco.”
“Well, thank you. I’m d it was found so quickly. We now have a chance to prevail. You are
newly mated? I am asking due to your tone earlier.”
“Sorry, I’m still adjusting and am sadlycking in knowledge of the facts. We mated a day
ago.”
“Congrattions are in order then. Time is a luxury we don’t have sadly. You must act with
little to no preparation. Ah, he’s quiet. Gregory must have put him in his ce. I’m sorry I need to go
and keep him there before it bes a political incident. Shelley, dear, please inform Edith I will be in
to see her once I’ve wrangled my mate. She’ll understand.”
“Of course, Ambassador. I’ll do that right now.”
“Ian, get some food ande on. We have chaos to deal with. It seems our shift isn’t over.
Come on.” Mario called down the stairs over the noise in the lobby. It reverberated off the high ceiling.
“On it. Thanks for the information. See youter.”
“Yeah, take it easy, and don’t do anything stupid.” Shelley disappeared down the corridor
towards the Sunroom. He still thought that was the strangest office he’d ever seen. It would make
sense if she were a florist.
Packages of food were stacked on the table with stickers saying what was inside of them and
a polite remind to return the packages for reuse.
That’s when Ian realized he’d not seen a single disposable item since he got here. Bottles, cups, and
even the napkins were reusable. Yeah, so what came first werewolf ways or hippie lifestyle? He
grabbed a box and a cup of coffee. Caffeine was going to be his friend it seemed. This would be a long
night. At least they’d got coffee. He’d survive if he had that.
With his food in his hands, Ian headed up the main stairs and followed his teammate towards the
conference room they’d started the day in. The waiting over the day for things to happen. Then the long
trek through the snows. It’s catching up on him, but if he had to prove himself. Then he would stifle it,
and not say anything.