I turned toward the voice, and found a boy much smaller than he should be for his age. “Yes, Little One. We’re going home.”
“Home?”
I walked out of the cell, locking it before kneeling in front of the boy. I brought his forehead to mine. I felt his small dragon reach out for Niamh, “Home.” I sent him images of our home in Virginia and how the wind felt on our scales when we fly.
“Home. We’re going home!” He said with a huge smile on his face.
I stood back up and he slipped his small hand into mine, “Is this everyone Mona?” She nodded, “Okay. My people need to assess the injured and anyone who’s staying through the night needs to get started packing.”
We went out into what could be considered the town square, where families assembled to greet their loved ones who were imprisoned by Joseph. The little boy let go of my hand and ran to what I presumed were his parents. I walked over to them, “Aunt Liza, Uncle Mike this is my new friend Amaya. She showed me what our new home looks like!”
I shook their hands after waving off their attempts to bow, “Where are his parents and why was he in the cells to begin with?”
Liza winced, “They were killed a few months ago, hunters. Joseph put Georgie in the cells for trying to steal food.” Her face contorted in fear as if she was afraid I would put him back in, “He was just trying to get enough food for me. I was pregnant with mine and Mike’s first baby and we didn’t have enough to eat. We would’ve all starved to death just to bring a baby into this, so Georgie tried to steal some food from the stores. I lost the baby,” she finished with a sob.
I wrapped my arms around her and Niamh reached out for her dragon to comfort her. “I’m not my uncle. None of us are. You’ll never have to go through that again. You guys should go pack. We’re leaving tomorrow for a werejaguar clan in Brazil.” I pulled back and looked down at Georgie, “Would you like to help my teammates and I cook for the clan?”
“Really? Can I Aunt Liza and Uncle Mike?” He asked, overjoyed to be picked for the job.
His uncle, Mike, chuckled and gave me a look of gratitude, I gave him a knowing wink, “As long as you behave yourself. We don’t need to see how far we can push Miss Amaya’s patience.”
“Up we go Georgie,” I said, squatting down to pick him up piggyback style. “Jos, can you do an assessment of the injured and figure out who’s flying out with you tonight?” I mind linked her.
“You got it, boss.”
“Okay everyone, if you are injured or have an injured family member, you will see my second in command Josie. She’s flying the injured home tonight to be seen by our healer Lavi and Kachina, Queen of the Earth Dragons. They’re both some of the best healers in the world. The rest of you need to pack what you can for the trip to Brazil. If there is something that is too big to take with us, and you must take it with us, please see Alanza. We have a few humans in our presence, and I’ve heard about your troubles with hunters.” I patted Georgie’s arm, “Know they aren’t hunters and they can be trusted. I’ll let you all get to packing. There will be a feast in about two hours.”
There were excited murmurs throughout the square. “Mom said you were fine with me staying with them,” Ian’s voice sounded in my head.
“Yes. Please stay with them,” I linked back to him. “Jace, where are you and the SEALs?” I linked him.
“We’re on the outskirts of town,” he linked back, “I wasn’t sure how we would be received.”
“Come on Georgie. We’ve got some people to pick up, then you can show us where these food stores are,” I said heading to the outskirts of town, toward Jace’s scent.
When we got close I heard Georgie sniff the air, “Why does he smell kind of like Joseph?”
I saw Jace flinch at the mention of Joseph, “Because Joseph is Jace’s father, technically.”
Georgie’s heartbeat picked up, “Is he anything like his dad?”
I gently stroked his arm, “No, Little Dragon, he’s nothing like Joseph. My dad placed us with trusted humans while he tried to hunt down Joseph, and has since trained us together. Jace is my brother as far as I’m concerned.”
His heartbeat slowed down a little, “Is your dad nice like you?”
I smiled, “Yeah, he’s the best.”
“And the humans? How do you know you can trust them?”
“Because one of them is my mate and the others are sworn to protect each other and their nation. Are you going to behave yourself, Little Dragon?”
“I guess,” he said in a lighthearted sulky tone that made me chuckle.
“Is he the one?” Georgie whispered in my ear as we walked up to Fox and the others.
I nodded and whispered back, “How can you tell?”
“He smells kind of like you,” he sniffed the air again, “But you guys haven’t mated yet.”
“Smart boy,” I gave him a peck on his temple. Fox cleared his throat, “This is my new friend Georgie, he’s going to help us cook for the feast.”
“Us?” Todd asked in a harsh tone that caused Georgie to hide his face in my hair.
I leveled Todd with a glare and he withered a bit, “If you would rather eat your MREs, fine by me, but that’s how it goes, if you don’t help, you eat the food you brought. Come on, Jace,” I lowered my voice, “Georgie, which way to the food store?”
“Joseph keeps the food near his house. It’s just off the square, if we go back, I’ll show you,” Georgie responded in the smallest voice I had heard him use yet. I held back the growl that threatened to escape. Jace wasn’t as in control and a growl escaped, causing Georgie to shrink even further into my back.
I was about to speak, but Jace beat me to it, “Captain you’ll keep your tone civil. Our people have been a lot, and we’d thank you to keep your voice down and civil.”
“It’s okay Georgie,” I said softly, “Nothing will happen to you so long as I’m here. Got it?”
He nodded into my back, “Me too, Georgie.” Jace said quietly, walking up to us rubbing Georgie on the back.
We walked back to the square, with the SEALs in tow. There was a little less hustle and bustle in the square when we got there. “Which way now, Georgie?”
He perched his head back on my shoulder and pointed to a footpath. We walked down the path and came across a big house much bigger than any of the others we passed. “That’s his house. He kept the food over there,” he pointed to a medium-sized shed.
“Did he have anyone in his home usually?” I asked, walking over to the shed.
“Yeah. He kept two maids and a cook in there. I don’t know if they’re still in there. Do you want me to ask Aunt Liza?” He asked, still speaking quietly.
“Please and let me know what she says,” he nodded into my shoulder, “Hop down, Little Dragon, I don’t want you to get hurt if he boobytraped it.”
“Come here, Little Dragon. My dragon is dying to hold you,” Jace said with his arms stretched out but not grabbing him until Georgie reached back for him. Jace lifted Georgie onto his hip rather than his back. I gave Georgie a kiss on the forehead which caused him to giggle.
“Aunt Liza says he still has staff in the house, but they shouldn’t be a problem.”
I stroked his cheek, “Thank you. Now stay with Jace until I clear the shed.”
He nodded. I bent the metal on the lock, forcing it open. I took a step inside, “I don’t sense anything,” Niamh told me.
The mass of food inside was astounding. The clan could eat comfortably for months with the amount that was stored in the shed. “Greedy bastard,” I mumbled to myself. I walked further in picking up everything, making sure there weren’t any traps that Niamh couldn’t detect. I inhaled double checking the food wasn’t poisoned. Still not wanting to take any chances, “Jace I’m just going to hand you guys the food. Niamh isn’t finding anything, but I don’t want to chance it.” I picked up one of the bananas and took a test bite. It tasted fine so I handed it to Georgie, “the first bit of it is for you, Little Dragon.”
“What is it?” He asked with a confused look on his face.
Jace and I shared a look and Jax failed to hold in his growl behind me causing Georgie to shrink a little, “That wasn’t for you, Georgie. It was for Joseph and what he’s done to our people. And this,” Jace grabbed the banana from me, “Is a banana, Little Dragon. It’s a sweet fruit. Try it.”
He sheepishly looked over my shoulder at Jax, “I’m sorry Georgie. Jace is right, that wasn’t for you. It was for Joseph.”
Georgie gave him a small smile, and took a bite of the banana. His eyes lit up and a big smile came across his face. “That good, huh?”
He nodded enthusiastically, causing Jace and me to laugh. “Form a line guys. I’ll be handing the food out, just in case there are traps.”
“I thought you were checking for that,” Hill said.
I sighed, “I did check, and while there doesn’t appear to be any traps or poison. I’m not willing to stake anyone else’s life on it but my own. So if I’m done explaining myself to you,” he nodded slightly, “Then let’s form a line so we can get started on cooking.”
We got everything we needed for a large feast out of the shed, and headed for the house. Jax picked up Georgie and put him on his shoulders. We walked into the house and were greeted by the staff. They bowed deeply, “My queen,” they all said together.
I set down the food I was carrying, and walked over to them. “Please, you don’t have to bow. I’m not like Joseph. Call me Amaya. Do you have things to pack?” Two of them nodded, “Go, please, be with your family, if you have one, and get ready to leave.” They smiled their thanks and scurried out of the house, leaving the last staff member in the house with us, “nothing to pack?” I asked her.
She shook her head, “I would like to help with the feast; finally feed the clan rather than Joseph. I don’t own anything I want to take with me or that couldn’t be packed in a little while.”
“We can trust her. She used to work in the main house when we were little. She fed us well,” Niamh told me.
I nodded at her, “What’s your name?”
“Connie, my queen,” she said.
I walked up to her and took her hands in mine, “Please, Connie, call me Amaya. My dragon tells me you fed us when we were younger. I’m sorry I don’t remember you.”
She smiled and shook her head, “You were so young, my qu- Amaya, I’m surprised she remembers.” She gave my hands a squeeze, “Let’s get started on this feast.”
I gave her a warm smile, “Yes let’s.”
We got started, I sampled everything before letting Georgie try it. Once the cooking wound down I took Georgie with me back to the town square. “What are we going to do, Amaya?”
“Well I don’t think we have enough tables or tables that are big enough, so we’re going to make them.”
“Make them? How?”
“The goddess gave me some extra things when I was captured by hunters a couple of years ago.”
“I love the goddess,” he inhaled a little, “You kind of smell like her, but different. You look like her too.”
“You’ve met the goddess?”
“Yeah she came to me in my dreams when I was in the cells.”
“What did she say to you?”
I felt him shrug behind me, “She would just talk to me. Tell me everything was going to be okay. She told me you were coming to rescue us last night.”
“She’s my mom. I started smelling like her after I got my new bending, but it’s just a hint of her scent,” I told him. We reached the square and it had calmed down almost completely, “Where should we set up?”
“We should put the food over there,” he pointed to a clear open space, “And set up long tables there, there, and there.” He pointed to several more open spaces that would work nicely for the feast.
“That’s some A plus planning, Little Dragon. Do you guys have mind link connections to everyone in the clan or just to family members?” I asked.
“Everyone, but we don’t use it, because we don’t get to see each other often,” he said sadly.
“Can you link your aunt and get her to link the clan to bring chairs to the feast? I don’t think people would like to sit on rock chairs,” I said with a smile.
“Sure!” He quieted down, no doubt to concentrate on linking his aunt.
I set to raising the tables. An extra-long buffet table for the food and several long tables for eating. “How does that look, Little Dragon?”
“Great! Aunt Liza said she will get right on linking everyone.”
“Awesome! Thank her for me please. Now let’s get back to the house and see if the food is done.”
We got back and loaded up with food and took everything back to the table I created. People began filtering in, chairs in hand. They were all so thin it broke my heart. Once everyone was settled I took in all of it: the shallowness to everyone’s bodies, but also the excited chatter that was buzzing throughout the square. I pulled up a medium sized platform to stand on from the ground. “If I could have your attention one more time before we eat,” I said, calling their attention to Georgie, who was still wrapped around my midsection, and me. “Hello, my name is Amaya Wardwell. I am your princess as well as the Queen of Dragons. I would like to apologize for the horrors you all have been put through for the last 25 years. If we had known sooner, we would’ve come to help. I am so sorry and I know that doesn’t do anything for you, but I can promise you will find a better life in Virginia. I’m not going to keep you from your food any longer, but if you have any questions please don’t be afraid to approach me. I’m not Joseph. Thank you. Please help yourself to the food. Prepared by Connie and the SEALs, and taste tested by our official taste tester, Georgie,” I said with a smile and Georgie was giggling into my back; equal parts embarrassed and happy to be the official anything.
Author: Kailan Counahan 