Jax and Alanza caught up to us quickly, “What’s up Amaya?”
“I spoke to the goddess while I was out, she said there shouldn’t be a problem in creating a mind link bond between our species. I figured I would create it between Jax too because I have a feeling I will need him on this.”
Alanza’s face lit up, “Really?” I nodded, “This is amazing. What do we have to do?”
I explained it to them, “That seems easy enough. What do you need me for, Little Duck?”
“I have a feeling I’ll need you to track the hunter I caught. I’m hoping I can get him to tell me where the camp is but I still want you to track him. I’m going to be above in dragon form. I need to shift to shake the lasting effects of the oil.”
“I’m coming too.” Alanza said with finality. I smiled at her and nodded.
Jace was barely hanging onto control in his attempt to get answers from the hunter as we reached him. “Jace.” I said quietly, reaching out for him.
When my hand touched his arm lightly and our dragons reached out for one another, his immediately fell back, and he turned to me. “You’re okay?”
I nodded, “Mostly. There’s still some in me, but I’ll be fine.”
He pulled me into his arms and held me tight, “I thought I lost you. I can’t lose you too.”
“Did you get anything out of him?” I asked into his chest.
“No. You need to use your juju on him,” he responded, finally letting me go.
Fox placed himself back around my waist, and we turned to the hunter. “I’m impressed you didn’t beat the shit out of him.” He just shrugged, “Where’s the camp and how many hunters are in the camp?”
The hunter was shaking but he managed to spit out, “I’m not telling you anything, filth.”
Fox tensed and Jace growled, but I quieted him with a hand on his arm. I moved away from Fox, squatting down in front of the hunter and smiled, causing him to appear more afraid, “Tell me where the camp is and how many there are in the camp,” I demanded, pushing dominance in my voice to force him to answer me.
He tried to fight it, but couldn’t, “It’s fifteen miles northwest of here. There are five more in the camp and six of you filths.”
“Six dragons? Be specific.”
“Four dragons, and two others. I don’t know what they are because we didn’t find out, we just tested silver on ‘em and it worked.”
“How did you end up here? You’re not Venezuelan, you’re not even South American, you’re American. So how did you end up in the Venezuelan jungle?”
“I was recruited a few years ago by a group in North America, and they decided to branch out and I had a passport.”
“What group?”
“The Northcott’s.”
I cursed under my breath, “What is it?” Fox asked.
“It’s a hunter group we’ve been trying to fight against. They came from England, a long line of dragonslayers.”
“Yeah, one of the heads went missing a couple of years ago,” the hunter added.
“Where did he go missing?”
“Backwoods of Kentucky. It wasn’t just him, it was the whole damn facility.”
“I think you mean barn, and your presumption is right he’s dead.” He started struggling to get away, “Calm down, you aren’t going to get out of that and I’m not going to do to you what I did to them or your buddies today. Probably.”
He froze, “Probably?”
I stood up and reached out for Fox to steady myself, “Yeah why not. You’ve been so cooperative.”
“Are you serious?” Jace mind linked me.
“No, but I didn’t want him ripping his hands off before I could kill him.” I linked back, “Okay Jax and Alanza let’s get linked.”
I handed Alanza one of my knives. Alanza and I sliced our hands at the same time and quickly put them together, “Boss Lady?” Alanza’s voice rang out in my head.
“Alanza!” I replied. We laughed and touched our foreheads, our animals reached out to each other. We pulled apart and Jax walked up taking the knife from his mate. We ran through the same motions and I felt the bond click, “Jax?”
“Little Duck you know you’re going to regret this right?” He said in my head.
“Yes believe me I know,” I said aloud with a huge smile on my face. He pulled me in for a hug.
“It’s good to hear you in my head, Little Duck,” he said quietly.
I let go of Jax and returned once again to Fox’s steady arms. I opened a link to Josie, Jace, and Ian, “You guys stay here. Josie get everyone prepped to go, but we may have four more that need to go tonight. If any unknown humans show up, contain and question, unless they become too hostile, then take them out. Got it?”
“Yeah boss,” Ian and Josie both linked back, while Jace just nodded.
I gave Fox a demanding kiss, which he returned happily, “Go against the buildings over there. I’ll get rid of the fog so you can see me shift. Niamh is massive so I need you well out of the way.”
He nodded and gave me one more kiss on my forehead before jogging to the building I pointed at, “What about me?”
I looked down at the hunter, “You’ll be fine.”
Jace headed back inside and Jax and Alanza began to strip, folding their clothes neatly as they removed them. They shifted easily into their forms, Jax picked up his clothes but Alanza left hers on the ground as they trotted over to Fox. I got rid of the fog, stepping away from the hunter I started to strip. When the hunter saw my body, saw the brands on my hip, he started to laugh, “You’re one of ours. Those brands on your hip means you belong to us.”
I leveled him with a glare, “I’m the Queen of Dragons and I belong to no one.” I reached out to the water in his body, once I found it, I made it boil, he began screaming and didn’t stop until he was dead.
I allowed Niamh to come forward to shift into her form. Fox walked up to us with an awestruck look on his face. “You’re so beautiful. Always so beautiful. Can I touch you?”
Niamh nodded our head before he even got the question out causing him to chuckle. We moved our head down, into his hands. As soon as his hands touched our head Niamh started purring, “Amaya we need to get going.” Jax’s voice rang out in my head.
I nudged Fox to get him to move back to the building. He laughed and walked back over, “Be safe.”
We nodded our head and watched as Jax and Alanza got the scent off the hunter I just killed. Once they set off, I bent the ground so the bodies fell in and sealed the ground. We spread our wings and flew in the direction of Jax and Alanza. I bent the trees out of the way so I could keep an eye on them, and soon we were at the hunters camp.
“Stay on the outskirts and watch for traps,” I ordered Jax and Alanza.
We circled above the camp observing their movements before folding in our wings and dive bombing the camp. I shifted when I was close to the ground, bending the air to help with the landing and shoulder rolling in the middle of their camp. They were waiting for me with weapons ready. Three of them had a mesh iron net that they threw over me. “Did you really think it was going to be that easy, filth?”
I smiled and began heating the net, “Yeah I did.” They had iron spikes ready for me once I was through the net but I bent them away from me as they were thrown. Two of them came at me, “So are you two top fighters or expendable? I would like to know who I’m fighting.”
They lunged at me, each with a growl more pitiful than the other. I fought them off easily, inflicting as much pain as I could before snapping their necks. The one that spoke to me looked me over, “You’re one of ours,” he said with a cruel smile, “Someone should really teach you where your place is, filth.”
“It’s right here. Killing hunters one by one,” I said before getting jumped by the other two guys. I did the same thing to them, inflicting as much pain as I could before killing them. “So who are you that you get to send stooges to do your dirty work?”
He smirked but didn’t answer; instead he pulled a bullwhip from his back. “This whip has killed many of your kind. It has iron and silver within the leather and was soaked in oil this morning.”
He whipped it out at me and I dodged. We played this game of cat and mouse until finally he got a lucky break and it wrapped around his intended mark, my neck. The end of it had a sharp barb that planted itself in the back of my neck. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of crying out in pain. He smiled wickedly as he pushed a button on the handle. An electrical current swept over my body, and he thought he’d won. I allowed Niamh to come to the surface and she forced the barb out of my neck. She took control of the whip and the electricity in it, unwrapping it from my neck and around his pulsing enough electricity through him to knock him unconscious.
“Come on in guys,” I mind linked Jax and Alanza.
They trotted into the camp, Jax stuck his nose in the air and trotted off to the medium sized lean-to on the edge of camp. “They’re in here,” he linked me.
I nodded, “Step back. Alanza keep an eye on shit heap,” she growled and stalked over to the hunter’s limp body. I stepped into the lean-to, “Niamh, any traps?”
“I can’t sense any,” Niamh responded.
I stepped further in and my heart sank to the floor. I walked up to the first dragon, a young woman chained to the floor. I bent the iron off of her, but she still cowered from me. “What’s your name?” She just inched away from me, “It’s okay. I’m here to rescue you guys. My name’s Amaya. I went through a very similar experience two years ago,” I moved back and showed her my brands. She showed a little more trust, but not much more. I reached out a hand, “let me help you outside.”
She looked as if it would bite her, I sighed and closed my eyes. I reached out to the water in the air and wherever else there may be water. I bent it into the lean-to, I took a small drink double checking the taste and showing her it wasn’t poisoned. I bent it to her and let her drink her fill, “You’re a dragon?” I nodded, “How did you find us? Did Joseph finally break his agreement with the hunters?”
I growled, one of the other dragons woke up, lunging as far as the chains around his wrists would let him, “Who are you? Get away from her.”
“I’m sorry. Joseph is no longer in charge. I’m Amaya Wardwell, his niece, technically, but considering he murdered my grandparents, mother, and aunt and stole a huge chunk of my clan to torture, I don’t really consider him my family. My father is Daniel Wardwell, the rightful king of the storm dragons, and I’m here to bring you guys home. Hunters attacked the village. I got the location out of one of them and two of my friends helped me track the trail,” I released him from his chains as well.
“How did you do that?” He asked.
I shook my head, “Later. What are your names?”
He rubbed his wrist and I bent the water to him so he could drink as well, “I’m Johnny Easton and this is my sister Claire.”
“My friend Jax is outside in his wolf form. Can you two make it out there on your own?” They nodded. Johnny got up and helped Claire to her feet. I moved on to the next shifter, taking in a deep breath, my mouth formed a grim line. I stepped out and bent the earth so that the hunter was confined to the ground. “Alanza, shift and come in here.”
She trotted over, shifting midstride, “A jaguar?”
I nodded, she rushed inside the structure. I bent the chains off of her and the remaining drugged shifters. “What’s your little sister doing here?”
Alanza shook her head, she tried to speak but couldn’t through the emotion. Jax whined at the entrance. I moved to the side to let him into the structure. He went to comfort his mate, but let out a growl when he saw who was on the floor. “We didn’t know she was missing,” he mind linked me. He sniffed the air, “The other is a wolf. I don’t recognise him, but his wolf is strong despite the wolfsbane in his system.”
I nodded, “Alanza, do you need help?” She shook her head and gathered her sister in her arms, and left with Jax out the entrance. I moved on to the wolf and picked him up, moving him outside onto a bed of plants I bent to us. I created three more, “Alanza,” she turned to me and I bent one of the beds to her, “put her in here.” I went back in for the other two dragons. As I walked back inside one of the remaining women was starting to wake up, but when she spotted me, she started inching away from me, shaking her hands and head. I put my hands up in front of me trying to show her I meant her no harm. “You’re okay. I’m here to rescue you. The others that were in here have already been taken outside. The chains that were on you have been taken off, we’re going back to the village for now.” She started shaking her head, “Joseph isn’t in control anymore. I took him down and when the village was attacked we followed the scent here. We’re going home, back to Virginia.”
I bent in some more water for her, again taking a small drink for myself. She took a drink and motioned to me with a quizzical look on her face. “My name is Amaya Wardwell. I’m the daughter of the rightful king, and technically Joseph’s niece. We’re nothing like him.” She nodded her understanding, “What’s your name?”
She shook her head and motioned with her hand as if it’s coming out of her mouth.
“You’ve lost your voice?” She nodded, “Can you stand?” She motioned for my hand and I gave it to her. I pulled her to her feet, she was shaky but she steeled herself and walked with me out to where Johnny and Claire were sitting on some chairs. “Do you guys know her name?”
They nodded but looked at her and after she nodded they looked back at me, “Finley.”
I smiled at them, “Thanks.” I went back for the last dragon, she didn’t wake up, so I carried her out as gently as I could and set her on the bed I made. I walked over to Alanza and Jax, “How’s your sister?”
She wiped her tear stained cheeks, “She’s weak. They injected her with a lot of silver, I can smell it. I don’t know why my parents didn’t tell me.”
“It might be possible,” Niamh’s voice sounded in my head.
I started rummaging through things until I found what I was looking for, an unopened syringe. I walked back over to Alanza and her sister, “Let me see her arm.” Alanza gave me her arm, I stuck the syringe in her arm and focused on her bloodstream. I singled out the silver and pulled it through her body into the syringe. I put the cap on the syringe and looked at Alanza. “She’ll be fine, I think. I’m pretty sure I got it all but what I didn’t get out she should be able to process now.”
Alanza launched herself at me, “Thank you Amaya. You have no idea what this means to me.”
“Anything for family,” we pulled apart and Alanza went back to tending to her sister. “What do you guys think about flying out? Just a big ass basket for everyone and you guys run back.”
“What about shit pot? What did you call him? Doesn’t matter. What about him?” Alanza asked.
“I carry him in a foot and if he gets on my nerves I just drop him,” I said with a shrug. Jax whined and I gave him a heavy sigh, “I know. I know. We need him for information but you have to admit it sounds like a lot more fun to drop him into the jungle from really high up.”
“Yeah explain that to Daniel when he hears about it, and you know he’ll hear about it. He’ll have you on the bench for weeks and on some shitty duty just to top it off like working in fire dragon territory.” Alanza made a disgusted sound, “King Aaron still trying to get in your pants?”
“Is this really the place?” I asked, completely done with my friend.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” She went silent for a moment and I thought I had finally gotten out of this conversation. “Jax is running back alone. I’m riding with my sister and the others. Is that cool?”
I nodded and started bending more vines and branches together creating the largest hot air balloon basket on record, “I’ll grab one end, you get the other.”
“The door was a nice touch,” she said with a small smile on her face.
“I do what I can. Can you and Jax load up the other two? I’m going to shackle the hunter and go through some stuff I found in one of the tents.”
She nodded and Jax shifted quickly, throwing on the pair of pants he brought with him. I went back into the lean-to and grabbed the iron chains off the floor. I headed to the hunter and removed his ground restraints and started to remove the whip from around his neck when he came to and started swinging. He only got in two good blows before I knocked him out again with a hard right hook. I put the chains around his wrists and headed to the tents. I rummaged through everything, grabbing files, a laptop, and a few journals.
I came out to see everyone loaded and ready to go, including Jax. “What? Why should I have to run back when everyone else gets a free ride? They said it was okay.”
“How did you ever make it into the SEALs? Seriously, I’m genuinely curious. Lazy bum,” he gave me a lazy smile as his only reply.
I walked away to the very edge of the campsite and shifted. “Holy fuck she’s massive,” Johnny said.
I bent the hunters I killed so they went under the earth and slid the leader to me to pick up before taking flight. As gently as I could I picked him up in my front foot. “Everyone seated with hands, arms, and feet inside the basket?” I mind linked Alanza.
“Yep, we are good to go.”
“Great. Hang on,” I flew up then came back down to grab the basket in my other front foot.
Author: Kailan Counahan 