Four days passed silently after Bird encountered Fel Cross. She had become restless while the dragons continued to buy supplies and information in the city. Several times new dragons would visit the tavern across the street of the inn to speak with them while Adwin and Yena performed to draw in more money. Sometimes they would leave with Apple in order to speak with The Old One in seclusion. The only thing she looked forward to each morning was training with Lore, but the young dragon seemed distracted since the event in the street. When the training was finished she was left to herself as the dragons went about their business in the city. She found menial tasks to complete like mending and would even help the inn’s owners with caring for the rooms.

Bird yawned as she dumped a basket of linen into the laundry vat of the cellar. The hot soapy mix bubbled as one of the grandchildren of the innkeepers stirred the water with a large wooden paddle. “Thank you,” the child said before Bird turned around to climb the stairs into the small service yard behind the inn. The gates to the yard were open and a black carriage sat on the wheel tracks worn into the stone. A man sat on the driver’s seat smoking a pipe while he held the horses in check. Ignoring him, Bird went to the backdoor leading into the service entrance of the inn.

Pain bloomed on the back of her head and she staggered against the wall. She turned around and saw the silhouette of a man standing above her with a club. He brought his arm down swiftly and she collapsed.

Apple stopped speaking, his spine tingling with warning. He searched the room with his senses finding nothing amiss, but something was wrong. The dragon in front of him interrupted his thoughts by clearing his throat. “Is there something wrong Avalon?”

“There’s no danger, but something feels wrong,” Apple said standing. Elys, he knew, had gone to tend the horses, Adwin was buying dry goods and Yena was napping. At this time of day Lore would be doing rounds of the city checking to see if demons or tigers had been alerted to their presence.

“Where is the human child you have been taking care of?”

“She was helping the innkeeper with laundry.”

“Are you sure?”

A chill went down Apple’s spine and he dashed from the room. In less than a minute he was in the cellar staring at a frightened girl as she clutched a laundry paddle in her small hands. “Where is Bird?” he asked. He could still smell the witch in the cellar though she was not present. The girl pointed behind him at the door.

“Sh-she left.”

Apple turned around and climbed the stairs into the service yard. The yard was empty and the gate locked. Bird’s scent still lingered in the air, the dragon followed it, not to the door of the inn but into the middle of the courtyard where it stopped. Apple felt his stomach drop and his breath caught in his throat. Bird was gone.

***

Fel received a letter carried by courier. After paying the boy he opened the slim slip of paper sealed with wax.

Fel Cross,

I hereby issue you a challenge. As the eldest son of my family is it my duty to uphold my family honor. Please be at the below address at 11pm.

1145 South Traitor’s Road

Sincerely,

Tristen Berand, 53rd Council Seat

Fel sighed and rubbed his head. Not another challenge, he thought. As he was about to throw the paper in the trash he noticed more writing at the bottom of the letter.

P.S. I have something precious of yours

“Now what could he have?” Fel thought aloud. He had had very few things he cared about and none of them would easily be obtained. His mother and father had too much political and social status to disappear and his Rottweiler did not trust anyone but him and would die before going with any stranger. The estate was out of the question so it only left his ring, an heirloom of the Nor dynasty, but that was still with him. Tristen was probably pulling a bluff to get him to duel.

He threw the letter into his wastebasket.

***

“Apple you need to calm down,” Elys said as he watched the younger dragon pace his room. “She can’t have gone far and I doubt a Hunter has found her.”

“I should have known something was wrong when my senses went off! She could be dead,” Apple growled as he continued to pace Elys’ room. Adwin and Yena sat on the bed; Lore had yet to return from his rounds in the city.

“Do not think like that. You would know if she was dead. You would feel it,” Elys said. Apple balled his hands into fists. He knew he needed to calm down, but this was his first charge. Elys had years of experience of being a Holy Guardian, having had several charges before he met Khem.

“I’m going out to look for her,” Apple said as he stopped in the middle of the room. Elys shook his head.

“You will not find her easily without holy intervention, and with the Creator imprisoned as he is, we can only wait until she prays.”

“But she does not know to pray and praying could attract the attention of a Hunter since she is a witch. You know the heavenly networks are constantly being monitored.”

“Yes, that’s why many with magical powers do not follow a religion, it is too dangerous. The only safe places are the holy grounds of the Creator which Hunters dare not tread upon and the Traitors have yet to defile,” Adwin commented quietly. Yena rested her head on his shoulder and sighed deeply. Her husband ran his hand down her arm in response.

Apple sat down in a chair suddenly feeling exhausted. Waiting was hard, but the elders had been waiting for centuries to find the missing book of creation. He would not abandon Bird to complete his mission, if he must, he would send the others with the book to return to Uler. Lore, he knew would stay by his side no matter what the circumstances.

Lore opened the door to Elys’ room and was surprised to find all of the dragons gathered around Apple who looked depressed. “What’s going on?” the dragon asked. He closed the door behind him before coming closer.

“Bird has disappeared,” Apple said quietly. He sat with his head in his hands, his body shimmering as his emotions warred inside of him. How was he supposed to prove himself as a leader when he could not keep track of one girl?

“Then she must be the one everyone is talking about,” Lore said. Apple’s head lifted swiftly. Had Lore already found Bird?

“Who has been talking?” Apple asked.

“Word is on the streets that the 53rd Council Seat has kidnapped the secret lover of Fel Cross, sole male heir to the Cross family. Apparently Fel had been involved with the Seat’s sister prior to her marriage to a local noble family.”

“Never mind all that, where is she?” Apple growled. Lore’s eyebrows rose for a second.

“I don’t know,” he said.

“Of all that is holy,” Apple swore. He was about to stand up when Lore raised his hands for him to stop.

“All I know is that a challenge was issued to Fel, all we have to do is find him.”

***

Lunch had been a quiet affair for Fel, as his mother and father had attended a social gathering outside the city limits. With no brothers and his elder sister married off and living in the capital, he was forced to spend the meal alone with his butler. The people he called friends were sleeping off another drunken party wherever they had decided to crash, leaving him the only one sober at the moment. Maybe he would join them in the evening instead of going to Traitor’s Road.

Fel opened a window as his study began to feel stuffy. As he turned around a wind gusted through blowing the curtains around him like white wings. Suddenly a large shadow dwarfed his and he turned around to find a strangely familiar man standing on his sill. The stranger gave him a hard stare and seemed to glow in the noon light. The way the sun shone over his shoulders gave the illusion of wings with long glowing feathers. Stray feathers seemed to dance in the air among small specks of light around them.

“Do not be afraid for I am a servant of heaven.”

Fel realized his jaw had dropped and he quickly closed it. Where had he seen this stranger before and why was he glowing? Could he be a heavenly tiger come to visit him? Was he to be a saint?

The glowing man dropped from the sill and the light around him dimmed as his wings vanished. Fel relaxed slightly. “You’re the beau,” he said as Apple closed the distance between them. “How did you sneak passed all our guards, this is a private estate you know.”

“When need be, we can pass undetected,” Apple said as he studied the young man before him. By any standards Fel would be considered handsome though his height was slightly less than average. He could see how he could have caught any woman’s eye. Did Bird find him attractive?

The dragon pushed the last thought out of his head.

“What are you, I mean… never mind. What do you want?” Fel asked. The man before him could not have been glowing, it was just sunlight and as for the feathers and specks of light, just motes captured by the light. He and his companions must be spies for one to infiltrate the estate so easily.

“Bird has been kidnapped by the 53rd Seat.”

“Then why are you not bothering that insufferable Peacock?”

“We would, if we could find him.” Apple looked out the window straining his senses for some clue. “We heard he had issued you a challenge.” Fel threw his hands up in the air and shrugged.

“I did receive some scrap of paper from him saying he took something precious from me, good luck finding it, I threw it away.”

“You what?” Apple said slowly, his voice just above a whisper. Fel backed away sensing the anger rolling off the dragon. “Someone issues you a challenge with a ransom and you toss it out with the trash?” Fel put his desk between himself and the dragon then pointed to the half full metal basket sitting next to it. Apple looked in the basket and saw a slip of paper with a broken wax seal. Picking it up he read the contents. This was the letter and there was the address at the bottom. Quickly he went back to the window and tossed the letter out. Yena, crouched above the window, caught it then jumped three stories down into the courtyard below landing undetected then walked out the gate, no one looking at her twice.

Curious Fel leaned out the window to see what was going on then jumped back when Apple turned to face him. “Look, is that all you came for?”

“Do you know why they kidnapped her? Rumors are saying you two are lovers.”

Fel felt his face warm and he burst into laughter. “Oh, you have no need to be jealous. The girl is a little young for my taste. I have no interest in her; knowing that Peacock, he jumped to conclusions when he saw us together,” the young noble said. “I am not one known to flirt randomly.” Apple grunted in response then stepped on to the window sill.

“Take care to show more compassion. One day you shall be rewarded for it.” Apple leapt from the window and was gone before Fel made it to the sill.

“Compassion,” Fel grunted. Compassion was what started this mess.

Bird cracked her eyes open then flinched at the candlelight that seemed too bright for her eyes. The back of her head ached and there was a foul taste in her mouth. She tried to move her arms but found they were tied to a hook welded into the floor. She tugged on the thick rope once more but the knots were well-made. Sighing she worked herself into an awkward crouch noting that she was on a dusty wooden floor. The room was bare except for the candle hanging on the far stone wall and the cobwebs in the rafters. The ceiling in the room was so low that if she stood up she would have to lower her shoulders while anyone taller than her would be nearly doubled over.

After doing a cursory sweep of the room she noticed its most odd feature, it had no door.

“Hello!” Bird called out then regretted it. She had been kidnapped and if her kidnappers knew she was awake they might do anything to her. Had the Hunters found her again? Bird shivered though it was not cold in the chamber. The only thing to do was escape on her own. She looked at the hook on the floor and thought “break”; nothing happened. She tried again on the ropes still nothing happened. Frustrated she tried to send a wind across the chamber but still nothing happened.

She couldn’t use magic; the thought chilled her. Whoever had captured her knew how to ward against magic; they were taking no chances with her. They were more than likely Hunters or their trained Seekers.

The ceiling creaked above her and dust fell to settle on the floor in front of her. There was a loud scraping noise then light flowed in from above causing Bird to hide her eyes in her shoulder. “So we’re awake,” a woman’s voice said. Bird peaked out from the corner of her eye but could not see the woman clearly. “I didn’t see how he had become so enamored by a working class wench, but now looking at you I see why. You look like a cheap and simple version of myself.” The woman grabbed Bird’s chin roughly and pulled her forward. “I detest you,” the woman hissed then slapped Bird so hard her ears rang and she tasted blood.

“Why am I here?” Bird asked through gritted teeth.

“Because you stole my man from me,” the woman hissed again then grabbed Bird by the hair and bashed her head against the floor repeatedly. “I hate you; I’ll make you wish you had never turned his head! Harlot, after tonight he will never think of you again!” She released Bird who fell limply to the floor dazed. The sound of her blood roared in the girl’s ears masking the insults the woman spat at her before kicking her in the stomach and leaving.

Bird curled into a ball, tears running down her face in thin hot lines. If only she was not tied up she would make that woman pay. At least it was not the Hunters who had found her. Apple and the others will be worried about me, no, the others won’t care and Apple only cares out of duty, Bird thought as she forced herself to sit. Her throat felt dry and she swallowed hard to relieve the feeling. She could not rely on the dragons to help her, she had to find her own way out, but how? She looked at her boots suddenly remembering the small skinning knife Apple had given to her as a present. The small sheath still pressed against her ankle.

Carefully she untied her boot and slipped it off, the sheath coming out with her foot. She gripped the sheath pulled the handle with her teeth then once it was loose dropped the oil treated leather. After an hour of tedious cutting, Bird was able to slide her hands free of the rope. She rested for a moment then put the knife back in its sheath and into her boot.

Her legs felt stiff after sitting so long on the hard floor, but the discomfort was miniscule compared to throbbing ache on the side of her head where the mysterious woman had bashed it against the floor. “Now where is it?” she thought aloud as she scanned the ceiling for the entrance the woman had used. She could just make out the outline of the door and pressed against it. Nothing moved. Frustrated she searched the rest of the small room finding nothing she could use to move the door. All she could do was wait for the woman to come back.

Fel adjusted his gloves feeling bored. He had been waiting at the dead end of Traitor’s Road for five minutes passed 11 and had seen no one walk down the former execution road. After what Apple had said to him he had begun to consider the challenge. If the girl he had met had been taken hostage, then it was his duty to free her, after all it was his fault that she had been taken. He sighed and rubbed his eyes then paused as he heard the gate leading into the abandoned holding quarters open. Two of the Peacock’s personal guard came out first followed by the Peacock himself, another guard and a woman he had never thought to see again.

A sharp pain went through his chest as if a dagger had been thrust through his ribs. “Ilyse,” he said. He took a step forward then stopped short as the woman held a hand up then beckoned to someone hidden just beyond the gate. Another guard came forward restraining Bird. The girl’s mouth was gagged and her hands and feet were shackled causing her to stumble from the awkwardness of moving in them. “Ilyse, why are you here and why is that girl shackled?” Fel demanded as his heart quickened in his chest. Ilyse was in the city again, but for how long?

“I see you lack manners tonight,” the Peacock said tapping a new cane on the red granite of the execution yard. “You see, not only did you take my sister’s virtue, you have disgraced her with a bastard child.”

Fel’s heart skipped a beat; he was a father? “Where is my child Ilyse?” Fel asked ignoring the Peacock. Angered, the other man charged him and cut a swath of silk from Fel’s shirt.

“Do not ignore me Fel Cross!” the Peacock roared. “You have continued to disgrace my family and yet you still dare to speak to my sister after what you’ve done to her?” Fel brought up his sword to block the Peacock’s next swing and pushed him back three steps. The two stared each other down while the bodyguards watched.

“Tristen!” Ilyse said coming up behind her brother. “Do not kill him; I will not have my daughter grow up without knowing her true father.”

“We have a daughter?” Fel asked, his heart soaring. He had never thought of himself as a father, but the thought of seeing his own flesh and blood smiling back at him warmed his heart. He longed to see her. “Is she here in the city?” Ilyse frowned at him and crossed her arms.

“Yes, she is. Her name is Tamsyn Felice Berand; she is six months old.” Ilyse drew closer to Fel. “But you, you found this harlot instead of waiting for me!” The woman made a quick hand gesture and the guard holding Bird knocked her to her knees. The girl grunted in pain and glared at the man sullenly.

“Pet, I’m not involved with that girl; she is just some child I met in a tavern.” Bird turned her glare to Fel and he hid a smile with his hand.

“Then you won’t mind if I kill her do you?” Ilyse asked. Fel sighed.

“Actually I do mind, you see she travels with some skilled companions who broke into my estate earlier today. I’m sure your brother can attest to their skill; the girl in fact disarmed one of his men as if he were a novice.” Ilyse eyes narrowed. “Didn’t your brother tell you he tried to kill me only a few days ago?”

“No he didn’t. Tristen?”

“He has disgraced you and mother and father were forced to marry you off to that sloth,” Tristen said raising his chin in defiance. “He must pay his debt in blood, whether his or any who helps him.” Ilyse took a step back in surprise at her brother’s vehement words.

“So you lied to me about this girl?” She asked in a low voice. Her brother smirked at his sister and made a quick hand gesture to the guard standing over Bird.

“It was really convincing since you two share similar features, but neither she nor that Ass shall live to see the dawn.”

The guard pulled Bird up by the hair and took a fighting blade from his belt. He raised the blade as another sprouted from his throat and lodged in the wall that surrounded the yard. With a gurgle he fell over leaving everyone to stare in shock. Bird looked up and saw the dragons perched on the roof above. Apple smiled at her as he leapt from the building and landed lightly beside her.

Tristen let out a roar and charged the dragon but was intercepted by Fel. The two began to duel again, their swords moving swift enough that they looked like silver streams that wove in and out in a deadly pattern. Apple pulled Bird aside as Yena, with her throwing knives, disarmed the other guards. “Are you-“ Apple began before a large blast knocked them all off their feet. Apple cushioned Bird’s fall with his body. Disoriented they looked up to see Tristen as the only one standing. He used another spell and knocked Fel further away from him.

“I have waited for this moment for so long,” Tristen said as he cornered Fel against the outer wall of the abandoned prison. “Give Hell my regards.” Suddenly a sword emerged from his chest and the Peacock staggered forward in surprise. He turned his head to find his sister behind him. “Why?” he choked as he fought to breathe.

“You would turn me against the one I love. He has not disgraced me; you have by marrying me off to that pig. I know mother and father did not arrange that for me, you did,” Ilyse said pointing an accusing finger at him. “And when I returned you sought to cover your hide with lies! I was the wayward sister pregnant out of wedlock and would have jeopardized your chance on council so you packed me away and enslaved me. Well my husband is dead and I’m a free woman! Good bye brother.” Ilyse took a knife that she had been hiding in her skirts and plunged it into her brother’s eye as warning bells began to ring far off in the city. The Peacock crumpled to the ground, dead before he struck it.

Fel rushed forward as Ilyse collapsed to her knees sobbing. “Pet, it’s alright,” he consoled her. “Tell the guards when they come that I killed him.” Ilyse looked up in surprise.

“No, no, no,” she sobbed shaking her head. She gripped Fel tightly. “No Fel, I don’t want to lose you again. What about Tamsyn?” Fel kissed her twice, once on the mouth and once on the forehead.

“I will come back for you both. Right now it will not do both of you good to be associated me. I love you Ilyse,” Fel said kissing her again then pressed his finger to her lips before turning to run. Ilyse looked at her brother’s guards and shook her head when they turned to look at her.

“Tell any who asks that Fel Cross murdered my brother,” she said choking back her pain. She bent over and hid her tears in her skirts.

Fel ran as fast as he could through the streets of Stormhall, three guards trailing behind him in pursuit. Suddenly he was yanked from his feet and into an alley. A hand clapped over his mouth before he could yell. “Shhh, or the guards will be upon us,” a masculine voice whispered roughly into his ear. Fel tensed as the guards ran passed his hiding spot without glancing twice. He relaxed as their footsteps faded and the stranger released him. He turned around to find one of the mysterious travelers from the tavern. This was the younger man with the long black hair that fell freely around his shoulders. The man smiled at him mischievously.

“I’m Lorcan, my friends call me Lore,” Lore said thrusting his hand out for a quick handshake.

“Alright…Why are you helping me?”

“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I let you die. Oh and please don’t be afraid.” Lore moved his hands in a quick spell and Fel felt himself shrink to the size of a child. The dragon picked him up then swiftly continued down the alley.

Apple removed the last shackle from Bird and she sighed in relief. Why was it that she seemed to attract trouble? She looked around Elys’ bedroom at all of the people gathered there. Lore stood by the window keeping a look out while Elys guarded the door. Yena and Adwin were on the full sized bed while Fel, now adult size, sat in a chair by the closet. Apple stood next to Bird while she, herself, sat on the dresser. Fel was regarding them all carefully while Bird pointedly ignored him; it was, though indirectly, his fault that she had been kidnapped in the first place. At least now she knew why he had first spoken to her in the tavern.

Bird cringed as the sight of Ilyse striking down her brother flitted through her head. Apple immediately touched her shoulder and Bird brushed his hand away though she wanted him to keep it there. .

She quickly stifled those thoughts and focused on massaging her sore and bruised wrists. “And then there were two,” Elys said from the door as he looked between Fel and Bird. Bird snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Is there something that I’m missing here?” Fel asked. Since encountering Lore and being brought to the inn his comfort zone had become absent. Tonight was the closest he had been to magic since his debut in existence. To think that Tristen had been a witch, which would mean Ilyse might be, and his daughter. The thought made him feel light-headed.

“Well, since he’s now yours, why don’t you explain it Lore,” Apple said crossing his arms in amusement. Lore grinned and stood excitedly.

“I’m your Holy Guardian, avatar of the Creator,” Lore said.

“So you’re Heavenly Tigers?” Fel asked feeling skeptical and relaxed at the same time.

“No, we’re Drakir able to assume the forms of dragons. We serve the The One, creator of all and the father of Lun and Hexa,” Lore continued feeling irritated. Fel raised an eyebrow.

“Riiight, I must have hit my head harder than I thought. What you’re saying is blasphemous and enough to get the evil eye if not a Hunter.”

Bird snorted again. “Hunters are tigers created by Lun and Hexa to purge the world of any who don’t fit into their ‘perfect world’. They are in reality just traitors and murderers.” The dragons nodded in agreement with Bird’s words. “Whether you like it or not, you’ve just awakened to a bloody and dark truth.”

“Ha, I think you’ve been misled by these charlatans, child. Though I’m not particularly fond of the national religion, I am even less fond of those who debauch it. For all I know you could be demons, but…” Fel hesitated. Though what Bird said would be considered false, something in his heart was telling him it was truth. Could it be possible that the holy ones Lun and Hexa were only traitors and fallen servants of Heaven? The possibility seemed farfetched. “I feel like I should trust you, crazy as you all seem.”

“Now that we’ve saved this human’s soul, what are our plans now?” Elys asked sarcastically.

Apple looked at everyone in the room, his eyes lingering on Bird. The girl looked exhausted though would deny it if asked. He felt hard put to hide his happiness of finding her, but he needed to address a serious matter. It was dangerous to remain in Stormhall and the dead Seat’s guards could easily name them accomplices in his death. The only thing they could do was leave the city tonight with Fel Cross. Their supplies were more than sufficient to reach their next checkpoint on the road to Uler.

“Lore, I need you to go down to the stables and cast an illusion over the horses. Make it look like we’re escaping the city on the Teralind side. Adwin make sure that our supplies are packed correctly and take them to the courtyard, Lore make sure to take one with you before you leave. Elys, you will wait a half hour then sign us out of the inn. Yena, you will take Fel while I take Bird. We will meet in Geneval at Ravencrest. Any questions?”

Elys raised his hand. “What do I do if the guards have a Seeker with them?”

“For now, we must leave them to their fate. We can send Lyra or another Drakir to save them later.” The ancient dragon nodded in agreement with Apple’s words. Apple looked around once more then sent everyone to their tasks. Bird’s stomach grumbled loudly and he grinned. “When was the last time you ate?”

Bird gave him a sheepish look before turning her head away and whispered, “Yesterday.” Fel reached into a pocket then tossed Bird a pouch of peanuts. Bird cracked a few open and ate the crunchy meat. “Thank you,” she mumbled to the young noble.

“You’re welcome though it’s hardly fancy fare.” Fel turned his attention to Apple. “So, since we’re not taking the horses how are we reaching your destination?” he asked.

Bird answered him. “We fly.”

The young noble snorted.