Page 16 of The Dragon and the Exiled
That got a rumble that definitely seemed to be approval, so he reclaimed his seat, mindful not to slouch or lean back so he was touching Euclid.
Until the dragon huffed again, turning his long neck to give Dipak a shove so he fell back against Euclid's shockingly warm side."All right, all right.I get it."
It was hard to relax at first, the situation so beyond strange, and he couldn't look away from the bits of vibrant blue that were visible.Eventually, though, the overwhelming heat of Euclid was impossible to resist, more addicting than even the finest brandy, and before he knew it, Dipak was drifting off to sleep.
Chapter Six
Much like the first time, trouble arrived while Dipak was out hunting.Rabbits, today, for meat and fur, mostly his own, but a couple for the blacksmith.
Mercenaries again, but this group wasn't a hunting party.They were armed for war still, but this was asearchparty.They were trying to find the first group, which made sense, a good thirty people had died nearly two weeks ago now.
Seven, large for a search party, as the point of them was to stay low and quiet, invisible at best and unobtrusive at worst.Two was ideal, four was the maximum, maybe five if one person was remaining at a campsite as a coordination point.That would have been the smart thing in a forest like this, especially as it was a thousand times more dangerous at night than all other forests combined.
What in the gods' names was going on?
Clearly, he should have taken a closer look at those mercenaries.He hadn't even bothered to see if they carried some insignia, though a cursory search of the bodies for something useful had not turned up anything noteworthy, and generally that sort of thing did.The White Wolves.The Clawing Dark.He'd once worked alongside a group called the Merciless Shadows.It was always something absurdly melodramatic, with crests to match, usually hidden so they could mark each other but not advertise themselves to the greater populace.
"Euclid, if you're listening, I could use you right now."
He wasn't remotely surprised when Euclid appeared a moment later, stepping out from behind a large tree like it was his damned house and he'd just come outside."Seriously," Dipak hissed, "how do you do that?"
"I walkallavailable paths, not just the obvious ones."
"That explains nothing, and you know it."
Euclid just smiled, nearly an actual smirk, the teasing bastard."I will teach you sometime, maybe, though the trade would be significant."
"I traded color for improved eyesight, dragon.I know the cost of magic.Let's get rid of these interlopers and get through the solstice, and then we'll talk."He hadn't thought Euclid would tell him, let alone offer to teach him.It was just one of their little games.In another life, if Euclid were human, Dipak would say they were flirting.
A life of flirting, however, had died with Lochan.After the way he'd so deeply hurt Euclid by wanting to hunt him like a trophy, it was madness he even wanted to be Dipak's friend.No centuries-old dragon was going to flirt with a human, anyway.He was plenty adult by human standards, but must still seem so pathetically young by dragon.
"Want me to kill them, warn them, or run them off?"he asked, focusing on the matter at hand like he should have been all along, instead of getting distracted by a pretty dragon with fancy powers and a desire to show off.
"Let's get close, see what they're saying, hmm?Maybe they can tell us something useful, like how many more might come if they go missing too."
Dipak watched the group, pondering."I can loop around east, settle behind that witch maple—"
"Silly human."Euclid grabbed his arm and pulled him close, so that Dipak damn near had to grab him to keep from crashing into him.
Then everythingshifted, as if the world had been yanked away like a curtain, and suddenly there was something more there behind the curtain—and then they were behind the maple, exactly as he'd wanted to be, but it had only taken them two steps at most.
His head hurt something fierce, and he was dizzy enough he might throw up if the wrong smell hit him right now.He glared, but Euclid only smirked, then jerked his head in the direction of the mercenaries just steps away.
All his years sneaking around, it was still strange to realize that people were completely unaware of him.On some level, he just expected them to know, because how could they not?Even though he was purposely making sure they didn't.Eavesdropping wasn't really pleasant, just strange and uncomfortable.He did not trust anyone who enjoyed it.
"—what they deserved, messing around in this place."
"It was thirty hardened soldiers.No way theyalldied to one fucking forest.At least one of them would have made it back."
"They were hunting a dragon in the most dangerous place on the continent."
Three voices so far.
A fourth said, "Quit it, all of you."Well, they'd found the person in charge, which was always useful knowledge."This place is called the Forbidden Forest for a reason.In about two hours, you'll learn those reasons firsthand, unless we find a place to make camp real fucking soon.It is entirely possible the whole crew was wiped out, and that's more likely than anything nefarious, but also dragons are a big game prize, especially right now, so it's possible they crossed paths with another crew who got rid of the competition."
"Oh, please," said a fifth voice, "we are nobody's competition."
The leader said with chilling calm, "Everyone is easy work to somebody.The cockier you get, the easier you become."
