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  I ran outside with Ash beside me, leaving my parents behind. The scene we ran into was absolute chaos. Dragons flew overhead, lighting up the night with bursts of fire. The other villagers had heard the noise and were pouring out of their homes to fight. Some were dressed, but most were fighting in their nightwear. There were people everywhere. I saw Ally in his human form engaged in a sword fight with Wolfin, one of my father’s best friends. Just behind them, Marcus chased one of the dragons. I could tell by the way it held its wing that it had hurt itself and could no longer fly.

  Someone screamed and I saw the faces of two of the village children peering out of a window, watching as their father fought with someone I recognized from Spear’s house. Spear himself was nowhere to be seen, but I knew he’d be nearby.

  “Some of them have changed into human form,” I shouted to Ash as he pulled me through the warring groups, trying to get me to safety.

  “They would need to, to get into people’s houses to retrieve the swords. I guess this is what they planned once we left.”

  None of this looked planned. People screamed in pain and bodies littered the ground. Thankfully, no one looked dead. The people I saw on the ground were still moving, but the peaceful raid I’d hoped for was not happening. There was blood everywhere.

  Another burst of fire lit up the sky close to where one of the slayers lay prostrate on the ground. I noticed that the dragon missed by a good ten feet. For a second I wondered why, but then realized that he was only using fire for light. Not one of the slayers was burned. It was somewhat a relief, but not using fire in battle would put the dragons at a major disadvantage. It was one of the only weapons they possessed. A dragon in human form swooped in on the back of another dragon. As they passed the man on the ground, the human dragon leaned down and grabbed his sword before flying back into the sky.

  I ran to the man. I recognized him as Ben, one of my childhood friends.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, kneeling beside him. I couldn’t see any blood but his face was contorted in pain.

  “I stumbled,” he said. “I think I twisted my ankle.”

  His ankle was already beginning to swell. I turned to Ash. “We need to move him. He’s too exposed here.”

  Ben looked confused as Ash came forward. He obviously didn’t realize that Ash was a dragon shifter, but we didn’t get many visitors to Dronios. He didn’t say anything though, as between us, we managed to get Ben out of harm’s way. We dragged him into the first market on the strip.

  “You should be OK here,” I said, setting him down on a sack of flour. Behind me through the shop window, the sky lit up once again.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” Ben asked. “There are some humans out there with the dragons. If your friend wasn’t with you, I’d have thought he was with them too.”

  At least it proved that there were more of the villagers that didn’t know that the dragons were shifters.

  Another scream came from outside.

  “Julianna, we need to get out of here.”

  I turned back to Ben. “No time to explain, but I promise I’ll come back when I can and tell everyone everything. Just do me a favor. When this is over, don’t listen to my father or the other elders. They’ve been lying to us for years.”

  I didn’t wait for him to question me further; instead, I took Ash’s hand and we ventured back out into the night.

  “What now?” I asked. The battle was still going strong, but I wasn’t sure what I could do to help. Dragons were battling slayers everywhere I looked, some in their human form with swords and some in their dragon form.

  “I think we need to get out of here,” replied Ash. “Spear has this under control and us being here is not helping anyone. We’re just in the way.”

  If this was in control, I’d hate to see confusion.

  “We can’t leave!” I dug my feet into the hard ground, pulling Ash to a stop.

  “What do you suggest we do? Fight the dragons or fight the slayers? Because at the moment, I don’t see any other option.”

  He had a point. Fighting on one side would mean hurting the other, and I didn’t want anyone hurt. I’d never felt so utterly useless. Running away felt like a betrayal on both sides.

  A war cry pierced the air. Out of the darkness, someone came running toward us, sword aloft. Whether it was a dragon coming for me or a slayer coming for Ash, it was too dark to tell. I hesitated. Ash, on the other hand, was ready. He pulled my sword from its sheath and deflected the opposing blade just as it came crashing down, missing me by only an inch. The assailant thrust again, this time going for Ash. I stepped back as the pair fought in the darkness. I could barely see them, although every couple of seconds a burst of light showed me how they were both faring. They were pretty evenly matched. The slayer, and that’s what I knew him to be now, was a middle-aged guy from my village, and the best swordsman, but Ash had the advantage of being able to see much better in the dark.

  Nerves congregated in my stomach as I watched the fight. I couldn’t bear the thought of either of them getting hurt, but I didn’t see any other outcome. I didn’t know the slayer well, but I knew he was one of the men that regularly went up the mountain. There was no way he would ever back down. I was grateful for the darkness, for without it, Ash would surely be dead by now.

  An idea came to me. I ran behind the slayer, praying that no dragon would choose this moment to let out its fiery breath. It would be a disaster if he saw me.

  I couldn’t see Ash, but I knew he’d be able to see me. I signaled from behind the slayer’s back, pointing at his sword and making a motion that Ash should take it. Then I jumped onto the man’s back. The shock of someone behind him was enough for him to loosen his grip and for Ash to grab the sword out of his hand. I tried to jump down to run away, but the slayer had already reached over his shoulder and grabbed me by the tunic. I attempted to struggle free, but it was no use. He was much stronger than me. I watched as his other arm came crashing down on me. I cried out as pain shot through my shoulder. I hit him on the head, but it was like a mouse hitting an elephant—I doubt if he even felt it.

  A burst of fire illuminated Ash coming towards the man, ready to plunge a sword into him.

  “Ash, no!” I shouted. I couldn’t let Ash become a murderer for me. I clamped my teeth down hard on the slayer’s ear. With a scream, he released me. Ash grabbed my arm and we both ran for our lives toward the path that would lead us out of the village. When the screams and fire were behind us, I let go of Ash’s hand so he could change into a dragon.

  It was quieter now. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign, but at least the screaming had stopped. Despite all the fire, none of the buildings had burned. Spear had made a mess of this, but he’d kept to his word that they’d try not to hurt anyone. I’d only seen the dragons defending themselves. If they’d used fire for more than the purpose of light, they could have destroyed the village and everyone in it without having to land. It would have been easy to pick through the ashes of the burned down village later for the swords, but doing that would mean the deaths of many, if not all, of the villagers.

  They hadn’t done that. Of course, it didn’t mean no one had been hurt. I’d seen enough to know that there were many injured. I only hoped no one was killed. The dawn was coming and I could see the village better now. Some people were still fighting, but it looked like most of the dragons had left. As I watched, one stretched out its wings and took off into the sky.

  “Uh, Julianna,” Ash called. I turned to find out why he hadn’t changed yet to find his hands in the air and a sword to his throat.

  “Jasper!” I cried, seeing who it was that held the sword. “What are you doing?”

  “Is it true?”

  “Yes. It’s true. I’ve been living among the dragons for the last week. They don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  “They’ve got a funny way of showing it.” Jasper laughed, but it was joyless.

  “Look around you. If they wante
d to kill anyone, they would have done it. How easy would it be for them to breathe fire and decimate the whole village? They could have done it without even landing, and yet they chose not to. They only want their families back. All those men and women we caught and imprisoned.”

  Jasper scowled.

  “We’re the bad guys here,” I continued. “We’ve hunted innocent people for centuries. The dragons have done nothing as we took their people, and yet it is only now that they know that the dragons are only imprisoned and not dead, and now they are doing something about it. Ask yourself why.”

  “Why should I believe you? You’ve been with them long enough for them to have brainwashed you. You could be planning to come back and murder us all in our beds for all I know.”

  “You and I have never gotten along very well, and for that I’m sorry. If you don’t want to believe me, that’s up to you, but I’m asking that you let us go. Papa admitted that he knew about the dragons being shifters right after you left the barn. Maybe you should go talk to him.”

  I could see he was struggling with what I was telling him, and I couldn’t blame him. I could scarcely believe it myself.

  “You’re lying, you have to be lying.” I could see the tears in his eyes and my heart went out to him. I’d just told him that his own father was a murderer. That he was a murderer.

  “Papa isn’t the only one. I think all the elders know. That’s why I’m here—to stop a great injustice that our people have been perpetuating for centuries. Ash’s own father was taken by us, and yet not once did he choose to come here and exact revenge. He wants peace as much as I do. You have the choice now. You can be one of them—a coward who lies and murders because of some century-old grievance—or you can do what’s right and be on the side of peace.”

  I held my breath, waiting for him to make his decision, a decision that could mean Ash’s death.

  Slowly, he lowered his sword to the ground and I exhaled.

  “You made the right decision.”

  His voice wobbled. “I hope for your sake that you’re telling the truth because if I find out you are lying to me, I will hunt you both down and plunge this sword into both of your hearts.”

  “They are telling the truth, Jasper.”

  I looked around to find my mother standing beside us. She looked exhausted. Her clothes were dirty and ripped and her hair was wild, but she looked unhurt.

  “I think you should have this.” She handed her sword to me. I tucked it into my belt with mine and the one we had taken from the slayer.

  “Thank you.”

  “It only has one soul in it and it might be no use. You remember the story I told you on your birthday? The dragon was already hurt when I plunged the sword into him. He might have already been dead by the time I did it.”

  “I appreciate you doing this for us,” said Ash. “I want you to know that Julianna did not want any of this.”

  “I never knew. I wouldn’t have let it happen if I had. I want you to know that.”

  “I know, Mama.” I hugged her tightly, tears coursing down both our cheeks.

  “Please promise me something,” she said as I let her go. “Tell him or her that I’m truly sorry.” She nodded at the sword and I knew she was talking about the dragon whose soul was trapped inside.

  “I will.” I gave her a final kiss on the cheek as Ash turned back into his dragon form. I hopped onto his back and waved as we took off.

  As the ground got further and further away, I scanned the village for any dragons. Most had left, but I could see the bodies of three left behind. There was nothing I could do for them now—we had to leave them. I held safe the knowledge that if they had been stabbed by the slayers, at least they wouldn’t be dead, only appear that way. Their souls would become imprisoned within the swords, but I knew I was going to come back again and next time, we’d save them all.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The early morning sun cast a pink glow on the Triad Mountains making them look spectacular as we flew over them.

  A thousand emotions coursed through me as we crested the peak near Frokontas. Guilt about my people, fear of what we would find when we got back to Ash’s village. Most of all, I was sad. Sad and utterly exhausted. I yawned as Ash flew lower over the other side of the mountain.

  The plan had been to land in the village square, but as we flew over the fire pit by Ash’s house, it became apparent that everyone had chosen to land there. Below us was a hive of activity. It looked like the whole town had come out to find out what had happened. Ash circled around a couple of times before landing.

  Someone threw him some clothes, so I ran towards Edeline while Ash changed. She was busy bandaging the arm of one of the people who had gone to the village. All around me was chaos—people hurt and bleeding. Someone was shouting, another crying.

  “Edeline, what happened?”

  “I was going to ask you the same question. Is Ash with you?” Her face held an expression of worry.

  “Yeah, he’s safe. He’s just getting changed. It was a disaster down there. Spear’s group managed to wake the whole village. Do you know where he is?”

  If anyone knew what had happened, Spear would be it.

  Edeline nodded into the crowd. “Last I saw, he was having his foot seen to over there. Just to warn you, he’s pretty mad.”

  He was pretty mad? I was fuming! I found him deep in conversation with another dragon. His right foot was bandaged and I could see he was putting most of his weight on his left.

  I butted in, not caring how rude I looked.

  “What happened? Wasn’t this supposed to be a stealth attack? Do you need me to buy you a dictionary so you understand what stealth means? You couldn’t have been noisier if you tried.”

  “Stop shouting. Come with me.” He grabbed me by the arm and took me away from everyone else, to the base of the cliff.

  “We did go in silently, but someone saw us. It only took that one person to raise the alarm. You should be happy I kept to my side of the bargain.”

  “What?” Was he kidding?

  “None of your people were killed. Just before you rudely butted in, I was talking to Keth. He was the last one to leave the village, just after you. He confirmed that none of your people died. Those that were hurt were only superficially so. They will all live to see another day. Something that can’t be said for us. Three of my team were killed.” He held up three fingers. “Count ‘em. Three! Three dead dragons and you can see the injured.” He motioned to the people around the fire pit. It looked like most of those that went down to my village had been hurt in one way or another.

  “Oh.”

  “Oh?” he growled. “Is that all you have to say?”

  “Okay, I’m sorry. Thank you. Who...?”

  “Ally, Gem and Fiona.”

  I didn’t know Gem or Fiona, but the thought of Ally being hurt was bittersweet. Of course, I didn’t want him hurt, but with some luck, the same slayer that pierced him was the one who had captured Stone. There was a possibility that they were reunited.

  “They aren’t really dead, though, are they?”

  “Oh, well that’s okay then,” Spear responded with ill-disguised sarcasm.

  “You know what I mean. We can get them back. We can get them all back. We just need to find where the bodies are being kept.”

  “We?” He raised his eyebrow.

  “Yes, we! You were right all along. My father knew. He’s always known. My whole life has been a lie. Some of the others know too, but not all. I think it’s only the village elders. My mother and brother knew nothing about it.”

  Something else occurred to me then. That’s what the eighteenth birthday tradition of killing dragons was all about. It was not just a rite of passage, but also a way to find out who was safe to tell the secret to. Those that killed the dragons willingly joined the hunting group. It was those slayers who would eventually be told about the dragons being shifters. The ones who were bloodthirsty and after years of killi
ng, lacking empathy for the lives of dragons. They were the ones who would be brought into the inner circle. Jasper might not have known the truth yet, but there was no doubt in my mind that he would eventually have found out.

  “That’s all well and good, but your map was next to useless. After all that, we only managed to recover three swords.”

  “Four!” I drew my mother’s sword from my belt and threw it to him. “This was my mother’s. It only holds one dragon, but one dragon is better than none, right?”

  “If you think this changes anything, you’re wrong. You need to go back to Dronios where you belong.”

  “No!” I replied forcefully. “You’re wrong. I don’t belong there. Not anymore. I can do more good here than I can back home. Let me stay. There’s so much I can do.”

  “What can you do?” he spat.

  “Pass me my mother’s sword back.”

  “Why?”

  “What’s happening here?” Ash put his arm around my shoulder.

  “Your girlfriend was leaving. Ash, Take her home.”

  “I wasn’t leaving. I was just going to tell Spear that I was going to let him use my blood to release the dragons.”

  Spear regarded me curiously. “You’d do that?”

  “Of course I would. I’m not a slayer anymore.” I took a deep breath. “My father was a hero in my mind. Last night I found out he was a murderer. I’m not like him. Most of the villagers in Dronios aren’t. Last night, they were defending themselves from an enemy. You have to know that. They need to know the truth and you need me for that. Setting the dragons free will mean nothing if the slayers carry on doing what they’re doing. I only have so much blood to release them. Who are you going to use to free them once all my blood is spent?”

  “There will be others,” Spear stated confidently.

  “Other slayers that give up their blood willingly?” I shook my head at the thought.

  “Who said it has to be given willingly?” Spear countered.

  “What are you saying, Spear?” Ash’s arm tightened around me.