The Dragon's Slave

Chapter 7

Do not show yourself.

Well, I wouldn't argue with that.

Like a nightmare, three more wolves flowed into the courtyard. White teeth gleamed in the remains of evening and gray hackles rose until they looked like spikes along the beast's shoulders.

I pressed myself back into the shadows, my heart slammed against my chest. I hadn't planned for any of this. Men who were dragons, men who were wolves.

"Who let you into the aerie Kurath?" Dynarys did not move against the man, he leaned, rather casually against the edge of the archway.

I wasn't sure if it fooled the wolf-men. But from where I stood I could make out his tense muscles and the way he played with the blade on his hip.

"Frightened brother?" Kurath snarled.

Brother?

Dynarys chuckled. "You have been out licking the Ephac trees to believe that. Life in the forest that rough for you?"

"Do not mock me Dragon spawn; you are in no position for such things," Kurath growled, stalking forward. Then he stopped and tilted his head. He lifted his face toward us and sniffed dramatically.

A dark chuckle rose in his chest.

"The shadows in the forest grow long brother," he called, his lips turned upward creating a malicious, dangerous look.

"Not long now before we see the end of the dragons. The closing of the age. And now..." he paused and chuckled once more. "Now, is when you choose a woman? Don't deny it," he called when Dynarys pressed himself upright. "I scent her cowering behind you in fear." He turned, "looks like we will have a new plaything when we are done boys. I wonder if she can handle the whole pack, how many do you think, Dynarys, before she breaks?"

Dread crept along my spine. I hunched deeper into the shadows, making my way back toward the building. The wolves would not fit there. Of course the wolves might become men who could fit, but my instinct screamed at me to find a place they could not reach.

Dynarys might be a threat to my freedom, and he was most certainly intimidating...but Kurath was terrifying.

"You best slink back the way you came traitor, before I remove your pelt for my wall. I will ask once more, who let you into the aerie?"

A wisp of gray at my side startled me, I stumbled over the trailing hem of my gown. Through the lattice a pair of slitted yellow eyes focused my way, the musky smell of fur drifting to my nose. Another wolf, sneaking along the wall. Leaves rustled softly as his back brushed the lower branches. A shadow shifted behind him too. How many were there?

"You've never considered maybe there are those who see through your deceptions?" Kurath called, "your cowardice? Honor might mean nothing to you and your kind, but I demand Konois-gar for mine." Kurath paused and then nodded to the wolves

Dynarys seemed to sense the danger, he did not lean casually any longer. Instead, he stood ready. While I was distracted he had removed twin blades from his waist sheaths. They gleamed black against the white stone wall, a picture of deadly beauty framed by the arch of the corridor.

In a flash a blade met his, and before I could blink he and Kurath were a blur of skin and wings and metal. The wolves surrounded the battle yapped excitedly. And then they twisted into the courtyard, well beyond the wall and out of my view. Grunts and snarls the only signs the battle continued.

Relief found me for a mere moment, long enough to wonder if Dynarys moved the fight on purpose, luring the beasts...men...away from me. The wise thing to do would be to run the other direction. A long, long way in the other direction. However, my feet froze to the ground and fear kept me from moving at all. Just staring through the lattice, my stomach in my throat.