Thistle stood in the barn waiting for her friends, checking and rechecking the lids on the Grokiorica cream. Jade had done her magic with the salve, and it was immediately put to use, healing the injured soldiers.
Wish and Satin entered the barn. “Hey, so did you get all the salve done?" Wish looked at her expectantly gently touching the lids.
“Yes, I got them all done, and we should be set for any injuries with this battle and with the next.”
It was then that Thistle leaned back against the counter. “I need to ask you guys something. Artemis told me the other night that when he was flying around with Onyx and looking for where the hatchlings were, it occurred to me that I may know where father is doing his experiments and keeping the eggs.”
They all turned, her sister, Satin, said, “You know where Father is doing this?”
“I'm thinking since the Universal Council stopped him from making chemical warfare weapons, that he is using the lab building to do all the cloning for the baby dragons, and keeps the hatchlings there out of the way of any elements, keeping them hidden. If that's the case, it's not hard to find the shed at the edge of the forest. I think it is hidden enough that Artemis missed it.”
Satin looked at her expectantly. “I know exactly where you're talking about. And it would be very easy to get to coordinate with the troops and Artemis. He and I could swoop in there capturing the eggs and hatchlings bringing them to safety, burning the building down after our departure.”
Thistle wrung her hands. “This is where I'm a little nervous. I think I could ride with either of you to Zelora and once at the castle, I could direct everyone to the laboratory. Once I get there, I could make a counteracting potion destroying what they have so it could never be used against us again.”
Wish responded first, “I think Drayce, Artemis, and Cloven—as well as the rest of the Quinn Family—will be livid if we do this behind their backs.”
Satin nodded, tucking her long white hair behind her ear and Thistle thought for the thousandth time in her life, how her sister was a true, mirror-like reflection of herself. “Thistle, I love you, and I’d do anything for you, but I'm a bit afraid of what these men will do if we bring you to The Battle of the Bloodthirsty. As big and his fierce is Artemis is, I'm not sure I'm willing to tangle with him.”
Wish timidly responded, obviously choosing her words carefully. “Thistle are you sure that this is what you want to do … I mean is there a way you could show us how to do it? Would I be able to say the incantation and …. Whatever hand motions or whatever you do that go with it? I’m worried about not communicating with Cloven about this, and I’m sure Satin feels the same way.” Wish looked over at her friend, Thistle’s twin.
Wish and Cloven had just begun dating, and the warlords and Quinn family couldn’t be more pleased. Even Thistle had to admit that an angry Cloven was frightening, and all the women putting themselves in a potentially dangerous and life threatening situation might not go over well with the sadistic master.
Wish nodded solemnly. “I know it seems odd that Cloven and I are dating, it still seems odd to us as well, but we’re happy. I enjoy him and he helps to steady me. I tend to...well in case you haven't noticed...I tend to be a little dramatic and impulsive, and he’s helping me with that flaw. I'm kind of nervous about how he'll see this and wonder if he'll think I'm being defiant and deliberately putting myself in danger to test him.”
“You two just started dating; this could really break the trust between you, and be difficult to overcome.”
Thistle nodded. “He'll be okay once he realizes that I did what I had to do as a priestess and it was worth the risk because I rid the universe of the chemicals, protecting our dragons.”
“So how are you proposing we do this?” Wish wrapped her arm around Thistle’s shoulder. “I'm here for you. I'll risk Cloven’s wrath.”
Satin agreed. “We're all in this together, and we’ll all get our asses beat together more than likely. But we’ll show Planet Trexotera that we’re up to the challenge and that the women of this planet saved it.”
Thistle walked up to the holo-comm screen, after a few taps, she pulled up the notes she’d written quickly while making the salve the day before.
“I think that there are so many warlords and dragons on the day of battle that I’ll just hang near the back of the paddock. Once the coast is clear, I’ll climb onto either Azure with Satin or Orchid with Wish. The invisibility cloak will be an integral part of my plan. Donning it before entering the paddock will be necessary to hide me completely from the Warlords and Commanders. I’ll leap onto the dragon with whoever is closest, hiding my presence on the dragon for my travel to Zelora.”
She continued. “Once on the planet with the battle raging, we’ll swoop around to the barn where Artemis found the younglings. And will swerve into the forest landing in front of the laboratory, destroying the guards at the front and back entrances. We’ll do what is required, gathering up eggs and hatchlings but we won't be able to take them all which is sad because I hate to see them destroyed, but we will grab as many as we can.”
“Searching for the potion will be the next item on my agenda.” She tapped the bullet point, checking it off. “I'm pretty sure where they keep it because Father had secured areas before and because he never gave me much thought, he never realized that I watched how they opened the door, and I know the security codes. I'll go inside, making my counteracting spell, neutralizing the potion before we go just in case it survives the fire. We’ll take no risk that the potion will survive, and then right after we leave with the baby dragons, we’ll have our dragons burn the building down. That's as far as I've gotten with my plan. Do you guys have anything to add to it?”
Wish said, “I can try to bring as many bags and containers as possible, and I even have a cart that I had made for Orchid. We carry baby dragons on it for rides here from our paddocks. I can bring that with us, enabling us to carry more than we anticipated saving as many baby dragons as we can.”
Satin hesitated, looking embarrassed. “I think we should bring some — if not all of Father's magic potion with us. It may come in handy here if there is battle, assisting us in making dragons grow. We hate his compound because it's being used against us, but if it's something we could use on our planet during the time of battle, our King and Commanders may be glad that we retrieved it. I think you should grab at least one bottle with you, Thistle, when you find the secure area then as a priestess, you'd be able to replicate the same potion, using it for good.”
Smiling back, Thistle beamed. “This is what I'm talking about. How can the men be angry at us? Really— how? We may find that we become heroes.”
Wish shook her head staring down at the ground. "By the gods, you’re so delusional. You have no idea what these men are like. All they're going to focus on is that we brought you into battle even though you were supposed to be safe. Then they're going to see that we went into a secure area— on our own — putting ourselves in danger another big sin. And then, we’re going to be stealing magic potion, eggs, and hatchlings. Oh! And using the invisibility cloak without permission. I don't see how we are going to get out of this—all of us—without getting a whipping this is going to be ugly. I'm not even sure how Cloven is going to handle it.”
Satin’s eyes filled with tears and she said, "Part of me feels bad, Drayce and I have been doing pretty well lately. I rarely get in trouble. I think he’s going to see this as a failure on his part — that somehow I've broken his trust — which I suppose I have. No doubt he'll get over it, but the thought of defying him has me feeling recalcitrant and headstrong.”
Thistle leaned back against the counter again, crossing her arms over her chest. “This is why I feared telling you two; I didn't want to put your relationships at risk or either of you having men who were angry or despondent. I need to know that you’re all one hundred percent on board. If not, let me know, and you can back out. I won't be upset. I can figure out a way to do this alone.”
Satin screeched. “Are you crazy? You cannot do this alone; you could die. And imagine what Artemis would do to us. No, absolutely not. We’ll do it together. The consequences will be meted out on all our asses. What we’re doing will be an astronomical victory for Zelora and The Battle of the Bloodthirsty.”
The women nodded their heads, clasping their hands together, making a pact and it ended with all three of them hugging and crying. It was exciting — exhilarating— and yet at the same time, the risk they were putting themselves at all without the knowledge of the men in their lives made them feel guilty.