The High Council’s conference room was more crowded than Leif had ever seen it. As he stepped inside, he saw that not only were all of the High Councilors there, but so were many of the leaders of different government bureaus. And of course, Jake was there. As People’s Governor, it would be important for him to learn what had happened out in Gray Oasis Forest today. Jake raised an eyebrow at Leif, and Leif gave him a sheepish shrug. To his relief, Jake smiled at him. Even if the High Council reprimanded Leif today, at least he knew that Jake would still stand up for him.

“Order! Order, please!” called Head Councilor Morgan. Even in his loud, authoritative voice, it took a few tries for him to get the room to settle down. When everyone was finally quiet, Councilor Morgan took a deep breath and began the meeting.

“Thank you all for coming to this meeting on such short notice. As you all know by now, it’s been quite an interesting day so far. You have all been briefed already on the break-in at our headquarters this morning, so I won’t spend a lot of time rehashing that. As you know, a group trying to raise support for dark magic has been operating in Torch Lake for the last several months. They call themselves the Dark Warriors, and we’ve been spying on them using one of our best spies, Sofia Hayes.”

Leif felt Sofia shift restlessly in her seat. He knew she didn’t feel very much like one of the best spies at the moment, since her cover had been blown. But the truth of the matter was that she had still done an excellent job of getting the Dark Warriors to trust her for quite some time. Leif knew that could not have been an easy job, and Councilor Morgan seemed to agree.

“Thanks to Sofia, we have an incredible amount of intel on the Dark Warriors. We know who many of the members were, and what specific dark spells they were trying to learn. We know which other wizard-shifters they were trying to contact, and we know that the group was focusing on trying to get to dragon shifters living in human towns, in hopes of recruiting them for their cause.”

A low murmur went through the room. Leif saw a mixture of anger and fear on many of the faces surrounding him. No doubt, everyone was remembering the last time a dragon shifter had dabbled in dark magic. That had been the cause of the recent Great Dark Magic War, a war no one was eager to repeat.

“How successful have they been in contacting dragons?” asked one of the heads of the Advocacy Bureau.

Councilor Morgan grimaced. “Well, so far they haven’t been extremely successful. They’ve been held back by the fact that the dragon shifters who aren’t living in wizard-shifter towns have done their best to remain hidden. They aren’t easy to find, as many of you who work in the Dragon Recovery Bureau know all too well.”

Groans came from a few people who served as leadership at the Dragon Recovery Bureau.

“The problem now,” Councilor Morgan continued, “Is that this morning, several of the Dark Warriors kidnapped Sofia and forced her, using dark magic, to open the vaults that contain information on where many of those dragon shifters live. Now, the whereabouts of many of the dragon shifters are known to our enemies. Research that we did painstakingly over a course of years has been captured in a matter of minutes.”

More murmuring and groans from the audience. Leif saw Sofia’s face going pale, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Don’t worry,” he whispered to her. “No one blames you for this.”

She gave him a weak smile, but he could tell she wasn’t convinced. So Leif was glad when Councilor Morgan took the time to echo the sentiment.

“I want you all to know that there was nothing Sofia could have done to prevent this,” the head Councilor said. “The dark magic spells that were used on her were very advanced, and I doubt anyone in this room would have been able to properly resist them. Sofia did everything she could, and we in no way blame her for this break-in and information breach. The information she has gained for us is invaluable, and we recognize her for her hard work and selfless service to Torch Lake.”

“Here, here!” Jake yelled out, and started a loud round of applause which the rest of the room quickly joined in on. Leif gave Jake a grateful look. His friend didn’t know yet that Sofia was Leif’s lifemate. But Jake was perceptive, and could see that Sofia was important to Leif, so he’d made sure to stir up support for her. Now, Sofia blushed as the whole room cheered for her. She tried to wave off the support, but Leif could tell she was pleased. When the room finally quieted down, Councilor Morgan began speaking again.

“Up to this point, we have taken a very slow approach to bringing dragon shifters to our town. We’ve offered generous rewards in exchange for the dragons to deal with the dark monsters, and hoped that the dragons who accepted these jobs would learn to love Torch Lake while they were here, and decide to stay. But now that we know the Dark Warriors are making a move to get these dragons, and that they have the information to find them, we must step up our efforts. We will be dispatching several dragons already in our town to take care of the dark monster problem once and for all. We will no longer use this as an excuse to recruit dragons. Instead, we will be more up front with the dragon shifters, telling them that dark magic is once again on the rise, and we are trying to shore up our town against it.”

“But a lot of dragons just want to be left alone,” Seth pointed out. “They aren’t likely to come just because you tell them dark magic is coming back.”

Councilor Morgan smiled kindly at Seth. “That’s true, as you know better than most in this room, I would think. For that reason, we will be offering generous bonuses to dragons who agree to move here. But we can no longer spend time trying to subtly convince dragons to come. We must be frank, offer good rewards, and hope that we can get to most of these dragons before the Dark Warriors do. I know not every dragon will come. But some will, and we can reach more dragons in a shorter amount of time with this new method.”

Leif felt his heart beginning to pound in his chest. If the dark monster missions were going to disappear, there would no longer be a need for his training programs. Where would that leave him? Would he still have a job? What part would he play in all of this?

As if Councilor Morgan could read Leif’s thoughts, he responded. “Leif, you have served well in your role as head of the Dragon Utilization Department, despite your recent defiant stint.”

Leif winced. “Your Honor, I apologize for running off so quickly to save Sofia without authorization. I realize this can be interpreted as an act of defiance against the head council, and I’m truly sorry for any trouble I caused. But I’m not sorry for what I did. Punish me if you must, but I don’t believe Sofia would be alive now if I hadn’t gone when I did. At the very least, she would not be here with us. She would still be in the power of the Dark Warriors and Vincent, and I can’t even bear to think of what they would have tried to do to her.”

Leif held his breath when he finished speaking, and forced himself to look up at Councilor Morgan. If they condemned him for saving Sofia, he would take his punishment like a man. But he would never say that he hadn’t done the right thing. He had done what he had to do to save the woman he loved. He now knew that when he ran off so quickly, he had been answering the lifemate call. He glanced at Sofia for a moment, and drew courage from the smile on her face. She would stand behind him. That was all that mattered.

But there was no anger in Councilor Morgan’s eyes. Instead, the Head Wizard laughed, and smiled over at Leif. “Leif, we have no plans to punish you. Of course, the High Council demands respect and obedience. But we also realize that we don’t know everything. And we know now that you were right. If you hadn’t gone, Sofia would likely be dead. You not only rescued her, but also severely wounded Vincent, possibly killed him. This is a great blow to the Dark Warriors, and we hope it will slow down any progress they are trying to make. For your quick thinking and fearless defense of Torch Lake and Sofia, we commend you. No discipline will be meted out for the fact that you ran off so quickly. We never want to discourage our citizens from following their heart when they know deep down that they are being called to do something courageous for the cause of good.”

Leif breathed out a long sigh of relief, and smiled as the room broke into applause for him. When then clapping died down, Councilor Morgan addressed the issue of Leif’s job.

“Even though the dragon training program is changing, you will still be in charge of working with the incoming dragons, Leif. Only now, you will be showing them how to acclimate to life in Torch Lake, and running them through training exercises to keep them in good fighting shape should the need arise.”

Leif nodded. He could live with that, happily. He liked this new straightforward method better, anyway. He never felt good about bringing dragons here without expressly telling them that they were trying to get them to stay in Torch Lake, even though the dragons all knew that that’s what was happening. He glanced over at Seth and Evan, wondering what they were thinking of all of this. They had, after all, been brought here under the pretense of a dark monster mission, which they had now completed. And they hadn’t been here long enough to fall in love with Torch Lake, in Leif’s opinion. Were they going to sneer at the High Council’s new plan, collect their payment for killing dark monsters, and go home? Councilor Morgan seemed to have the same questions. He turned to Seth and Evan, and smiled warmly at them.

“Seth and Evan, we appreciate all you have done for Torch Lake. You may be wondering why I brought you here today, since this is mainly a meeting of the leadership of Torch Lake, and the two of you are not even official citizens of the city. The fact is, we would love to have you stay here, for reasons that are hopefully obvious to you at this point. We need help standing up against evil, and dragons are the best defense against darkness. You will of course be paid for the dark monster mission you completed, but if you are willing to continue on in Torch Lake, we will place you in prestigious positions helping Leif and Clint at the Dragon Utilization Department. We will also pay you additional bonuses for agreeing to stay and help our cause. I know you have not had time to get to know Torch Lake as well as we had hoped you would have, but I hope you can see that our town is committed to fighting evil, and that this is a wonderful place where shifters and wizards can live in harmony. We’re really proud of the community we’re building here. If you need time to think about it, take some time. The offer is on the table for as long as you need to think about it.”

Leif held his breath as he waited for Seth and Evan to respond. He knew that no one would blame him if they decided to leave. The training program had been ended early for reasons completely beyond his control, after all. But the idea of his first two dragon trainees leaving still hurt his pride. He had poured so much time and effort into his work, and he hated to see all of that go up in smoke because the Dark Warriors had made a move he never could have anticipated.

Seth and Evan exchanged a glance, and Leif could tell that they were both thinking the same thing, although he had no idea what that thing might be. Evan smiled at Seth and nodded, and Seth seemed to take that as confirmation to speak out about whatever was on his mind.

“Your Honors,” Seth began, standing. “Evan and I have been honored to be here in Torch Lake, and to be a part of the great community you’ve built. I will admit that, when I first came here, I had plans to complete the dark monster mission as quickly as possible and get out of here. I know that comes as no surprise to most of you, since that is the attitude many dragon shifters have when they arrive here.”

“Certainly,” Councilor Morgan said.

“But the thing is,” Seth continued, “I witnessed something today that completely changed my mind about Torch Lake. I saw one of your top leaders run off on an unauthorized rescue mission. Many High Councils would have blindly condemned him, not caring to ask themselves whether he had done the right thing or not. That’s why I didn’t want to be part of a clan anymore. I was tired of blind obedience, and blind condemnation. But today, Evan and I have both seen Leif Redding stand up to a High Council and be commended for it, because he did the right thing. And we’ve realized that it’s still possible for a clan to follow what’s right, instead of following a leader without really thinking about what they’re doing. We’ve realized that it’s possible for a High Council to listen to their citizens and not just demand absolute obedience.”

Leif felt his heart swelling with pride and gratitude. Everything these two were saying about his town was true. The High Council wasn’t perfect, but at least they recognized that. And the citizens did their best to follow their hearts and fight for what was right and good.

“I’m very honored to hear you say those things,” Councilor Morgan said. “We do try our best to acknowledge when we might have made a mistake, or when our citizens might know things we do not.”

“Well, you’ve done a good job, Councilors,” Evan said, speaking up as well now. “But I really want to give credit to Leif. His courageous actions today made me realize that this is a town I want to be a part of. For my part, I plan to stay. And I don’t need any extra bonus to do so. It will be my pleasure to be part of a town like Torch Lake.”

“Agreed,” Seth said. “Leif has inspired me to join in the never-ending fight against evil. It would be my honor to serve Torch Lake with Leif. I don’t need any extra bonus to do so. Torch Lake has already paid me enough.”

Leif felt all eyes in the room turn to look at him, this time with great admiration. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Not only were his first two trainees going to stay in Torch Lake, but they were also giving him direct credit for their decision. He had never expected this. Suddenly, this day was looking up. It had been a long, hard day, but if his dragons stayed it would all be worth it. Leif realized that everyone was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to comment. He felt Sofia squeeze his hand encouragingly under the conference table, and he smiled, then stood.

“Thank you, Seth and Evan. I’m humbled by your words, and I’m grateful that you’ve decided to stay. It’s been my honor to serve you during your time in Torch Lake, and it will be my honor to continue to work with you as we move forward with new challenges for the Dragon Utilization Department. It won’t be easy, but I know that with so many wonderful dragon shifters on our side, we can do a lot to hold back evil.”

The room once again broke into applause as Leif sat down, and Sofia once again squeezed his hand. Leif’s heart was full. Things were working out perfectly. Much better than he could have expected. Now if only Sofia would be given a job that allowed her to stay close by in Torch Lake. Leif looked over at her and saw the nervousness in her eyes. He tried to look reassuring, but he had a gut feeling that he wasn’t going to like what Councilor Morgan was about to say. He bit his lip as the Head Councilor turned and smiled at Sofia.

“As for you, Ms. Hayes. The High Council, as well as the whole town of Torch Lake, is deeply indebted to you for all you have done. But we would like to ask another favor, if you are willing.”

Leif chewed harder on his lip. He knew that whatever job Councilor Morgan offered Sofia, she would not refuse. She felt a duty to this town, and she knew that, although her cover as a spy was blown, she had still sworn to do whatever was necessary to help hold back the forces of evil.

“I’m here to serve you however I can, Councilor Morgan,” Sofia said bravely.

Councilor Morgan smiled warmly. “Thank you, Sofia. The trouble is that, as you know, Vincent was taken away by members of the Dark Warriors. We don’t know where they took him, and we don’t even know for sure whether he is dead or alive. But we must find out. He is a dangerous man, and, if he’s still alive, he’s going to plan a retaliatory attack as soon as possible. We need to figure out what his status is, and what he might be planning. You are more familiar with the Dark Warriors and how they function than anyone else in this town. We would like you to lead a search party to track down Vincent and see if you can figure out what his next move is. We’ll give you whatever resources you think you need, and we’ll authorize the mission to continue on as long as it takes. We just want this dealt with.”

Leif swallowed hard. Sofia’s grip on his hand was deathly tight. There it was, he thought. The mission they had both been dreading, but had both known was coming. Sofia was being sent off for who knew how long, on a dangerous search for a dangerous man. Leif forced himself to squeeze Sofia’s hand reassuringly and smile at her. This wasn’t what they both wanted right now, but he knew they could make it through. They were stronger than a separation. One day in the future, this would all be just a memory.

Sofia took a deep breath and smiled up at Councilor Morgan again. “I would be honored to lead a mission to find Vincent,” she said. “I’m happy to do anything I can to stop the Dark Warriors from spreading their sinister ideas any further.”

Councilor Morgan looked relieved. “Thank you, Ms. Hayes. We are deeply indebted to you, as I’ve said. If you’ll meet me in my office after this meeting is over, we can start going over the details for your new mission. As long as you’re not too tired.”

Leif knew that Sofia was exhausted, but she was too proud to let it show. “I’ll meet you right after the meeting,” she agreed.

Leif barely heard the rest of what Councilor Morgan said. For another half-hour, the Head Councilor talked of plans to get more dragons and stop the Dark Warriors from recruiting any more shifters and wizards, but Leif was too tired to hear what they were saying. He couldn’t focus on anything anymore except the fact that Sofia was about to be taken away from him for who knows how long.

When the meeting was finally over, he tried to get a moment alone with Sofia, but it was difficult. Everyone in the room mobbed both him and Sofia, wanting to hear all about their adventures in the Gray Oasis Forest. Before Leif could get away, Councilor Morgan had swept Sofia off to his office. No one seemed to notice how tired Leif was, or how he wanted to talk to Sofia, too. No one except Jake, that is. When the crowd had finally thinned and Leif was free to head out, Jake caught up with him. Jake had been the head trainer at the Dragon Utilization Department when Leif first arrived in Torch Lake, and he knew Leif better than almost anyone in town.

“Dude, you okay?” Jake asked.

Leif nodded, trying to look convincing. “Yeah. I’m good. Just exhausted.”

“It’s more than just exhaustion.” Jake tilted his head sideways and gave Leif a gaze that seemed to pierce right through him. “You like her, don’t you?”

Leif didn’t bother asking who Jake was talking about. They both knew he meant Sofia.

“She’s something special.” It was all Leif was willing to say right now. He didn’t have the energy to explain how he had suddenly discovered Sofia was his lifemate, and he didn’t want to talk about the fact that he was about to be separated from her by the mission to find Vincent. Jake sensed his reluctance to talk, and merely clapped him on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry. They’ll find Vincent quickly,” he said, smiling in that confident way Jake always did. “And when Sofia’s done with her mission and back in Torch Lake with you like she belongs, you’ll have to bring her by the Winking Wizard for some pints to introduce her to all of us.”

Leif smiled back at Jake, trying to look confident as well. But he was far from certain that this mission would go quickly. He hated that his lifemate was about to be taken away from him when he’d just found her, but what could he do? Duty and honor came first.

He just hated that, in this case, duty and honor were keeping him from the best thing that had ever happened to him.