Chapter Eleven
Vyktor’s mission had turned out to be a false alarm. The only thing on the mountain was a small pack of goats. The flight time gave Vyktor a chance to think about how he might explain himself to Eldor though. Arriving back at the dragon roost, he went straight to the library they had compiled, found the book that had captured his attention in the early days of the invasion, and sought Eldor out.
“Vyktor,” Eldor said, his tone carrying no small measure of… something. Was it trepidation? “What do you need?”
“This human book,” he said, handing it to Eldor. “I found it in the wreckage of one of their buildings when we first came here. It was this book, in part, which gave me the idea to take a human and make her my pet.”
Eldor turned the slim volume over in his hands and read the title. “The Little Prince? What does this mean?”
“There is a talking fox in this book,” Vyktor said. “A talking fox who is trained by a boy to become his companion. His pet. This talking fox says to the prince… you are forever responsible for what you tame. I am responsible for Aria. I tamed her. I made her mine. And I must follow through. I will not leave her here alone when the retreat comes. I will stay with her, and I will see what this world has to offer me.”
Eldor’s expression became gruff. “Are you using a book for juvenile humans to tell me you intend to ignore the order to withdraw?”
“I am saying someone should stay behind to keep an eye on them. Someone should watch over this world. Someone should ensure that they do not open another portal, and if they do, someone should be here to try to stop them, or mediate the result.”
“And you will be this man, will you? Because of a human you call pet.” Eldor shook his head. “Your head is clouded, Vyktor. Your judgment is not what it could be. It was a mistake to become attached to the woman. She should be set free and you should return to our realm.”
“I do not wish to.”
“Then what will you do? Live here on this cold planet for the rest of your days? Play with your pet? They will hunt you when we are gone. They will blame you for all the pain they have brought upon themselves with their foolish acts. They will persecute you, Vyktor. It would not surprise me if they killed you.”
“I am not easy to kill,” Vyktor smiled. “I do not fear the humans.”
“You should,” Eldor growled. “They are small, they are soft, but they possess a spirit like no other, and their passion for vengeance and violence is unparalleled.”
“But they can also be kind and gentle and thoughtful,” Vyktor replied. “Besides, I am sure I could learn to pass among them. What I do know is that Aria could never survive in our realm. But I can live here. I could live well here, Eldor.”
“I will not give my permission for that suicide mission.”
“I do not need your permission,” Vyktor replied bluntly. “I follow the orders I choose to. I am not a vassal to you, Eldor. And if I am to live here, I will owe fealty to nobody.”
“If you stay, you will be lost to us,” Eldor replied. “Your name will be written on the wall of the ones who were.”
“So be it.”
Vyktor was firm in his resolve. When the dragons flew home to roost, he would not be among their number. He would remain on the Earth plane with his pet, and he would make a new life among the humans.
“Fortunately, I do not think that will be an issue,” Eldor said with a cold smile.
“What do you mean?”
“Aria is no longer with us.”
Vyktor surged forward, forcing Eldor to retreat several steps. “What did you do to her?”
“I sent her to the humans. She came to me and explained that you were refusing the safest plan, for her to approach her people with the terms of our retreat. I would say that I am disappointed in you.” Eldor gave him a derisive look. “But you know that already. Your judgment since taking that woman has been severely impeded. Fortunately, she seems to know what is best even if you don’t.”
Vyktor swallowed his anger. There was no time to lose in beating Eldor to within an inch of his existence, though he very much wanted to do that. He had to find Aria. “I am going after her. She needs protection.”
“She doesn’t need protection,” Eldor said. “You just want her to need it. She was one of the few people who learned how to fly almost as well as we do without wings. She overcame the human horror of height, and you think she needs you to hold her hand as she delivers a message?”
Vyktor couldn’t argue with that. It was just as it had been when Aria had made the argument, except in her case he could threaten to cage her. That threat would not work with Eldor—and he supposed, it had not worked with Aria either. Vyktor was really starting to hate being in the wrong.
“How will she return?”
“There is no way for her to,” Eldor said. “There is no reason for her to.”
“What!?” Vyktor’s shout of rage was so loud and powerful that the mountain around them shook with the energy of it.
“She has served her purpose,” Eldor said coldly, his eyes gleaming with ice fire. “We have learned what we needed to learn, and she has carried our message to the humans. If they agree to our terms, they will move their machines of war away from the portal and we will make our exit within twenty-four hours.”
“Where is she?”
“I flew her from the mountains to a nearby town. It was largely deserted, but she informed me that she could take it from there. Very inventive, your pet. She clothed herself within minutes from clothing the humans had left hanging outside for reasons best known to themselves, and took one of their flightless machines which rolls upon the roads they’ve ruined the countryside with.”
Vyktor’s fist hit the table, making the rock crumble beneath its fury. He seethed with pure rage, his teeth bared as he advanced on Eldor.
“How dare you take what was mine and use it for your own ends.”
“I used her for our ends,” Eldor growled, not moving an inch. “She wanted it. The only one unhappy about this is you, Vyktor, and I do not like your reasons for it. You were always going to have to release her when you returned home. At most, you have lost a day or two with her. I saved you a messy goodbye. You should be thanking me.”
Vyktor’s anger was so intense he was forced to turn and walk away. He was not sure he could contain himself if he spent another moment in Eldor’s presence. He stormed through the passages of their temporary roost, out to one of the balcony perches. He stepped to the precipice, ready to take his dragon form and search Aria out. But as he looked at the human landscape stretching out to the distant horizons, he realized the magnitude of his task. To find her, he needed to know where she had gone. He suspected Eldor would not tell him that, and even if he did, it could be a lie. She was probably deep in the heart of human territory by now, totally out of reach.
Filled with a sadness that threatened to consume him, and an anger that was unable to be sated, Vyktor returned to his chambers. He had not cried since he was a whelpling. Even when severely injured he had kept his emotional reactions tightly contained. But as he walked into his room and saw her collar on the bed, he let out a sob.
Eldor must have removed it for her, and she had laid it out for him to find. Had she been glad to escape? Was she happy now? Vyktor took a deep breath to ward off the tears and laid down on the bed. As he put his head down, a small piece of paper fluttered out from underneath his pillow. He grasped it before it could waft its way onto the floor. Perhaps it was a note from Aria. A goodbye note.
He opened the folded paper and saw that it was no goodbye. There wasn’t a single word on the paper. There was simply a set of numbers, penned in Aria’s unmistakable hand.
It took him a moment to realize what they were. And then it hit him. Coordinates. A date. And a time. His pet had left directions as to where to find her, and it was only three days hence. He felt his heart rise, a smile spreading over his face.
The greatest part of his grief had been in thinking that Aria wished to be free of him. This little scrap of paper told him more than a thousand words ever could. It told him that she wanted him to come and find her. It told him that their connection was more than captor and captive.
He grinned to himself, his spirits lifting from the very dark place they had been languishing in since he had discovered Aria’s absence and had then given serious thought to tearing Eldor’s throat out for setting her loose.