Thirty-Eight
Skye
Skye took to the night sky with anger pulsing through her. How dare Cass tell her what to do. He may be her father, but he knew nothing about her. And for him to tell her she couldn’t go see her uncle Saber? Yeah, not going to happen. As she flew, wings pumping hard in her fury, Skye worried over her uncle. If what that female, Tirah, said was true, then he was dying.
The very idea made Skye want to rail at the gods above. She couldn’t lose him. She loved him with her whole being. He’d been there for her a lot more than her own father had ever been.
Then she thought about Tirah and wasn’t sure she liked how the female had cried over him. She claimed to love him, but what did that mean? Did Saber love her back?
Panic and then more anger consumed her. Uncle Saber was hers. She planned to mate with him when she was old enough.
Skye knew Saber loved her. He let her hug him and he cuddled her all the time, when he was around, while never letting any other female close. She wasn’t stupid, she’d heard the males in the village tease him and tell him he needed to find a female, have sex, but he’d only growl at them.
But Skye had seen how he acted around all the unmated females. He wasn’t interested, and if any of them tried to capture his interest, he’d quickly rebuff them. All except her. She was the only female he tolerated.
Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he love-loves you. You are just his niece’s child, dummy. He has to love you.
Skye let out a growl and shot a weak plume of flame from her mouth, then wanted to scream at how pathetic even her dragonfire was. Ugh. She couldn’t wait to grow up and finally become a woman.
Then she decided it didn’t matter what Cass said. She was going to see her uncle. No one was going to stop her.
Skye circled around and began to fly in earnest toward her uncle’s lair, weaving in and around the large giant spires of the Death Ridge Mountains.
She was getting close to the mountain with a waterfall where Saber had his home, when her night vision picked up movement on the ground.
Her anger surged. Only her uncle lived in this area, so there shouldn’t be anyone snooping around. Skye went into a dive, determined to take care of the threat, with no regard for the fact that she’d never been in a real battle of any sort before. Because really, why should that matter? All Young started training to fight and learning to protect themselves as soon as they reached the age of three, and Skye excelled at fighting.
As she drew close to the ground, she started to slow, studying the figure hunting around a little distance from Uncle Saber’s ground entrance. Skye pulled up when she was close enough to make out some features and circled around. It was a male, and he appeared to be in either his late teens or early twenties, and so far, he hadn’t noticed her. Then she recognized his uniform.
He was a soldier. The enemy.
Skye knew she should go tell someone right away, but curiosity drew her closer. She’d just study him a little more, then when she had more information, she’d let … maybe Uncle Zales know, maybe Cass.
Used to large, burly warriors, this scruffy, dark-haired male fascinated her. He was the complete opposite of what she’d always thought a warrior would look like. He was painfully thin, and the way he’d been slinking around as if searching for something, made her think he was used to slipping in and out of places undetected.
Anger gone, but still leery and curious, Skye landed. Then as the male spun toward her, Skye wanted to kick herself for her stupidity.
In all her anger and anxiety over her uncle and her dad, she’d forgotten to activate her cloak of invisibility. Satan’s balls! Then she grinned inwardly, knowing her language would piss her father off.
The male stared at her in surprise, and she noticed he had steaks of light blue in his hair. A touch of awe lit his blue eyes, before he masked his features and tensed up as if preparing for attack.
Skye didn’t move, just stared right back at him. He was strangely handsome in a completely unassuming way. She drew in a deep breath. He even smelled good, which surprised her.
When he didn’t pull any weapons, she shifted into her human-form. She wanted to grin when his eyes widened with surprise once again but kept her face impassive. “Who are you? What are you doing lurking around out here?”
The Ilyium male took in his surroundings uneasily, before turning his gaze back on her. “I was just looking for someone.”
Skye narrowed his eyes on him. “Who?”
He shrugged. “He’s not someone you’d know.”
“How do you now I wouldn’t know him?” Skye asked.
“You just wouldn’t. He’s not one of your kind.”
Skye frowned. “Well, then you are looking in the wrong place, because there is no one, other than you and me, out here.”
He didn’t say anything, and Skye wondered what he was really looking for? The entrance to Saber’s lair maybe? But what would he do if he found it? Skye knew it was warded, so he’d only be repelled, and even if he wasn’t, there was no way he’d make it through.
And really, as thin as he was, what could he do? He couldn’t be a warrior, but maybe he was a spy? Yeah, that seemed more likely. Yet, she couldn’t help thinking he seemed harmless. Maybe that was the idea? After all, she’d never met a spy before. “You should leave and go back to where you came from. There is nothing of interest out here.”
“Then why are you out here?” he asked, and though he was the enemy, she kind of liked the sound of his voice.
Skye shrugged. “I was out flying. I saw you and decided to find out what you were doing so far from civilization.”
He didn’t say anything and after a moment longer, he turned and began to walk away.
Skye watched him, even more curious than before. Then she shifted back into her dragon and took to the sky once again. It was time to go see her uncle, whether Cass liked it or not.