Dragon emperor 16, p.4
Dragon Emperor 16, page 4
The Nepins looked at each other again with a bit of apprehension.
“We will accept your offer,” Nolan finally said. “You’ve already proven to be a worthy opponent to the thieves, so it seems likely you could find the rest and their leader.”
“Great,” I replied. “I won’t let you down, and I know you’ll be helpful to me once the job is done.”
I turned to face my people, and they all looked at me with a sense of excitement.
“Now what, my lord?” Isabella wondered.
“Now, we hunt down some thieves,” I growled.
Chapter 3
I started to usher my people out the door when Morgan cleared her throat again, and I turned around to look at her.
“What do we do with the, ah, other ones?” she asked as she scrunched up her nose and looked down at the three captives bound on the floor.
“Don’t you have a dungeon or a jail or something?” I asked.
“Oh, yes!” Nolan confirmed with a grin. “I’ll have to find the keys, though.”
“I can help you,” the other woman offered.
“Okay, we’ll be back when we have the situation handled,” I told them. “Until then, try to keep track of your valuables.”
I turned around and followed my group out into the lobby as the Noble Council stared with open mouths. My party gathered together, and Isabella’s parents looked at each other with obvious worry.
“Do you, um, need our help?” Mel asked after a moment.
“No.” I shook my head and gestured toward the door. “You two can go home and clean up. We’ll handle it from here.”
“Come on, Izzy,” Rocia said as she reached for her daughter’s hand.
“I’m helping Lord Evan,” Isabella replied and pulled her hand out of her mother’s grasp. “I’m not going with you. I’ll come check on you later.”
“Isabella,” Mel hissed. “You don’t need to follow him around the whole time. Besides, despite your… situation, I’m sure we could still find you a decent husband. All is not lost.”
“She doesn’t need a husband,” I snarled and stepped between them. “She has me now. She’s part of my family, and if she wants to come to your house later, she will. If she doesn’t, she won’t. You won’t be telling her what to do. You are not in charge of her decisions anymore.”
The Nepin stood with his chest high for a few seconds as though he considered challenging me, but the look in my eye seemed to discourage a continued argument. He released a long breath, grabbed Rocia’s hand, and led her out of the city hall without another word.
“Thank you,” Isabella whispered and leaned against my arm. “He never listens to me.”
“I got that feeling,” I muttered as I shook my head. “Okay, so we need to figure out how to take care of any other bandits who made their move today. It sounded like several members of the group had a coordinated attack planned. We could have several other Nepin families tied up like Isabella’s parents were, so we should move fast.”
“We should probably split up,” Ravi pointed out. “We can cover the most ground that way. If anyone is in danger, we can reach them quickly.”
“And if we work from the outside in, we can flush any bandits who escape toward city hall,” Laika added with a fanged grin. “That will make it easier for us or the guards to catch them.”
“Good idea,” I agreed.
“What are we going to do about my sister?” Miraya asked as she wrung her hands together. “I could barely sense her.”
“Aine said the same thing,” Nike said, and he frowned in thought. “She said she was close but unreachable, whatever that means.”
“Like, she was muffled somehow?” Naomi wondered.
“Exactly!” Miraya gasped as her eyes widened. “I couldn’t explain it before.”
“Maybe the sword is hidden,” Alyona suggested. “And that’s keeping her from being able to communicate with you.”
“That would make sense,” the spirit mused. “Especially if there are no warriors here, she would have no reason to leave the blade or grow her power.”
“Will it hurt her?” I wondered.
“I don’t know,” Miraya answered with a twinge of sadness in her voice.
“For now, let’s not worry about that,” I decided. “We have to find the bandits first, then we can help her. So, Isabella, tell us a bit more about Yrosa. Then we can figure out where we should all go.”
“The Noble Council was right about one thing,” she answered. “Their families do have the most valuables of everyone, and they live north of city hall. The other families live south, where we came in. Then there are shops and the market east of here, and the factories and mill are to the west.”
“Seems easy enough,” I murmured. “I assume the noble houses will be the most likely targets. Like you said, they’d have the most things worth stealing.”
“Yeah, but…” Isabella trailed off as she pursed her lips.
“But what?” I asked.
“But why would the thieves go after something so specific at my parents’ house?” she finished. “I imagine the ancestry relic holds some value, but it wouldn’t be well-known that they have one. Or that it’s worth any money outside of Yrosa.”
“And since outsiders went after it, they were likely planning to leave the city with it,” I muttered. “Then we really don’t know what exactly they’re after. I think it’s best we search everywhere as quickly as possible.”
“We could pair up and take each direction,” Nike suggested. “Start at the city walls and search outer buildings all the way back to the center of town.”
“I agree.” I nodded. “Alyona, I don’t want you out of my sight, so you’re with me. We’ll search the noble houses.”
“Of course, my love,” she agreed with a smile, though Laika looked uncomfortable with the decision.
“Laika and Nike, you take the southern neighborhood,” I ordered. “Ravi and Miraya can search the shops, and Isabella and Naomi will check the mill and factories.”
“My lord, I don’t know if the nobles will talk to you without me,” Isabella pointed out.
“I can search my area alone,” Nike said. “Laika can go with Naomi, and if I need you, I’ll send Aine.”
I hesitated a moment at the thought of leaving my fellow noble without a partner, but I realized he’d held his own just fine against the mediocre mage we’d faced earlier. And Aine could reach us quickly if he needed backup.
“Alright,” I agreed. “Let’s go.”
We split off into our separate directions, and Alyona, Isabella, and I made our way around city hall to the noble family estates. I had slight flashbacks to the land owned by the noble families in Colaruma, where the leader of their council had been stealing from the poor to make him and his friends even richer, but the regular homes in Yrosa weren’t in such a poor condition that I worried about an unfair advantage.
It seemed the noble families simply had more, and as long as they weren’t taking it from others, I wouldn’t worry about that. Besides, we had enough going on without trying to make everyone feel better.
The first house we came to was more like a mansion than a log house, though it was built with the cherry wood. It had been painted a regal pearl color and was adorned with gray shutters, and the door was also painted gray and featured a spiral encrusted with diamonds the size of golf balls.
“Nothing like making sure everyone knows you’re rich,” I muttered as I knocked on the door.
“This is Morgan’s house,” Isabella chuckled. “Are you surprised?”
“Not anymore.” I smirked and knocked again when no one answered.
I could hear faint sounds of movement, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I started to plan how we’d enter the house to search it when the door swung open, and another Nepin stood in front of us. She was young, maybe a teenager, and she wore plain brown robes that hid most of her tattoos. Her silver hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wiped sweat from her brow as she looked us over.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“Morgan sent us to check on her house,” Isabella explained. “There were a few houses broken into in town. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah,” the girl confirmed with a shrug. “No one’s been here all day except me. Should I be worried?”
“No, they would have been here already if they were coming,” I assured her. “Thank you for your time.”
“Sure,” she replied before she shut the door.
“Is she a servant?” Alyona asked as we walked down the steps and turned toward the next house.
“Yes,” Isabella confirmed. “Most of the noble families have at least one, though I believe Morgan has several. They’re paid well, and they can either live in the house or go home every night. I was surprised to see servants were looked down on in Leyte, since they have quite a high social status here.”
“As long as they’re paid and happy, they’re doing better than some of the people we’ve helped lately,” I replied.
We continued to the next house with similar results, and the next one was the same. I listened for any signs that something was amiss, but the servants were all happy to talk to us and didn’t indicate any problems. They weren’t scared and pretending to be normal, like I’d seen on some cop shows a few years ago. They were just doing their jobs, and they seemed more nervous about Alyona and I than anything else.
It seemed so odd Nepins were raised to fear any other people, and I wondered if they all felt that way. Being so far from the rest of Rahma, it wouldn’t be easy for them to venture out and meet new people, but they were close to the ocean, and I knew there were several other races that lived in the water.
And yet, not a single water Demi-Human resided in Yrosa.
Perhaps not everyone was as integrated as I’d thought when I arrived, but my comparison was Hatra, and I’d made sure our doors were open to anyone who wanted to live there and help us grow and rebuild. We had Asurans, Demi-Humans of all kinds, and who knew what else at this point who lived in my city. It was a true melting pot of people, and I loved it.
When we reached the fourth house of the noble family community, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I couldn’t hear the sounds of cleaning or cooking I’d heard at the other houses, and all the lights inside were off.
Something wasn’t right.
“What is it?” Alyona asked quietly when I hesitated to knock on the door.
“I’m not sure yet,” I murmured. “But I’m going to find out.”
I rapped on the door and stood back with my hand on my sword. I was ready for whoever came out to greet us.
“This is Lucien’s house,” Isabella whispered from behind me. “He was in the meeting. The guy who always looks scared.”
“Is he married?” I asked.
“Yes, his wife should be here,” she answered. “And his children.”
“Shit,” I cursed. “I don’t like this one bit.”
If he had kids at home with his wife, I should be able to hear them doing something. I may not have my kids yet, but I knew they were noisy little creatures. For the house to be completely silent, something was definitely wrong.
I reached down to check the knob, and it was unlocked.
“Oh, that’s not good,” Isabella said softly.
I pushed the door open, and it moved silently to expose the foyer of the giant house. A gaudy chandelier hung over the entryway, and we stepped under it with silent footsteps. I kept the women behind me as I crept forward and looked around the dark house. I didn’t see any signs of movement, but I could hear something toward the back of the house.
I didn’t want to risk separating to search the place, so I sent out a wave of my echolocation magic. The sound waves sailed across the room and through each of the open doorways, and when the power returned to me, I clenched my jaw.
“Three bandits,” I murmured as I pointed to my right. “Through that door, and they’re looking for something. They have four people hostage in the same room, but I can’t tell much more than that.”
“That’s more than we knew when we walked in,” Alyona whispered back. “What should we do?”
“I’m going to surprise them,” I decided. “You two take care of the hostages. Our first priority is getting them to safety.”
Isabella and Alyona nodded, and we tiptoed further into the dark house. Then I peered around the corner into the living room, where I could see the three intruders as they grabbed boxes and looked through them.
“Where is it?” one of them hissed.
There was a muffled reply from one of the hostages, and the thief stomped over to rip off the woman’s gag.
“If you’ll let my children go, I’ll take you to the vault,” she begged. “It’s full of everything you could possibly want. Please!”
I clenched my fists in case he tried to hurt her, but I didn’t want to ambush the bastard until he was far away from the family. It would put them at risk, so I had to be patient. My inner dragon roared with impatience, and I silently agreed.
I wanted to rip the man’s throat out for tying up these kids.
“If you just tell us where the phoenix key is, we’ll leave without hurting anyone,” he growled back. “We don’t want to harm anyone.”
“It’s not here!” the woman wailed. “I swear!”
The intruder yanked the gag back over her mouth, though she tried to scream at him again. He stormed back over to join his companions, and I made my move.
I barreled into the room and laid my shoulder into the first intruder. He tumbled into the second, and they fell like dominoes. Even with their masks, I could see their eyes widen in surprise as they crashed to the floor in a heap. I waited a second for one of them to try to fight back, but they cowered on the floor and shook with fear, so I shot out a web large enough for all three men, and the sticky binding wrapped around their bodies and pinned them to the floor in a pile.
“Chicken shits,” I muttered as I looked up to see Isabella and Alyona had already untied the woman and her three children, and they breathed sighs of relief.
“Oh, gods, thank you!” the woman sobbed. “I tried to get them to leave, but they just…”
My eyes drifted to the bruises already forming on the blue skin of her cheek and arm, and my blood boiled with rage. I whirled back around to face the thieves, and I conjured a fireball in my hand. I was so pissed, the fire burned white as I knelt down next to the trapped fugitives.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I snarled. “You put your hands on her!”
“It was just to tie her up!” one of the bandits whined. “She wouldn’t listen!”
“So, you want to die first, then?” I cocked my head as I glared holes into the man’s face.
“Oh, gods,” he groaned and tried to maneuver around the webbed cage to duck behind another thief.
“If you’re going to kill us, just do it already!” another one said with an air of defiance. “We aren’t going to talk.”
“Sure, you won’t,” I chuckled as I called the white fire back into my hand. “That’s what they all say, but yet, here we are, looking for you. How do you think I knew you’d be here?”
Three pairs of eyes darted around the webbed cage as they tried to figure out who had told me about their plan, and I stood up and barely resisted the urge to kick the shit out of each of them for their attack on this innocent family.
“Are you alright?” Alyona asked the children, and I could see she held back tears as she checked them over. “Is anyone hurt?”
“If you are, Lord Evan can heal you,” Isabella added with a smile. “He’s a nice man, and he’s here to help.”
One of the Nepin children cowered behind his mother, and I looked around for a light. I saw a lantern on the wall above the family’s heads, so I flicked a small flame to light up the room.
“See?” I pointed to the light. “Isn’t that better? I’m not as scary as the bad men.”
The boy peeked out from behind his mother’s leg and smiled. He looked no older than six, and I had to swallow my fury again when he held out his arm to reveal rope burns around his wrists. I took slow steps toward him and gently put my hand on his arms. Then I sent a wave of healing magic through his little body, and within seconds, the burns had disappeared.
“Wow,” he gasped as he looked at his wrists. “Cool.”
“Very,” I agreed and glanced over at his older brother and sister. “Anyone else?”
After a few minutes of healing and consoling, Lucien’s family seemed to have calmed down enough to talk.
“Lord Evan, is it?” his wife asked, though she remained cautious. “Lord of where?”
“Hatra,” I answered with a smile. “I know you’re Lucien’s wife, but I don’t know your name.”
“I’m Gisela,” she replied. “These are my children, Ruby, Junior, and Torriano. How did you come to Yrosa?”
“I came here with Isabella,” I hedged.
I didn’t feel like telling her we used a magical portal would be wise at this moment. She was already suspicious about our sudden appearance, though it seemed like there were worse first impressions than saving them from a trio of burglars.
“But you are not a Nepin.” She frowned and looked me over. “I, ah, don’t know what you are. Not a human.”
“No,” I confirmed. “I’m not a human. I’m a dragon.”
“Whoa,” Torriano breathed. “So awesome!”
“I thought dragons were extinct,” Ruby finally said with her hands on her hips. “That’s what we learned in school.”
“A lot of people think that,” I chuckled. “They’re wrong.”
“Well, how do we know you’re a real dragon?” she pressed.
“Ruby!” her mother scolded.
“It’s alright,” I laughed. “I’ll show you, but I have to be careful, okay?”
Ruby nodded, and I took a step back and held my hand at arm’s length in front of my face to contain the flames. Then I blew a gentle fire into my palm, and the children’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“You really are a dragon!” Junior squealed and clapped his hands.
