The Beast of Frostrun (The Kingdom of Dragons Book 2)

III - Claws and Shadows

"What do you mean a druid? Druids are a legend," Rhenor argued. Even he'd heard about them—human mages who were one with the forces of magic, more powerful than anyone else, capable of doing practically anything from bringing people back from the dead to turning worthless things to precious gems and metals. It always changed based on the tale that was being told, and that only served to support his theory that they were nothing more than a fantasy. They were too good to be true. It was just a story to make the dragons seem less impossible to defeat, to give humans hope. And that was all they were.

"All legends have a bit of truth to them," Kaz said quickly and impatiently. "Druids are the only beings I've read about that can turn into animals, and that panther's eyes looked far too intelligent for a simple beast." Then without warning he grabbed Rhenor's hand. "Now come on, we need to go after it, them, whoever."

Rhenor found himself being pulled along as Kaz started running. He would have pulled his hand out of Kaz's grip, but he also may have liked it, so he just let it be under the guise of forgetting himself during the perilous situation. And anyway, it was Kaz who'd grabbed his hand first.

"And what exactly are we going to do if we find the thing?" Rhenor asked, strengthening his hold on his bow.

"We try to reason with them, of course."

Oh, of course, yes, that made perfect sense. Reason with a huge, magical cat that had just almost killed Kaz, and was most definitely furious with Rhen for shooting its ear.

"If they are a druid, they must have some reason for breaking into these people's homes every night," Kaz continued, his voice getting far too excited after having almost died. "We can help them and put a stop to it."

Something told Rhenor that it wasn't going to be that easy, but he kept that to himself for now. It wouldn't deter Kaz from running headfirst into danger, anyway, so what was the point?

Soon they were outside the village and running towards the thick forest behind it, though Rhenor had no idea how Kaz could possibly know where to go. Rhen couldn't hear anything, nor could he see the cat anywhere. He was about to say as much and stop Kaz from going farther, but then Kaz himself came to halt.

He let go of Rhenor's hand, which was disappointing but definitely not what he should be focusing on right now. Rhen watched as Kaz grabbed at his hair and stared off at the forest.

"Dammit, I lost them."

He sounded so disappointed by that. As if the panther hadn't almost killed him a moment ago. Kaz seemed to lack a sense of self-preservation, and it was concerning.

"I suppose we'll have to stay until tomorrow," Kaz added, sighing. While Rhenor had no problem with staying, he also knew that Kaz most definitely did, so he felt a sudden urge to comfort him somehow.

"Well, maybe we don't have to take it upon ourselves to figure out whatever is going on here," he suggested, which made Kaz whirl around and stare at him with wide eyes.

"No, we can't do that!" Kaz then ducked his head as his face turned a shade darker. "Um, I mean that someone could get hurt."

Rhenor shook his head. "You want to find out if this really is a druid, don't you?"

He was not prepared for the huge, pleading eyes Kaz gave him then. Nor had he been expecting him to practically start vibrating with excitement. Rhenor rubbed his eyes, sighing. It was a good thing he didn't truly care about whether they stayed or continued on their journey because there was no way he could say no to Kaz when he was like this.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Kaz began raving as he once again started pacing around. He was gesturing wildly as he spoke, which made it almost enthralling to watch him. "I didn't even think druids were real, but now I'm thinking they might be, and I feel like I will forever regret it if I never find out for sure. But if we don't leave and stay another day, we might be too late to meet with Elaya."