Andre
"You know we can't afford to start a fight with the dragons right?" His grandfather reminded as his fingers traced over the hilt of the sword resting on the desk before him.
It was bone white, simply because it was made of one. It was a little known secret that the paranormal royals and a few trusted ones knew about. Old swords made for them for the sole purpose of killing dragons. Each royal family had a pair, indestructible swords that were blood bound and could never be taken even if the family died out.
The secrets of how they came to be were only something the reigning monarchs knew about. Andre suspected the dragons had no idea the swords existed, like they had no idea the other races were the reasons they could no longer fully shift. He hated that he'd be the one to reveal the swords to them but the dragons couldn't be allowed to enslave them again.
Andre nodded knowing the truth of it. "We also can't afford to have the rest of the races see us as weak. Which is what they will think if he manages to take Cari away from me."
The king met his gaze with his accessing one. "True enough." He conceded after a while. "Which begs the question of what you're going to do."
Andre gave him a hard smile. "I'm going to sneak into Dragonheim."
The king's brow rose high, he leaned back and folded his arms. "You have a plan?"
"One that has a fifty fifty chance."
His grandfather gave him a rueful smile. "Your grandmother is going to kill us."
"Then she shouldn't have announced who I am and what Cari is."
"You know why she did that." His grandfather reminded him.
"It doesn't matter right now grandfather. What matters is if you're going to lend me the sword."
His eyes went back to the white intricately made hilt of the sheathed sword. It was the kind that'd have to be carried on his back. A broadsword. The scabbard was silver inlaid in defiance to their allergy to it. It was laminated with a hard clear wax but no one would know.
The king slid the sword across the desk. "Take it. Just don't die. I'll reach out to the dragon king and see if I can feel them out. Provided they even accept."
Andre stood then took up the heavy sword. He unbuckled the strap before placing it over his shoulder and rebuckling it. The leather was supple and old, with the scent of leather oil coming from it. "Thank you."
As he left the office that'd been set aside for his grandfather Andre wondered why the king hadn't even tried to stop him or at the very least tried to send a contingent of warriors with him. Had Cari's grandmother also gotten to him? What did she know about his fate and could she really be setting him to it? How would Cari not be hurt if the prince of dragons was supposed to get what he needed?
Shaking his head at the questions he knew the woman wouldn't answer he made his way to the warriors' packhouse where his friends and Cari's kin had hopefully taken her former friend. He wasn't going to let anyone or anything stand in his way. Andre shuddered at the thought of having to grow up with a grandmother like Cari's. His was bad enough.
The packhouse he was going to was only a shirt distance from the Alpha's and he wasted no time in getting there. Each pack has several of these warrior houses, most around the Alpha house to be the last line of defense should the pack be attacked. This one had been set aside for the royal entourage and most of them were out guarding the royal personages and their courtiers.
As he strode into the living room one of the occupants shot up from the couch, fear a tangible force around them. Andre met her eyes with a blank acessing gaze, she shivered. "You must be Rhiannon." He stated.
"A..Annie your highness," she corrected then winced before breaking into an awkward curtsey. "I..I'm s...sorry your highness."
"Please, sit." He commanded and the female rushed to comply. She winced again at the graceless way she plopped back down.
Andre noted that his friends, Gabe and Richard were standing guard by the doors whilst Cari's cousin was by the window. Vin, Cari's brother was sitting besides the female who at one point had been his sister's best friend. After setting his sword besides it, Andre took the seat across from her and held her scared gaze.
"Do you know what happened to Cari?" He asked.
"N..no yo...your highness." She stuttered again in fear, her throat moving as she swallowed.
"She was kidnapped early this morning," he paused a bit to emphasize the next part. "By reapers."
A pained gasp escaped her, her eyes straying to a point to his right as if at someone. It confirmed what Claire had said. Vin took Annie's hand in comfort. As her packmate, he'd be more attuned to her emotions, almost as much as him as her prince.
"I understand you've been allowing a reaper to have access to Darkpaws territory." He continued, his eyes glued to hers even as he was acutely aware of the being edging closer to him.
"I'd never hurt Cari." Annie stated, her eyes pleading him to believe her.
"Yet you abandoned her when she needed you most." Andre reminded in a soft tone. At one point Annie had been Cari's best friend until Claire had mated with Xander then the gamma blood had chosen to freeze his mate out in favor of Claire. Andre had no sympathy for her.
"I had no choice, Claire..."
Andre sat back, his eyes taking her in as tears ran down her cheeks and Vin gave her hand a squeeze. "She was blackmailing you."
"Yes. I called him here. I still don't understand it but when I was twelve, I called him to our plane. Then Claire found out."
"Why didn't you tell anyone? The king or queen."
"She told me I'd be banished, barred from our people and no other race would even have anything to do with me. They're all afraid of them."
"So you're telling me you had nothing to do with Cari and Dani being taken?"
"Yes."
"Even though reapers can only come here for death and your friend is the only one on this plane."
The female paled and her eyes one again went to the empty space besides him, knly for a second. She seemed intimidated by him and Andre wasn't going to change that until he was positive she truly hadn't had anything to do with his mate being kidnapped.
At that moment the presence decided to take action. He'd thought he'd be its intended target but it flowed towards the girl whose eyes widened in confusion as she kept them trailed at the being no one else could see.
He called up his connection to the four elements. The balance of them in perfect union was enough to call upon the fifth, spirit. He thrust it between the two and as the being passed through the element he became corporeal and crashed onto the floor. As the other males reacted to the sudden appearance of a tall, lithe blonde male Andre kept his gaze locked onto the female. Gabe and Richard quickly restrained him.
She was pale.
"Convince me you had nothing with my mate's abduction." He commanded of the two.
"You can't command me, I'm not your subject." The male declared.
"You came onto our land, bound one of our subjects to you without our permission. On top of which my mate was taken by reapers and here you are."
"I had nothing to do with it!" He shouted, his body drawing shadows that fizzled as the spirit element still kept him corporeal.
"Then convince me."
After his conversation with Cari's grandmother, Andre had suspected she'd had something to do with Cari being taken. He couldn't afford to leave any stone unturned though. Besides which he needed a near instantaneous way to get to dragonheim and a reaper provided that.
"So you want to convince me that you deserve her?" He addressed the reaper once they'd done their best to plead their case. Reluctantly on his part.
"I have to convince your queen." He grit out.
"She will do all she can to break the part of your bond that has formed." He informed him. Annie gave another gasp, a pained one. "If you fully bond with her, you'll both be taken to the aetheric realm your kind is trapped in. She'll be cut off from her people, her family and the elements. She'll die."
"Wha...a...t?" She asked and Andre glanced at her for a moment before turning back to the reaper. "You never said anything about that." She accused.
"I didn't know." He replied in a devastated tone.
"You wouldn't have." Andre turned to Annie. "But you should've reasoned that. Our kind survives through our bonds, to each other and the natural world. The aether is removed from the elements and I doubt the bonds will stretch that far, even the familial ones."
The two looked at each other with a lot of pain between them. The kind of pain Andre was trying to hold back inside himself, the loss of his mate. Even though the two with him were not true mates their bond had come close to it. Reapers could only bond outside their race with someone who'd come close to death at the loss of their mate.
Andre stood up and took the sword back up and strapped it back on. He looked down at the reaper who was still held down by his two friends. "I'll give you one year to find a way to free your kind from their prison. If you do, she can be your mate but if not then I'll break the bond that is already there."
The male's eyes flamed back at him in anger and resentment. "Don't you think it has been tried? And why a year and not more time?"
"A year is more than enough time." He gave the reaper a dark smile. "What are the chances that a dragon prince, reaper prince and werewolf prince get tangled with each other?"
"What?"
"Call your family's dragon sword to you. You're going to help me storm dragonheim." The reaper swore at that. "Unless you want me to break your bond right now." He raised his brow at the other prince, the only reaper currently able to stay in their plane. The other male continued to swear.
"You..you're a prince?" Annie asked her male.
Andre could almost understand Cari's grandmother. There was something thrilling about moving others to his tune. Though what were the odds...
*
The portal dropped them before the mountain range that housed Dragonheim. The city of dragons was nestled in the valley at the heart of the range, inaccessible to those unable to fly. Yet even if they knew a way to overfly the imposing mountains, they could never escape the notice of the guards.
Andre was sure there was a back way up into the valley, they just needed to find it. Which meant finding out more of Cari's family secrets. The reaper hadn't been able to carry them all to Dragonheim. Turned out Cari's cousin Lan had the gift to open portal.
While Andre could understand why they'd keep their gifts from the rest of their kind, he couldn't understand why his mate had kept it from him. He turned to face the others. "We need to find a footpath to the city. One that the dragons themselves might not know about."
"It's their city. How could they not know about ways into it." Gabe questioned.
"A secret way out that only the royals and a select few know about." Cari's brother Vin deadpanned. "Carved into the mountains so long ago it's now a myth, if anyone even remembers. Don't tell me Wolfehold doesn't have the same thing?"
Andre turned to him with an amused smile. "Any idea how to find it?"
"I'm a tracker." Vin answered with a smile of his own. Andre raised a questioning brow. "Yes, it's a gift and not just an ability."
"Just how did you all inherit these gifts? Werewolf don't inherit gifts and yet here you are."
"You'll have to ask our Nana."
"It always comes back to your grandmother doesn't it?"
Vin shrugged. "You get used to it. And not getting answers until she's good and ready."
Andre grunted his displeasure. "So can you find us this back passage?"
The young beta nodded. "Just give me a few moments to scout it out."
Andre nodded his ascent. Instead of doing some kind of perimeter check, Vin stepped away from them and closed his eyes. His breathing becoming measured in that meditative way.
Taking the packs he'd slung over his neck off Andre opened one and took out his climbing gear. Since the valley of dragons was at about a thousand above sea level whatever path they took would require climbing.
He took out a hairband Cari had been wearing yesterday. He couldn't believe his mate had only been gone less than six hours. It felt longer than that, the hole threatening to swallow his heart making every minute he spent without her seem like a lifetime. After taking a whiff of her scent to calm him he carefully took out a canister from the other pack.
"What's that?" Gabe asked as he came closer.
"Dragonsbane."
His cousin hissed at that. "You came prepared."
"Yes." He agreed as he opened up the lid and used a syringe to draw a bit of it out. He closed the syringe with its cap then closed the lid before putting it back in and the syringe into his pocket.
"There's a strong barrier around the region." Vin reported, his eyes still closed. "Good thing Lan dropped us here otherwise we'd be knee deep in dragons by now. But I can sense the break, its about mile that way." He pointed to the right.
"Lead the way." Andre told him.
When wolves shifted, they stored their gear and clothes into the spirit realm using their connection with that element. It became second nature once they got used to the shift and as he shifted he felt his pack and the sword disintegrate into its spirit essence.
As they ran, Andre was very much aware of the dark energy that was the reaper floating above them. His hackles stood at attention at the uncomfortable sensation of something stalking him like that. Even knowing he poised no danger didn't help settle his wolf. Andre could feel the same unease in the others but they held and made their way to the opening into the den of dragons.
They soon came to the opening and shifted back after ensuring no one was about. The place Vin had led them was no different from any other at the base of the imposing mountain. Shrubs grew between the boulders, the hardy kind that didn't need as much sunlight and water. He couldn't even begin to tell what they were.
Using his connection to the earth, Vin made a path through the shrubs as the rest of them followed. Coaxing them to move their branches out of the way. The path was overgrown, as if it hadn't been used in decades, if not longer. Once they were in, the shrubs snapped back and the dark cavern behind them was revealed.
"Stop." Annie warned and they all froze.
Andre hadn't wanted the female to come along. He remembered Cari talking about how much it'd hurt her when the gamma blood had abandoned. Watching her former friend around her sister had been almost as bad as watching Claire with Xander. Annie's presence was going to hurt Cari and that was the last thing he wanted.
Unfortunately the bond between her and the reaper wouldn't allow them to be apart for long. Since he had no idea how long they'd be gone, the reaper had insisted she come along. Andre hadn't been able to deny them.
"There're spells around the opening." She stated then made her way to the front.
She stopped a breath away from the dark entrance then took a deep breath. As she let it out it was like she shed some invisible cloak. A gentle and yet powerful aura encased her as she moved her hands as if feeling for something. Every now and then she pulled and Andre could see a snap as if of a thread.
"It's clear now." She said once done.
"Another gift?" Andre asked.
"My great grandmother was related to their Nana." She explained.
They moved with more caution, opening their senses to detect any more traps. It was slow going and Andre had to hold himself back from the desire to unleash his uncontrollable power and level the mountain. It wouldn't do any good, even if he could guarantee that his companions wouldn't be hurt.
He still couldn't sense his mate. As the prince of the werewolves, he should be able to feel for any of his people. Yet it was like a barrier was between them.
The tunnel they were in was dark and musty. The air dry, stagnant. As they moved along the narrow passage that could only allow two at a time they kept their silence, knowing that sound travelled far underground.
The ground became a slight incline as they went. None of them needing any light as their night vision kicked in. Soon they were using their climbing gear to go up. There were bolts already set in the rock. With Vin leading they made their slow way up.
Twice more, Annie sensed more traps and with her reaper holding her up, she detangled them. Andre realised he should make an effort to know the name of the reaper. Time seemed to still as they concentrated on making they way. His focus on his mate kept him moving, a sense that he was getting closer to her.
At last, they made onto a cliff edge and they took time to rest. Taking out his water bottle, Andre drank deeply then sat down. The cavern they found themselves in was huge, cathedral like. He couldn't see the roof of it but as he looked around, he spotted some cameras.
"Cameras." He informed with a head nod.
"I can take care of them." The reaper replied in an offhand way. Andre nodded his thanks. He tried to reach out to his mate once more but again met that block. He took a deep breath to calm himself so he wouldn't lose hope.
After about an hour, they resumed their trek. The reaper turned into his incorporeal form, becoming dark smoke instead of being invisible. He covered the cameras as they moved by them until they passed into another passage.
Again they made their silent way down the passage which slopped up. Light filtered into it and soon they came across a lit old time torch. Andre sensed it was made of pure magic and didn't even consume the oil.
They rounded a corner and came to a solid wall. There didn't seem to be a seam to indicate a door. Andre walked closer and touched the wall, even as everyone else was. He found a point that somehow felt different and he touched it. Drawing on his power by some instinct, he poured the power into it. A click sounded and the fell into the ground.
The others looked at him and he took a step over where the wall had been. They followed him and as soon as they were all in the new hall, the wall came back up. They found themselves in another passage, this one with smoother, held more torches and seemed better used.
As he reached out for his mate, he sensed her. A smile broke over his face as a weight seemed to shatter off him. He adjusted his sword, ready to take on anyone who'd dare to stand between him and his mate.