Pib's Dragon (8 page)

“
So we just need to get
your brother to deny Geraint access to the lands and we can keep
him away from Pib?” Wil asked, bringing their attention back to the
matter at hand.

“
Yes and no. If Geraint
makes a request, Del will deny it. While he is still technically
just a prince, it’s only because our parents haven’t given up the
thrones yet. Once Del tells them he’s ready, they’ll step down and
he’ll take his place as king, but when he becomes king, he can’t
leave Dragon’s Keep.”

“
Why not?” Pib
asked.

“
Magic. When he accepts his
role as king, he’ll be tied to the land. He’ll live as long as he
wants to,” Dray replied.

“
Wait, won’t he die like
everyone else?” Wil asked, confusion evident on his face and in his
tone.

“
Not really. Shifters have
a longer lifespan than the average human. Magic users also live
longer, but not nearly as long as shifters. The monarchs here are
tied to the land when they take the throne, which basically means
that they decide when they’re ready to die. Our parents have been
on the throne for one hundred and four years.”

Dray restrained a chuckle at the
brothers’ gasps and shocked features. So many people forgot the
history of the village, of Dragon’s Keep, and of Dragon’s
Tail.

“
Okay, so back to Del
denying the request?” Pib asked after a few minutes.

“
Right. As the next in line
for the throne, Father has handed over certain duties to Del.
Approving which monarch is allowed entry is one of them.” Dray
laughed as a memory of Del after he’d been given the duty came to
mind.

“
What?” Pib asked, an
indulgent look on his face.

“
I was just remembering
when Del was first given the duty. He was shown to the office with
all of the pending requests. There were dozens. So Del wrote to
each and every one of them and said to them that they were welcome
to come to the land. However, should any be arriving for the
purpose of forging an alliance by way of marriage to Del, they
would be driven out by dragon and forever be banned from the land.
Mother and Father couldn’t understand why all of the monarchs who
attended the dinners didn’t bring up the subject of alliances, and
when the last one was finally gone, they cornered us. Del admitted
what he’d said in the response, and when Father tried to get angry,
Del just pointed out that it would be in everyone’s best interests
if he didn’t have to try to defend his honor with a sword, or his
champion. Father shut up and never complained again.”

“
And let me guess, you were
his champion?” Pib asked.

Dray smiled. “Yes. The options were for
the monarchs to face a dragon or allow the crown prince to battle
them and possibly stab himself with his own sword.”

“
He wouldn’t!” Pib
exclaimed.

“
Not intentionally, no,”
Dray replied, his lips twitching. In seconds, he was laughing and
then the other two joined in.

Once they had themselves back under
control, Wil spoke. “Okay, so if Geraint makes a formal request,
he’ll be denied.”

“
Yes,” Dray
confirmed.

Dray’s confidence took a hit when Pib
said, “Great, so all we have to do is keep an eye out for him or
anyone working for him, because I’m telling you now, he’s not the
type of man who’ll ask for permission. He was a dick before he
became a prince, now he’s a dick with power and a kingdom to back
him up.”

Well, fuck, I guess we do
need a plan b.

Pib was sitting on a branch, enjoying
the sunshine and wind on his fur. He’d decided to spend the day
outside for once. It had been weeks since he’d found out Geraint
was after him and he’d kept to the mountain and the caves to keep
Wil and Dray happy, but he was going crazy. At least when he’d had
the cuff on his ankle, he was allowed to roam around. Pib shivered
at the memory of the cuff.

No, even confinement is
better than a cuff. At least I’m in control of my
actions.

The sun was setting when Pib finally
decided to make his way home. Wil and Dray should be on their way,
and once they got to the cottage, the three of them could shift and
make their way to the tavern for a meal. They usually jumped in the
river to wash off the day, although Pib enjoyed the smell of a
sweaty Dray.

Oh, who am I kidding? I
like all of Dray’s scents, sweaty or not.

With that thought firmly in his mind,
Pib jumped to the ground.

“
Got you!”

Pib spun around, but it was too late.
Fabric was thrown over him before he was flipped and the ends tied
together. He tried slashing at the material, but it did nothing. He
tried shifting and found that he couldn’t reach his human form,
which meant only one thing.

Magic, shit! Geraint’s
found me.

Trying not to panic, he focused on his
own magic, but it was just out of reach. He felt someone lift the
sack, and with the way he was being carried, he assumed that they’d
hung the bag on some sort of supports that they then
carried.

Realizing he was stuck for the moment,
Pib mentally screamed.

Dray!

****

Dray and Wil had just arrived to
Dragon’s Keep when he heard a ping. Frowning, Dray looked around
and tried to figure out what it was and where it was coming
from.

“
What is it?” Wil asked,
going on alert.

“
I don’t know. Do you hear
that ping?” Dray asked, the noise sounding almost
urgent.

“
No…”

“
Come on, let’s go to your
cottage, I’ve got a bad feeling.”

Together they shifted and made their
way to the cottage, Dray beating Wil by simply flying to the
plateau. After shifting, he stormed into the cottage and quickly
inspected the area, looking for any sign of Pib.

“
He’s not here, and from
the looks of things, he hasn’t been here for a few hours,” Wil
observed.

Spinning around, Dray tried not to
panic when he realized the same thing. The pinging was getting
louder and more urgent, and he suspected that it was in his mind.
“I hear a pinging sound, and I think it has to do with Pib. Will
you come with me to check it out?”

“
You know I will,” Wil
responded.

“
Then let’s go. I’ll shift
and carry you. Hopefully, we’re worrying for nothing and your
brother is just playing hide and seek, in which case I’m going to
tan his hide.”

Dray tried to sound menacing, but he
knew the worry had slipped into his voice when Wil
spoke.

“
We’ll find
him.”

Nodding, Dray made his way outside, and
soon they were soaring through the sky, Dray carrying Wil in wolf
form while Dray tried to pinpoint the location of a sound only he
could hear. When he got closer to his treasure cave, the sound
changed but was no less urgent. It became a song, one that drew him
closer, urging him to move faster. After landing in the cave, he
released Wil and quickly shifted back to human form.

“
Damn, no wonder Pib keeps coming in here, everything
is
shiny!” Wil teased, but Dray didn’t respond.

Making his way through the piles of
gold, jewels, and treasures he’d accumulated, he came to the pile
that had contained his sapphire until a certain cat had stolen it.
He heard Wil call out his name, but he couldn’t focus on him. All
he could do was listen to the song.

Frowning, he realized it was slightly
muffled, which meant that it must be buried underneath somewhere.
Shifting his hands into slightly larger dragon claws, Dray started
to tear into the treasure. Uncaring where anything landed, he
searched for the source of the sound. After what felt like hours
but was probably only minutes, he uncovered a bunch of gems, and
one in particular was glowing.

It was a plain gem, clear like a
diamond, but he knew it wasn’t a diamond. It seemed…different,
rare. He shifted his hands back and gently pried it out, then
raised it up. As he stared at it, the song intensified, turning
into a beautiful melody unlike any he’d ever seen. From within the
gem, colors swirled, forming what looked like a fire within the
gem.

Say his name.

Dray blinked and looked around, trying
to figure out where the feminine voice came from.

“
What is it?” Wil asked,
stepping into his line of sight.

“
I-I don’t know. I swear I just heard a woman tell me
to
say his
name
, but I don’t know what
it means,” he admitted, staring down at the gem in his
hand.

“
I think I do,” Wil said
softly.

Dray focused on Wil, his unease
obvious. “What do you know, Wil?”

Sighing, Wil ran a hand through his
hair before planting his hands on his hips and focusing on
Dray.

“
That is a Taaffeite gem.
It’s extremely rare and extremely powerful. Stories say that when
each shifter is born, a gem is formed. When the shifter finds its
gem, the gem will grow into its power and then spread that power to
the shifter. Only the shifter and their mate are ever able to hold
the gem.”

“
Okay, well, that makes
sense. Our dragon elders told us something similar when we were
growing up, although from what I remember, it only happened between
dragon mates—”

“
Well, I think you’re
holding Pib’s,” Wil interrupted.

Shocked, Dray turned his attention back
to the gem, focusing on what he could see. The internal fire was an
interesting combination of yellow, black, and green, almost making
it seem like a green flame was capture inside the stone.

The colors match Pib’s eyes
and hair!

The realisation was enough to convince
Dray that the stories were true and he really was holding something
that belonged to Pib. Hope stirred in his chest regarding his own
gem.

“
So we’ve got the stone,
now what?” Dray asked, his eyes never leaving the colors swirling
around.

“
I don’t know. We have to activate it somehow, I think, but
I don’t know how to do it or even if
we
can. It could be
that only Pib can do whatever needs to be done.”

Dray growled, but before he could do more, the same
feminine voice spoke,
Say his
name.

“
Pib,” he said, waiting to
see what would happen.

“
What?” Wil
asked.

Dray sighed and lowered his hand,
turning to Wil. “The voice said to say his name so I did. Since it
didn’t do anything, I’m guessing Pib needs to do it.”

“
Fuck!” Wil swore before
kicking a gem close to him.

Annoyed, Dray got ready to yell at
him.

“
Periwinkle.”

Blinking, Dray tried to understand what
Wil was talking about, but failed. “What?”

He watched as Wil paced and ran his hands through his hair
before coming to a stop in front of Dray. “If you’re supposed to
activate it with the shifters true name, then
Pib
won’t
work because it’s the nickname I gave him. Since I’m the only one
that’s allowed to call him Puss, we needed to come up with
something for others to call him, and with him always saving money
for the best boots, he became Pib—Puss in boots.”

“
So his real name
is…”

“
Periwinkle.”

“
Periwinkle?”

As soon as Dray said the name, flames
burst from the stone and engulfed Dray. He didn’t have time for any
instincts to kick in before the flames disappeared, leaving behind
a feeling of warmth. In the next instant, he felt a tug pulling him
toward the entrance of his cave. Placing the stone back with his
other treasures, he made his way toward the opening, hearing Wil
follow.

Standing in the center of the opening,
Dray let his gaze roam over the land until one particular direction
caught his attention. Pointing, he said, “We need to go that
way.”

“
Okay, lead the
way.”

Shifting, Dray picked up Wil’s wolf
form and took off, flying to where he hoped Pib was.

I’m coming,
Pib.

Pib was getting bored of all the
swinging around he was doing. Even the men’s conversation was
boring, although he had managed to figure out that they were there
on behalf of Geraint and they were expected to be paid handsomely
for bringing him in.

Fools.

When they started talking about setting
up camp, that’s when Pib really paid attention. He wasn’t sure
where exactly there were, but since they had walked the entire
time, then it was a safe guess that they weren’t in any
kingdom…yet.

“
What are you doing? Don’t
make a fire, you idiot,” one of the men said before another
grunted.

“
Why not? It’ll get cold
overnight!”

“
Because it’ll give us
away. What do you think is going to happen if someone sees a fire,
hmm?” the first man asked.