Page 27 of Monsters In Her Head

With three other scouts, Desmond prowled the Gebe forest. Normally, they would send whole troops out to check the surrounding areas for trespassers but with the Plumus prince searching for his betrothed it just wasn’t safe for so many of the drakes to be out of the mountain. The fewer at risk the better.

Desmond had to argue with his brother just for him to let him go on patrol.

“It’ll be fine,” Desmond had reassured him. “I’ve done this a thousand times.”

“Yes, but this time they are actively looking for us, not just hoping they wander upon our camp.” Ryu had shot back with much more ferocity than Desmond had expected.

“We will be going under the cover of night. No one sees better in the dark than the drakes.” Desmond patted his brother on the back. “You just take care of the princess and leave the enemies to me.”

Now trailing through the forest in the dead of night, even the moon had hidden itself as if to aid their cause, Desmond wondered what all the fuss had been about. Nor he or his males had seen a hide or hair of the prince's soldiers. Not even the wayward set of guards the king of Kinoko sent out every once in a while to keep thieves from using the forest road for their victims.

“This is pointless,” the young drake, Bak, to Desmond's right groaned. The red scaled youth picked at his claws and dragged his fingers across his horns. “Why are we even out here? There’s nothing and no one here.”

The drake next to him, Nabaliv, a brownish orange scaled one, smacked the youngling over the head. “Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they do not exist. All of your whining will draw the humans right to us.”

“And we don’t want that, right?” Bak asked, he scratched the side of his face with a claw.

“No.” Desmond answered him simply. “We don't.”

“But the princess is a human...” Bak continued and Desmond knew where he was going with this.

“Not all humans are our enemies,” Desmond explained, keeping his ears open for any movement around them. “Some like the Kinokos need our help. While others like the Plumus want to destroy us. Those are who we are looking for.”

“But how do we know which is which?” Bak whined.

Something snapped to the east.

“Quiet.” Desmond put his hand up.

“They all look the same, you know? All fleshy and hairy.” Bak continued as if Desmond hadn’t spoken.

A whistling hurtled toward them, and Desmond moved. Throwing himself at the youngling, sharp pain registered on his side but the youngling hadn’t been hit.

“To the east,” Nabaliv called to their other companion, while Desmond dislodged the arrow in his side.

Wincing at the pain, Desmond pulled himself to his feet, withdrawing his halbert from his back.

“Oh by the gods, your highness.” Bak cried out trying to wrap his arms around him. “You saved me. How can I ever thank you?”

Desmond pried the male off of him and grabbed him by the shoulders. “You can stop talking and start killing. This is the time you prove yourself, Bak. Alright?”

Bak nodded vigorously, grabbing his bow off his back and knocking an arrow back.

Confident the young one would find his way, Desmond turned his attention to the fight at hand.

About a dozen soldiers were closing in on them. It didn’t matter to him what banner they bore. Since they struck first, Desmond didn’t care if the princess cared for them. He’d not let them hurt him or his comrades.

Nabaliv fought off three of them, swinging his clamor around like it was as light as a feather. He cut two of them in half, knocking the third back to scramble away.

Desmond didn’t know where his other companion went until a loud cry came from the sky and the small dark scaled drake barreled into a group of soldiers. Knocking them down with the might of his hammer to the ground, she swung it around in a whirlwind keeping any who might come at her back.

Several of the humans had decided to come after Bak and Desmond, seeing the two of them down. Desmond swung his halbert, knocking them back while Bak shot at them. For a loud mouth youngling, Bak wasn’t a bad shot. Twice he’d hit a soldier that was about to get Desmond in the back.

Grinning from ear to ear, Desmond turned to Bak. “You did a great job. I knew you could do it.”

“Your highness,” Bak's dark brown eyes widened. “Watch out.”

Before Bak could get an arrow knocked, pain laced into Desmond’s back. He swiped his halbert behind him, taking the soldier out before falling to his knees.

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