The Dragon King by Dreoilin (electronic book reader txt) 📕

she saved would know better." She mocked, taking a step around Paan. "And you know better than to hunt on my territory."
"I have forgiven the men who murdered my people." Paan tightened her lips. "He needed help, and he stumbled onto the wrong path."
Thurn smirked. "My dogs marked him. That makes him mine."
Paan swallowed hard, but said nothing.
Thurn continued walking. "You hunted my stag, killed my dogs, and are planning to steal my supper. What were you thinking? Don't you know who I am?"
"I am deeply sorry for hunting from your territory and killing your-" Paan shuddered at the thick puddles of blood before continuing: "but I don't think he meant to come here. Please let me take him back and figure out why he came here."
Thurn chuckled. "Do you think I can let you go for everything you've done?"
"He's not even dead yet!"
Thurn took up the space between them in a breeze. Her face was fury, and the crisp cold air suddenly felt colder. "It doesn't matter! He was marked on my trail, that makes him my property!"
Paan flinched. "What happened to you, Thurn?" She said softly, trying to difuse the situation. "You used to be the winter queen, not the ice witch."
"I found power, Paanthura." Her face became serene, almost hungry when she spoke. "Necromancy is an art, only for the most powerful. I sacrificed to have this gift. And it was worth everything I gave up."
"You play with death, that isn't art, it's a nightmare." Paan argued.
Thurn stepped back. "In death we are more powerful. We have no humanity to hold us back from doing what we must. I can destroy a whole race with an army salvaged from a graveyard. Don't tell me that doesn't tempt you." She was smiling proudly.
But Paan was still unaffected. "You can find dead bodies anywhere, Thurn. You don't need this man. Just let him go, and I will pay for what I've stolen."
Thurn thought this idea over a moment. "You will get me what I wish, or I will confront Tarus to get it."
Paan bowed in agreement. "So long as it doesn't involve entering another dimmension, I will provide what you ask of me."
A cruel half smile took up the side of her mouth. "I want a wyvren egg." She said darkly.
Paan's eyes widened. "What? Why would you have any use for something like that?" She cried. "You know those are dangerous!"
Anger removed the smile. "If you don't give it to me, I will put you under a spell that creates your worst nightmares to come to life and haunt you for the rest of your being!" Her voice echoed against the hills around them, and rattled in the trees.
"Alright!" Paan agreed, holding her hands up in defense. "I will find you a wyvren's egg. But please, keep it under control."
Thurn straightened her hunched shoulders, and smiled again. "I will give you a year to aquire the egg and bring it to me, but no more. I know how difficult they are to come by."
Paan shuddered again at the thought.
Thurn continued back down the way she had come. But not before turning around and giving her last warning. "Don't hunt in my woods again."
Quickly, Thurn tossed a canvas wrap over the man's body. It was meant for the deer meat she hunted, but there would be no room for it.
She lifted her hood over her head and transformed into the bear shape, then she pulled the limp body over her shoulder and took off into the forest.
After a while, the bear form got heavy, so she shivered into travel form which was a dark-furred doe.
She made it back before the sun came up, then switched to bear form to climb the trees to the secret village her people built into the canopy. She followed the wooden bridges to the hut she was looking for, then pushed inside. She went to the back of the hut, through gossamer curtains to a cluster of thin pads with white bedding. She shivered and changed shape to get the man onto the bed.
His eyes fluttered open for a brief moment. "The skies." He gasped before passing out again.
Paan frowned, and pushed him onto the bed.
"What is this?" The bird-like voice came from a small figure flittering by Paan's ear.
"You have to help him, Ora, he's badly injured."
Ora was small and thin with short burgundy hair that stuck out in every direction, and the same colored eyes. Her transparent wings had a glittery glow, and her armor was completely made of an autumn maple leaf, including the stem which was wrapped around her legs, holding her daggers.
"Oh do I?" Ora folded her arms over her chest "Where did you find him?" Out of habit, she hovered over the body, and assessed the wounds.
"The less you know, the better." Paan told her. "I'll take the heat for this, just please, save him." She stared hopefully into Ora's golden-specked burgundy eyes.
After a few moments, Ora agreed. "I'm not going to make any kind of promises, he's very weak."
Paan stared at the man's face for a long moment. His small mouth was dark with the first sign of hypothermia, and his skin was waxy already. She bit her bottom lip.
She stayed and helped Ora cut away the tattered wool fabric of his tunic and trousers, then cleaned him up and dressed him in an antibiotic medicine and silky gauze bandages. They tended the wound in his back, and after a few hours, he was clean and warm.
Ora told Paan to go home and rest, as it would take a few days for the antibiotic serum to eat the bacteria growing in the wounds. And after that was done, they would need to close the wounds, and he would have to go through a tough workout to gain his strength back.
three

The next few days were very long, especially because Paan still didn't know how to tell Tarus that she had to go find a wyvren egg to make up for hunting on Thurn's territory and killing her guard dogs. On top of that, she had saved a human from being necrohound meat.
She racked her brain for days, stopping in to help Ora tend to the man's wounds. On one occasion, she had thought so deeply, she bumped into Storm, an elf who she'd rescued along with his younger brother Cloud when the human king came to power.
Storm and Cloud were both frighteningly tall, and had sun-bathed skin, and deep blue eyes. Cloud's hair was longer, and a lighter shade of blonde, while Storm kept his cut short.
Their little renegade group had many different races, though it was mostly made up of elves. Kulaidry who was a nomad was also an elf. She was from the north, however, and was born in the more civilized and strict culture. She was tall with long straight blonde hair, and round blue eyes. She often didn't laugh when Cloud and Storm made jokes. Carthus was also from the north, but he rarely talked to anyone but Tarus. He was tall with pale skin, a small head with large ears, and blue eyes. And then there was Tarus who was half gargoyle, half dwarf. He was short with dark hair he cut close to his head, a broad, but muscular form, and a long straight nose. One of his ears was higher up on his head than the other, but only slightly. He was definitly and odd creature.
And then there was Paanthura, who was a dryad. The last dryad.
When her people were attacked, they took their final form as trees. Paan was only half dryad, so she was free to escape. And she did so, but not before her mother gave up one of her branches as a weapon to protect her only daughter.
Paan met Tarus and Carthus, and they rescued everyone in their camp when the humans left them nowhere to go.
"Paan, I need to speak with you." Tarus had caught her offguard as she made her way toward the stable above village.
She flinched, and stumbled, nearly tumbling off the wooden bridge. But she caught herself, and turned around to a very confused leader. "I've been meaning to come see you, Tarus." She said, swallowing.
He frowned. "Well, allow me first: the council has called a meeting, and I must attend, but I need a third man." He started. "We never really established rank under Carthus, so I'm offering the position to you."
It felt more like a command. "Of course, Tarus, I would be honored."
"I think we should call this rank: first rider."
Paan smiled. "I second the motion." She agreed. "I have important matters to speak with you about."
Tarus raised a brow, his straight mouth even straighter.
"A few nights ago, I went hunting, but there was no prey for miles." Paan started. "I crossed into Thurn's forest, and shot a stag, but I didn't return with it, because there was another burden I had to return with."
"You're going to make me regret giving you this honor, aren't you?" Tarus asked.
Paan felt guilty. She hated disappointing Tarus. Even though he wasn't the one who saved her, he was as close as her own kin. "Thurn's necrohounds were hunting something that night also. A stranger who accidentally stumbled onto the trail. He hadn't meant to, and if I hadn't killed the dogs, they would have destroyed him."
Tarus thought for a moment. "What do you mean a stranger?"
Paan hesitated before answering, glancing around at her comrades, who were just waking up. "He's human." She said.
Tarus pinched the bridge of his nose. "What did Thurn ask for in return?" He asked. "I'm assuming there was a deal made, as she let you leave with him."
"You assumed correctly." She felt even guiltier. "She asked for an egg."
Tarus smiled. "An egg? What would she want with an egg?" Then his smile was gone. "What kind of egg?"
Paan glanced up at him. "A wyvren egg." She replied. "I didn't press for further details."
Tarus shook his head, and looked away, then turned back. "Listen, it's too late now to do anything about that, and I still need you to come with me to the meeting. I'm going to guess she gave you a time frame to aquire this egg, so I will help you any way I can with that. Where is this stranger you took from the trail?"
Paan took