Clenching her jaw, she nodded.
I was unsure of what to say next. I’d already thanked Julie for her concern and it felt awkward to be standing alone with her in silence. I would prefer for there to be a third person present as we waited—even if that person was Arron. I gestured to the islet and the two of us leapt back toward it.
Now we could only wait for Aisha to return.
Chapter 20: Ben
As I had feared, we were waiting hours for the jinni. I ended up passing the time sitting opposite Julie on the rocks, with her telling me more about her life before she’d become a vampire, while Arron continued to brood behind us. Like so many, Julie’s life had been ordinary before she’d become a bloodsucker at seventeen. She had been born in central China; her father had been a politician, her mother a schoolteacher. She’d gone to school and studied hard to please her parents, all while fostering the dream of becoming a ballet dancer. It was during a vacation near the Taihang Mountains, while enjoying an evening walk with her family, that her uneventful life had been turned upside down.
I found her history interesting, yet as she talked, I felt distant. My mind constantly returned from her story to my present nightmare.
By the time Aisha returned, the sky was brightening. The jinni manifested herself a few feet away from Julie and me, holding a thin violet weed.
“What took you so long?” I asked, eyeing the odd plant.
Dripping wet, Aisha approached me with a grumpy expression. She pulled away the brown sack containing the werewolf tooth that I had attached to my belt. Opening the sack, she slipped in the merflor before handing it back to me.
“Merfolk don’t exactly welcome trespassers asking for directions to their valuable resources,” she said, a scowl on her face. “I’m not familiar with these waters and it took a while to find.”
I should have just been relieved that she had found it. We didn’t have a lot of time left. My appointment with the witch doctor was already tomorrow.
I turned to Arron, who had been quiet ever since Julie and I had left him alone to talk. I found myself wondering whether he had overheard our whispered conversation.
“So now we are on to the dragon scale,” I said, trepidation filling my stomach. “Where do you suggest we get that from? Would we need to go to The Hearthlands?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Arron replied, clearing his throat.
“Then?”
I looked toward Aisha, wondering if she had any ideas. She looked blankly back at me. “My tribe hasn’t had dealings with dragons,” she said. “I don’t know a lot about the creatures. I’m not sure where we would find a dragon other than The Hearthlands.”
“I know one we could visit,” Arron said. All eyes turned on him as he continued. “His name is Breccan. He lives alone on a small, deserted island. He was banished from The Hearthlands many years ago for treason. He is an old beast, though still ferocious. However, we stand the best chance of getting what we’re after from an island populated by just one fire-breather than an entire country filled with them.”
“And do you know how to get to this island?” I asked the Hawk.
To my relief, he nodded. I’d never thought that I would feel grateful for a Hawk’s presence—least of all Arron’s—but this man was turning out to be invaluable to us on this crazy journey.
Chapter 21: Ben
Arriving on top of a cliff, we had a full view over Breccan’s mountainous island and the miles of ocean that surrounded it. We were silent as we took in the atmosphere. It was larger than I had expected. I wondered where exactly the dragon resided.
Arron clutched my shoulder as I moved to begin climbing down the rocks. “Wait,” he whispered. “Let’s agree on a plan.”
“Do you know where Breccan is?” I asked, hoping that we could procure the witch’s last request with the least amount of violence.
“That’s what we need to find out,” Arron replied. “He lives somewhere within the mountains. We need to scope out this place and find an entrance.” His eyes traveled to the steep slope. “Though if we’re lucky, we might even find a scale Breccan has already shed on the ground somewhere…. Let’s start looking around this peak. And keep a sharp ear out. The shifter might not be in his beastly form—which would make him quieter and harder to detect from a distance.”
With that, Arron walked forward, gesturing for us to follow. We made our way down the mountain, casting our eyes about for shed dragon scales or any sign of an entrance.
We searched for hours, long after the sun rose in the sky. Aisha cast shade over Julie and me, although the heat was unbearable. It seemed to be emanating not only from above, but also from beneath us. I wondered what kind of furnace there must have been within the mountain. After the sun reached its peak in the sky and sank low again, we still hadn’t found a scale, although Arron had spotted a tunnel entrance—about the shape and size of a normal doorway.