“Have fun ‘handling that situation’ there buddy boy! I felt a few spikes in your power earlier. Any details you care to share?” Lance had to cough to cover the chuckle in his voice.
“I definitely do NOT care to share,” Rayne growled. “Don’t you worry about my situation. You worry about keeping those damn hunters off my ass.” And with that Rayne cut off communications with Lance laughing and Aidan asking what was going on. That pain in the ass better keep his mouth shut or Rayne was going to cause him some serious pain.
“Rayne, are you ignoring me? Why aren’t you answering my questions?” Kyndel sounded incredibly annoyed.
Oh shit, he’d completely forgotten Kyndel had no idea he was talking to his brethren or even that he could talk to them through mind speak. This situation was getting more complicated by the minute. He wished he had time to court her, ease her into his life slowly, so she could accept her changing world one step at a time but that wasn’t what fate had in store for them. It was going to be a crash course into a world she had no idea existed and it was going to be at a hundred miles an hour.
“No, ce’adsearc, I’m not ignoring you.” He reassured, using the most soothing tone he could muster. He took a deep breath, allowing his instincts to guide him in his explanation. “I need you to listen to me with an open mind. I’m going to ask you not to interrupt until I’m finished, please.” He watched her brow furrow as she held back her retort. “I know what I’m about to tell you is going to be hard for you to believe at first, but I promise on my honor, I would never lie to you and that when time permits I will show you everything.” He paused to gauge her reaction. “Can you do that for me, ce’adsearc, can you trust me enough to listen to what I need to tell you?”
He watched her inner debate as she continued to stare right into his eyes. She was trying to decide exactly how bad she wanted the answers only he could provide against throwing him out on his ass. The battle raged on and too many emotions to count played across her beautiful face. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath then slowly exhaled. When she looked at him again, he saw resolution in her eyes and if he wasn’t mistaken, more than a little trust, even though he was sure she did not understand it. “Yes, I’ll listen to what you have to say but you better be ready to answer all my questions when you’re finished. God knows nothing has been normal since I met you. Why should now be any different?” She huffed her resignation and he held back a grin.
“Thank you, mo ghra’. I promise I will never betray your trust,” he rolled his shoulders more nervous than he thought possible. “I’ll start with what you just witnessed. I’m the Commander of the Dragon Guard of my clan. Through a bond of fealty and of blood , I’m able to mind speak with my Force, a group of men I grew up with, trained with, trust with my life and by extension, now, your life. Mind speak is like what you think of as telepathy. We are able to speak mind to mind across almost any distance. It’s essential to our ability to protect our people and be effective in battle. We are the Golden Fire Clan of the Dragon Shifters. My Force and I, along with many others, have been tasked with protecting our people from the hunters, a group that would drive us into extinction. These hunters, zealots originally trained by dark wizards, are the oldest enemy of dragon kin.
“We, the dragon shifters, have been in existence since the days of King Arthur. As hard as all of this is to believe, on top of it all, the stories you’ve heard of knights and dragons are absolutely true.” He watched her eyes widen and her fist clench as she sat completely still soaking in every word he spoke. “As time progressed and the lands became more populated, the dragons found it harder and harder to hide their existence. When their secret became impossible to keep, they enlisted the help of a very powerful mage. He was able to combine the very essence of their beings with the knight of their choosing. A knight that possessed all the characteristics necessary to protect what was theirs, to fight for those that needed a champion and keep their race from extinction.
“The dragons looked for men that were courteous, honest, generous, courageous, loyal, just, discreet, wise, brave and honorable. The qualities that the knights that had fought alongside them for thousands of years possessed. They made sure these qualities were so ingrained in the individual, that they were actually an integral part of that individual’s bloodline. They had to ensure that by entrusting their very essence to a group of men, their power would never be abused.