Chapter 24: Viserion's POV

Muhahahhahahahahah

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A

growl builds in my throat and comes out low and long, vibrating my rarely used vocal chords. My spines bristle as I draw myself up to my full height, towering over the man. I'm so tall I block out the noon sun for him, casting him in a dark shadow as he stares up at me with frightened eyes. I curl my lip, exposing my long fangs the size of his forearm. My scorpion-like tail swishes back and forth like a cat, ready to strike at any moment. 

"I won't ask again." I say directly into his mind, my voice low and menacing. "What are Ivar's plans for finding us?" 

The man, no older than Liam, scrunched himself further back into the trunk of the tree he's up against. We had tied him up and taken him out of sight from the rest of the camp while we waited for him to wake up from unconsciousness so we could interrogate him. His eyes wander over the stub of my left horn, the long, nasty scar trailing from my ear to my shoulder, the various rips and tears in my wings, the scars and nicks littering my body. He glances over at the teeth pierced through my ear. They're dragon teeth, taken from the very dragon that had ripped my horn off as a hatchling. 

"I-I already told you, I c-can't tell you anything." The knight clad in black chain mail stutters out. I lower my head over him, slavor dripping out of my bared teeth and dropping on the ground in front of him. He recedes more, desperate to make himself smaller as his eyes go wider. 

"H-he'll kill them!" He blurts out. I pause. 

"Kill who?" 

"If he finds out that I told you anything he'll order that my family be killed. He has them in the dungeons right now, along with the families of all the new knights. If I mess up, even once, they're dead. Momma, Pops, Gran Gran, Lucy, they'll all be gone in an instant." Tears well up in his eyes, and I realize just how young he is. I loosen up a bit, but still stay somewhat menacing, just in case. 

"Who says he has to know?" I ask. 

"He always knows. He knows everything. He has ears in every room and eyes around every corner. He'll know. Even if he isn't here right now, he'll figure it out pretty soon when I don't return from patrol." The boy's voice is so defeated, a tear falling from the corner of one of his pale eyes. In that moment he seems even smaller in the armor, as if it's swallowing him whole. I keep my demeanor tense but soften my voice slightly. 

"What's your name?" 

"Zandere. My name is Zandere." He answers hesitantly. 

"Well, Zandere, I know for a fact you're not fighting for Ivar out of patriotism or loyalty. You want to keep your family safe, and I respect that. But do you really think this will save them? It's just denying the inevitable. The truth is, you're going to mess up eventually and they'll be gone. The best way out of this is to let us help you. We're taking down this maniac, but we can't do that unless you cooperate with us." I say in my stern-but-still-understandingly-gente voice. He stays quiet for a moment, mulling it over in his head. 

"You talk like my Papa." He says quietly. "Do you have any kids? A son?" He says, looking up at me in the eyes, his filled with painful tears. 

"Yes, I do. Four of them. And yes, I have a son." I say, deciding this kid can't do any harm to them. 

"That's nice. I always wanted a brother, but Momma got too sick giving birth to Lucy that they weren't going to do that again. Gran Gran always said that two kids, a boy and girl was the magic number. The perfect legacy to have." A tear slips down his cheek as he closes his eyes, leaning his head against the trunk behind him. "I guess they'll have to live with just Lucy's legacy." 

"We aren't going to kill you." I say concerned. Is that really how this came across? 

He opens his eyes and looks right at me with astonishment. His eyes seem to light up and he stares at me, hope igniting in his irises. 

"Really? You aren't?" 

"You're just a kid trying to save his family. You don't deserve any of this. You especially don't deserve death. We've seen enough of it these last few weeks." I answer, glancing at Myshica who's eyeing me from just inside my line of vision. 

"Oh my stars…thank you, kind sir! Thank you…goddesses thank you." He leans his head back against the tree and closes his eyes in relief, a handful more of tears breaking from his eyelids as he chuckles his nerves out. Deciding that threatening was no longer needed, I drew back from him, settling at a respectable distance. 

"You still want to know Ivar's plans, right?" Zandere asks after a bit. 

"Yes, that would be nice." I respond. He opens his eyes to look at me, now looking much more relaxed and less hysterical. 

"He's…I overheard my commanders talking about it. He's forming a wall of soldiers, a half dozen deep to surround Drynas, then push outwards to the border to drive out anyone left in the woods. Which, I guess, is you guys." He answers. I pause to think about it, contemplating it in my mind. I glance concerned at my mate from far away. Mysh is able to read the worry on my face and her face grows solemn. 

"Am I…Can I go now?" The boy asks quietly, his voice resembling a toddlers. 

"Zandere, you know we can't do that. You know where we are, how many of us there are and our plans. We're a fragile bunch here, and we're only surviving off the fact that Ivar doesn't know where we are. Letting you go could ruin all of that." I say softly. 

"Yeah, but I won't say anything! I swear! I swear it on my Grandpoppy's grave!" He sits forward, his eyes wide and pleading. 

"I'm sorry. But, please know we won't hurt you. We can't trust you, but you're not our enemy. Know that you'll be treated well until we can figure out what to do with you long term." I respond. His face falls but he nods, sitting back against the trunk. I glance at Myshica and she beckons me over. 

"I need someone to guard you…" I mutter and trail off, glancing around for a knight but none are in sight. 

I jump at a sound behind me and turn to see a horse. Well, the only horse we have here really. Justice stands defiantly behind me, puffing his chest out and making himself look taller. My face contorts in confusion as he struts up to Zandere and stands in front of him, head held high. 

"Justice what are you," before I can finish he whinneys in my direction, telling me off in horse language. I shake my head and laugh, deciding, why not? 

"You're going to let me be guarded by a horse? What-" Zandere begins but is quickly silenced when the hot-headed horse bites at his head and slams a hoof down less than a finger widths away from his leg. His eyes go wide in seeming acceptance as Justice nods curtly to me. I snicker and turn to leave the hostage and his horse guard. 

I walk up to my mate and rub against her head a bit in greeting. Renate, his bandages almost all the way gone, stands with some minor assistance from his own mate Elric. I nod to them both with a smile. 

"What's the news? Get anything out of the boy over there?" Ren asks. 

"His name is Zandere. His family is being held hostage in Drynas and the threat of them being killed hangs over his head. But, he told me that Ivar plans to make a human wall ringing around the castle and slowly move towards the border to push us out." I report. 

"That's not good." Ren states simply. 

"What are we going to do?" Elric asks. 

"What can we do? We can't go storming in there without Liam and the backup he's getting, but we can't stay here. And slowly moving away isn't going to help when Liam comes looking for us either." Mysh says. 

"Yes, it doesn't look good, does it?" I say. 

"I think the only thing we can do is keep moving and hope to the goddesses we don't get found by anyone except for Liam." Ren says simply. 

"But what if he can't find us?" Elric asks. 

"Well…we have to hope he can." Ren explains. 

"I agree. We need to put the people's needs and safety first. If that means moving away from our mission but also the source of all the danger, then I feel that's the best course of action." Myshica replies. I hesitantly nod my head, sighing. 

"I hope Liam's doing better than we are. Though, I know what it's like when you're trying to fulfill a quest. It never works out right." I say. 

"All we can do now is hope, I guess." Elric says. 

"And keep moving." Myshia adds in. 

"Hope and move." Ren sums up with a nod. I glance down, my jaw clenching. I wish it wasn't this way. I wish I didn't have to make these discussions, because then I might not feel guilty about everything. Maybe then I won't blame myself. Maybe then I'll feel strong enough. Maybe then…this burden will be lifted. 

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Word count: 1664

A bit of a shorter chapter today but I hope you liked it all the same. (Cut me some slack I'm really tired rn) 

As always, I love to hear any theories, thoughts, comments and general ideas you have lmao 

Cya next week!