Wonderland Ch. 12

I shook my head slowly, trying to ignore the mocking 'for my own pleasure' that was whirring like a merry-go-round in my head. "So...we are bonded?" I asked in confusion.

Talon gave me a ghost of a smile. "We have been since you rescued me from the castle. Táxim's blood weakened it some, as did my illness. But it's never been broken. He is wrong, Tempest. He most likely didn't want to acknowledge that a Gargoyle would take a human as a life mate. I don't blame him; it is unusual..."

"But I thought that's how Gargoyles and Raspans and everyone else were created? By taking humans as their mates?" I asked, more confused now than ever.

"No, you misunderstand. 'Life mate' is permanent. Procreation can be formed without taking a life mate. It was common to simply 'mate' in the beginning, but after tribes and herds and packs grew in number, each species began to breed with their own. That's been the practice for hundreds of years."

"Oh." Well now I felt dumb.

Talon squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

"I've already told you that my feelings for you are sincere." Talon then hesitated before continuing. "And I do not fault you in any way for loving Táxim. You are young and he clearly cares for you. He was very adamant before he left that if I cause you any distress I will have no need for a loincloth."

My eyes shot to Talon's in surprise only to find him smirking. "As much as it pains me to admit, I admire Táxim. I always have." He swallowed hard and the smirk faded into a tentative smile. "It is only out of my respect for him that I let you mourn. Even if it grieves me to know that you love another, you deserved the time and space."

I nodded my jaw tight with suppressed emotion. "Thank you for that. Though I could've done without the bucket of ice water on my head, I'm glad you kicked me out of bed. I needed it."

Talon's smirk was back. "I have to admit that I have never seen you move that fast since we've met. Your anger was impressive."

I rolled my eyes, glad to be out of the intense discussion he had put us in. "I bet if I dumped cold water on your head, I'd have to watch my back for a week."

"Of course," he agreed with a soft chuckle.

The awkwardness came back and Talon pulled his hand away, standing up again. I followed suit, trying not to fidget nervously as Talon hesitated at my side.

"So...does this mean we will become friends again?" Talon asked, sounding almost childish in his timid eagerness. I fought a smile as our eyes met and nodded. Evident relief crossed his face and a smile broke the tension between us – I had forgotten how charming Talon's smile could be. "I'm glad. Talking to Kynan and Lennox is almost as interesting as talking to a tree."

"Talon!" I gasped in surprise. "You can't talk about them like that!"

Talon made a face. "It's not an insult to tell an uninteresting man that he is uninteresting. They clearly can't help it."

I shook my head in exasperation. "You haven't changed a bit."

Talon smiled coyly. "Things have changed."

"Oh?" I asked, ignoring the playful look in his eyes as he regarded me.

"Oh yes," he teased, a sexy smile coming to his face. "This time, I will be relentless in pursuing the things I want most. You see, before I couldn't have cared less if my persistence paid off. But now, nothing will stand in my way."

I blinked. "Nothing?" I repeated slowly.

Talon leaned forward and brushed his lips over my cheek. "I gave you your space, Tempest. Now I will pursue."

"I'm not an animal you can hunt or a battle you can win," I warned him, my anger coming back.

"You are the riddle I will solve," Talon chuckled, his breath feathering over my ear. "A definite challenge."

"How so?" I asked him, a little curious. "I was practically putty in your hands before," I reminded him.

"True," Talon said with a laugh, ignoring the dirty look I cast in his direction. "But this time, the situation is different. You fell in love and lost it. You will be harder to please, more cynical of the words I whisper to you." Talon's smile reflected the sincerity of his words. It frightened me. "But we both know I belong to you now," he continued. "And you know that I will do anything to keep you."

Talon then pulled away completely, easily straightening himself up before striding to the door. "Remember, Tempest, we're bonded." He sent a smile over his shoulder that sent heat flaming up my face. "And that the chase works both ways."

I watched Talon leave in awe. He had entered my home angry and bitter and left it with promises of chase and taking the place of the man who I still longed for. How he could turn things around so quickly blew my mind.

That's when it hit me square in the face – Talon had played me. His act with the serving girl had been a test to gauge my reaction. He insulted me about Thatcher to get the answers he needed. And he took my blood to repair the bond that Thatcher and my mourning had weakened.

I chuckled and shook my head as I blew out the candles.

Talon deserved his credit – he was one sneaky Gargoyle when he wanted to be.

Time in the camp passed by in the same manner: I woke up early and ate breakfast with Kynan and his family in his hut. I worked with Georgina or Saoirse maintaining the armory or checking food stores, it all depended day-to-day, but I never had to hold a needle again for which I was grateful. The day would end at the great longhouse with the entire herd partaking in dinner. And at night, I would either join Talon and the Elite Raspans as they trained or head off early to bed.

Each and every day I was getting more and more confident, not only in my ability to actively partake in the daily life of camp, but also in my abilities as a leader. I went to every meeting that the Lunar and Raspans held and after a few meetings I stopped just listening and started to give my own opinions. I helped run camp more efficiently, and soon the Lunar stopped looking at me like I was the potential carrier of an incurable disease and approached me to ask for help or even just to talk. It was a good feeling to finally gain their respect, but I knew to win over everyone would be an uphill battle that could take months or more.

On the war front, information from Thatcher was being fed to the Elites as he and his team tracked Fuyher and his army across the South American continent. His next report was to be sent by a group of runners, consisting of a map of the North and South American continents marked with enemy Raspan strongholds, food sources, birthing dens, and refugee camps, something that Kynan and Talon were absolutely ecstatic over. Thatcher even had managed to find rebellion camps wishing to oppose Fuyher's army and was sending them in our direction to add to our numbers.

One evening, Kynan called for an emergency meeting, the first time he had ever done so. In looking around the camp, I realized that I wasn't the only person antsy about Kynan's emergency meeting. Everyone who had been ordered to show up was on edge, their eyes shifting around the leader's hut anxiously and conversation was muted to a dim hum.

I had just settled in the front of the crowd beside Georgina and Saoirse when Kynan suddenly made his entrance from the back rooms of the hut, flanked by a pale looking Lennox and a stone-faced Talon. Other members of the herd council followed suit, each face grave. I exchanged worried looks with Georgina. This meeting obviously wasn't about good news.

Kynan sat, giving us the cue to sit as well. Silence reigned in a thick tension over the small gathered crowd as we waited for Kynan to speak.

When he did, his eyes were flaring with anger that I had not seen before. He channeled that same rage into his words, making the hut almost shake with his power. "It has come to my attention that after the arrival of the Raspans our men and women have been roaming throughout their camp, causing disturbance and occasionally provoking some of the Elites into attacking."

I winced. I had heard of some fights breaking out, but I knew that all of them had been settled before they got out of hand. Three of them I had stopped personally. Had something worse happened without me knowing? I shook my head a little at the thought. Talon would've told me if something like that would've happened.

"We all know that our space is limited and we are at close quarters with one another," Kynan continued after the first murmurs of conversation had settled down. "Spring is coming, whether the weather reflects that or not, and as such, we are more susceptible to the changes that brings."

Wait. What?

Georgina, though, understood as well as everyone around me who gasped in both horror and shock. I nudged Georgina, trying to get her to tell me what was going on, but she was engrossed by what Kynan was saying, too much so to answer me.

"...now we have events taking place that have not happened in our history." Kynan seemed to steel himself before he spoke again, his eyes filled with disgust that I didn't understand. "I have now received eighteen reports of a Raspan and Lunar mating...and successfully conceiving. In a few weeks time we shall have a brood of children that we have never before seen. And, if my scouts are correct, more children are on the way."

Immediately the room exploded with outrage.

Warriors, scouts, and Raspans argued with one another. Many of them threatened castration to fix the problem. Talk of impure breeding and murderous hybrid children filled the air, how the ones responsible should be terminated, and the children killed before they come out of the womb. Walls should be erected between camps, girls should be given drinks for sterility, the Raspans should be escorted through camp, the Drul should give abortions...it was absolute madness.

Kynan and the others made no move though to calm the storm. I felt my stomach tie up in knots as curses and horrible threats began to take place of actual conversation and I knew then that I had to get out of here, at least before fists and daggers took the place of words.

I managed to skim the outskirts of the mob and escape outside into silence of the night. The weather was still cold, but even I could tell it was milder than it had been in weeks past. Snowfall was less often and the fierce squalls from Canada became rare occurrences. The wind now was coming more from the south. Winter was still in full swing, but clearly Mother Nature was getting back to normal.

"Tempest."

I stopped walking and turned at the sound of Talon's voice. He closed the distance between us and gestured towards my hut. We walked together in silence, mulling over the events in our heads. I knew Talon had to be worried about the news, because it affected the smooth rhythm of camp and Lunar relations with the Raspans were already tense enough as it is. It also reflected on Talon and me, the de facto leaders of the pack.

When we entered my hut I quickly lit the candles and started a fire before poking the small cover over the hole in the ceiling aside with a long pine limb so the smoke could escape. Talon helped feed the fire as I tossed off my snow boots and heavy outer jacket.

"Did Kynan tell you about the mating before the meeting?" I asked him, getting to the point.

"Yes. He accused me of lack of discipline, even though those men are the most rigid souls I have ever met. I told him that much and he then accused me of lying. Clearly the idea that the Luna females could've possibly seduced the Raspan Elites is inconceivable."

I looked up from the fire to Talon at the sound of his bitter tone. "Is that really what happened?"

"I witnessed it on multiple occasions."

I gasped in shock. "And you said nothing?! Not even to me?"

Talon met my eyes slowly. "What do these matings remind you of?" he asked quietly, his grey eyes dark with an emotion I could not read. "Do they strike you as familiar?"

My knees grew weak as the implication of his words hit me strong. I slowly folded myself down in front of the fire, my heart pounding hard in my chest.

"If we had children, they'd be unnatural hybrids too," I whispered in understanding. Talon nodded slowly, his tail swishing across the furs.

"If you and Táxim had been mated, Kynan and the others would feel the same way," Talon stated slowly and with some difficulty. "So you can imagine how difficult it is for me to stand aside and let others pass judgment on these children. It makes me wonder what they will do if we ever have our own."

I swallowed hard and dropped my eyes to the fire, letting his statement slide. "We have to protect them," I said quietly. "Those women and their unborn cannot be harmed, not over something as ridiculous as mixed blood."

Talon and I fell silent, the sound of a winter wind blowing across the hole in the roof and the crackle of the fire the only noise to be heard.

"There is something else that Kynan was going to mention at the meeting," Talon said after a while.

I made a noise of interest, not taking my eyes from the fire.

"The humans are reverting back to their roots."

My eyes shot to Talon's in surprise. "They're becoming nomadic?"

He nodded slightly. "The weather has wiped out their food sources and without electricity or access to technology, they've been roaming areas like these for everything from shelter to supplies."

This was definitely news to me. "How are they without technology or electricity? We have things like backup generators and emergency reserves...most governments nowadays are prepared for things like this."

Talon smiled crookedly. "For mythical creatures as well? I don't think so, Tempest. When Fuyher initiated a global attack, he awakened a magic that hasn't been seen on this earth since before the creation of man. This same magic is designed to keep those who manipulate it and use it safe. It short-circuits electricity, it throws off radar, and it can even affect the satellites roaming the skies above our heads. Surely Táxim explained some of this to you."

I swallowed hard. He had, I had just thought he was being overconfident of his abilities.

"He did," I said after awhile. I rubbed my tired eyes with my fingers before looking up at Talon again. "So what does this mean for us here at camp?"

"We need to take more precautions. It is particularly bad luck that the only Drul we are in contact with went with Táxim. They are experts at creating impenetrable wards..."

"But he did," I reminded Talon, getting him back on track. "So what do we do now?"

Talon put another log of wood onto the fire before answering. "We need to use the dragons."

I started to laugh. "Wait, wait, wait. I don't think I heard you right. You want to use the dragons? To what? Draw attention to us? You might as well lead humans here yourself, Talon!"

"We can use them as scouts," Talon continued, a frown on his face as he ignored me. "The green one is an elemental, so he would be a better choice. He could hide more easily."

"Talon, wait," I begged, holding up my hands. "You're being serious?" I demanded.

Talon's nostrils flared in irritation and I sat back on my heels. Talon was being serious. Dead serious.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed heavily.

"So...do you know how to train a dragon?" I asked him.

Talon suddenly smirked and shook his head. "I don't. But you do."

Horror filled me as I realized what Talon was asking me to do.

"You want me to train them?!" I demanded, standing up swiftly. "Are you joking?!"

Talon's eyes were glittering silver, filled with eagerness and hope that I couldn't understand. "The blood of the dragons runs through your veins. Táxim swore them to serve you, which they will until either you die or they do." He stood up now, towering over me even though he was on the opposite side of the fire. He always managed to make me feel small, no matter what.

"They're becoming more and more temperamental as the days pass. They are meant to fly and roam, not follow you or me around camp like pets. This gives you something to do, Tempest, something more than wiping bratty Lunar pup noses or lugging armor around." Talon came around the fire, his tail gently wrapping around my right ankle as his palms rested heavily on my shoulders.

"We are leaders, you and I," Talon murmured softly, his voice firm with resolution. "The Raspans follow you. These people follow us. But at this moment, we aren't working together as leaders because we can barely work together with our own issues."

Talon took a step forward, the silver in his eyes turning almost charcoal in an instant. "Imagine what fear we will bring with the dragons at our backs. Fuyher and his army will fall, Tempest," he said firmly, sounding so incredibly sure of that fact. I wasn't. "You and I both know that a few dozen scraggy rebels here and there will not make up a force worth standing against. We need whatever resources we have – and the dragons are a resource."

I closed my eyes briefly, trying to crush the fear and worry that was warring within me. Talon was right, about everything really, but the idea of facing off with the dragons still scared the hell out of me. The last time I had, I had been squeezed to death and drained of my life force. Was I ready to face the dragons again? Uh, no, I wasn't.

"When the snow melts, Fuyher will come back north," Talon said quietly, his words echoing my thoughts. "He will come here, to Wonderland and Queensland, searching for the resistance that he knows is here. He will crush us, Tempest. Unless we have three hundred thousand men enter our camp in the upcoming months, Fuyher will be able to take control of this world. The humans will never stand a chance."

"Okay, okay, stop badgering me already." I opened my eyes and sighed heavily before looking up at him. "I'll do it," I agreed grudgingly, unable to stop fidgeting under his palms as I gave in.

Talon smiled, a sparkle coming to his eyes briefly before he closed off the emotion in them once again. "We'll try tomorrow morning in the clearing outside of the Raspan dens. It's large enough for all seven."

I nodded as he stepped away, my heart beating hard in my throat as Talon walked to the door of the hut. He paused then and turned so our eyes could meet.

"Don't be so quick to doubt yourself, Tempest," he said quietly. "You are a much stronger person than you give yourself credit for."

Talon then pushed aside the furs and walked away, leaving only silence in his wake.

If I wasn't reading too much into things, I could almost say with certainty that for the first time ever Talon was...complimenting me.

I shook my head and sat down on my mat in awe. "Didn't see that one coming," I muttered to the fire.