Kieran POV

It had been… an eventful week to say the least. My little brother was finally getting married, after so many years of our parents trying to set him up with so many others. They had given up on both Jillan and I when we showed an obvious avoidance of love. Jillan, because she was already taken, though Mother and Father didn’t know that. Me, because I never want to get married. Or have sex. Or have a relationship like that? I didn’t know why I was like this, but I’d never seen anyone like that, nor do I ever think I would. As soon as Mother and Father understood that I was a lost cause, they moved on to Ric. I always felt bad for putting that pressure on him, but the selfish part of me was glad I never had to deal with those insufferable talks and never-ending blind dates.

But my brother was finally getting married!

Until his bride was snatched away by a real-life Dragon. Who was supposedly her brother? He didn’t seem well though, when he came to take Katelynn back. He seemed… in pain, and confused. I don’t even think he was fully conscious of half the things he did.

So now here we are, trudging through a thick-ass forest after three days of straight walking, just to find them again.

“Are we anywhere even close to the village now?” Jillan whined from Kalde’s back. They had offered to carry her when she started complaining a bit too loudly, about three hours in.

“Yes, we should be close,” Ric replied, though he sounded a bit unsure of himself.

Suddenly, I spotted several thin lines of smoke ahead of us.

“Would that be it?” I asked.

Ric and Kalde both looked where I was pointing; Jillan just sagged further into her lover’s back.

“No… the town should be a bit more west…” Ric mumbled to himself.

“OH WELL,” Kalde said loudly, startling us. “We’re headed that way then,” they said, pointing to the smoke again.

“But the town-” Ric started

“-Is so hard to find. It took us three days to even get out here, and Jil is too tired. And I can’t carry her for much longer. Sorry darling,” they added quietly to my sister. Jil just hummed in acknowledgment.

“Alright then, we go to the smoke. Chances are it’s our people trying to find Katelynn too. We could work with them and make sure that no harm comes to the Dragon as well. It works out either way,” I said with finality.

With that, we started towards the smoke, which we were now sure were connected to campfires.

We walked another half hour or so, until dark, when we finally made it to the rings of people sitting around the hearths.

Out of pure joy for being around other people again, Ric called out ‘Oh thank gods! Hello!’ before I could warn any of them to be cautious.

Something about these people didn’t sit right with me.

I was right.

“Who the fuck’re you?” a tall man growled at us as he stalked in our direction, holding a gleaming bronze spear and a scowl on his face.

Everyone stopped short of the treeline and I heard Kalde gasp. Hunters.