Dragon's Revenge
13.

Elodie tries to apply pressure to his open gashes, but he's far too wounded to stop the bleeding. "No, uncle, you can't go like this!" She slams her fist into the ground with a powerful force.

The rumble in the ground makes Jebeem's body shift. His eyelids begin to flutter. "Ugh...."

"Is he awake?" Jonah asks.

"Uncle, can you hear me?"

The slits of his eyes open enough for him to see her, before fluttering closed again. "Elodie...."

"What's he trying to tell you?" Queen Desmonda asks.

"Show...."

"Uncle, what do you need to show me?"

"Show.... you....."

"Show me who did this!"

"He's too weak to speak, Elodie." Maria says.

The feelings of shock and grief begin to swallow her body whole. "I can't believe this is happening. I can't lose my uncle like this."

Jonah takes her into his arms, but his warmth doesn't help shake the cold shock. "Elodie, look!"

She turns to see Jebeem's quivering fingers slowly rise. "Show.... you..... who...." his voice retreats back into him.

"Elodie, you need to take his hand. He needs to tell you something important, but he's too weak to talk. You need to do what we did to replace him...."

"....mindlink with him." She looks down at her uncle, feeling her stomach churn with fear and worry. "I'll try, but Desmonda and Maria, check to see if others are alive. If this doesn't work, we'll need to figure out who did this." They nod and begin to check the pulses of other Aelons, but to no avail. Elodie takes Jebeem's weak, quivering hand into both of her palms. She closes her eyes and allows herself to shift, then searches into his mind for the culprit behind this. "I think I see something."

"Tell me, what do you see?"

"I see a figure..... but I can't make out who it is."

"Search deeper. Your uncle must have a clearer image of the person."

Just as the figure starts to become clearer, Jebeem coughs up blood, breaking her link. "Uncle!" The way his body shivers, it's clear his time is coming to an end. She grips his hand tighter while his body tremors. As his body trembles, fear runs down her spine and consumes her. She jumps away and into Jonah's arms. "I can't!"

"It's okay, you don't have to look."

Without looking, she hears Jebeem's body quake with tremors, then go silent. She turns to see his lifeless body where his hand still clutches an object.

"Who could've done this?" Queen Desmonda asks.

"I know who did it..." she sighs. "The dragon hunters. I couldn't tell at first, but the slashes on his torso are the same ones Jonah had when he was attacked by them. I need them to pay for what they've done to the Aelons.... and to my uncle."

"I know you're upset, but we still have Morgan to worry about. He's still on our trail."

"Wait a minute..." in a scurry, she goes to Jebeem's phone and looks through it. She replaces a message that was supposed to be sent to her. "Wolf in sheep's clothing. Paul Verheen. Uncle was trying to send this message to the traitor, but they must've gotten to him before he could!"

"This must be Morgan's doing."

"If we can destroy Morgan's right hand, we'll be able to weaken him." She looks further into the phone and replaces Paul's number. "And now we have the next step."

Maria throws a bruised hand over her shoulder. "I'm all in, what are we thinking?"

"We set a trap."

"That can work. Lure them in and attack before they know what hit them." Jonah grins.

"Yes! I'm not sure how much I can help, but I will try."

"So a trap it is. I know the perfect area."

~W~

The group follows her to the barren and shattered Aelon sanctuary, now in ruins. Queen Desmonda can't take her eyes off the shattered ceiling, courtesy of Morgan.

"Desmonda, we're going to make pay for this, for all of it." The Queen gives Elodie a nod, but it's clear she still feels guilty. "The Jebels will never think to look for us here. This is the best place to lure the hunters."

"Now, how do we get them here?"

Elodie lifts up Jebeem's phone and paces between the group. "I'm going to text an SOS to Paul. If he thinks Jebeem's still alive, he'll return to finish the job. And he'll be too scared to tell Morgan that he failed, so he'll come alone."

"Are you sure about this? It's going to be dangerous."

"I've already lost my parents and my uncle. I'm done running. It's time to face this head-on."

Jonah takes her hand and squeezes all his trust into her. "Then I'm right here with you. What's the plan?"

"We're going to wing it. If we come up with a plan, they'll know something is set up for them."

"Winging it? Are you sure?" Desmonda raises her brow.

"That feels like the opposite of a trap. Maybe we can..." Maria starts.

"Luring him here is the trap. Listen, setting traps didn't help at the Jebel sanctuary. It's not going to work here. Once Paul's here, we'll take care of him."

"If that's what you think is best, I'll oblige."

"Now that we're set, I'll send the SOS text message to Paul." As she's typing the text into Jebeem's phone, she notices Maria's shaking with nerves. "Hey, we'll protect you."

"And who's going to protect you?"

"We all are. We're all responsible for protecting each other."

"I like that. In that case, I'll be needing a weapon."

"Come, Maria. Let's get you suited up right." Jonah takes Maria to replace her a weapon for battle, leaving Elodie alone with Queen Desmonda.

"Who would've thought I'd be fighting alongside the stranger that took on my son at the Trials."

"A lot of things sure have changed."

"Some have.... but have others?" Desmonda's expression is serene, but she's clearly got more to say on the subject. "There was always something going on between you two."

"Wait, did he tell you that?" Elodie blushes in embarrassment.

"Let's just call it mother's intuition."

"Mothers do know best."

"We do. And the fact that he couldn't take his eyes off you at the Royal Court dinner. He's laid it on the line for you since the beginning because he cares. But I need to know, do you feel the same about him? Because I don't want him to get hurt."

"I mean...." out of the corner of her eye, she can see Jonah clearly listening in on their conversation while helping Maria. "I think his feelings are a little premature."

Jonah belts out a cough that stirs Desmonda's attention. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah. Caught something in my throat. Carry on."

"He must've heard you."

"Sorry, I was just being honest."

~W~

Time passes. It's almost sunrise.

Paul and the hunters still haven't shown up.

"It's been an hour." Jonah sighs.

"What are we going to do if they don't show up?"

"We'll replace them and execute another plan. We won't stop until we've taken them out. It's the only way."

"Something seems off. I don't like this, I think we should go." Maria turns to leave, but Jonah grabs her arm.

"Wait, just give it a second."

"But...."

"Is anybody home? Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Paul Verheen and a couple of hunters enter the hideout.

"Shit, they're already inside! Get your weapons!" She whisper-yells.

"We should've set traps. We would've known when they got here."

"I'm sorry, I thought we'd hear them..."

THWAP!

A small throwing dagger nips the back of Queen Desmonda's leg, sending her stumbling to the ground. "Ah!"

"No! Get behind me!" Jonah yanks Desmonda behind him.

Elodie turns to see one of the hunters holding small throwing daggers.

"There you are, you little pricks." He aims a dagger straight for her head and launches one with rapid speed.

She leaps to the ground just before the dagger impales her. "Oof!" Maria grabs her hand and helps her up. "Thank you."

As the dagger-throwing hunter launches more little swords at them, she sees Jonah struggling to fight others while guarding Queen Desmonda. But she can't them as long as daggers are coming her way. "Grrr.... enough!" She runs full speed towards the dagger-throwing hunter.

"Bring it!"

Once she's behind him, she swings her axe and impales his back.

"Help!"

Suddenly, she looks up and sees Paul holding Maria with a blade to her throat. "This is too easy. Jebeem's corpse is rolling over in his grave."

Jonah looks at Elodie with frustration and fire in his eyes. "You ready for a new plan?"

"What'd you have in mind?"

"A little dragon dance between the two of us. What do you say?"

"Let's do it." In a flash, they both evolve into flying beasts, launching fire into the air.

While Paul is distracted by Jonah's fire breathing, Maria elbows him and runs out of the way. "Oof!"

"Desmonda, Maria, get out of the way!" They replace a safe place to hide while Elodie and Jonah take care of business. They fly into the air and one by one, swoop in to grab a hunter and tear them to shreds. Paul pulls out his gun and aims it at Jonah, but before he can pull the trigger, she swoops in and knocks him over, turning back into a human on the way down.

Paul looks around in fear. He tucks his gun into his waistband and looks at the door. A terrified Paul hightails it out of the sanctuary. Jonah jumps out of dragon form and chases after the hunter.

Elodie races over to Queen Desmonda and Maria. "Do you have everything under control?"

Queen Desmonda holds up the rest of the little daggers from the slain hunters. "We have it from here."

Elodie runs out into the woods, following the tracks laid by Jonah and Paul's footsteps. Before she sees them, she hears the hunter's voice, threatening Jonah.

"This is the end of the road for you." Once she reaches the clearing, she sees Paul aiming a gun directly at Jonah.