Perfidious Read online

  Noah accepted Kalvin’s help.

  “Kalvin’s right,” I said. “It would draw way too much attention. There are countless creatures that would smell your blood and think only of a good meal.”

  “Then, I’ll stay here. I won’t go home without Greyson.” Noah held strong eye contact with me.

  Greyson gave him a look. “We need someone back at the house in case your parents come home early. The party stuff still hasn’t been completely cleaned up. Your mom will flip if she comes home to that and us missing.”

  Noah’s muscles relaxed slightly. “I assume that’s where I come in, right?” Noah’s tone was flat.

  Greyson nodded.

  “Fine. I’ll go home, but if you're not back by the time Mom gets there tomorrow, I’m not covering for you for long.”

  Greyson's shoulders tightened and he seemed to be holding back a grin. “Sounds good.” He turned back to me. “When do we leave?”

  We walked Noah back to his house and started on our way to Tamara’s. The two-hour hike was mostly uphill, through the forest and up the base of a mountain. Greyson stayed attentive. In fact, his hearing might have been even sharper than mine. I watched as he and Kalvin looked towards something I didn’t hear. It was interesting and made me ponder all the possibilities of what he could be underneath his human skin.

  Kalvin was the first one to break the silence. “So…there’s one thing I haven’t been able to figure out. If you’ve been going to school with Elisia all this time, how come ya two didn’t notice that ya both had Anchors?”

  Greyson and I looked at one another.

  “I tried to keep mine covered. I didn’t like lying all the time,” I answered with a shrug.

  Greyson nodded. “Noah and I figured it would cause a lot of questions since getting a tattoo before eighteen is illegal. I hid it until my birthday a couple months ago.”

  How interesting, being able to compare stories about hiding our Anchors. I never had anyone that understood that aspect of my life, not in the human world at least.

  I suddenly realized I was staring and quickly looked away.

  Again, Kalvin broke the silence. “Is Noah your brother or do ya two just live together?

  Greyson scratched his head. “He’s my brother but not by blood.”

  Greyson looked down as he walked, a sad look in his eye. He shook his head like he was trying to shake something from it. When he looked up, all sadness was gone.

  “Anyway, is your mom a dragon? Cause I’m starting to wonder if I thought this through.”

  Kalvin snickered. “Yup. She’s big. Scaly. And breathes fire.” He made a gesture of monster claws and a snarl on his face.

  Greyson’s eyes widened, and I saw his Adam's apple bob.

  I picked up a twig and threw it at Kalvin. “Hey! Don’t scare him.” I turned to Greyson. “Tamara’s not big and scary. She’s super sweet.” I glared at Kalvin’s mischievous grin. “Unlike her son.”

  Greyson laughed, but I could tell it was strained.

  A snap echoed in the woods behind us.

  Kalvin moved first. I grabbed Greyson’s wrist, following Kalvin into the underbrush off the side of the path. We crouched as we made our way to an elderberry bush, squatting behind it, hoping the smell would mask us from whatever was coming.

  The earth began to shake, footsteps vibrating the ground. Whatever it was, it was big.

  I peered around the bush. Giant feet dragged a wooden cart of some sort. I leaned back to look at Kalvin. I mouthed the word Cyclops to him. He nodded. We needed to wait for it to pass us.

  Taking a step back, Greyson lost his balance.

  His legs suddenly slid out from underneath him, lifting him upside down into a tree. There he dangled about ten feet in the air.

  “Kalvin, he triggered a trap,” I whispered hoarsely.

  I clenched my jaw as I ran to the tree Greyson was tied to. Kalvin tossed me his dagger, and I quickly cut the rope. Greyson fell to the ground with an audible thud. Kalvin helped him to his feet.

  But when Greyson looked up, his face went pale. I turned around to see one large eye staring at us.

  “Lunch,” the cyclops said, a gruesome grin spreading on its face.

  8

  We ran through the forest, departing from the path to lose the cyclops who could not maneuver well in the trees. I tried to keep Greyson in my sight while also keeping track of my footing. If there was one trap, there were probably more. I didn’t know what creature set the last one, and I really didn’t want to find out.

  A growl echoed in the distance, and the earth stopped shaking.

  I think we lost him.

  We stopped to catch our breaths.

  Kalvin cleared his throat. “We’ll take the long way. I didn’t realize any ogres would be transporting goods today.”

  I nodded and followed him.

  We avoided being loud the rest of the way as we took in the scenery. A pixie village perched high in the trees where we could not see them, but they saw us. Pixies fluttered down, their little bodies only six inches tall, covered in cute outfits and pixie dust. The gold glitter got everywhere. The pixies tried to talk to us, but I knew better. Once you talk to a pixie, they don’t leave you alone.

  Greyson was unaware of that.

  Soon, we had a large number following us, trying to talk to Greyson. They kept asking him ridiculous questions in tiny, chipper voices. I wanted to shoo them away, yet seeing Greyson interact with them made me feel warm inside. With a Cheshire grin plastered across his face, he answered every question, even asking a few of his own.

  “Who are you?”

  “What’s your favorite color?”

  “What’s pizza like? We hear it’s delicious.”

  Our eyes met, his wide and transparent in all the excitement. I smiled back. It made me happy that his first interaction with Perfidious was a good one. There were a lot of different ways it could have gone.

  Kalvin got annoyed though. “Come on, get out of here!”

  The pixies gasped and scattered. Greyson waved goodbye to them and jogged to be closer to us.

  “That was cool,” he beamed.

  “Pixies are extremely social. I’m surprised they left at all.” I stepped over a root. The trees were taller there and more spread out.

  “Those were pixies? I thought they were fairies.” The excitement was gone from his voice.

  “Nope. Pixies are the smaller ones,” I explained. “Fairies are usually similar to the size of humans, just on the shorter side.”

  “How do you know all of this?” Greyson asked.

  Kalvin laughed. “She’s here often. That’s how. Ya haven’t been in Perfidious for very long, but there are rumors and stereotypes about every species. Stick around and you’ll learn a lot just by hearing what others have to say.”

  Greyson seemed as though he wanted to ask more questions but wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, so he remained silent.

  We made it to Tamara’s cave as the sun was beginning to descend from its peak. I walked into the giant entrance, marveling at the smooth floor that didn’t quite match the jagged rocks above.

  It had been a long time since I had visited Tamara, but it still felt like I shrunk when I entered. Tamara was a blacksmith for all kinds of weapons for many different species, including dragons and giants.

  She was easily twenty feet tall.

  I didn’t see anyone at first. The giant space seemed empty other than a large counter that looked more like a stone storefront with a hallway behind it, leading to the back room where Tamara worked.

  Human arms wrapped around me and hugged me tightly. It didn’t surprise me. Tamara probably smelled me from a mile away. I hugged her and pulled back with a smile. Her dress, from a different era each time I saw her, appeared of the Renaissance fashions. Her orange eyes, more reptilian than Kalvin’s, glowed warmly, but other than that, she appeared human.

  At the moment anyway.

  After the Human Wars,
many creatures like dragons learned to shift forms so they could take the shape of humans, but it wasn’t easy for them to hold the form for very long.

  Her red ringlets flowed around her face as she looked at her son. “I told you so.”

  “You don’t know why we’re here,” Kalvin sassed.

  “The sword didn’t work.” She arched her eyebrow. His silence told her she was right. “I. Told. You. So.”

  She hugged him as he rolled his eyes.

  Greyson walked in behind us and saw the woman hugging Kalvin. “I thought you said your mom was a dragon?”

  Tamara looked at the new boy questioningly and smelled the air, trying to read the newcomer. Without warning, she jumped back several feet. Tamara let out a hiss, showing pointed teeth. A set of maroon scales shimmered across her body, then they disappeared as fast as they appeared. She looked human again.

  Tamara looked disappointed at her son, and anger dripped from her words. “Kalvin, why did you bring him here? You know how I feel about his kind.”

  I interrupted Kalvin as I stepped forward. “Tamara, we don’t know what he is.” I saw her body lose some of its tension and I continued. “The Coalfell Elders assigned me to watch him. I thought by bringing him along we’d be able to teach him about Perfidious.”

  Tamara exhaled and seemed to calm down a little more. “Well, I know what he is. This boy is part shapeshifter.” She turned to Greyson. “What’s your name?”

  Greyson's eyes were wide, and his voice was slightly shaky, but he stood tall as he extended a hand to Tamara. “Gr-Greyson.”

  Tamara walked forward and shook his hand.

  “H-how—” Greyson cleared his throat. “How do you know if I’m part shapeshifter? I-I thought you were a dragon.”

  “I can smell it in your scent, a strange mix at that. But the smell of a shapeshifter—it’s a scent I’ll never forget.” She didn’t need to go into detail. Kalvin and I knew the reasoning behind it. “I may be a judgmental lizard, but I can be civil. Although I don't look like it at the moment, I am a dragon. Don’t get me confused with those other beings. They can shift into anything while I have only evolved into being able to shift into a human form for a short while.” She turned her attention back to me, the disgust vanishing from her eyes. “Why don’t we find you some suitable blades, hm?”

  “I thought the sword would work for weapon training.” Kalvin spoke up. “But she kept complaining ‘bout it being in only one hand. I could’ve easily taken her arm off several times.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Kalvin even though I knew he was right. “It's not like I’m a newbie. I know how to fight with a weapon, just not a sword.”

  “That’s because Elisia fights with her whole being. She is smart, clever, and quick. She needs a blade that will work with that, not some bulky sword.”

  Goosebumps covered my arms. Tamara had never seen me fight, but that’s how she was. Years of experience made it so that she could look at someone and know what kind of weapon they needed.

  She walked through the massive cave, making her way into the back. Her shadow against the cave wall revealed her changed form with wings extending from her back. She probably needed to release the human form for a minute. I don’t think Tamara was used to holding it for so long.

  “So, what is a shapeshifter exactly? How does it work being a shapeshifter half-breed?” Greyson asked.

  I started to tell him what I knew about shapeshifters, what I had picked up around the village anyway, but Kalvin spoke over me.

  “Not here. Not around my mom. She doesn’t like talking about it.”

  I nodded to Kalvin, though I didn’t fully believe him. I knew how much he missed Aaron. I missed him too.

  “Later,” I told Greyson.

  In moments, Tamara came around the corner still in her dragon form. She shifted right before reaching us. In her hands were two blades with strange handles that pointed perpendicular to the blade instead of straight, like a sword.

  I grabbed the handles eagerly. The blades sat parallel to my forearms, only a few centimeters away, extending from my hand to just past my elbows. I spun the blades around and felt their sharpness cutting through the air.

  They made me feel dangerous.

  “They’re freshly sharpened,” Tamara said, satisfied. She handed me the straps with the sheaths already in place. “Be careful when you spar with my son. It will cut through dragon skin.”

  “Thank you, Tamara. They’re beautiful.” I strapped the sheaths over my jeans and slid the blades into them with a gentle click. Tamara extended her open arms to me. I hugged her, tightly. “Alright, well, I guess we better get back before my father learns that I’m out of the village…again. See you next time.”

  I nodded and let Kalvin say his goodbyes.

  “Thanks, Mom,” Kalvin said, making Tamara’s features brighten.

  “You’ll learn someday, Kalvin.” Tamara turned her attention to Greyson, eying him up and down. A small smile pulled at the corner of her lips. “Give the long sword to Greyson. He’ll be able to wield it well. You try to figure out why, and next time, we’ll compare notes.”

  I waved to Tamara, regretting that we couldn’t stay longer. It went unsaid that we had to go sooner than later. It surprised me that Greyson remained quiet. I knew he would probably have more questions later.

  I glanced over at him. He was staring at Tamara, studying her as we exited the cave.

  I remembered the first time I visited. I had wanted to stay the night in the cave because I felt it was unfair that Kalvin could and I couldn’t. Tamara had to explain to me I was half-elf and not part-dragon. Tamara’s own scent covers up the scent of the human blood in Kalvin, so no monsters would come looking for a half-breed. With my genes not containing any dragon, I would be a liability, and Tamara didn’t want to risk anything happening to Kalvin or me.

  Our trio reached the bottom of the mountain. The terrain shifted from rocky to soft, green grass. Hills stretched out in front of us, mostly covered in trees.

  Greyson cleared his throat. “Okay, I guess I’m poking the elephant in the room, but why does Tamara hate shapeshifters so much?”

  I lost my footing and almost tripped. My eyes quickly went to Kalvin. He didn’t even turn around.

  “A shapeshifter killed my dad.” Kalvin’s voice was void of emotions, but for him, it just showed how sad he really was. He didn’t like talking about Aaron. “It was a while ago.”

  Greyson placed his hand on Kalvin’s shoulder as we walked. Kalvin didn’t look back as Greyson spoke. “I know the feeling. Noah’s mom and my mom were inseparable, so we grew up as brothers. About eight years ago, my mom and grandmother got into a car accident…” Greyson dropped his hand as Kalvin turned around. “Neither survived. I didn’t have any record of any living family members, and I guess my mom had it in her will that Noah’s parents would take custody of me if anything ever happened.”

  I stayed silent. Greyson’s honesty caught me off guard. It was a lot to admit to people who were essentially strangers.

  Kalvin nodded. “Makes sense. If your mom and grandma weren’t human, they’d barely have any human records to begin with, let alone any family there.”

  Greyson’s face turned red. “Like I said, I know the feeling.”

  The fireflies started to appear, and beady eyes began watching us from the shadows. We made a plan for Kalvin and Greyson to continue on to the cellar while I stopped to grab some food. There was a little restaurant run by mole-like creatures. They didn’t like to be around anything very noisy, so they built Shakey’s outside of Coalfell, five minutes north of my root cellar.

  After grabbing the food, I started towards my bunker. Rain dripped from the sky, and rumbles echoed in the distance. I sighed, quickening my pace.

  I dropped down into the room and sealed the door behind me. Kalvin had already set up his normal bed on the floor and made one for Greyson near my dresser.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, setting
the bag of food on the bed.

  Kalvin responded. “We’re staying here tonight. It’s past dark and raining. If you go home now, you’ll only get in more trouble. Text your mom and let her know you’re staying here because of the weather.”

  I looked to Greyson. “You sure?”

  Greyson shrugged. “Noah’s parents shouldn’t be home until sometime tomorrow. He’ll be fine without me for a night. Plus, I have more questions about Perfidious.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I got us all Shakey’s special.”

  Kalvin whooped as I started to pull them out of the bag.

  I threw Greyson the burrito-looking wrap. He eyed me suspiciously. I rolled my eyes.

  “Just try it.”

  I handed Kalvin his wrap as Greyson unwrapped the paper and took a bite. His eyes went wide, and he quickly swallowed.

  “This is really good! What’s in it?”

  I unwrapped my own from its package. “No one knows. It's a secret recipe. But it’s one of my go-to places around Coalfell.”

  I looked around the room and realized that I’d probably need more blankets. With just Kalvin and me, it worked, but with another person, I definitely didn’t have enough. I decided I had to grab more supplies for my cellar in town. Not the next day though.

  There was something I needed to do.

  9

  I tiptoed out of the cellar and shut the door without making a sound. The crisp air caused the hair on my arms to stand up as I made my way to Coalfell. It only took a couple minutes to reach the outskirts of the village.

  Most were still in their beds, getting another couple hours of sleep, but the ones who had businesses were wide awake. Shutters opened all over town as merchants slowly set up their shops. I scanned the various faces for one in particular.

  The trees above rustled in the wind, letting in soft streams of morning sun. Warmth covered my skin as I continued my search.

  I spotted pointed ears and golden hair above the thickening crowd. Gina’s lean-to wasn’t open for the day quite yet, but I knew she’d have what I needed.