Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
“You know shifters adapted from humans before recorded history?” Timothee asked as I studied the dragons flying with eagles, hawks, ravens, owls, all of these clearly battling demons who were on the ground trying to stave off wolves, bears, snakes and a variety of big cats.
“Yes,” I replied.
“The Battle of the Chasm is the first resounding defeat of the demons who populated what’s now Sky’s Edge,” he shared.
I looked to him. “I know that too.”
“Do you know the reason we won is because Caelyn Knightstar devised a strategy that’s known now as the first militarized bank of dragons?”
I nodded.
Even so, he continued his history lesson.
“He synchronized this with land-based creatures. Before, the different shifter creatures battled among themselves. We were not united as one species but broken up into clans of the beast we carried. Further, war tactics were not that advanced. It was race into the clash, kill or be killed, and the leader with the most standing at the end won. In other words, it was chaos. Casualties were always huge. Caelyn not only amassed all the species together, he ordered reconnaissance and did not attack unless he knew everything he could about his enemy. He devised the first aerial sorties. He organized battalions, created flanks, trained commanders, planned battles to the last warrior, with secondary and tertiary strategies that could be called if he saw one failing. In essence, he created modern warfare.”
“He was also the first to treat all species of beasts equally, in battle and out of it,” I added.
Timothee nodded and pointed again to the wall. “He wasn’t made chieftain until after that victory. And the reason that war was fought was because his mate had been captured by a band of demons.”
“I know that too.”
Then, Timothee pointed to the very top corner of the wall, where, on the ceiling, flying creatures hovered, and on the wall, land-based ones milled, but it clearly depicted a gathering.
And they were all looking up to a nebulous being in the night sky.
“The night before the Battle of the Chasm, Caelyn called all his warriors together, and together, they all beseeched the Night God for bravery, victory and glory, and not insignificantly, the return of Caelyn’s mate. It isn’t known if the Night God answered their prayers, because they won, obviously, but she was killed by the demons in retribution for the routing of their troops. But all the male shifters suffered her loss like they’d lost their own mate.”
What he was saying started penetrating.
Because I knew all of this.
I just didn’t understand it.
Until now.
“And all the male shifters vowed, from then on, to fight and die for the protection of the chieftain’s mate,” Timothee said. “And that vow was definitely heard, and as such, bonded into the males by the Night God. Since, if the leader of Night’s Fall’s mate is threatened, we all rally to her defense. It isn’t a choice. It’s ingrained in us. And in doing so, we experience a significantly heightened sense of protection to the females of our own clans or families.”
“Okay, I get that,” I said. “So why didn’t it happen the first time there was an attempt? The one at the gallery?”
“Because we didn’t know you were Aleksei’s mate yet. But that beam was aimed at him. No one would want the True Heir, or simply the next king, harmed. But, right or wrong, he is not as vulnerable as a female. He’s considered a warrior, and you are not. He’s better able to defend himself. Though, the bottom line is, the Night God instilled in us all the uncontrollable drive to protect our queen, or the one who would be her, and at the same time, it ramps up our already seriously developed inclination to protect the females in our clans.”
“So is this why Aleksei is acting like a jerk?”
I was lulled by our precarious camaraderie, I saw, after asking that question, and I regretted it the instant he smirked.
“Aleksei’s acting like a jerk?” he asked.
“Forget it,” I mumbled, turned from him and studied the wall.
The Troll Invasion was the next thing depicted.
I feigned fascination (well, not feigned, exactly, the mural was insane, it was so cool), and in so doing, hopefully, I dismissed him.
“I don’t have a mate, Laura,” he said.
“I’m aware,” I told the wall.
I heard his heavy sigh.
“In other words, I’ve no idea why he’s acting like a jerk,” he went on. “And I’m surprised he is. In a time like this, I’d think he’d be acting the opposite.”
I would think so too.
That said…
I looked at him. “You shouted at your mother in front of people she barely knows at the breakfast table.”
His chin ticked to the side in visible shock at this, like he didn’t realize he’d been a jerk too.
“So is this a thing with you males when you sense your females are vulnerable? Letting your hormones dictate your behavior?” I asked.