No More Peace (Anastasia the Nonbinary Dragon)
The water was warm and inviting, comforting her sore muscles and joints.
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Bei Feng was relaxing in Lord Revi’s bathtub when she heard a bang outside.
She startled, grumpy at being woken from her stupor. A second bang put her on alert.
Should I get up? The water was warm and inviting, comforting her sore muscles and joints. It was unlikely that anyone would try to enter Revi’s mansion, right?
Bei Feng hesitated, completely still, not even disturbing the water.
Another bang sounded closer than before.
She cursed and tugged herself out of the bath water. Hastily, she toweled off her body and threw on some clothes from Revi’s wardrobe. Not her style, but she couldn’t afford to be picky.
That banging outside had now turned into a strident knocking on the door. Bei Feng frowned. Should I bother to answer it? It wasn’t as though she were the mistress here.
The knocking continued, and her curiosity urged her to go see. She could just have a little peek.
Down and round and round Revi’s serpentine staircase she went. All the while, she heard the knocking grow louder. By the time Bei Feng finally reached the ground floor, the knocking stopped.
That was odd. Did the intruder sense her approach?
With great mistrust, she slinked towards the door and stared through the peephole.
Her hand flew to cover her mouth when she saw who it was.
A middle-aged man with a balding head and stern brows stood outside. He snarled, “Revi, you better open up. Or else I’ll burn your door to the ground.”
Bei Feng sucked in a sharp breath, feeling torn. She looked down at her clothes, which were too loose and ill fitting. She stayed there for a moment longer, hoping for a miracle.
Lord Clementine railed, “Boy, if you don’t open the door this instant, I will incinerate it!”
Bei Feng cringed, unsure if he would carry out the threat. Her hand reached towards the doorknob, but then stopped. She waited to see what the dragon lord would do.
Through the peephole, Bei Feng watched in horror as Clementine morphed to his dragon form. He was gold, just like his son. Unlike Revi, he was much bigger and more aggressive looking.
But still, Bei Feng didn’t move to open the door. She kept watching.
Before long, Lord Clementine exhaled a stream of orange fire at the door.
Bei Feng hastily backed away, as she could feel the heat. Even with the very real possibility of being trapped in a burning house, she didn’t budge. Her human form was weak, but if worse came to worst, she could fly out to safety in her dragon form, since dragon scales could withstand high temperatures.
She felt the hot air radiate from the front of the mansion. Yet, to her awe and wonder, nothing ignited. Nothing even glowed red.
It wasn’t completely unheard of for dragon lords to use fireproof materials to build their mansions, but it was still amazing to watch. After a long while, Lord Clementine huffed. “Fine, boy, ignore me if you want. But you’ll regret this. Even the sovereign can’t save you.”
Smoke obscured the peephole, and Bei Feng didn’t dare look through the windows, for fear of being seen. But she heard heavy stomping until, gradually, everything was still and silent again. Bei Feng put a hand over her hammering heart. She breathed deeply, absurdly proud of herself for not caving in to Clementine’s demands.
When the smoke cleared, the dragon lord was gone. Revi had surrounded his mansion with stone rather than vegetation, so nothing had caught fire.
Yet she had to wonder why Lord Clementine didn’t ram into the building with his tail instead. It was one thing for a mansion to be fireproof. It was another for it to withstand the weight of a grown dragon.
Maybe Clementine wanted to give his son a chance to respond. Or at least to confirm that Revi wasn’t budging.
Regardless, Clementine likely hadn’t seen his son fly away from his house. She hoped the dragon lord or his henchmen saw Revi “kidnap” her into the mansion, too.
It amused her still to think of the staged abduction. Young dragons were so fun to tease. Despite her mischievousness, though, she really was doing Revi a favor. By “trapping” her here, Revi was free to find Anastasia. And Bei Feng could wash her hands of the responsibility.
She was never a tough fighter dragon, after all. It wasn’t hard to believe that Revi could overpower her in his struggle to escape.
With a renewed serenity, Bei Feng climbed the stairs back up to the top floor.
Right when she turned the corner to return to the bathtub, she stopped in her tracks.
In front of the bathroom door stood a shimmering ice unicorn. He smiled at her, his eyes glittering with frost. “Bei Feng, at last, we meet.”
Bei Feng stroked her long, brown hair nervously, even as she shot him a cordial smile. “To what do I owe the honor?”
The unicorn chuckled, though the sound was as cold as his body. “I’m Phaeton. You could say I’m a friend of Revi’s.” He raised his chin a little. “I know you’ve set up an interesting bargain with him, and also with his father. But you try in vain to break away from both, correct?”
Bei Feng stared at him, though she kept her facial expression benign. “Well, Revi does me no harm. I was the one who initiated our arrangement.”
The unicorn inclined his head. He pawed the ground and a cloud of snow appeared at his feet. “Poor woman. And you believe that this ‘clever’ bargain with Revi would free you from Clementine?”
Bei Feng felt her self-control slipping, but she clung on to her friendly mask. “Are you offering to help me?”
Phaeton said nothing, but his icy gaze chilled her heart.
“What do you want from me in return?” she asked.
A flood of colors rushed through the unicorn’s clear body — or was that just her imagination? Phaeton grinned. “Give me something from Clementine’s collection. I’m sure it will be fun.”
She inhaled deeply, and glanced about the hall. She wasn’t scanning the exits, no. “Why would you need any material object, unicorn? Surely you have no need of anything.”
Phaeton chortled, and his voice was like splintering pearls. “Oh, honey, you have no idea. If you don’t want to steal from Clementine, then write a letter to him. Declare to the dragon lord that your agreement with him will hereby be rendered null.”
Shock took over her frame, and she almost choked. “That would be madness. Since you seem to know everything, unicorn, you know what would happen to me if I ever wrote such a letter.”
Phaeton looked positively delighted at her response. “Fine. Then steal something in Clementine’s possession for me, and then we’ll talk.”
With a liquid sound, the unicorn used his horn to puncture the air. A portal opened up and looked like a window of swirling clouds.
“Wait!” Bei Feng cried out. She put a hand on his flank. She winced at his cold hide, but did not pull back.
Phaeton twisted around.
“How do I contact you?” Bei Feng asked.
She felt the frost mist up her arm as he answered, “You don’t. I’ll appear to you when you’ve accomplished your mission.” He jerked his body out of her grasp, and jumped into the portal. The window of clouds snapped shut, like it was closing up a chapter of Bei Feng’s life.
She couldn’t believe she was handed an opportunity like this.
Bei Feng knew that bargaining with the fae, let alone an ice unicorn, was dangerous.
But she was used to bargaining with dangerous people. What was one more?
The silver dragon glared at Lance. She was equally elegant and menacing.
Mildred and her baby son Kallias were still trapped inside the net, hanging from a tall tree. Kallias cried at the top of his lungs while his mother tried in vain to soothe him.
Lance growled at the silver dragon. “Why are you guarding them? Put them down!”
The silver dragon arched her neck in an arrogant fashion, and her wing swept out to block his view of Mildred. The dragon hissed, “Try to rescue them, and you’ll regret it.” Her claws shone as she flexed them.
Mildred piped up, “Who are you? What do you want with my son and me?”
The silver dragon kept her eyes on Lance, as if to prevent him from trying anything. She replied, “Call me Sabina. I have nothing personal against you, woman. But you and your son must stay here, and your lover must leave.”
“He’s not my lover,” Mildred snapped out.
“Don’t bother trying to shift to cow form either,” Sabina said, ignoring what Mildred just said. “The ropes are strong and won’t break, not even from a cow’s weight.”
Mildred swore. Clearly this Sabina knew who she was. Baby Kallias continued to cry.
The blue dragon shifter heaved out an exasperated sigh. “Sabina, whatever you’re trying to do, it’s not worth it. No amount of reward will — ”
“This isn’t about some reward,” Sabina threw out, her eyes flashing. “If you think this is a mercenary job, you’re wrong.” Her tail lashed and some branches fell to the ground.
Mildred moaned, then said, “Whatever your purpose is, leave my son out of this. He’s entirely innocent.”
“I agree that he’s innocent,” the silver dragon said, her tone softening slightly. “But it must be done. I’m sorry.”
“Who are you even waiting for?” Mildred asked, with a desperate edge in her voice.
Sabina shook her head, and her horns rustled through the tree leaves. “I can’t tell you. I just want Lance to leave now.”
“So you do know each other?” Mildred asked.
Lance dragged his hands through his blond hair. “Yes, but it doesn’t matter. Sabina and I are not friends, if you were wondering.”
Sabina snorted. “I have better taste in friends than you, anyway.” Then her eyes widened. “Oh, I hear them coming. Lance, last chance. If you don’t leave, then you will get hurt!”
“Does it look like I’m such a coward?” Lance spat out.
The silver dragon grinned with her gleaming fangs. “No, but if you want to save your beloved, staying here and getting outnumbered would be foolish. If I were you, I'd get backup.”
Lance was aghast at her suggestion. “You think I would fall for that?”
“I’m genuinely not trying to trick you,” Sabina said. She glanced behind her. “Oh dear, they’re here already.”
Three shapes swiftly approached from the sky.
Two black dragons and a smaller white dragon landed on the ground.
“Finally!” Sabina’s whole body seemed to relax when she saw them. Or rather, when she saw the small white dragon. “Xue!” she chirped happily. “You took forever!”
