Dragon Mediated (The Covert Dragons Book 10) Read online

  Training to follow in her father’s footsteps goes well until she gets to the training center. Then, it all hits the fan.

  Kabyl has wanted to take peacekeeper training since she was six. Her dad had always tried to temper her expectations. Women didn’t usually have the physical skills required for the job. She worked hard, got strong, fast, and resilient, and then... she turned into a dragon.

  Everything got a little confused at that point.

  The application had been sent, received, and accepted. Kabyl had been assigned a trainer by the diamond dragon, and he had been accepted as her partner by the peacekeepers.

  She isn’t sure what being his partner will entail, but as long as she has a shot at her dreams, he could call himself a forest-running elf if he wanted. Oh, wait, that is what he is.

  First, they need official training, and then, they can work on keeping the peace.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Dragon Mediated

  Copyright © 2020 by Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-987969-98-6

  ©Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

  Published by Viola Grace

  Look for me online at violagrace.com and your favourite eBook sellers.

  Smashwords Edition

  Dragon Mediated

  The Covert Dragons Book #10

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Kabyl finished packing and looked around. The vast majority of her wardrobe was still hanging up in her closet. She wasn’t going to need it where she was going.

  When she pulled her satchel together and looped it over her arm, she left her room, and her parents were both waiting for her at the table. She smiled. “So, I guess I am off.”

  Her father got up and hugged her. “I guess you are. I can’t say that I have been looking forward to today.”

  Her mom hugged her next. “I want you to learn all you can and come back to be a peacekeeper in a nearby town. Mind you, with the wings, you are only just a few hours away now. Have fun with Elioth but not too much fun. Kick butt.”

  Kabyl cleared her throat. “I will, but Mom, you have to let go.”

  Her dad recited the family joke. “Other kids have to get away from the apron strings, but you, you have to cut a cable.”

  Kabyl grinned, and her father pried her mother away.

  “Come on, Morningwell. She needs to get going, or she won’t be able to fake being on foot.”

  Kabyl smiled. “There are no more night-running creatures here. I will be safe. You will be safe. Dennis will be beginning his trial soon.”

  Her father nodded. “They will come to the training center if they need your testimony.”

  Her mother looked nervous. “You are going to try and pass for human?”

  “Until I have to display otherwise. Yes. Folks always show their real natures to those they think are beneath them. Humans are the most vulnerable among us. If they treat me badly when they think I am human, they are going to get an earful.”

  Her father nodded. “Don’t be afraid to use your skills when you need to. They are part of you now. Even the bow work. Use that whenever there is a sharpshooting event.”

  “Why? I am a better shot with a rifle.”

  “Because they won’t be expecting the bow. It will throw off their curve.”

  “Right. Well, I will be calling when I can so that you can think of more advice.” She grinned and shouldered her bag.

  Her stomach was flipping, but she left her home for the next phase of her life to start. First things first, she needed to shift, and that meant more space. She walked through the yard, stopped to play with the dogs and then headed for the meadow. Elioth trailed along behind her.

  She stopped at the edge of the meadow and looked at him. “Are you ready?”

  He grinned. “Of course. Hand me your bag.”

  She tossed him the bag, and he looped his and hers over his shoulder.

  “You are sure you know the way, Kabyl?”

  “I am sure. I have been staring at that map since I was a teenager. I can get us to the training camp.”

  “I trust you.” He smiled. “I will ride on your back.”

  He waggled mittens at her.

  “Dude, you are going to freeze your balls.”

  He snorted. “I have a plan to avoid that as well.”

  “Fine, but if it is too cold, let me know.”

  He nodded. “Agreed.”

  She shifted, the feeling of cold swirling through her until she was crouching low on the ground for Elioth to climb aboard.

  He got settled on the base of her neck, right above the ridge of her shoulder blades, and when he tapped her twice, she took a few soft steps and then launched upward.

  They were on the way to peacekeeper training. Her dream was coming true.

  The ground blurred as Kabyl dropped altitude to fly in low, her claws scraping the crops and then wild grasses while she approached Mithell. She circled in low near the town that she would have normally arrived in via karros. Her landing was a little awkward, but she managed to stop at the edge of the public forest without nicking her wings.

  Elioth slid from her neck, and he stretched with their bags at his feet.

  Kabyl shifted to human, and she stretched as well. “Well, that took a bit of energy.”

  “So, we have to go to the transport stop?”

  “We do. We have half an hour to get there.” She put her bag over her shoulder.

  “How long is the trek?” He picked up his bag and mimicked her.

  “Four minutes.”

  She chuckled and headed off, using the landmarks her father had drummed into her to get them through the woods and nearly onto the main street. A gathering of newly adult males was near the local pub, and the occasional rural transport lumbered by filled with hay, tools, or animals.

  “This place is very... rural.”

  She laughed at Elioth. His tone wasn’t admiring.

  “Farms are where the city meets the country. They grow it, and the city sells it. Commerce continues.”

  “Those others are recruits?”

  “Yup. They are all here to be peacekeepers.”

  She checked both ways and crossed the road, moving toward the grouping.

  “There are no females.”

  “There usually are not, but I do believe I see one.” The woman that she spotted had golden-brown hair cut into a short wave, nearly a crest. She was standing off to one side while the bulk of the males were getting to know each other.

  Kabyl and Elioth walked toward the group, and they called out to him immediately. He gave Kabyl a look and shrugged. “Go and meet them. We are in training together. You will see me soon.”

  Her dad had warned her that the brothers-in-arms thing didn’t allow for any female to intercede. It had been one of the reasons he wasn’t sure that she should apply for training. She was positive that she wanted training and not to live her life as a vigilante in the tundra. She wanted the legal right to help people. She was willing to put up with a few weeks of jackasses to get that certification.

  She approached the other woman and nodded. “Waiting for the transport?”

  The woman blinked and then nodded slowly. “Yes. You, too?”

  “Yup.”

  Kabyl extended her hand. “Kabyl Ambermarle.”

  The woman took it. “Echo Limbek.”

  There was a certain way that she stood that made Kabyl smile. “Peacekeepers as a family business?”

  Echo smiled and nodded. “I am the youngest. Can’t let the family down.”

  “I get it. I really do.”

  “You, too?”

  Kabyl grinned. “Yup. I live in the high north, so I know how busy a peacekeeper can be in a small community.”

  Echo frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Peacekeepers up there have to attend everything from delayed public transport to births, to property disputes and murders.”

  “Really? How do you get training for all that?”

  Elioth appeared at her elbow. “I will remain with you, Kabyl. Those young men are not pleasant.”

  She looked over and saw them looking at Elioth in disgust. “What did you say to them?”

  He shrugged. “Something about trusting you with my life, no matter your gender. They fell silent, so I came over here.”

  They exchanged additional pleasantries until the rumble of the truck alerted them to the approaching transport. The guys started queuing up, and Echo and Kabyl shared a knowing look.

  Elioth spoke quietly, “Why are you amused?”

  Echo spoke just as softly. “They go by name, not by who is in line.”

  He nodded. “Ah.”

  The huge monster of a vehicle trundled up and stopped with a hiss of steam and cloud of vapour. The cab held the driver and one other, but the covered back contained empty benches. The men surged forward and clambered up and into the truck.

  Kabyl and her companions waited and stood to one side as the roster commander came around the vehicle, smirking as he looked at them with
a slight nod.

  “Recruits! Off the truck!”

  The confused men slowly left the vehicle and gathered in a pool around the steps to the truck.

  He waited for a moment and then lifted the clipboard. “Recruit Adler, into the truck.”

  A man with red hair and features like a fox straightened, turned, and climbed into the truck.

  “Recruit Ambermarle, into the truck.”

  She walked to the vehicle and climbed up, sitting in the seat nearest the steps. Adler had gone to the back of the vehicle, and that was going to make things awkward because they were going to be called off in the same order they had loaded.

  Brosco got on after, and when the rest of the truck was loaded, Kabyl, Echo, Elioth, and a young man who introduced himself as Daniel Keether were sitting ready to leave the truck. Everyone else was sitting facing front.

  The commander hopped into the back, looked at them, and he stomped the floor twice, facing out the same way they were.

  He looked at them as they trundled through the countryside, leaving the main roads on the way to the training center. He jerked his thumb toward the men behind him. “Boy, are they going to be surprised when I tell them to stand up and walk forward.”

  Kabyl nodded and looked at the grasses that were whipping past the jostling truck. Now was not the time to laugh. She could laugh later. She would have the rest of her life to laugh at them.

  She was sure she would have plenty of opportunities to observe laugh-worthy events.

  Chapter Two

  “We have two female recruits this round, so barracks A is for their exclusive use only. Any male caught over that threshold, in through a window, or creeping up under the floor will be ejected from the training program. Immediately.”

  Kabyl stood with her uniforms folded in her arms. She was waiting for the scramble to change.

  When he knew that there was no way to stop her, her father had told her everything she needed to know about the peacekeeper training. She was now in the grip of that well-ordered machine.

  “Right.” He walked to the main group and stuck his arm out. “Everyone to the left of my arm, barracks B, everyone to the right, barracks C. The last person unpacked, changed, and back here has to do fifty push-ups. Go!”

  Kabyl ran full tilt to barracks A, saw the lock in place, froze it, and shattered it. This kind of thing was all fun and games for the new cadets.

  She ran to the bunk bed furthest from the bathroom, opened the chest, and neatly unpacked her bag, setting each piece of clothing in with precision. She folded the backpack, and then, she changed. The clock was ticking.

  Echo had the same neat chest at the foot of her bed, and she was getting into her clothing quickly. Socks, trousers, exercise shirt, and then boots.

  Kabyl was only a second ahead of her. She stepped aside to let Echo run, put the spare lock on the door, and left it with the new keys stuck in them.

  They sprinted to the gathering group and beat three of the men to the grouping.

  Elioth was standing, neat and elegant. She had seen him move. He was fast.

  “First person into barracks A, B, and C. Step forward.”

  Kabyl walked up and stood with her hands behind her back.

  A guy with a neck the same size as his head stood next to her, beyond him was another man with raven hair and brilliant green eyes.

  “Cadet Ormin, how did you get in the barracks?” The commander yelled it in his face.

  “Broke the lock, sir!”

  “Cadet, Jerrik, how did you get in the barracks?”

  “Broke the lock, sir!”

  He stood and faced Kabyl, his eyes challenging. “Cadet Ambermarle, how did you get in the barracks?”

  “Through the door, Commander!”

  He grinned and looked over her shoulder. “Finally, an intelligent answer.”

  Three guys in peacekeeper uniforms jogged up behind him. They all lined up with one of the three hauled in line.

  “How did you leave it?”

  “Like I found it, Commander!” She kept her gaze forward and shoulders straight.

  The man facing her nodded. “Barracks are locked up tight, Commander.”

  The two men next to her had visible shifts in their posture.

  “I am sure that the other two were locked up tight as well, right?”

  The two men answered, “No, Commander.”

  “You two, peacekeepers have to obey the law. If you have to destroy a lock to get in, you replace it. We are not security, we are not civil officers, we are peacekeepers. We don’t smash things and leave them.” He smiled. “Fifty push-ups, each of you.”

  Kabyl hit the ground with the other two.

  “Ambermarle, what are you doing?”

  “Work as a team, pay the price as a team.” She was moving her limbs evenly as she counted. She saw more of the cadets dropping to the ground and starting push-ups. A few remained standing, and Kabyl glanced at them to make sure she knew who they were. She kept cool while she finished her count, and then, she hopped to her feet.

  The commander kept his face straight, but it was taking him some effort.

  The cadets rose to their feet one by one. Sweating, breathing hard, and a little shaky, their group of twenty-five eventually was standing.

  “Cadets. On my left there is a set of flags, I want you to follow them, and when you get to the end of the course, you can go for dinner. No talents, no shapeshifting.”

  Kabyl tensed.

  “Go!”

  They ran in a huge herd of thundering feet and sweating bodies. Kabyl dodged elbows that edged too close to her. The keeners in the bunch ran fast, trying to get to the obstacles before anyone else could.

  Kabyl watched them move, and she focused on the long logs that formed a type of balance beam. When she got to one, she took a stride forward while propelling her to the right. The elbow caught her in the side, but she used the strike to push herself onto the beam next to her original trajectory. She steadied herself and ran forward as fast as she could.

  Her feet thudded on the ground, but she was too distant for any of the hostile cadets to reach her. Instead of landing in front of the log, she propelled herself up and out, hitting the ground and sprinting to the next trial. A hand-over-hand ladder that was twenty feet long was her focus.

  A few of the recruits dropped to the ground and had to run around the entire obstacle before they could continue, Kabyl had been training for this. She swung her right side forward to grip and then moved her left the moment she made contact. Her own weight locked her fingers around the bar, and she moved again. She repeated the exercise with a blank mind until she was able to drop to the ground and stagger back into a run.

  The crawl was a shame considering her new clothing, but she had two more sets just like it, so it was acceptable to wiggle through the muck and grime that those ahead of her had left behind.

  When she stood on the far side, Echo was ahead of her and approaching the climbing wall. They moved to block her, and Kabyl grunted and put on the speed. She passed the two men trying to pin Echo, and she got to the wall, climbed up it with her fingers digging into the wood.

  She got to the top of the climber, and she reached down for Echo. The woman jumped and gripped her hand. Kabyl hauled her up, and they dropped down the other side. The amount of men running next to them had thinned. Some were still struggling through the obstacles, and a few had just dropped to the ground.

  There was a final climbing frame complete with a leap of faith. Echo looked at her and grinned. They didn’t have breath for speaking. The wooden ladder shook as they hit it and climbed with everything they had.

  They reached the other side and didn’t look down; they simply jumped and carried themselves forward, past those climbing down the ropes.

  The landing wasn’t graceful. Kabyl hit and rolled for several yards before she came to a halt and was able to stagger to her feet. Echo was heading to her feet as Kabyl finished the course.

  One of the assistants grabbed her hands and examined them, nodding with grudging respect. “No signs of a shift, Commander.”