Born Human - Part 3 Read online

  Niika laughed. “I was there when you blew that orb up. I believe that is why Elder Monathian has taken you under his wing, so to speak. You are our only novice and the only increase in population in quite a while.”

  Habel’s bracelet chimed.

  “You are requested in the elder’s office immediately.”

  Niika snorted. “Speak of the devil.”

  Habel smiled. “Thank you, ladies. I would like to have lunch another day if that is acceptable?”

  Ibera nodded. “Definitely. Come to me when you want to start researching your past life.”

  “I will. Thank you.”

  Niika smiled. “I will see you tomorrow. We are beginning movement and dance classes.”

  Habel blinked. “What?”

  “All elves dance. It is mandatory. We even get together once a week for dancing and social interaction.”

  Her bracelet chimed, and the voice said, “You are required now.”

  Habel got to her feet and curtseyed to her companions before heading to the lift and moving toward the elder’s office. She followed the path that Niika had taken the previous day, and the elder was waiting for her. He offered her his arm, and she put her hand on his wrist out of reflex.

  “Where are we going?”

  They were walking calmly toward another lift, and when they stood inside it, he turned and told her, “Something has come up. Today is your first day as my assistant.”

  She blinked in surprise. “What?”

  “You heard what I said.”

  “Why?”

  “We have incoming dignitaries, and having a female at my side will ease the conversation.”

  She blinked. “Oh. Is that all?”

  He chuckled. “We will see.”

  The lift was going down, and he informed her. “You are aware of the night trains?”

  “Of course. That is how we sent out our produce and got equipment in return.” She frowned. “We could also send settlement members with broken limbs out, and they came back in a few days, healed with no memories of being on the train.”

  He nodded, and the doors opened. “Well, this is where they come.”

  A huge chamber caused sound to reverberate painfully. She was standing on white granite that formed a platform near the tracks and gave about fifty feet between the lift and the railway. The tracks came in from eight different angles, but there was only one that currently contained an approaching train.

  She heard the rumbling approach and looked into the dark cavern at the end of the rails. It would be the third opening. The train finally appeared from hundreds of yards away. The tracks switched, and soon, the train crept up next to the platform and stopped.

  She muttered quickly. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Just be polite, no matter what comes out of that train.” The elder murmured it just as quickly.

  A figure wearing a cloak hopped out of the engine car and walked toward them. “Elder, how are you this afternoon?”

  “Good, Khyran.”

  “I see you have dragged one of the ladies with you today,” the figure murmured as he got closer. He continued to grow in size until he was standing near her, about a foot taller than she was.

  She smiled vapidly and let her expression look blank. “Good afternoon.” She cringed at the bubbly tone of voice, but his recoil was worth it.

  “I have two of the minotaur designation with me. Rockslide.”

  The elder asked, “How badly damaged?”

  “The male has a broken arm; the female is complicated.”

  Khyran opened the door, and the smells of pain and fear were bright. Habel walked toward the car and looked at them. The blond male’s arm was tied but not set, but it would be difficult for one of his kind to manage it.

  The female was a lovely burnished russet, and her eyes were closed and then opened and rolled wildly. Habel smiled and looked at the male. “Can you take light?”

  He looked at her and nodded. “I can.”

  “Right. Hold still. This is going to hurt a lot.”

  Monathian’s voice came from the door. “Habel, what are you doing?”

  “Making him easier to move.” She grabbed the fabric, tore it, held his arm, and with one foot braced on his chest, she straightened the arm while dumping light into his body to heal the damage. She didn’t know how she knew how to do it, but the bellow of the horned male was intense and full of agony, but when she let him go, he looked at her dazed with his fingers flexing.

  “Elder, is there somewhere to help her?”

  “Of course. They are here for our medical facility.”

  She looked at the male. “Help me with the cow.”

  “Habel!”

  She helped the woman up and dodged gnashing teeth. “She’s a fucking cow!”

  Khyran was laughing, and the bull looked relieved that someone was taking charge. They helped the woman out of the train, and Elder Monathian had a hovering bed there, but the woman shook her head.

  “Right. Not down again.” She walked with the woman and her husband toward the lift. The elder got there before them and had the doors open.

  Khyran came with them, to Habel’s surprise.

  The lift took them up one level, and they walked the minotaur cow into the facility where folks were ready for her.

  There was a bit of negotiation, but eventually, the woman was eased into a kneeling position. Her husband was next to her head. Habel was eased aside, but when the medical elves tried to order her out of the room, there was a loud protest from the couple.

  The medic looked at her and grinned. “Right. Don’t get stepped on, kicked, or bitten, Novice.”

  She nodded and stepped aside but stayed where the cow could see her. “I will help if I need to.”

  Khyran chuckled, and he was far too close. “You honestly had me fooled. I have never seen any elf get that close to a bull’s horns like that.”

  She shrugged. “I have seen scarier.”

  “Where? Don’t they wipe your mind when you get here?”

  She paused and looked for the elder, but he was speaking with the medics as they struggled to bring the baby into the world. The little one was fighting them, and the mother was panicking.

  The bull looked over. “Get it out of her. Please.”

  She grimaced and walked to the business end, feeling the position of the baby while the medics looked at her with indulgent amusement. She rolled up her sleeves, scrubbed her arms, and she slid her hand into the canal, looking for the baby.

  She was lucky that the entrance had flexed in preparation for birth, and when she found what she was looking for, she winced. She reached around and found the ribs of the baby and tickled. She kept this up until the baby began to slide out. The medics got into position and caught the twenty pounds of baby minotaur, putting the strapping young girl into a welcoming container. Habel put her hands on the belly of the woman and poured light into her. The body rippled under her hands as the healing began.

  When everything was back to normal and the cow was resting in her mate’s embrace, Habel walked to the sink and scrubbed the blood from her arms. She was holding on until she looked at the small bit of red in the new baby’s fist. She threw up.

  She shuddered a few times, and then, she washed out the sink. Habel was delighted that she had only just had tea.

  Monathian came to her side. “Was that your reaction to the miracle of birth?”

  She dried off her arms. “No. That was my reaction to almost eviscerating someone in a hurry to deliver a baby.”

  The bull looked over at her. The cow was now resting on her side, breathing evenly. “What happened?”

  Habel asked. “The baby was overdue? Two weeks?”

  He nodded. “How did you know?”

  “She had a grip.”

  The bull knelt and nuzzled his mate’s cheek.

  Khyran smiled. “You figured it out?”

  She shuddered. “I did.”

  He looked at h
er suspiciously. “How?”

  She looked at his dark eyes and frowned. “Good instincts. Why are you here?”

  He grinned. “They are my charges. I go with them wherever they go. Also, the bull got a little agitated, and I need healing myself, but don’t worry, I can get it from the medics.”

  She nodded. “Good. You know, there is something familiar about you.”

  He raised his brows in surprise. “Really? I can’t see what. You and I have never met before. Trust me, I would remember.”

  The elder came over and patted Khyran on the shoulder, and smiled. “Well, Novice Habel, you are one of the few elves here to have met an honest-to-goodness dragon.”

  She paused. “He’s a dragon? Really? Doesn’t look like one.”

  He didn’t. His cloak was dark, his expression was surly, and he didn’t look wise. He looked... mean and scruffy.

  Khyran removed his cloak, and he unfolded the wings that had been wrapped around his collarbone by the thumblike struts at the top. He extended his wings carefully, and he scowled at her. “Novice Habel, do you believe me now?”

  She looked at him, her bracelet, and stared at the elder. “Holy shit. He’s my closet!”

  Monathian barked a laugh; Khyran looked at her and her bracelet. “You have my AI?”

  She blushed. “It is installed in my apartment, yes. I knew your voice was familiar.”

  He smiled slowly and stepped toward her. His left wing had tears in it, but the right flexed wide again. “So, do you believe I am a dragon?”

  She frowned at him and prodded him in the chest with two fingers. “I believe that there is a chance you might be and that you are a bully.”

  The bull snorted from the other side of the room. “I have never heard him called that. We call him Plate Head.”

  She turned from the dragon that made her pulse rise and smiled at the exhausted but proud father as he held his baby. “How will you call her?”

  “Well, I am Artuth, and her mother is Kailla, but I think we will name her Hetha.”

  “Tickles. It is a good name.” Habel smiled. She turned to Elder Monathian. “May I go and change clothing? I have a lot of mystery fluid on this one.”

  He inclined his head. “You are dismissed.”

  * * * *

  Khyran stared at the woman with the iridescent hair, bright eyes, and foul mouth. “Where did you find her?”

  “She is troll blood. Daughter of Haladen. She has power, intelligence, skill, and a lot of rage. She is going to be an excellent emissary for the tower.”

  Khyran stared at his friend. “You are going to send her out?”

  “After she finishes all requirements, I don’t see why not. She’s the first elf in my lifetime suited for the savage world we live in. Others live in it; she can move through it.”

  Khyran looked to where she had disappeared and then looked back to Artuth. “What are you grinning at?”

  “You look like I felt when I saw Kailla.”

  “Elves don’t mate. They don’t breed.”

  Elder Monathian looked at his pristine nails. “Well, we do have sex... a lot.”

  “Shut up and get a healer over here. I need to get this little herd back to the plains.”

  The elder laughed as he walked over to the medics.

  Novice Habel Trollblood. He looked forward to meeting her again.

  Author’s Note

  Finally, I got Khyran into the book. He’s been buzzing around my head for a while—annoying fella.

  In the next book, Habel runs into her true enemy, the passage of time. Time flies when it doesn’t matter.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  About the Author

  Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

  An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around, and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.

  In real life, she is now engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.

  Table of Contents

  Part Three: Manners Matter

  Author’s Note

  About the Author