and smiled invitingly, he wasn’t sure how to take that. He was a little wary of the phoenix, who was more than a threat to even the full grown of his kind that had fully mastered their magics. They were also known to be capricious, hot-blooded, and unpredictably wild predators. Fire was the hardest element to tame, and she was a bird of prey made of elemental fire magic.
Cinder turned to the guards, “I told you, we made arrangements to ride together. I want to get to know the new prince, and of course as someone that works for the crown on occasion, so he should be familiar with me as well. Granted, that was before I found out who his companions really were, but I’m an extremely powerful fire sorceress with little to fear on that score.”
Message received, blow her cover and he’d be in deep shit.
He mounted up, and his ladies followed suit.
Cinder smirked, and mounted up as well, and followed them out to the road. The guards were still looking at her like she was crazy for voluntarily entering the wilderness between villages with two monsters and a demoness, but it was what it was.
“You made good time.”
Cinder giggled, “I’ve been here for days. I even considered taking that bounty, but I didn’t want to steal your fun when you got here.”
Shar asked, “You flew?”
Cinder’s eyes widened in playful innocence, “Fire sorceresses can’t fly.”
He snorted.
Shar grinned, “No, neither can witches.”
Cinder frowned at him, then asked Nysa, “Is he always this grumpy and serious?”
Shar said, “He doesn’t trust you. Mostly because your kind are known for being temperamental, and you could roast us all in a second if the whim took you. Not even my kind can survive your fires.”
He glared at Shar, maybe he wouldn’t be spanking her after all, later that night. It was also interesting information. He knew dragon scales were resistant to all but the hottest fires, that only a phoenix or higher and lower planar beings were capable of generating. But he had thought demons completely immune to fire.
Shar just winked, while Cinder smiled at him girlishly.
Cinder said, “Truth?”
He said, “Try me.”
She bit her lip, “I didn’t lie, I truly did want to spend time with others who knew the truth of me, if you know of my kind you surely know that much? I have been lonely.”
He nodded grudgingly.
Cinder continued, “I’m the only one of my kind here in this realm. It’s a long story, but suffice it to say I miss the company of my own kind. There are no realm walkers here in this middle realm, it’s not a bad place really, and the humans are nice enough, but I long to be what I am in the company of my own kind.”
Tansya said, “And he’s the only one that can get you home.”
Cinder grinned, “Got it in one, sort of. I couldn’t tell you what plane of existence I’m even from. I was a young girl when my parents were killed, and I was banished from my home plane during a… conflict. But, surely there are some of my kind on his plane. I want to tag along, when he returns.”
Shar said, “There are, most of the highest of the middle realms contain both elder dragons and phoenixes. But that’s not your only reason for being here.”
She shook her head, “No, I told you the truth. I wish to get to know you all, and to have that connection with beings who know the truth of me. To return to my kind is simply my ulterior motive, but I have desires beyond that.”
He said, “You seem awfully open about it.”
She smirked, “You’re cute, but not very smart. Let me spell it out for you. If I kill you, I’ll never get to see another of my kind again. For that reason alone, short of self-defense, I would not harm you for anything. Besides, I have my instincts firmly under control. The humans get nervous when random ashes show up and people go missing. I wish to befriend you, not trick you, nor will I turn on you.”
He growled.
She giggled, “Eloquent as well, I see.”
Shar snickered, “I like her.”
He looked at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and then glared.
Shar pouted cutely, “I’m just teasing, you know. But she’s not wrong, and you’d be foolish to turn down such a powerful ally. She must be unusually controlled for her kind, if she’s managed to blend in among the humans