by L J Andrews
“Mage, do you agree?” Eisha snapped toward Mini.
Mini narrowed her eyes at Teagan, then subtly glanced toward me. I lifted my chin—Mini wasn’t going to separate us. I was certain the connection blazing between Teagan Ward and myself was deeper than anything this mage felt for Sapphire. How could they understand? I could see how Mini considered it, I could almost read her thoughts on where she would take Teagan to train him before returning him back to me, all mage, all duty, with none of the passion he had in this moment.
With all the power of my energy, I reached out for her compassion. Mini sighed and nodded. “I have half a mind to send him somewhere else, to get his focus straight, but I agree with your queen here.” She flicked her brow toward me, much to my surprise. “Yes, I can understand what you’re trying to tell me. You’re rather powerful; I’m not sure you realize how invading your energy can be. But I agree, this connection is unusual—destined—it would be dangerous to draw you apart.” Mini cleared her throat and tapped Teagan’s chest hard. Mini was three heads shorter than Teagan, but even in this moment I wouldn’t dare try to interrupt what she was saying. “You’ll do everything I ask. You’ll train, you’ll study. You are the one who can release this wyvern,” she pointed toward me. “If you lose your focus, her life is at risk. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Teagan nodded briskly. “Yes.”
“We need to teach you to fight. You must learn warding and wyvern enchantments. We must learn what path you’re meant to walk—why you were called to the mage of the jade bloodline. I can sense you don’t like to take orders, but you will take orders from me. Understood?”
“I will,” he said quickly. “I’ll do anything to keep Jade safe.”
“Good,” Mini said. “Because I guarantee there’s going to come a day when you will be asked to defend her.”
“So where do we start?” Sapphire said.
“I say we do a battle exercise. Where are those two warriors?”
“They are close,” Eisha said.
“Well, bring them. I want to see how Teagan fares against two full-grown wyvern soldiers.”
“You want me to fight Raffi and Dash?” he snapped. “I barely survived the snake.”
“You think King Nag will be the size of a zomok? Think again,” Mini chuckled. “We don’t know what sort of powers the lindworms have, we don’t even know if they still have corrupted mage powers on their side. We can’t take any chances. We start now, Teagan.”
I brushed my hand along Teagan’s arm until he glanced at me. The marks along his biceps were hot to my touch, and I could sense the anxious energy rushing through his veins. “It will be fine. You have more strength than you know. I can feel it.”
“Let’s hope so—I’m pretty sure Raffi has been waiting for a moment like this since we met.” He smiled, and I had to fight against everything inside not to kiss him. Thankfully, Eisha drew my focus to another conversation I was desperate to have.
“When will he be able to release Jade?” Eisha asked again, bringing my heart into a race.
“That’s entirely up to him and Jade,” Mini grumbled. “It’s a difficult process. A mage facilitates the shift, but without the wyvern embracing it completely, it will not happen. They’re both young and untrained. We will try when Teagan is stronger. It could harm them both if we do it too early.”
Teagan met my eye, and I saw the concern in his expression. He wasn’t alone—the idea of harming him because I couldn’t shift correctly sent my stomach plummeting to my feet. Mini nodded toward the forest and we slowly followed behind her, stepping deeper into the trees until the sun was lost beyond the branches and leaves. Mini had a strength like the willow—it was a unique power, not quite the same as Teagan’s, but similar. I knew she could help him, she could help us both. But I couldn’t shake the prickling feeling there was more to Teagan Ward, more to our connection, then anyone in the forest realized.
Chapter 19
It seemed as though thunder rumbled through the earth when Raffi and Dash pounded their magnificent claws deep into the soil. I’d always admired their sleek bodies. Raffi had crimson ridges along his monstrous tails and spine. Dash was darker, with indigo horns over his brow. The two warrior wyverns released simultaneous steamy breaths when they locked eyes with Eisha and me. Mini chuckled when Teagan shifted uncomfortably beneath Dash’s penetrating gaze.
Mini had led us deep into the forest so Dash and Raffi could arrive in their true form without fear of prying eyes. The deeper we’d gone, the stranger the power of the trees. I covered my mouth when we stopped in a clearing. Teagan hadn’t been imagining any of the stones. We were surrounded by dozens of smooth stones with the emblem of the wyvern empire. I traced my fingers over one of the lead stones. The heat prickled across my fingertips as if the shrine were determining the loyalty of my heart.
“You see them?” Teagan asked me.
I nodded. “Everything. I feel strange, but empowered too.”
“Wyvern can see the sanctuary, as it was designed as a refuge for your kind,” Mini muttered a little disgruntled. “Though I still find it out of order that Teagan should see each stone. I’ve always done my duty. Teagan, do you see the five lead stones? I see only the three.”
“Yes, they are the larger stones, right?” He asked. Mini nodded, though her lip pouted a bit. I followed his gaze at the surrounding larger stones. Each one carried the emblem with rows of smaller stones behind them. The circle was large enough a dozen men could stand around one another at a comfortable distance.
“Those lead stones represent each royal bloodline. The Ruby, the Amber, the Sapphire, the Onyx, the Jade. This place is sacred and powerful. After the divide I recreated the sanctuary that was destroyed during the war, I have hope that any other bloodline mages have done the same. I always hoped it could create a way we could connect.
“Should a great threat come, all the bonded mages would meet here and use the strength of the sanctuary to fulfill their duty. It’s dangerous to join together in such a way, so it could only happen in the event of total threat to our way of life.”
“Fascinating,” Sapphire breathed, staring at the stones and tracing one just as I’d done. “How come I’ve never seen this before? You never mentioned this, Mini.”
“After the war, mages weren’t cast in a kindly light. I was always near, but I was following the laws of the divide, Kon. Now, those laws can bury themselves for all I care. And yes, if the High Priestess were here, I would tell her that myself. Alright, Teagan,” Mini said lightly. “We should get started. You, the angry warrior, step forward.”
Teagan groaned and followed closely behind Mini as Raffi’s hulking form entered the sanctuary. Raffi was enjoying this, I could see it in the way his muscles flexed a little more. Though I didn’t feel the same anger he’d carried toward Teagan since the beginning. I beamed, feeling as though he was slowly accepting the new way of things.
“Mini, I don’t know how to fight…a dragon,” Teagan muttered, holding up his bare hands. The T-shirt he wore was tight over his shoulders, but I found I enjoyed the way the wyvern markings had spread along the length of his arms—should I have found them so attractive? I don’t know, but I had to shake my focus back into place when I caught myself staring a little too long.
“Well, that’s why we’re here, is it not?” Mini grumbled in response. “Now, Raffi, is it? You must threaten Teagan—show him the difficulty of standing against wyvern, or his instincts will be of no use to him. Don’t kill him or anything, but you know, do what you do best. Teagan, you may use my knife. It’s powerful and can break his ability to shift if you touch him—so be wise in how you use it. He’s not the enemy, and you don’t want to take away his abilities.”
“Okay, so he can rough me up, but I’m supposed to just pretend to swing the knife,” Teagan spat. Mini smiled, and I caught Sapphire and Eisha snickering toward each other.
“Basically,” Mini said lightly. “Well, go on, you ha
ve a dragon at your back, and he’s coming right at you.”
Teagan whirled around as Raffi charged with no warning. Raffi’s large claws swung at Teagan, who dropped swiftly to the ground to avoid being impaled. Teagan spoke of spiked tails; warrior wyvern did have spiked tails, and Raffi swung without hesitation. The ivory spokes aimed toward Teagan’s middle. He tried to dodge, slicing the knife across his body, but Raffi’s spike caught him in the rib.
Teagan swore and backed away, clutching his middle. There was a nauseating pulse through my blood, and I felt the burn of desire to stand before my warrior and Teagan. Mini came to stand at my side. She was bold and reached her hand out for my arm while Raffi took a second swing, but Teagan dodged this time. Mini’s touch soothed the ache raging through my veins.
“You must let him face this,” she whispered. “You are making yourself sick. Such a strange bond,” she muttered after a moment, leaving me alone. I wanted to question her more, but my attention was drawn back toward the center of the circle where Dash had now joined with Raffi.
I thought it unfair. Teagan was not allowed to truly strike, though Raffi was honorable, and if the knife would have touched him in true battle, he would back away in defeat. Teagan got in two strikes, narrowly missing Raffi’s neck when Dash joined.
Dash opened his dark mouth, and a blast of ashen smoke erupted from his throat, sending the sanctuary into a cloud of darkness.
“How will you fight when you have difficulty seeing, Teagan?” Mini shouted.
“I don’t know,” he snipped back, though I couldn’t see him. “You aren’t really teaching me.”
“I like practical learning,” she chuckled. “You have the ability to fight against this. Trust your instincts.”
It was quiet for a moment. I heard Teagan grunting as he pressed back against Raffi and Dash. Their bodies were easily seen in the chaos of Dash’s fog, but Teagan was buried. Until, a moment later, the smoke ebbed toward the edge of the sanctuary. Raffi and Dash seemed confused. Their backs were both turned away, and I saw Teagan clutching tight to one of the stones, the wyvern marks looking like they were flushed with gold, and his muscles pulsing as he summoned some breath of power.
“Well done, Teagan!” Mini shouted.
Raffi and Dash seemed upset when they turned around.
It seemed clear that Teagan had somehow confused the two warriors to the point he could get away. It was impressive and frightening how great his power was rolling around the sanctuary.
The two dragons circled Teagan, who’d released the stone and stood between them with the knife clutched tightly in his grip. Raffi’s gaze was dangerous, but Teagan wasn’t cowering. He met Raffi’s eyes with a narrowed gaze.
“You’re enjoying yourself, right Raffi?” Teagan snapped.
Raffi’s breathy wheeze was as close to a chuckle as a wyvern could make in true form. Dash breathed a puff of smoke from his snout in pleasure just before they struck. Dash swung his claws from behind. Teagan ducked, rolling away from Raffi’s front strike. He tried to scramble to his feet, but his escape was thwarted by Dash’s large tail, which dragged Teagan back into the center of ring. Teagan slashed the knife out of instinct and nicked a bit of Raffi’s tail. Raffi bellowed angrily, the blood scorching the earth in boiling drops.
“Easy, Teagan,” Mini shouted. “We don’t want his tail to stay attached to his human form.”
Teagan was completely focused on Raffi and Dash, seeming to have ignored Mini, but he hadn’t. Without a second thought, Teagan dropped the knife. I paced along the edge of the stones, my palms sweaty and my ears ringing in anxious nerves as Teagan took away his only defense to protect the two warriors. He was honorable; how anyone would doubt him after this day would be beyond my understanding.
Dash took his lack of weapons as his invitation to strike harder. His dark claws sliced across Teagan’s arm, carving into his skin. Teagan cried out, and I wondered why his armor wasn’t igniting.
“Mini, why are the marks not defending him?” I shouted, watching Teagan wipe away the blood on his arm and duck low before Raffi clawed at his face.
“That is the jade armor—are you in duress? No, you’re not, so it will not protect him.”
I shook my head, wishing I had the ability to shift—I was smaller than Raffi and Dash, but I had powers they did not. They wouldn’t come close to Teagan again.
Dash opened his jaws wide, snapping the gleaming fangs that curled over his black lips like knives slashing through the dusk. Teagan glared toward Dash who had him on the run, while Raffi sliced his claws against Teagan’s chest, narrowly missing heart. Sapphire and Eisha stood stalwart, simply watching. Was no one going to stop the madness? When I thought the warriors couldn’t stoop any lower, I watched as Raffi’s bulking body lumbered across the sanctuary—he had Teagan on the run, and gilded flames were sparking at his heels. Teagan struck at Raffi’s jaw—since he’d long abandoned his knife, his hands were his only weapons. I smirked when the touch of Teagan’s skin on Raffi’s scales seemed to bring some level of discomfort. Teagan took the opportunity to scale along Raffi’s haunches, his face filled with a new determination.
Raffi bellowed in frustration as Teagan attempted to mount his back without permission. Teagan was reaching for Raffi’s eyes, seemingly aware how much his touch irritated the dragon warrior. My fists were clenched tight as I smiled. Raffi seemed to weaken beneath Teagan’s grip, but it was short-lived. Dash swiped at Teagan, his clawed foot dragging him to the forest floor in a heap of soil and twigs.
“Enough,” I shouted toward Mini. “This isn’t teaching him, he’s insanely outmatched. I will order them to stop.”
“If you do, you will only harm Teagan in the long run,” she growled in response. Mini was dangling her thin legs over the branch of a large pine, her eyes never leaving the squabble in the circle. “He must learn how to call upon his strength.”
“No, this is ridiculous,” I snipped when I watched Raffi swat at Teagan, rolling him aside like a fallen log.
“Jade,” Sapphire said gently. “Give it a little more time, this is for Teagan’s sake.”
I stomped further away from Eisha and Sapphire, maybe pouting a little, and took my place atop a boulder on the opposite side of the sanctuary where it seemed Raffi and Dash were readying to finish the job.
Raffi found a way to swing against Teagan’s body and knocked him back to the ground. Teagan groaned loudly, and I realized he’d fallen on a rogue root jutting from the soil. Where he hurt, I was hurting. I thought I might shift when I snarled toward Dash who offered me a quick glance, but no, my body kept me as its prisoner. Together Dash and Raffi opened their jaws. They would entrap Teagan with their flames—I’d seen it many time when warriors wanted to play a bit with their enemies before killing.
Teagan’s chest was heaving, and I thought he might give up when Dash easily pressed one of his clawed feet over Teagan’s chest. By the way he was gasping, Dash had added just enough pressure to take some of the wind from Teagan’s lungs.
Teagan didn’t surrender just yet. With a scathing glance at my two warriors, I was overtaken in a suffocating, final surge of power erupting from his soul—as if it were speaking to me personally. I wasn’t positive if it was instinct, or if something about the sanctuary was guiding Teagan’s process, but he flattened his palms against the soil as Dash pressed harder. The first spark of flame was building in the back of Raffi’s throat. Teagan’s head flopped back against the ground, his eyes closed.
Then I felt it.
Like a slow rippling wave, the soil shifted—I could have sworn I saw the dragon emblems glow along the stones. Raffi closed his mouth and glanced up, as did Dash. Eisha held firmly to Sapphire’s forearm as they looked about. Teagan pressed his hands harder along the ground, his body trembling, though his eyes were clenched tight in concentration. The dirt, twigs, branches, everything seemed to sway and bend toward Teagan the more power bled through his body into the sanctuary.
&n
bsp; Raffi growled in pain and stepped away as though the very presence of Teagan scorched his fire-resistant skin. I ducked when the spruce tree behind me bent low, curving at the strongest point of its trunk as Teagan slowly lifted to his feet. His palms were upright, his eyes bright and dangerous when he glanced toward the two warriors. With every step he took, the ground threatened to cave in, and I marveled in a new wonder. Never had I sensed such a fury of mystics and energy. Not from any wyvern I’d ever encountered, not from anything I sensed in Mini. The emblems on the stones were now undoubtedly bleeding in a brilliant sunset hue as Teagan stalked toward Raffi and Dash. His face was strong; his eyes were certainly different and yet the same. I found myself not frightened, but in awe of the strange power.
The wind tossed my long hair about my face, boughs broke away from the trees, stones unfurled from the underground. Teagan was swirling around in natural weapons he could use against the two dragons. Then I heard Mini shriek.
“Enough, stop Teagan!” The sanctuary was crumbling—or so it seemed. I saw the earth slide slightly, like the very bedrock was slipping away. The stones only gleamed brighter. Teagan either didn’t hear her or was refusing to stop because he continued forward with each groundbreaking step. Mini leapt from her place in the tree and rushed next to Teagan. Forcefully, she placed her hand on the side of his face. I didn’t know what she was doing, but I moved quickly toward them.
Teagan shouted in pain at her, but it worked. He lowered his hands, and the whirlwind of power chipping away the sanctuary ceased like a breathless whisper. The trees returned to their calm. The stones were uninteresting, gray blocks again, and Teagan was rubbing a red mark on his cheek.
“Why did you do that? You said you wanted me to fight back,” he snapped.
“Did you even see what you were doing?” Mini shrieked. “What was that? Tell me how you did that.”
Teagan glanced around, taking in the shifted ground and tormented trees as if he had no memory of creating the force. His lip was bleeding, and his shoulders were heaving in rapid breaths. Raffi and Dash slithered down to their human forms, both bare chested in russet pants, their eyes wide and their bodies glistening in sweat. Eisha was at my side, and I sensed her hesitation to let me any closer to Teagan, but I found her concern ridiculous. I seemed to be the only one in awe at his burst of strength. He was thrilling and a wonder to my mind.
