by Martha Carr
The dragon exhaled a quick, hot puff of air through his nostrils. “Your professor is struggling with something. And your mage friend pushed too hard.”
When the realization hit her, she bit back a smile. “You’re upset with Bella?”
“Annoyed.”
She glanced at the slightly open gate again. “What’s wrong with Professor Worley?”
Leander blinked at her. “I can’t read minds but I can smell the discomfort. Maybe feel it a little.”
“Yeah, I used to think that about Bella too.” She trailed her hand along the scaly ridges between his eyes and nodded. “Things might be a little tense after everything that’s happened in the last few months. There have been so many changes around here. For all of us.”
“I’m very adaptable.”
Raven snorted. “Yes, you are. I’m gonna grab your dinner and then I’ll go into town with Bella. I’d bring you with me if I could.”
“I know.”
“Of course you do.” After a final pat, she turned away and strode toward the gate. “I won’t be gone super-late, though. And I’ll come say goodnight when I get back.”
Leander lowered his head onto his forepaws and closed his eyes with another little snort.
She slipped through the gate and walked toward the front of the stables. When Bella gave her a confused glance, she shrugged. “I gotta feed the beast, you know?”
She folded her arms, and Wesley came to settle on her shoulder in his usual position.
Whatever tension he smells, it had better not get any worse once we’re out of here.
Chapter Eight
Once Leander’s trough was full of dragon feed and the gate closed securely behind her, Raven stopped beside the stables to retrieve her satchel from where she’d dropped it after the long day of classes and training. “Okay. Now we’re ready.”
Bella sighed a little dramatically, and they turned together to wander across the field toward the entrance gates to Fowler Academy and the dirt road that would take them southwest and into Brighton’s town center.
The first half of the walk into Brighton was quiet and a little awkward. Raven constantly stole quick, sideways looks at her companion, who almost looked like she was doing the same thing.
It’s the first time we’re doing something together where it wasn’t forced on us somehow. That can’t be the best common denominator.
By the time they approached the town square and the fountain in the center of it, though, she forgot all about the confusing silence and how the rest of the night would play out. They passed Mrs. Easton’s house and the small cottage beside it.
“Hey,” she whispered and nudged the other girl with the back of her hand. “Look who’s back.”
Bella’s eyes widened, and she glanced around the boulevard. “I have no idea what you’re talking about or why you’re whispering.”
“Oh.” It’s easy to forget we’ve never made this walk together. “That veteran wizard sitting on his porch. He’s been gone for weeks.”
“The crazy guy?”
She darted the other mage a sidelong glance and tilted her head. “He’s not crazy. Only…eccentric. Hi, Peter!” She raised a hand to wave and the man’s head jerked up from whatever he was studying on the porch in front of him.
“Raven.” He scrambled to his feet and his overly large tunic fluttered around his narrow frame. “Raven Alby. Raven.”
Before either of the girls could say or do anything else, the veteran mage hurried down the steps of his narrow front porch and practically ran to them. Raven smiled and stepped back a little when he stopped too close. “Hey. I haven’t seen you for a while.”
“I sent the Endflame.” The man’s eyes were wide and almost as wild-looking as the day she’d met him. “He saw it, right? The whole kingdom had to have seen my warning.”
With a hasty glance at her companion, she shrugged. “About the raiders? Yeah, actually. We had more than enough warning and help. There’s nothing to worry about, Peter. Everything was taken care of.”
“Raiders?” The man snorted and scratched what little hair was left on the sides of his head. “I didn’t raise the Endflame for raiders, girl. Come now. Tell me. What does Connor think?”
“My grandfather?” Peter nodded vigorously, and she could only shake her head. “I don’t really know what he thinks about anything right now. He’s been gone for almost a month.”
“Well, he’d better find something, I tell you what.” Shifting from foot to foot, he chewed his bottom lip and clasped his hands together under his chin. “He better find out what’s happening or the entire order of the world will unravel right beneath our feet!”
Raven frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“We won’t know what’s coming until someone finds the truth!”
Bella tugged on her jacket sleeve and muttered, “We should keep going.”
“Ask him what he thinks!” Peter shouted as she turned reluctantly to head across the town center’s courtyard. “Ask what he’s found. Whatever it takes, it must be done!”
“Next time I see him,” she called over her shoulder and caught a final glimpse of the veteran mage hunched in the road opposite his front door. He stared after her. I know that has to mean something.
“Don’t encourage him,” her companion muttered and looked up to smile at a few townsfolk who entered Zeke’s tavern for the evening. “What was all that crazy about?”
“I don’t think he’s crazy.” They skirted the fountain in the center of the square, and she studied it with a small frown. I definitely miss meeting Murphy here every morning.
“Did you hear the guy?” Bella snorted. “That definitely sounded crazy.”
“You know, many people have called me crazy for doing what I know I can do.” Raven fixed the other mage a pointed look.
The girl narrowed her eyes in response. “Yeah, but you can actually string together more than one coherent sentence together at a time. The only thing I got out of that was the guy knows your name and your grandfather’s name and wants Connor Alby’s opinion on something. And those first two are common knowledge at this point.”
“Not everyone knows my name.” Raven adjusted the strap of her satchel and followed her past the fountain and down the road heading west from the center of town.
“Please. Everyone in Brighton knows about the girl with the dragon familiar. The girl from a long line of mages who eliminated the rest of the Swarm and rescued the governor of Azerad’s wife from a raider invasion only a few weeks later.”
With a smirk, she leaned away from the other young mage to take a good look at her. “The only part that doesn’t apply to you too is having a dragon as a familiar.” She glanced at Wesley, who’d flown steadily ahead of them for most of their walk. “And I heard something about firedrakes being classified as tiny dragons who can’t talk. So you’re almost there.”
Bella shook her head but she couldn’t help smiling. “Fine. Maybe everyone in Brighton knows who Bella Chase and Raven Alby are. And everyone knows Connor Alby, our disappearing spent-wizard hermit.”
Raven grimaced quickly and stared at the dirt road in front of each footstep. “Not everyone knows about the disappearing part.”
“Well I haven’t told anyone in case you were wondering.” Her companion’s voice had softened now, and she waited for her to look up from the road. It didn’t happen. “And I won’t tell anyone, either.”
“Thanks. There’s not really all that much to tell, anyway.” I already told William about Grandpa’s first letter and magic maybe coming back. It’s better to keep it that way.
“Still.” Bella shrugged. “It’s a little weird, though, honestly. That some crazy old—” She sighed and started again. “That a veteran mage like that Peter guy wants your grandpa’s opinion so badly. And what the heck is an Endflame, anyway?”
“I have no idea. But I do know that so far, Peter hasn’t exactly been wrong. Even if what he says sounds a little off.�
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They passed between rows of smaller houses on either side of the western road, where older townsfolk sat in rocking chairs on their front porches and children played in the open fields where their parents could see them. Bella frowned and ignored them all. “What do you mean?”
“Well, the day I met him, Peter talked about all the coming dangers and watching for the signs. It was all stuff that didn’t make any sense to me when he said it but then we had the rest of the Swarm to deal with.”
“It’s more like that was a coincidence, Raven. Most of the old veterans from the Great War are spent wizards now too.” The girl watched Wesley soar after a few ravens that darted between the treetops and didn’t bother to call him. “It’s not like this Peter guy has any secret, special way to see into the future or anything. Especially not with all his magic gone.”
Maybe it’s not gone. Raven shrugged. “Maybe. But I’m not gonna write him off as a crazy old man.”
“You can do whatever you want.” For a few seconds, they fell completely silent as the two young mages trudged down the packed dirt.
“Thank you very much,” she muttered, and they both laughed a little.
“We’re right down this road.” Bella pointed to a road on their right a few paces ahead. “Only a few properties down past the cornfield.”
They turned together onto a much narrower road and headed northwest this time. The sun was beginning to set, the evening still bright and not yet tinged with the softer glow that would settle in about an hour. The houses were spread out there, the properties lined with wooden fences and wiring around barns, stables, pens, and tool sheds. Raven took a deep breath of the fresh spring air and watched the few workers out in the fields finishing their day’s work. This looks an awful lot like southern Brighton. If there were goats in that pen instead of sheep, it could almost be Alby Ranch.
When she glanced at her companion again, the dark-haired mage stared straight ahead, her lips pursed a little like she wasn’t sure she wanted to go home right now. And she’s embarrassed about it.
Finally, they reached the end of the narrow dirt road, which was nothing more than packed earth that gave way to a few patches of overgrown grass that encroached upon it from the field beyond. There wasn’t much else out there beyond the property buildings and a wide river that flowed alongside about an acre of open land behind the last house.
“This is it.” Bella exhaled a heavy sigh and wrinkled her nose. “Whatever my family says, don’t take it personally. They can be…a lot.”
Raven fought back a laugh. “No problem. My skin’s about as thick as a—” She stopped short, and her companion flashed her a wide, amused grin.
“You were about to say dragon’s, weren’t you?”
“No…”
They both laughed, and the other girl nodded toward the huge farmhouse painted white with a red door and red shutters. “You can deny it all you want, Raven Alby. I can see right through you.”
“You know, I think the feeling’s mutual.”
The young mages snickered again—at each other and at themselves—as they headed down the small footpath toward the farmhouse’s front porch.
When they were within ten feet of the porch, the front door opened and a gray-haired woman in a bright blue dress and a stained apron tied tightly around her waist stepped swiftly out to greet them. “There you are.”
“Here we are.” Bella spread her arms with an uncertain smile as Wesley landed on the porch railing and his claws scrabbled against the worn wood for purchase.
The woman put her flour-covered hands on her hips and tried to look serious. A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth, however. “We had begun to think something happened to you.”
“That’s my fault,” Raven said with a little wave. “Bella didn’t know I had extra training after we finished so she waited for me.”
“Aha. Well, at least you’re here—both of you. I took my time with supper, but as soon as we sit, we’re ready to eat.”
“Sounds great.”
The woman on the porch pursed her lips, tried not to smile, and raised an eyebrow at her granddaughter.
“Okay.” Bella rolled her eyes a little and nodded for Raven to continue with her up the stairs and onto the porch. She gestured with a sweeping hand toward the woman who stood near the doorway. “This is my Gram. Gram, this is—”
“Oh, I know who you are.” The old woman reached for Raven’s hand with both of hers and squeezed it instead of shaking it. “Raven Alby. I’ve spoken to your grandfather Connor too, once or twice. Betsy Chase, dear. Such a pleasure to meet you.”
She smiled and waited to have her hand returned to her. “Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Chase.”
“Ha! No, no, no. Betsy’s fine. Please.” The woman glanced at her hands and quickly removed them. “Oh, look at that. I’m covered in cooking. Come inside, girls. You can wash up and settle in. We’ll have supper on the table before you can blink.”
With a wink, she waved them inside and shuffled into the house toward the kitchen.
Raven chuckled and wiped her hands on her pants. It then meant she had to dust the flour and whatever else off her clothes.
“Sorry about that,” Bella muttered.
“For what? Your Gram seems really nice.”
“Some people call it nice. I call it smothering.”
With a little frown, she tilted her head and glanced briefly inside the house. “Really?”
“I’m so ready to leave.” The girl stepped inside and her guest followed closely.
Raven followed Bella’s lead and slipped her satchel off her shoulders to place it inside the doorway beside the girl’s knapsack. The house was definitely larger than the small cottage she’d shared with Connor for most of her life. Everything was neat, tidy, and cleanly swept, and a swath of needlepoint designs had been framed and hung along every wall of the main room off the entryway.
Her companion caught her staring at the needlepoint and sighed with exasperation. “Gram’s only hobby. She never fails to remind us that leaving all those…pieces on the walls is an honor she earned through hard work and running the property. Which is really only Gram speak for ‘I run the house, and I’ll decorate it the way I want.’”
As she studied the few dozen needlepoint projects in brilliantly colored thread, she shrugged. “I think it’s nice.”
“Yeah, okay.” Bella snorted and headed toward the other side of the house. “Come on.”
She took a few seconds more to look at Betsy Chase’s handiwork—the lace doilies over the mantel and the flowered patterns on the upholstered chairs that might have actually been stitched by the woman herself. At least Bella has another woman with her. I’ve always had Grandpa and ranch hands.
“Raven,” the other girl whispered harshly from the other side of the front staircase. She gave her visitor an exasperated smile and nodded toward the other end of the house. “Come on. If she catches you staring at those, we won’t eat until she’s done telling you about every single one.”
The girls hurried through the next room, which was set up for sewing and repairs, and made their way into the kitchen at the back of the house. A man in his mid-forties with dark wavy hair like Bella’s and the same wide, bright eyes stepped inside from a door onto the back porch.
“I swear if I find out that she’s—oh.” His gaze fell on the two girls and his face broke into a wide grin. “You actually came home.”
Bella rolled her eyes playfully. “It’s not like I have anywhere else to go.”
“Aw, now. You’ll go wherever you want in this world, Bella Bear—”
“Dad.” She glanced quickly at Raven and grimaced a little in true teenage embarrassment. “Can we skip the nicknames tonight? Please.”
Her dad chuckled and took two long, swift steps across the kitchen toward them. “You must be Raven.” He gave her an actual handshake, and she smiled politely.
“That’s me.”
“So glad you could
make it, Raven. Thomas Chase. Bella’s dad.”
“Nice to meet you too. Thanks for having me over.”
“Listen to you.” He chuckled again and nodded at his daughter. “I like this friend.”
At the large wood-fired stove at the back of the kitchen, Betsy tossed a hand in the air without turning away from the food she served into simple wooden bowls. “So much more polite than that Teresa girl.”
“Thanks.” Raven started to laugh and stopped herself when she saw the other girl’s tightly pressed lips and wide eyes. “The food smells great.”
“It’ll be ready before you know it. Tom, come help me with these bowls.”
Bella’s dad hurried across the room to comply and Bella led her visitor outside onto the back porch. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. Your family’s great.”
The dark-haired mage took a deep breath and tossed her hair over her shoulders. “Don’t get me wrong. I love them and they’ve done everything they can to help me get to where I am right now. But I don’t want to be where I am forever. I think they really don’t get that sometimes.”
Raven stared out across the open field behind the Chase house. That was an unexpected confession. “I can’t say I know what that’s like. It’s only me and my grandpa on the ranch. Or at least it was.”
“But your grandpa’s not trying to keep you from being more, is he?” Bella stepped around the long wooden table on the porch and sat on the edge, her feet dangling over the sides.
She joined her, still careful not to sit too close, and shrugged. “He doesn’t try to stop me, no. But he definitely has his own way to keep me away from things. Like the journals he locked in the basement for sixteen years before he finally decided to show me. I didn’t even know that he was a dragon rider or that my mom was an actual war mage until a few months ago.”
“It must’ve been quite a surprise.”
Both girls chuckled softly, and Raven swung her legs back and forth over the edge of the porch. “That’s an understatement. I did get a fair amount of, ‘You can’t tell anyone, Raven,’ and, ‘I won’t teach you how to do that spell,’ and, ‘I can’t talk about this tonight.’”
