by L J Andrews
I shook my head, puffing out the molten breath I loved so much. We are joined now. Allies, Magnus. I will fight for your lives as I hope you’ll fight for any mage and any elemental wyvern.
On my honor, Magnus grunted.
Wyverns didn’t smile in true form, but the energy surging through my heart told me each royal, each hidden warrior in the trees beamed with a new hope.
We traveled through the following day, resting at sunset and encasing the small army of lindworms in night energy and my manipulation before taking flight when the moon was high in the sky. It weakened me as we traveled to keep my protection energy wrapping around each wyvern in the sky. I tried to manipulate any unwanted attention away from our flight—there were ripples of energy in the sky. I knew Bron was searching for us; Nag was certainly murderous in our departure. But no threat, wherever it may have been hiding in the shadows, came close.
The sun was daring to peek over the horizon when Amber bellowed loudly in the gray sky. Her breath shot a stream of fire before she plummeted toward the earth. We’re close. It’s here, somewhere. I feel it. Her voice screamed through each of us.
I darted after Amber, feeling the breeze cascade like a cool waterfall over my scales until I watched Amber fold from her wyvern form before she met the ground. Amber landed smoothly on her two legs and darted around the area. The land had less trees, and the air was warmer. Not hot by any means, but certainly warmer. We were atop a mountain coated in sage and juniper trees, and the earth smelled fresh, like a cold rain had just fallen.
I shifted and enjoyed the way the air felt against my skin when the light gown coated my body. Ced shifted at my side, followed my numerous lindworms. Magnus towered over everyone. The lead warrior had a long, black beard that struck him in the center of the chest. His eyes were like midnight, but had the same starry gleam as Prince Ced’s. The man was a mammoth, even rivaling Raffi, I thought. Laina was surprisingly beautiful. A black cloak draped her shoulders, and her dark eyes had rings of gold around her irises. Her hair was long, striking her hips when it fell loose over her shoulders. Her face was stern, but she nodded at me when she met my eye and followed Amber and Ced as they scanned the area for the stone’s energy.
After hours of searching, and exhausting protective energy spent, Amber plopped to the ground, covering her face with her palms. “I feel it,” she muttered. “I know the stone is here, but I can’t find it.”
Ced lowered to his haunches and whispered gently. “Let’s rest,” he offered. “Then we’ll start again.”
Amber nodded. I linked arms with my fellow royal and smiled softly. “Come with me? There is a stream just down there. I don’t know about you, but my body is in desperate need to cool.”
Amber sighed and smiled. She seemed relieved at the thought since all of us were coated in dirt, sweat, and the stench of sleeping outdoors for days.
“May I join you?” Laina asked. “I may be part of the warriors now, but I certainly don’t have to smell like them.”
I laughed and nodded.
“Don’t go far, my energy is weak in the day,” Ced commanded. “Jade, I can count on your manipulation to protect them?”
“Yes,” I stated, though I could feel my own strength weakening. The shock of icy water would help.
Laina dipped her long ebony hair into the stream and was quiet. I sensed she was uneasy around two elemental royals.
“You are Olc’s mother?”
Laina nodded. “Though that is not what I am to be known as,” Laina muttered bitterly. “I am Nag’s mate. That was all I was good for. I know my child was corrupted—Olc has no love for me. And I have no love for the king. But I confess, a part of my heart was pleased to know my son was not killed. Magnus tells me such sympathies are treacherous.”
Amber huffed. “Is Magnus a father?”
“He was,” Laina said softly. “Before Nag killed his mate and children when Magnus was imprisoned. Olc would do the same, I’m certain. I know Magnus means well and wants me to understand my own son would kill me without a thought, but I can’t change my mother’s heart, I suppose.”
I nodded, feeling a wave of sympathy crash over me for the lindworm. It was such a strange, unsettling sort of feeling to have sympathy for a serpent. My entire life was spent despising the lindworm wyverns, yet now I was feeling an odd friendship budding with the warriors and Laina.
“We won’t fault you for having a soul, Laina,” Amber said, washing tracks of dirt from her arms.
“I’m loyal to you,” Laina quickly offered. “I believe in Ced’s plan. Just know, I will face my son with a broken heart should the time come.”
We settled into peaceful silence. The water did strengthen my energy. My hair was damp around my shoulders, dripping frosty water down my spine and adding to my invigorating energy. I let my gown fall back around my legs and moved toward the slope of the stream when my stomach plummeted to my feet. Amber and Laina jolted to life at my side.
It was Ced’s shout that sent my pulse racing.
I couldn’t see him, but the way the prince called my name sent me bolting through the trees. Though I had seen nothing, I knew in the folds of my mind—we were under attack.
Chapter 8
The Mage
We flew in the opposite direction from where the signal came. The further we went, the more my stomach rolled in sick waves. It seemed wrong. Thane and the warriors flew swift and direct, but each moment that passed was time that Jade could be in harm’s way.
No one slept, though we soared through the night. When the sun brightened the new day, I felt a noticeable shift in the temperature. The air was dry, still wintry, but warmer than the warrior’s cave. Thane led the warriors above the clouds when cities littered the mountain ranges below and we were at greater risk for the unsuspecting humans glancing up and seeing an entire army of dragons.
My grip tightened around the hilt of one blade. The tension was so heavy on my chest, it was as if I were buried beneath piles of heavy stones. Gaia must have sensed my frustration. She glanced over her shoulder, and with great ease, she switched positions on the back of Thane’s neck so she was facing me. It would seem she wasn’t a stranger to riding on the backs of dragons.
Her hands wrapped around mine. When Gaia released her loving, warmth directly into my skin it was nearly impossible to remain clenched and tight.
“This is the right thing to do before facing King Nag. Teagan, Nag and the lindworms can harness massive amounts of night energy. I’ve battled them, and though I never speak it out loud, their power frightens even me. We need as much elemental strength as we can.”
I smirked and shouted next to her ear so she might hear over the whipping wind. “For a second, I thought you were going to tell me not to worry about Jade.”
Gaia chuckled and shouted in return. “You forget son, I have a seal on my back. What a pointless thing to tell you not to worry about the one you love. I know you want to go to Nag now, but showing our faces around lindworms will reignite an ancient war. We need to be as prepared as possible, or none of us, including Ariana, will be leaving alive.”
I smiled and clasped her hands tighter. “You called her by her real name,” I muttered.
Gaia nodded and shrugged. “I never got used to using the nicknames for the bloodlines. It seems she has accepted it, so I suppose I should call her as she wishes.” Gaia met my eyes with ferocity. “We’ll get her back, Teagan. I promise.”
Clearing my throat, I squeezed her palm and held on until she was safely turned back around and clasping Thane’s neck.
The sun was high in the sky when Dash blazed next to Thane, drawing Rochelle right next to us. She cupped her hands over her mouth and screamed across at Gaia and me. “We’re here,” she shouted. “I feel it near.”
Thane released a fierce roar into the sky, and in one beautiful unit, the warriors dove toward the earth. I closed my eyes, embracing the rush of wind that only energized the power bursting in my veins. We would
find the stone, then we would find Jade. Sheathing the blades, I inched toward the edge of Thane’s back, and when the ground was drawing near, I leapt off, rolling when I struck the dusty mountainside. Gaia waited until Thane landed before she slid to the ground, and the moment her feet touched the dirt, Thane shifted to human form. Gaia handed him a long sleeved black shirt, as did most of the mages to the warriors after they shifted, since their chests were bare and the cold air was still there. Thane tethered his sword to his waist and moved quickly toward Rochelle.
She smiled and nodded her greeting when Thane came near.
“Good to see you once more,” Thane said.
“And you,” she said with a trembling respect in her voice.
Thane glanced around at the sage and brush coated mountainside. “I recognize the place, but you have the connection with the stone. I do not. Do you remember exactly where you placed it?”
“I thought you hid the stones?” Raffi asked Thane once he tugged on a tight, brown tunic over his head.
“When I met Rochelle,” Thane explained. “I thought it better for her to do the honor.”
Rochelle placed her hands on the ground, her fingertips digging deep into the sandy soil. When she closed her eyes, the pale markings on her arms shimmered beneath the sunlight. I’d come to recognize the energy surges, and though Rochelle was speaking to the earth, I was engulfed in the power of the place.
“It’s down the hillside,” Rochelle breathed, a smile breaking over her lips. “I can feel it close, but I must say, I warded it well.”
“What does that mean?” I mumbled when everyone quickly followed after Rochelle.
“It means it can take some time to find it.” I jumped when Athika was at my side. Mitch followed behind her, his curly hair standing on end from the long night ride on Sapphire’s back.
“This is the coolest thing ever. Everyone always talks about these stones, but actually seeing one—do you think it can do things, like make me a mage?” Mitch breathed at my side.
Athika chuckled darkly. “Mitch, you wish you could be so lucky. You must be elite to be born a mage.”
He glared at her but smiled. “I do wish I could be lucky, thanks for rubbing it in.”
“Rochelle most likely warded the stone from even elemental mages and wyverns,” Athika said. “She can feel it, but I would still wager it will take some time until we find its exact location.”
“We don’t have time,” I grumbled.
Athika touched my arm, but I didn’t feel her same desire as I once had in touch. I admitted now all I sensed was friendship in Athika’s energy. “Hey,” she said. “This is what we need to do to get Jade and Amber back safely. Teagan, I was young during the divide, but I remember the darkness that filled the castle the night Nag attacked. He is dangerously strong, and with the dark High Priest—I can’t imagine what horrors lie in his house.”
“Hey, Athika,” Mitch muttered. “I don’t think that’s helping Teagan feel better, telling him how terrible the place where his girl is being held prisoner might be.”
Athika flushed and bit her bottom lip, offering me a sympathetic glance. “Sorry, I was trying to reassure you that finding the amber stone will help more than you might think.”
“I get it, I just…I’m suffocating,” I admitted. “I need to get her out of there. I feel it so strongly that Bron—maybe it’s Nag—but there is a dark energy close by.”
Athika nodded. “I feel it too. We’ll move as quickly as we can. You will be the most help to Rochelle. As the jade mage, you sense all the elements.”
Sheathing my blades, I rushed after Rochelle as she jogged toward a lower point on the mountain. The sand was damp from melting snow, but the air smelled fresh. The further along the mountain we went, the stranger the energy became. Shrugging away any thoughts that Nag or Bron could be close by, I followed Gaia’s advice and focused. It was difficult to single out one element when the entire area reached a piece of my power. I felt the air still heavy with water, the wind brushed against my face, and the earth was screaming countless voices.
Most of the warriors had shifted to human form, but a few of the larger dragons encircled us in their true forms. Thane commanded stealth, and the dragons crept with remarkable agility through the terrain, hardly making any noise.
Rochelle took her time. Every so often she would kneel on the ground, digging her fingers through the grass, sand, or shrubs. Gaia drifted deeper into the trees when the junipers and desert willows grew thicker. I took the opposite side. Mages filtered through the rows of warriors and helped find any glimmer of the amber stone.
“This is familiar,” Thane whispered. “But there’s something else here. Do you sense anything?”
I stood at his shoulder and scanned the area. In the distance, I could hear water from a stream. Energy came and went, as though it were filtering through a window opening and closing. There was a burst then it would be gone. The energy was familiar and different in one breath. “I feel something,” I admitted after a pause, “but it’s different than elemental energy. I don’t like this.” My voice was low and directed at Thane only.
Thane glanced at me. I knew he valued me as his son, but when he supported my emotions as an equal in this fight, I knew he trusted me as a leader too. “We move carefully. Keep your eyes open.”
Together we inched along, taking time to wait as Rochelle searched for the stone. It seemed as though hours passed, and when the sun drifted lazily deeper in the sky, I realized it had been hours. We were closer to the stream, I could feel the chill of the water in the air. Rochelle jumped from a small, rocky ledge into a grove of trees mingled with sage and shrubs. The trees were thick enough they blocked out the sun.
Frustration boiled along the back of my neck when Rochelle paused once more. But when she shot to her feet, her eyes were gleaming brilliantly in the light.
“It’s here,” she said, staring straight at a crooked tree. The tree was unimpressive. Knobby branches that split low on the trunk housed sparse leaves, but Rochelle seemed particularly thrilled about the roots jutting from the ground. I rushed to her side, kneeling where she knelt.
I released a shuddering breath when the ground burned with a new energy. Along with Rochelle, I dug through the soil, the tips of my fingers burning from the effort and power surging through the soil.
“I found it,” Rochelle breathed after a few minutes. Carefully, Rochelle reached beneath the surface and removed a small, wooden box. The box was coated in mage warding symbols that glowed like the sun, especially when Rochelle touched the wood. Gaia beamed when she lowered to her haunches at my side.
Rochelle lifted the top of the box, the small brass hinges creaking from years of not being used. A thrilling shudder rushed through my chest, down my spine, and lodged in the pit of my stomach when I saw the stone resting on a satin cloth. The amber stone was golden, and the cut sparkled more like a jewel than rough amber. It radiated power, and I believed I might be able to split the ground or force a mountain from the depths of the earth if I honed the power enough.
“Well done, Rochelle,” Gaia whispered.
“I can’t believe we found it,” she sighed, holding the stone tight to her chest.
“It will help, right?” I questioned.
Rochelle nodded. “I feel like I could take on the entire lindworm army on my own when I hold the stone. If Amber touched me, it would be even greater.”
Gaia nodded, resting her hand on my back. “The stones connect with the mage and wyvern differently. The wyvern race rules the power of the element encased in each stone. They protect the elements, and ask them to heal the earth and prosper their people. They can command the elements, much like us, but they communicate differently with the energies.
“The mage can use the energy of the elements to amplify the power we already have. If we also have the stones,” Gaia breathed through a vibrant smile, “it’s an intoxicating amount of power. If all the stones were united, it would be diffi
cult to stop their energy. That’s why Nag wants them for himself. Using Jade as the queen of the elements, it would only amplify his elemental control. I’m certain he is hoping he can get his hands on each stone and use Jade’s stewardship and Bron’s mage power to rule and destroy what he desires.”
“Don’t lose that then,” I snapped, glancing at Rochelle. “Let’s go get Jade and Amber.”
“Wait.” Thane’s voice shuddered through the moment. My stomach dropped, sensing another delay sneaking up on us. Thane was clutching his blade, his eyes looking through the unusually thick barrier of trees. He glanced at me and nodded for me to follow as he broke into the trees. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, but I took my place at his side.
Thane crouched low, his breaths coming deeper and almost angry when I hunched at his side, my gaze following his. Through the trees, I saw them. My breath was lost in the back of my throat. The energy bursting from the clearing of trees was strong and strange, but I sensed there were weaknesses. Thane’s grip dug into my shoulder. His eyes were ferocious, and I knew he wanted to shift, but it would draw too much attention. Gaia was near us, and Mitch and Athika behind her, when Thane reeled around.
“Mitch, go get the warriors,” Thane snarled. Mitch nodded immediately and slithered through the trees silently.
I kept my eyes focused ahead. I recognized the man leaning against a fallen log. His dark hair was damp and wavy around his pale face. He looked to be my age, but his youthful face couldn’t hide what he was. A tall, bearded man stalked close by, glancing nervously toward the trees. Slowly, I unsheathed both the jade blades. Thane’s muscles tensed, and he scanned the area.
“That’s Prince Ced,” I hissed, nodding toward the youngest lindworm.
Thane narrowed his eyes. “I can’t see Bron, do you sense him?”
“He’s not with them.”
We both whirled around and met Gaia’s fierce gaze. Athika gripped a long dagger, and Rochelle now stood on the other side of Gaia, clutching the stone firmly in her grasp.
