That meant something to me.
He started off, leaving me, and I lingered for a moment, considering whether I wanted to chase him down. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else here that I might find, some answers I might determine, but even as he went, I didn’t know whether I should go with him or try to turn around and leave him to his own devices. But I was curious, and I had learned from Thomas.
That thought stayed with me. I’d gained something from him. Because of him, I knew how to reach for the dragons, how to feel for the power that existed, and I knew there was a connection I shared with the dragons that I hadn’t been able to fully uncover before.
There would have to be something more within that connection that I could master, though given what I’d uncovered in my time at the Academy, I was no longer certain I could do that with the assistance of the Academy’s instructors. I needed to have another opportunity to keep working with Thomas so I could continue my progression with the connection to the dragons.
More than that, I wasn’t entirely sure whether I trusted Thomas, considering what was taking place. To be honest, I didn’t know who to believe. It could be that I needed to trust the Sharath, though it was difficult for me to know who was right. I didn’t know either of them, really.
The Djarn were up to something.
I’d found them in the forest. Twice. And there was whatever Joran and his father had been doing in the city. Those occurrences were related. They had to be.
I chased down Thomas. When he looked over at me, I said, “I’m not exactly sure whether I can trust you with this, but I feel like I’m now a part of it, so if nothing else, I want to be given the chance.”
“You want to be given what chance?” he asked.
“The chance to decide whether or not you’re guilty.”
He grunted. “You too?”
“I figure if the king and the Sharath aren’t certain about you, I shouldn’t necessarily openly trust you,” I said.
“You should always question. Don’t trust everyone’s word as truth. Find your own truth.”
It sounded similar to what Joran had said.
He headed onward, and this time I kept pace with him, determined to see just what I might uncover with him. As we hurried through the city, moving beyond passersby and soldiers, I started to feel the draw of the dragons in the distance, the steady pull that came to me from the dragon pens on the outskirts of the city.
“Are we going to the dragons?”
“I was given the rest of the week to prove my innocence.”
“Why do you blame the Djarn?”
Thomas glanced over to me. “My experience with the Djarn is different than yours, I’m sure. You might not think they can do anything dangerous, but I’ve been around the Djarn enough to know just how challenging they can be.”
“What exactly do you think they might do?”
“I think they might try to infiltrate the kingdom.”
I started to laugh when I looked over at Thomas, realizing he wasn’t laughing. I could feel the power of the dragons coming off of him as it cycled through him; it became clear to me that he maintained his connection because of his concern about what might happen next.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m dead serious,” Thomas said. “The nature of the Djarn is to hide in the forest. They don’t want anyone to know where they are, what they’re doing, and the danger that they pose.”
“I don’t think they pose any danger,” I said, though I increasingly started to question whether that was true.
“Because you haven’t been a part of it. The Djarn have been particularly dangerous, and those of us in the know recognize that.”
I frowned at him. We didn’t have the same perspective, and I wasn’t sure that we even could. At this point, nothing was certain to me.
“The Djarn have not been challenging. I have a friend whose father has been helping them. Besides, if the Djarn were a part of this, wouldn’t Donathar have known? He was embedded within them.”
Thomas stared at me. “Which is the exact reason I’m concerned about him.”
I watched him, glaring at him for a moment, before chasing after him again. “What do you intend to do with the Djarn?”
“I intend to ensure that if they have taken our dragons, they won’t get away with it.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. I didn’t really know what he might do, but I knew that I hadn’t seen anything with the Djarn that would make me concerned that they would go after the dragons. I had only seen their isolation. There was no reason for us to get involved with them.
We reached the green lawn outside of the dragon pen, beyond the Academy, and from there I stared for a moment, watching to see if he might go toward the dragons. I glanced briefly to see if there might be any sign of Natalie, but I didn’t see anything.
“When are you going?” He glanced back at me. “You obviously intend to go after the Djarn soon.”
He headed straight for the dragon pen. There was heat radiating from it, which I could feel, though only faintly. Once inside the pen, he approached the same black dragon he had before and rested his hand on its side, whispering something that I couldn’t hear. But I could feel something radiating from the dragon, a hint of energy that suggested he was connecting more thoroughly to it now than he had before. I could feel the way the power cycled through him, flowing from the dragon and over to him, circling out and back.
He looked over to me. “Well? I assume you would want to come, especially given your overwhelming concern for the Djarn.”
“You knew that Donathar had been embedded with the Djarn, so if they have a hand in this, then he’s involved,” I said. “He’s looking for the missing dragons.”
Thomas snorted. “He’s working with the Sharath.”
“Why don’t the two of you get along?”
Thomas clenched his jaw, and for a moment, I didn’t think that he was going to answer. “It’s complicated. He views the Vard differently than I do.”
“All of this is about the Vard?”
“You dealt with the Vard. I would think that if anyone would understand, it would be you.”
“I . . .” I shook my head. Thomas was in no mindset for me to respond with what my experience with the Vard had actually been. “You might disagree with him about the threat of the Vard, but the two of you want the same thing.” When he frowned at me, I hurried on. “You want to protect the kingdom. It’s not the Djarn.”
“You’ve been in the city for how long?”
“A few months.”
He grunted. “Not long enough to know the dangers that I know.”
A flicker of darkness crossed his brow, and for a moment, I wondered if perhaps Thomas was the one I should be trusting.
“I intend to find the dragons.” He climbed onto the dragon’s back and waited. "I think that with your potential, you might be able to help. You may not want to, but you are going to have to make a decision. Eventually, that decision will choose your path for you."
"This doesn't have anything to do with me. I'm a student at the Academy. Nothing more."
He laughed softly. “You might be surprised what it has to do with, Ashan.”
With that, the dragon took to the air, launching himself upward and circling before streaking off and out over the forest. I could still feel the energy of the connection to the dragon even as he flew away, and with each passing moment, I recognized the way power flowed from him.
I breathed out slowly, steadily, and then turned my attention back to the dragon pens. Inside, the green dragon had crawled toward me. He remained separated from the others. There was something about him that touched upon me, letting me draw upon his power, and something within him seemed to call to me. I wasn’t sure if the calling of power was something I should be more aware of, or if it was something bound to me, only that I could feel the way the dragon filled with power—and the way he filled me with power.
“I’m not convinced,” I said, realizing how foolish it was to say anything to the dragon. “The Djarn are connected to the dragons.”
A bit of heat radiated from the dragon, and he crawled slightly forward.
The dragon watched me and I thought I could sense a level of amusement glittering in his eyes, as if he were aware of the struggle I shared, and felt some level of satisfaction with it. I couldn’t help but feel as if the dragon were trying to decide whether to help me or to continue to taunt me. Either way, the power he possessed still flowed out from him and through me, cycling, connecting me to him in a way that couldn’t happen with any of the other dragons.
“There are others missing,” I said softly.
The dragon lifted his head up, and I felt a rumble of heat and energy coming off of him.
“You understand that, don’t you?”
There came another rumble.
Now there was no doubt in my mind that the dragon understood me, but it was a matter of whether he would be able to help.
“Are the Djarn responsible for what happened to them?”
The dragon rumbled again, saying something, though I couldn’t tell what it was. The only thing I could make out was the steady rumbling, the power that radiated from him, and some hint of energy that suggested to me that he was fully aware of what was taking place.
I leaned forward, grabbing the bars of the cage. “The Djarn I’ve seen in the past haven’t seemed like they could be responsible for anything. But Thomas seems convinced,” I said. “I think I need to know what Joran’s father brought to the city.”
The dragon rumbled again.
“You understand me, which means you understand what’s going on.”
I squeezed the bars of the cage. There was some part of me that felt ridiculous talking to the dragon like this, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel as if the dragon really did know what I was saying.
When he had been captured, had he known then what was going on?
If so, why hadn’t dragon done anything to resist?
Unless there wasn’t much the dragon could do. He was small, not nearly as powerful as some of the larger dragons; it would take him time to develop that strength and size.
“I’m trying to do everything I can to help the dragons. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but it seems to me that it’s something. Do you think you can help?”
The dragon leaned toward me, heat and energy continuing to radiate from him, as if he wanted to make sure I knew what he was doing, but there was something else within his gesture that I thought I needed to grasp—like he wanted to show me the power that existed within him.
The dragon rumbled. I reached my hand out and some blast of power surged through me. It was that power which felt as if I were connected to the dragon in a way I hadn’t been before.
“I hear you have decided to get caught up in Thomas Elaron,” a voice said.
I spun and realized Brandel and two of his cronies were there, making their way toward me. I glanced over at the dragon, who remained near the bars of the pen. “I’m not getting caught up in anything,” I said.
“That’s not the story I hear. Rumor has it you were at the palace.” He started to smile.
For Brandel to have already heard that left me wondering who his father really was. Maybe he was much better connected than I realized.
“Normally, such a thing would have been a proud moment, even for you, but I suspect you didn’t have nearly the exciting moment that you thought you would.”
“What do you know about it?”
“I know that you were seen at the palace. What else should I know?”
Cara grinned. She had a determined set to her jaw that I had always found attractive.
She wasn’t from the city—not like Brandel, whose birthplace contributed to his smugness. She had come from the south, far enough away that I wouldn’t have expected her to have the same smug attitude, but every time I was around her, it seemed as if she echoed his responses.
“I was at the palace so I could help the king,” I said.
He chuckled. “I know exactly why you were at the palace. My father told me.”
Could his father be the Sharath?
That might explain why Brandel didn’t care for Thomas.
“I also know what Thomas has been accused of. Perhaps you don’t know the full extent of it. Do you think this is all about missing dragons? If that were it, then he would have sent the dragon mages out sweeping for them. No. This is about something quite different. And in the case of your dragon mage, and the one who you have decided to ally yourself with, it’s something that means he will find himself facing the dragon’s justice.”
I stared at him.
“Let me guess. You don’t even know what dragon’s justice is?”
“No,” I said.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“You can go ahead and spell it out for me. You might as well spell it out for Cara, as well. I suspect she doesn’t know about this dragon justice either.”
“Don’t presume to think that you know me,” Cara said.
I looked over at her. “Have I wronged you in some way?”
“You have done—”
Brandel raised his hand and she cut herself off.
There was something about this dynamic that made me feel as if I were missing something, but maybe it was nothing more than the nature of their connection and the fact I was an outsider.
“The dragon’s justice is for those who have become traitors to the king,” he started. “And given what I have seen from you, and what you have been trending toward, I wouldn’t be surprised if you face the dragon’s justice too, just the same as him.”
“I haven’t done anything,” I said.
“You come from the Wilds,” Cara said.
I turned to her. “Is that what bothers you so much? If that’s the issue with you, then I can assure you that I am just as committed to the kingdom as you are.”
“I doubt you’re just as committed to anything,” she said.
I shot her a hard look. I didn’t want to have any sort of battle or argument with either of them.
At this point, all I wanted was to figure out what was going on, especially with the dragons, and how I could intervene.
I ignored them, turning to the green dragon. As I focused on his power, it swept through me. It would be a simple thing for me to reach for that power and use it, turning it upon Brandel and Cara and . . .
Why was I thinking like that?
“Aren’t you paying any attention?” Brandel snapped.
I glanced over to him. “No,” I said. “I stopped paying attention to you.”
“They will find the dragons you released,” he said.
“That I released?”
“You were there for the first one.”
I frowned. “The first one?” I looked to the dragon pen and realized he meant the one Jerith had used for my test. “That dragon returned.”
“No, it didn’t,” Brandel said. “Don’t pretend like you weren’t involved in freeing that dragon.”
“The only thing I was involved in was getting stranded out in the forest,” I said.
“I’m sure you were stranded,” Cara said. “You probably had help from your friends in the Vard.”
I laughed. “If you knew anything about me, then you’d know I’d found a traitor who’d infiltrated the Academy selection.” I studied them for a moment. “Or did you know that? Maybe you were involved with her? It’s possible Elaine had others who she’d been working with who were tied to her. Maybe that was you?”
“You need to be careful with what you accuse others of doing,” Brandel said.
“Shouldn’t you take your own advice?” I asked.
“We’ll be watching you,” Brandel said. “And the moment you make a mistake . . .”
I ignored them, turning my attention back to the dragon pen, focusing on the green dragon. The ot
her two started to move away, leaving me alone in the pen. It was better than having them lingering here.
My mind worked through what I had experienced. The dragon hadn’t returned.
Here I thought he had.
What had Jerith said?
I glanced over to the Academy building, frowning to myself. I could feel the energy of the dragons around me, the energy of those who were trying to touch upon the dragons, and distantly, even the power of those within the palace connected to the dragons, the dragons themselves hidden somewhere deep within the building.
It was strange that I should be aware of that, and I didn’t know if there were something within me that had shifted and changed, or if it were merely a matter of my strength intensifying. Maybe I should have stuck with Thomas so I could more deeply understand the connection I shared with the dragons.
If the Djarn were responsible, I wanted to know.
There was no doubt in my mind that the dragon had been pulled into the forest, though I’d thought that was all part of the testing. If the Djarn were involved at that time, and if somehow they were involved with what happened to the dragon, then shouldn’t I let Thomas know?
I tapped on the dragon pen bar. “I may need your help,” I whispered to the dragon.
Turning toward the forest, I could still feel the edge of power coming off of Thomas. It was faint and vague, but the sense of it was there. If he was out there searching for dragons, then perhaps I needed to look as well.
17
I knocked at Jerith’s door. The sound was a dull thud in the hallway, and I looked along the length of the hall, shifting my stance, feeling a bit self-conscious about coming here. I knew there wasn’t anything I could even do, but at the same time, I felt that I needed to be here. When there was no answer, I traced my hand along the etched symbol of the dragons on the door.
I had never taken much time to really look at it. The dragons looked to be in flight, three of them chasing each other, flames shooting from their mouths. It was either three dragons playing, or three dragons fighting.
Considering what I’d seen of the dragons in the pens and those that I had encountered within the city, I had a hard time thinking they fought each other at all. At the same time, I didn’t really know. I couldn’t imagine what a war fought with dragons would be like.
The Betrayed Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 2) Page 19
