Incendiary Magic
Page 9
“Dragons rise from ashes. And unto ash they all return.” Sarah’s voice quavered in Zane’s memory, his foster mother’s grief painfully apparent as she stepped across the gray line that marked the passing of a twinless dragon very much like Zane himself.
Then, later: “Promise me you won’t sit idly by, waiting for the Fade to hit.”
“There’s nothing I can do,” Zane had protested.
“Promise me.”
I promise, Zane repeated now, pushing an extra iota of fire out of his belly and into his wings. The warmth flooded through his system, expanding his torso and broadening the sail-like membranes that stretched out on either side of his sinuous length. Above his head, sun struck the larger surface, replacing the fire he’d consumed and providing an extra burst of solar-powered speed. Then, taking full advantage of the boost, Zane soared above his brother’s head and swiped one long-clawed hand toward his sibling’s throat.
It could have been a killing stroke. But the gesture was only intended to delay his twin’s headlong flight, not to end his life. Well, that...and to give the golden dragon a chance to deploy the ace in the hole clenched in his other draconic fist.
Unfortunately, his twin’s reaction times were better than his own. Twisting almost faster than the eye could follow, the black dragon turned belly-up, claws raking across Zane’s scaly skin until the golden dragon heard himself roar out a protest.
Icy agony ran down Zane’s neck as life-giving fire oozed out of the open wound. But for a dragon, no injury lasted long. Now, as always, magical fire healed as it fled.
Skin melded back onto skin and scales popped forth to replace the ones so recently sent plummeting to the earth. Within seconds the heartening burn of inner fire had replaced the searing agony of claw tracks.
Zane was now a few inches shorter than he had been a moment earlier, his body contracting as energy was lost through the rent of the open wound. But he was still more than a match for his scrawny sibling, who’d likely grown up eating rabbits and field mice instead of the five-course dinners that Sarah liked to whip up for her six little dragonets.
Well, four dragonets now. And we’re certainly no longer little.
Once again, ashes floated out of recent memories, clogging Zane’s nostrils and making it difficult to breathe. His quest had begun with ashes. And if he didn’t pick up the pace, it would end with ashes as well...for him and his brother both.
Worse, if the Fade struck many more times, the Green would overcome the towers that he and his foster siblings—and hundreds of defenseless humans—called home. I won’t let the Aerie succumb, Zane resolved. I’ll find a way to beat this disease if it’s the last thing I do.
No, he couldn’t risk falling to the Fade. And that meant his blood brother was going to have to toe the line and bloody well listen to what he had to say.
Still, it was hard to even consider shifting and speaking when locked into a twisting, plummeting mass of fire, scales, and claws with his brother. They were falling quickly now, neither able to beat his wings properly while latched onto his opponent’s skin. Soon, the grasping trees would stretch up onto their tiptoes and reach for the most hated enemy of all—dragons, the sworn adversary of the Green.
But despite the approaching danger, Zane wasn’t willing to relinquish his grip. He had to force his brother to shift. He had to make him listen. There were hundreds of people depending on dragon-kind back at the Aerie. And without his twin, Zane would Fade away until he was no use to anyone.
Like his recently Faded foster brother, Zane might soon become nothing more than a puddle of ash.
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Did you love Incendiary Magic? Then you should read Verdant Magic by Aimee Easterling!
USA Today bestselling author Aimee Easterling's new series is chock-full of "electric story telling" and "wild post apocalyptic world building."Ever since dragon fire killed her parents, Amber Gardener has resolved to protect her enclave of illegal magic users from the dangers of the outside world. So when a winged intruder lands in her garden, the witch's initial impulse is to defend her neighbors using every weapon at her disposal...up to and including the use of deadly force.But at the last moment, the invading dragon shifts into a mysterious yet handsome stranger whose calm nature prompts Amber to question everything she previously believed to be true. Too bad her childhood sweetheart has no such compunction against dealing with danger the quick and dirty way.Enter a murderous dragon on the rampage, an unexplained fading illness, and a kind-hearted innocent kidnapped out of her bed. Can Amber abandon her post as protector and team up with her enemy in time to save people they both hold dear?Dive into an exhilarating new adventure with this series of interconnected standalones. Books can be read in any order, but chronological order is as follows:1. Incendiary Magic2. Verdant Magic3. Cerulean Magic
Also by Aimee Easterling
Alpha Underground
Dark Wolf Adrift
Half Wolf
Lone Wolf Dawn
Wolf Landing
Alpha Underground Trilogy
Dragon Mage Chronicles
Incendiary Magic
Verdant Magic
Cerulean Magic: A Dragon Mage Novel
Dragon Mage Chronicles
Moon Marked
Wolf's Bane
Wolf Legacy
Huntress Born
Huntress Bound
Rogue Huntress
Huntress Unleashed
Wolf Legacy Quartet
Wolf Rampant
The Complete Bloodling Serial: Episodes 1-5
Wolf Rampant Trilogy
Shiftless
Pack Princess
Alpha Ascendant
Standalone
Jaguar at the Portal
Moon Magic
Shifter Origins
Street Spells: Seven Urban Fantasy Shorts