Dragon Legends (Return of the Darkening Book 2)

by Ava Richardson

  “I’m glad to hear that,” I said.

  She looked up at me, her eyes bright—almost as if she could sense how strange I felt just being back here. “Sebastian Smith, all I want is for you to do well up there in the academy. You’ve a good life for yourself. Keep it, and keep doing us proud.”

  Choked with tears, I stood and wrapped her in my arms.

  *

  Another day of helping my step-mother around the house, buying some supplies, such as flower and sugar, and tending to my da’s moods, and I was more than ready to return to the academy. My da was getting better, but it seemed that he would never be the same man he’d been. The local apothecary—a thin bird of a man with his mouth pulled down—took me aside to tell me my father might not be long for this world. I thanked him for his time, paying him with my last golden piece.

  “Make sure he takes the medicine,” I called out as I left. It was a few hours before evening, and I wanted to get back to my life. I wanted to know what Thea had been doing, and if Merik and Varla had made any more progress toward finding the Dragon Stone—if it existed. I had an itch at the back of my head, as if we might be running out of time. And I could do more to protect my family from the back of a dragon than I could from Monger’s Lane.

  Headed back up through the tiers of streets to the academy, I felt as if I was leaving one world for an entirely different one. The walk up had once left my legs shaking and had left me gasping for breath. Now I easily strode up the wide, stone steps as if they were nothing, swinging my walking stick along with me. My training had been good for one thing—I was fit.

  The light was starting to fade as I passed through the better parts of the city. Here, people glimpsed my leather tunic with its red embroidered symbol for a Dragon Rider, and would give a nod of respect and smiles, as if they couldn’t believe someone so thin or so young could be a Dragon Rider. The houses on either side of the streets grew in size, with finely-decorated glass in the windows and iron gates. The streets widened and the stores had fine windows to display fine good. Some houses even flew the banners of a noble family, but I didn’t see the Flamma banner.

  Heading up the street, my walking staff thumped against the cobbles, and I started to hear another echo—like a second staff. Many in the city used walking poles and staffs to help them go up and down the streets and stairs, but this thump seemed a little too regular—it was a steady rhythm behind me. I’d brought my staff because a Dragon Rider always carried a weapon of some kind. But who would be following me? Another rider?

  The head of Dragon Mountain rose before me as I approached the last city gate—little more than a watch tower over an open bypass into the mountain path that led to the academy. That same, steady rhythm followed me.

  I turned a corner and stopped. The lamplighters were out, setting alight the lanterns that lined this part of the city. The ruddy glow of sunset warmed the street where I’d stopped.

  The sound from the other walking stick paused, too. I peered around the corner to see a large man in a tattered gray cloak, with a salt and pepper beard, holding a walking staff in one hand.

  I leaped from my hiding place to face him and pushed my staff at his chest. “Why are you following me? Who are you?” I took another step toward him, my staff now held ready for a fight.

  He looked at me with dark eyes. From what I could see of his face under the hood of the cloak, his skin looked tanned and his teeth gleamed white as he growled at me. “Do you want to be thrown in jail for attacking a harmless, old man?”

  “You’ve been following me. I saw you at The Troll’s Head. It’s not me who’s going to be to be questioned—it’s you! Now drop your staff and come with me.”

  “Hey, what’s going on there?” one of the lamplighters called out. He pulled out his guardsman’s whistle to alert the city guard.

  The man in the gray cloak moved as fast as a dragon and lashed out with his staff, knocking the lamplighter’s whistle from his hands. I stepped forward and struck the other man’s staff down. He had confirmed what I knew—this was no drunk, or tramp. It took training to use a staff like that.

  I aimed a blow at him, which he easily knocked out of the way. He darted out of my reach. The man in the gray cloak spun on his heel, his staff whipping around. I raised my staff. He dropped his staff low, aiming for the back of my knees. The wood hit and I fell with a thud of pain. I heard the clatter of booted feet—the man in the gray cloak leaped over me and ran out of the city gates.

  One of the lamplighters shouted, “Stop in the name of the king!” I could hear others calling for the guards but I didn’t want to be held by them for anything. I’d already had one mark against me, and if word reached Commander Hegarty or Instructor Mordecai that I’d missed my return, things would be even worse.

  Scrambling to my feet, I grabbed my staff and ran out of the city gates and up Dragon Mountain. Heart hammering, I headed into the darkness. The man I’d meant to question had vanished, just like before. I was sure, however, that the city guards would be too lazy to follow me up a narrow path on a dark mountainside.

  “Let the dragons eat him,” I heard someone shout as I scrabbled up the path.

  Eat? No, Seb too scrawny. And Kalax likes fish.

  I grinned, hearing Kalax’s thought. Despite everything, I was relieved to be heading back to her, to Thea, and to the academy.

  *

  Chapter 10:

  Of Monasteries & Maps!

  The commander was frowning as he stared at Seb. He had stopped right in front of us in the practice yard. My heart was in my throat. Was there going to be yet another mark put against us? What had we done now?

  “I hope you’ve learned your lesson?” the commander said.

  “Yes, of course, sir. It won’t happen again,” Seb said the last words with a little too much force. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I didn’t. I could hear the lie in Seb’s voice, but the commander didn’t seem to.

  We were in the practice yard at the crack of dawn, and my feet and hands itched with the desire to get going already. It had been three days since the fight, and since Seb had been caught in the commander’s study, and I wanted to be back up in the sky. On the rankings board, our names were now almost the lowest in the whole academy. We were Heavy Whites for sure if we didn’t shape up.

  We’ll just have to do better. Seb—like me—at least had enough sense to get himself ready for morning practice early today. We had to show we meant to be great riders.

  It was cold this morning, but the sun had only just peeked over the mountains. It felt like it would warm into a clear day with enough of a breeze to make for perfect flying. Seb had gotten back last night when I was still poring over old maps with Varla.

  The commander eyed us both. I’d been the first up, just like always, which always earned me a lot of comments from Beris about how I was like every other Flamma. I could live with that—it was a compliment. Looking from me to Seb, the commander said, “Instructor Mordecai mentioned there was, well…a good reason, Smith, for your action. Your father—how does he?” The commander raised an eyebrow.

  Cheeks reddening, Seb glanced down at the ground. “He seems to be on the mend, sir, thanks to Instructor Mordecai.”

  The commander smoothed his mustache. “Yes, well make sure that you thank him. He does a lot for the academy.”

  I stared at the commander. Was there a bit of drowsiness or blankness to his eyes as he’d said that? Or was he just tired? Had Mordecai been using the Memory Stone on him, too, making the commander believe that Mordecai was loyal and well-meaning? Or did the commander really think Mordecai was a good instructor? I wanted to demand answers, but I couldn’t let anyone know that we suspected Mordecai. That wouldn’t be safe. Merik hadn’t been any help with remembering if he’d seen the Memory Stone or had it used on him, or even who he’d seen of late. So we still didn’t know who—or what—had the Memory Stone. It could well be that someone had been able to sneak into the academy—or had gotten to thos
e here in the city.

  “Rider Flamma.” The commander skewered me with a hard look, and I straightened and fixed my gaze on him. He gave a nod and smoothed his bristling mustache. “I happened to be meeting with your brothers and the king last night at a council meeting. Ryan said you will attend the Winter Ball, and I hope you will show that Dragon Riders have not only fighting skills, but other more refined talents.”

  My heart sank. I could sense my mother’s hand in this. Varla’s mother and father just wanted to convince her to come home and be a Lady within their house. But I’d had letters from my mother lately where she was starting to hint that the Flamma line must be preserved and my brothers showed no signs of marrying. She wanted grandchildren, I knew, and she was starting to look to me to provide them.

  I gave a nod and tried not to show any anger, but I was certain my hot face had paled a little bit. “Thank you, Commander,” I said.

  “Good to have both of you back in the air. Today will be a free-flying day and I advise you both to try and get as much as you can.” The commander’s stare once again slid to the side and his eyes blanked, as if his thoughts had somehow slipped away.

  “Sir?” Seb asked. Was he going to ask the commander about the Darkening? Or the Memory Stone? I held my breath.

  Instead, the commander turned from us and barked out, “Dragon Riders, assemble. Inspection now.”

  Others had been heading to the keep for breakfast, but now everyone ran over and fell into place, snapping to attention as the commander moved along the line. He once again looked the part of a stern task-master—the administrator of the entire academy. Any hint of the friendship we might have shared after the battle for King’s Village seemed to be gone as he stalked up and down the line, inspecting boots, tugging at leather jerkins and slapping at sloppy bracers.

  “Free flying today,” he said. His voice sounded harsher now. “You have an entire day to practice your maneuvers, build up better stamina, and improve communication. The last practice session showed me you still look more like cadets than riders! You have to be able to fight in the saddle, to fly, to move, to talk, to look, to listen. I want you to be so comfortable in your saddles you could eat a twelve course meal up there and not spill a morsel.”

  “Yes, sir!” Everyone answered him, but I couldn’t find the strength to bark my reply as strongly as the others. I slid a quick glance at Seb. His dark eyes looked worried, too. He had to be thinking the same things.

  Why was the commander ramping up our practices? Were we preparing for war? Or was something else about to happen?

  “Riders to your mounts,” the commander shouted. The Dragon Horns blared, signaling the start to another glorious day.

  *

  It felt good to be back in the saddle again. In front of me, Seb glanced back over his shoulder—he was positively beaming. He’d fallen into silence almost as soon as we’d mounted Kalax, not even shouting directions back to me. Usually, his telling me things was annoying, but today I missed it. And I could see that three days without flying and away from the academy had changed him a little bit.

  He seemed a little more thoughtful, and focused almost entirely on Kalax.

  Yes. Good. Kalax, Seb, Thea hunt together!

  Kalax sent her thoughts to me. In her mind, this was what we should be—one unit, hurling across the skies.

  I’d been right about this being a perfect flying day. A chill wind from the Leviathan Mountains made me glad of my flying leathers, but only a few clouds dotted the blue sky, and the sun warmed my back. Kalax flapped her wings, huffing breaths of enjoyment. Far below, the land turned a darker brown—harvests had been brought in. The green leaves of the forest trees were starting to turn orange. I wondered how long it would be before frost and snow arrived.

  Kalax likes snow cold! I chuckled at her thought.

  “You heard that?” Seb glanced over his shoulder at me.

  I nodded. Before I could tell him anything about my ever-increasing closeness with Kalax, she decided to take us through our paces.

  With a trill like a bird, Kalax fell out of the sky, turning in a spin as she did so, heading toward the ground at a frightening speed. She roared her delight, and pulled up, skimming over the treetops.

  Seb gave a shout, and I found myself joining in, his enthusiasm and mine mixed with Kalax’s.

  After another couple of hours of barrel rolls and sharp turns, sudden drops, dives, and steep climbs, we’d flow far from the academy. Dragon Mountain seemed only a small, dark hump in the horizon. We had also left the other dragons behind. I tapped Seb on the shoulder. Now was the time.

  Fumbling inside my small travel pack, I pulled out the scroll I had been working on with Varla last night as we tried to piece together Merik’s shattered memory of the monastery locations.

  “What’s this?” Seb called out.

  Kalax glided, and I told Seb about Merik’s memory loss, and about us trying to map out the old monasteries. I waved a hand for us to head southwest. “First one is that way.”

  I pulled my cloak a little tighter and kept one hand on my bow. I didn’t say anything, but it must have been obvious to Seb that with all of these strange losses of memory happening, it didn’t seem likely that we were the only ones looking for the Armor Stone.

  *

  We found the first set of ruins easily. The old towers stood much taller even than those of the academy. We soared over the foothills near the end of the Leviathan Mountains. The air here seemed cooler with a touch of ice on the ground—winter was on its way. The old monastery looked as if it had once had a large, square tower and walls, but only two of the walls still stood. I could just make out carvings of dragons on the stone.

  Seb brought Kalax down to a landing near the tower. She began to sniff for rangy hill-sheep for a snack as I followed Seb into the ruins. Most of the stones had long since tumbled down from the tower, leaving just the foundation. To judge by the cart track, some of the stones had been taken away to be used in building cottages and or field walls.

  I wondered if some shepherd had found the Armor Stone and had taken it away. Maybe it was sitting on some rough mantel over a fireplace? My stomach lurched at the idea. Something as powerful as the Armor Stone wouldn’t stay long in a peasant hut. Anyone who touched it would have to feel something special about it. I was certain of that.

  Dragon eggs grow in those they touch. The sudden thought from Kalax made me stumble. I put a hand out to steady myself on the nearest stone wall.

  Seb glanced back at me. “What is it? Did you see something?” He stared at me, his head tipped to the side, and I realized he hadn’t heard Kalax’s thought.

  Kalax, can you shield your thoughts as you wish?

  She didn’t answer me, but I had a feeling of concentration and focus on the scent of a rabbit. Glancing at Seb, I shook my head. “Fine. Just…well, thirsty and hungry. Want lunch?”

  What had Kalax meant? That the stones were like dragon eggs? That they changed whoever touched them? Was that me? When Hegarty had saved me with the Healing Stone, had that change me somehow?

  A wave of darkness rose up in front of me, like night rising up from the ground to swallow me. A sharp, agonizing pain lifted in my side. Had I almost given way to that darkness? Had I been about to give up when the commander healed me?

  “Thea!”

  Blinking, I looked at Seb. He stood in front of me, one hand on my shoulder. He was staring at me, his brown eyes worried.

  Annoyance flashed through me and I shoved his arm away. “I’m fine. I don’t need help!”

  Seb gave me that same puppy-dog, measured look I’d seen a lot on him over these past few months.

  “Come on,” I said. “Let’s just get this over with so we can get back to the academy.”

  Pushing past him, I stepped inside the ruined tower. What little of the walls still stood gave a sense of what this tower must have once been like. I could see where a large hearth, like that of the keep at the academy, had be
en, and a stone floor. It looked like something was nesting here—maybe foxes—but mostly it was just weathered stones of all shapes and sizes and carvings that had almost disappeared.

  Seb stooped to pick up a few odd-shaped stones from the floor. Some were darker than others, a few even looked egg-shaped, but none of them felt to me like the Healing Stone had. When I told Seb that, he shrugged and put them in the bags I was carrying.

  By the time Kalax finished her lunch, we were all ready to leave. The ruined tower seemed a sad place to me—a place forgotten. I wondered who had lived here and what dreams they had once had. And if the Darkening had destroyed this place.

  My thoughts also kept circling around one worrying thought—was I different?

  Coming over to me, Seb pulled a meat pie from the bag he’d brought with him. He handed it to me and said, “You know, I think someone knows that we’re after the Armor Stone.”

  I nodded and took a bite of the pie. It tasted dry and dusty in my mouth. “But why not come after us directly? Why Merik and the prince? Why just a few of their memories?”

  Seb leaned his shoulder against the stone. “Maybe to help push us to find it—so they can take the Armor Stone from us? Or maybe to steal those memories—so someone else has them.”

  I shivered and suddenly wasn’t hungry. “Come on. There’s another set of ruins not far from here.”

  We mounted up on Kalax, I fed her the last of my meat pie, and we flew to ruins that were little more than a circle of tumbled rocks on a barren hillside. I found a bit of old statuary that might once have been a foreleg of a dragon, or a horse. I picked up a few rounded bits of stone to add to the collection, my shoulders sagging and wishing we were done with this search so we could be working on our skills.

  Leaving those ruins, we flew west and found ruins with an almost intact hall that someone was using to store hay.

  I sneezed and found more egg-shaped stones, but none of them felt special. Turning to Seb, I told him, “What if we never find the Armor Stone?”