Magic (The Brindle Dragon Book 5)

by Jada Fisher

  She knew that the dragon riders were flying toward Margaid, the moon on their wings as they moved through the silken night. How many of them would never return? Their blood spilled on the battlefield that she had seen so clearly in her dreams?

  Her tongue curled on itself, idly rubbing the crescent scar along her teeth. It was a newer habit she’d picked up, she noticed, but it helped ground her when the threads of what was and what was not seemed to start wanting to get tangled up in each other.

  But it still couldn’t distract her from very certain thoughts that she didn’t want to think about at all.

  Her parents.

  She had long since come to terms with their deaths. It hadn’t been easy. She had cried, and sobbed, and had many a nightmare about their demise. But they had raised her knowing that sacrificing themselves for others was part of their job and there might come a time they would have to leave her. So, while it hurt, and it did hurt so much, there was a calming sort of logic to it. They had done what was right. Their duty.

  But now…

  They hadn’t just given their lives, they’d given their souls.

  Eist had never really thought too much about the afterlife. She had always assumed that the Truth of the Three was…well…the truth. But the more she found out about magic, and the Blight, and everything else, the more it seemed that maybe she didn’t have all the answers.

  Still, she had always believed in souls, and passing beyond the veil, but to find out that her parents never did that, that they were just…erased from everything to make some bonds of a prison to hold a malevolent entity that shouldn’t have even been there… Well, it sucked.

  Sucked wasn’t even the right word for it. It wasn’t raw or angry enough. Didn’t have the bitterness or unfair tint that she was looking for.

  Eist didn’t know if there were any words that fit what she was looking for.

  But at least, in the grand scheme of everything, she had managed to help at least a little. She shuddered to think of what it would be like if she hadn’t known. Would all of the city have been laid to waste before the riders could arrive? She supposed it was possible, considering all the wicked and twisted creatures that she had seen.

  “No!”

  The calm of the night, the melancholy sort of silence that seemed to have fallen over the academy, was shattered as Dille launched herself into a sitting position.

  “By the Three!” Ain groaned. “You know I was asle—”

  He stopped when his eyes cracked open and he saw her expression. She was breathing hard and covered in sweat.

  “Are you alright?” Eist asked.

  “Eist,” Dille breathed, eyes wide and wild. “We’ve been tricked!”

  6

  Double-Cross

  “Alright, I get that magic is a thing now,” Ain said as they rode through the night sky. “But since when do you have dreams, Dille?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered breathlessly, tucked low to Veralda’s back. “It’s mostly just been…feelings, lately, but tonight was different.”

  “Okay, so let’s say you’re right,” Yacrist said from behind Eist. “Then how or why did our girl here get a dream that showed something so different?”

  How indeed.

  Eist had a feeling she knew exactly how, but she kept her mouth shut, as if verbalizing it would somehow make the awful reality true. All she really needed to focus on was getting to the castle.

  They were lucky that Veralda and Ethella were both large enough to carry the five of them, the rest of their dragons flying along beside them. Goodness knew that Gaius and Fior wouldn’t be able to carry either of their riders just yet.

  “And you’re certain it’s a trick?” Ain asked for probably the tenth time.

  “Yes,” Dille said. “Or at least it’s a…distraction. All I know is that we have to get to the castle. Right now.” She leaned harder into Veralda. “Please, gorgeous, go faster.”

  Their dragons tried as best they could, cutting through the dark. Eist could feel a prickle rising along her arms and then the back of her neck, and the closer they flew, the more she knew Dille was right.

  Something terrible was going to happen. She could feel it just like she felt all those other times. She had been foolish to think that she had enough of a hand on things to try to interpret dreams all willy-nilly.

  They set down quietly in front of the main gate, which of course was closed with guards patrolling casually about. The night was so quiet and still, as if it were just like any other evening. If Dille wasn’t so certain that something important was happening inside, Eist would have almost thought it peaceful.

  The rest of their dragons landed around them, and they strode forward as if they hadn’t suddenly been roused from their sleep by a very weighted nightmare.

  “Young Lord Auber!” one of the guards said in surprise as they approached. “We did not get word that you would be arriving tonight. Where is your escort?”

  “Please, I haven’t used an escort to usher me back and forth to the academy since my second year,” Yacrist said with a smile, standing at the front of the group in a casual stance. Eist didn’t know how he managed it. She felt like she was going to jump right out of her skin, but he seemed about as collected as someone could be. “I just wanted to have a visit with my mates, stay here a couple of days, and stuff ourselves on real food before going back to work.”

  “I… I don’t think your father would approve of this. Things are, uh, tense currently.”

  “I know, I know,” Yacrist said, as charming as could be. As much as Eist had watched him navigate the complicated waters of having nearly a quarter of their class swooning over him, she had forgotten how easy it was for him to finesse whoever he wanted. It would have been alarming if they weren’t on the same side. “When does he ever like what I do? Trust me, just let us in all quiet-like and I swear I will take all of the lecturing he wants to drop on me tomorrow. You know, when my stomach’s plenty full of food from the kitchen. I do so miss Armelta’s cooking.”

  There was a small laugh from the guard and two others close by before he stood aside. “Open the gate for the lord,” he ordered quietly. “And do try to keep the noise down. You know how the Lady of the House hates being awoken.”

  There was another round of dry laughs and then they were walking through the courtyard up to the palace.

  “Is it foolish of me t-t-to hope th-that everything will be that easy?” Athar muttered once they were a far enough distance from the closing gate.

  “It’s a nice thought,” Yacrist agreed before tilting his head to Dille. “I’m sorry to say this, girls and Alynbach, but you’ve all gotten too big to fit through the halls.”

  The three dragons stopped up short, looking despondently at Yacrist as he held up a hand to them.

  “You did a great job, girlie,” Dille agreed, stepping forward and nuzzling the nose of her mount. “I need you to fly to the roof and keep an eye out for us, okay? Listen real close.”

  The massive red dragon let out an arguing rumble, to which her rider laughed. “Aw, come on, don’t be like that. After all, you’ll have Alynbach to hang out with. That’ll be nice, right?”

  As if he understood everything, Alynbach sidled up to his friend and nudged her, his heads going to either side of one of her wings where they nuzzled contentedly.

  “You’ll look out for my girl, right?”

  Both gave a knowing little warble, their eyes closed.

  As for Fior, he continued to wind around her feet, chirping curiously like he knew something was up. Which, of course he did, because he knew that things always went a little topsy-turvy whenever they broke their sleeping schedule. Once more, she was grateful that he was small enough to not have to leave her side like her friends’ dragons.

  Ethella, however, wasn’t taking things nearly as well as the others. Her head was tucked low to the ground and she was whimpering softly, like she was crying. Eist felt a bit bad for her, but at least Athar
was hugging her neck with his large, thick arms. It was clear to see how much he loved her.

  “As touching as all this is, shouldn’t we hurry it along?” Ain asked.

  “Give them a minute,” Eist said, elbowing him gently. “You and I are lucky enough that our guys are still able to fit through the halls.”

  “I would be fine either way,” he said with a shrug. “It’s your little one that you spoil with all that attention.”

  “All that attention?” Eist parroted. “I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to ignore my winged soulmate who also happened to save my life around four times already.”

  “Fair enough.” Gaius let out a harrumph next to him and he chuckled, gently pressing his shoulder against his golden mount’s. “Don’t be jealous now. It’s not a good look on you.”

  “Oh, he’s jealous? Maybe you should pay him a little more attention.”

  Yacrist inserted himself between them, an arm over each of their shoulders. “So, where to now?”

  Dille looked around, her eyes narrowing like she was searching for something specific. Eist couldn’t help but wonder if that was what she looked like when she was scanning for those bonds that led her places she shouldn’t go. Blinking, she took a deep breath and let her vision transition.

  When she opened them again, she was almost blinded. Those ties that had been pulling Dille in dozens of different directions were now glowing so brightly that Eist could feel them searing afterimages into her gaze. She hissed and quickly flicked her eyes away, drawing attention to herself.

  “That didn’t seem like a good sound,” Ain observed.

  “It wasn’t,” Eist said, wiping the tears that tried to well up and soothing her eyes before opening them again. Just as she expected, she could see the glowing threads leading away from her friend and into the castle. They were more tolerable when they weren’t all on top of each other, tightly bound around the dark-skinned girl’s limbs, and this time, Eist managed not to wince. “This way.”

  They moved forward once more, in through the front doors and through the main halls. Eist mildly recognized them from the grand ball the year before. It seemed so long ago, almost like a different lifetime, and yet it really hadn’t been that far at all. Not considering that she was on her fourth year since she started her whole journey.

  “Maybe this is just another situation with that whole book thing,” Yacrist said hopefully as they walked. Eist noticed that what few servants or guards they did pass looked surprised and bowed or curtsied but didn’t otherwise hinder them. She wanted to tell them to run, or to hide, but in reality, she didn’t even know if they needed to. Nobody had been hurt with the whole shadow monster incident, so there was no reason to assume they would be now.

  Then again, Dille had been the one to stop the creatures before they had overwhelmed Eist and Yacrist. She had sensed the danger enough to come and save the day then, so it made sense to trust whatever she was sensing with so much fear.

  “Really, if there was something going on here, I think my family would have noticed and be up n’ at ‘em.”

  “Really?” Ain retorted. “I would have thought that they would be as unobservant as you.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m very observant.”

  “Sure you are.”

  Fior whined at Eist’s feet. His whole body was tense and pointed forward, like he was a hunting dog who could see the same ribbons that were pulling along Eist’s vision. He had whined before they had gone into that room too, which made her wonder if he was just inclined toward magic as much as she was, or if all dragons were more in tune with whatever gifts she and her parents had.

  They kept padding on, deeper into the castle, until they took a sudden turn and were heading away from the grand banquet hall and the ballroom. It wasn’t toward the crumbling, damaged areas of the keep either. The hairs on Eist’s arms raised as they journeyed farther into unfamiliar territory.

  And yet, it was still surprisingly peaceful. No signs of battle, no blood on the floor, no smell of burning or ash. Not even the crackle of the dark magic that the sorcerer called upon. It would be so easy to let her guard down, but Eist gripped it with all she had.

  “Where even are we?” Ain muttered, looking around at the long, narrow hall they were in. It was smaller and less elaborate than the halls above, and there were dozens of rooms along the sides.

  “Oh, this is just the servants’ quarters. I used to play down here back when I was younger until my father forbid it. It’s actually pretty ni—” he cut himself off, looking around more keenly as if he had just realized where he was. “Wait. It’s too quiet here. Like…way too quiet.”

  He strode to one of the doors, lifting the handle and throwing it open before anyone else could respond. But instead of some sort of room with a family or maid, they were greeted by broken furniture and shattered belongings.

  “What happened here?” Athar asked, leaning past Yacrist to look.

  But the young man didn’t answer. Instead, he spun right on his heel and strode to the next door. It too opened, and they saw more of the same.

  His speed picked up, and Eist could feel the anxiety coming from him in waves. He opened three more doors, each one more violently than the last, as if hoping that he could surprise the rooms into not being ransacked.

  By the time he was moving onto the fifth door, Eist caught up with him and placed her hand over his.

  “Hey,” she said soothingly, trying to catch his attention. “I’m pretty sure they’re all the same.”

  “They’re all gone,” he whispered, his eyes spinning around the hall wildly. “How could they all be gone? We have a staff of at least three hundred between the stables, the kitchens, and the rest of the estate. They can’t all be gone!”

  Fior whined, his small, stubby teeth biting into the bottom of her tunic and pulling her toward the end of the hall.

  “Let’s not question it until we have a little more information, alright? I think Fior hears something. Can you pull yourself together?”

  His face was gray as he nodded, swallowing harshly several times. “Yeah. Yeah, I can keep going. I just… Entire families work here, Eist. What if they… What if they’ve all been taken?”

  “If they were, then we’ll find them,” she answered, filling her voice with determination for his sake. “Besides, it seems pretty unlikely that they would be able to move that many people so quickly without the guards at the front noticing.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yeah. Even with the camp, they stole people in small groups. Who knows how long they were out there, and they only managed to round up around fifty people. Suddenly upgrading to three hundred seems a little bit farfetched, right?”

  “Yeah… Yeah, you’re right.” He took a breath. “Lead on.”

  Eist nodded and the group fell into an informal sort of arrangement with her and Fior at the lead and Dille just beside her. The boys followed along with Gaius bringing up the rear, his low grumble just barely registering in Eist’s hearing.

  They moved forward once more, passing through another long hall that Yacrist said were the family rooms, before there was finally an old door at the end.

  “Where does that lead?” Ain asked.

  “The storerooms, mostly full of things the servants would need but with some old equipment there too.”

  “Storage rooms? That sounds safe enough.”

  “If there’s one thing I’ve learned,” Eist said, drawing her shortsword, “it’s that sometimes things can be deceiving.”

  She waited until the others were armed before striding forward and throwing the door open with one solid kick.

  The old wood splintered slightly as it flew open, banging into the stone wall with a resounding clang. Eist wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a male figure laying in the middle of a spell circle, bound and beaten to within an inch of his life.

  “Valatos!?” Yacrist cried, stepping forward.

/>   But it was like his movement triggered something, because suddenly, the entire room began to shake. Eist stumbled a moment, catching herself against the stone wall. Everything seemed to happen at once, with the shaking stopping only for the door perpendicular to them to burst open, allowing spindly and twisted monsters to pour into the room.

  “It’s a trap!” Valatos cried through his split lips. “Run! Save yourself!”

  Of course, Eist didn’t listen. She rushed forward, sword raised, with Fior right beside her. Her blade bit into the shoulder—or at least she thought it was a shoulder—of one thing while her foot lashed out to kick another.

  There was at least a dozen of them trying to cram in and attack Eist and her friends, but that wasn’t nearly enough considering they had two dragons with them. They tore through the monsters quickly and with much more ease than her battle in the canyon. Eist barely got four hits in before they were surrounded by black and gooey parts rather than malicious beings.

  “By the Three…” Ain whispered breathlessly. “Is this always going to happen every time we all go somewhere together?”

  A little groan sounded from Valatos and Eist rushed forward, cutting his bonds with her sword. She helped him up, looking over his face carefully.

  “Hey, are you alright? Who did this to you?”

  “I…I don’t know,” he stuttered. The stump of his wrist raised, resting on her shoulder. “One moment I was sleeping, the next I was being dragged out of my bed! I… Everyone’s gone, and I don’t know where they went!”

  “It’s alright,” Eist said, stiffening slightly as he hugged her. She couldn’t exactly begrudge him the comfort considering all he had gone through, however, and patted his back gently.

  Several screeches sounded back from where they had come from and the others turned, readying themselves to be attacked again. Eist turned to join them, hoping Valatos would be able to walk on his own, but she stopped short when it felt like lightning struck through her entire body.