The Summoned Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 4)

by Dan Michaelson

  “This one dragon was,” I said, “but that doesn’t mean all of them would be.”

  “All things can be influenced by murtar,” he said.

  Having seen the dragon bones, and how quickly its influence took hold within the Servant, I thought I understood. They must have thought the same could happen to the dragons. Perhaps that was the reason they feared them.

  And that could be the reason they had come to the kingdom and destroyed cities that had fallen under the murtar’s influence.

  “That’s what you feared.”

  He nodded.

  “What about the fact that the dragon helped me save you from murtar?”

  He shook his head. “The dragon did not save me.”

  “It was the dragon, the cycle I had formed, and the power within me.”

  The Servant stood apart from me. I was afraid of him coming too close, but he didn’t, thankfully.

  “I saw Affellah within you. I felt it. You may want to deny it, but you have the potential. I knew it when I first saw you. And Affellah saved me.”

  I frowned at him. “I saved you. The dragon saved you. My cycle of dragons saved you. Not your god.”

  “And who brought you to me?”

  I breathed out, wishing I had some better comeback than I did.

  Distantly, I was still aware of the dragon and my cycle, but I could feel some other force within it. I didn’t know if it was Affellah, but it didn’t even matter.

  “I thought you said the murtar wasn’t here.”

  “It should not have been. We learned how to destroy it. Affellah guided us.”

  “Then what was this?” I looked at the ground, at the remains of the attack, and remembered what I had felt.

  “A memory,” he said. He looked up at me, and the bright burning glow in his eyes had returned. “When murtar moved through here, that is what we faced.”

  I looked over to the north, beyond Affellah, in the direction of the kingdom. He had brought me here so I could understand murtar, probably even more so than Affellah. And now I did. I understood how quickly it worked. I understood just how dangerous it could be.

  As I looked toward the kingdom, I couldn’t help but ask: “Why did it attack here?” I looked over to the Servant, frowning. “Why your lands and not mine?”

  “I do not know.”

  “Maybe it’s the dragons.”

  He focused on the stone, tracing his hand through the dust, then stood, wiping his hands on his pants. A surge of heat radiated from him, as if he were burning off whatever he touched. “If it were the dragons, then these lands would have been safe.”

  He started to move away, and it took me a moment to process what he had said.

  Dragon bones.

  There had been dragons here. The Vard had known them. Maybe even connected to them in the same way those in the kingdom did. And now the dragons were gone.

  If it wasn’t the dragons that kept my lands safe, then what was it? And why would the Servant’s lands have been targeted? As I started after him, another question came to me.

  What if the threat wasn’t gone?

  What if that was the reason he had brought me here?

  Chapter Seven

  The night following the attack went quietly. The Servant didn’t say anything more, and I had a feeling he didn’t want to acknowledge the power that had been here, as he thought his people had defeated it long ago and that Affellah protected them against it. But if there had been some residual energy remaining, he’d likely started to think about the same questions as me. What did it mean? And was it possible that that power wasn’t completely gone?

  That darkness had very nearly destroyed him. Had I done nothing, it likely would have destroyed me, as well. And I feared there was something else I needed to be concerned about, some other danger to the kingdom that I had not yet faced.

  The murtar remained active.

  It seemed impossible to believe, impossible that this presence was real, but what other explanation was there?

  That murtar was real.

  Given the attacks I had experienced within the kingdom, and the dangers that had existed to the dragons, the way their power had been targeted, I couldn’t help but feel as if it was all tied together.

  I had a sleepless night trying to think about what would’ve happened had the Servant not released the connection to the dragon. When morning came, I was not feeling much better. I remained troubled by what we’d seen and what I’d felt.

  The green dragon remained nearby. I could feel his presence, and had felt it the entire night. It seemed he remained determined to watch over me. I couldn’t feel anything else from him, just an underlying desire to protect. And it was tied to me, but it seemed to extend beyond just me. Perhaps he was waiting, wanting to protect the entirety of our cycle, which meant he intended to protect other dragons, as well. That made sense. The green dragon was the first dragon I had connected to, but he wasn’t the only one. With so many others in the cycle, it would be easy enough for this murtar to infest one, then influence the others.

  I tried not to think too closely about that, but that meant ignoring the very real possibility that there was some true danger here that could influence the dragons within the kingdom—and more than that, it could influence the dragons I had connected to. That, more than anything, seemed to be significant to me.

  And perhaps that was what the green dragon intended to reveal to me—the truth he wanted me to know. Protect myself, protect him, and I would protect the cycle.

  The Servant was nowhere to be seen.

  I headed to the dragon and rested my hand on his green-scaled side, feeling the heat and energy radiating off him. It had been too long since I was close to him. He remained perched, power emanating from him, cycling from him to me, a continuous flow of energy. Distantly, I was aware of the energy from the rest of the dragons in our cycle, but it wasn’t as potent as it would be if I had been closer to them. I wondered whether I might be able to reach that power if I strained beyond myself.

  “I’m not sure what we need to do,” I said, leaning close to the dragon and leaving one hand resting on his back. “I came here to try to learn what I needed to know to help the kingdom, to try to understand the Vard, and I have learned. The Vard attacked our people, but they did so for a valid reason.”

  That might be the hardest thing to come to terms with. And I could imagine how others within the kingdom might react if they learned that truth, especially Thomas.

  They would view me as a Vard sympathizer.

  Was that what I had become?

  Having seen the attack on the Vard lands, I suspected they still viewed the Vard as having come for me, claiming me, and perhaps the king had even sent other dragon mages to come for me. Thomas should have told them what I intended, but Thomas also didn’t care for the Vard.

  There would be some within the Academy who would view my leaving as a betrayal. That had been Thomas’s concern. If they viewed it that way, then there was a real possibility that when I returned, I would be treated like a traitor.

  I knew exactly what that meant.

  I would be brought before the king, if I were lucky. I would be tried. I would have to argue my case, convince them my actions would benefit the crown. And I would have to try to justify what I knew.

  Even that wasn’t my real concern. I feared what might happen if this power continued to spread. If only the residual influence remained and that alone was enough to nearly overpower the Servant, what would happen if it attacked with full force?

  I needed answers. I wasn’t going to be able to find them on my own. Maybe the Servant could help me. But as I looked around, I had no idea where he had gone.

  And then I saw him.

  He stood atop one rock, his hands stretched off to either side, power flowing out from him; it was a visible thing, as if he were drawing upon the energy of Affellah itself and letting that power pour out, touching his body, then spilling beyond him, into the rock and
away with a surge of energy. It left me marveling at how much power he could command.

  Flame poured off him, flowing and radiating across the land. It touched upon the stone, then moved beyond that, outward, until it finally eased. He lowered his hands to his sides and looked over to me.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “I was trying to ensure my connection to Affellah remains intact,” he said.

  “Did you think you’d lost something?”

  The Servant took a deep breath. It seemed as if energy steamed from him, a different and perhaps more potent power than I had seen from him before. I didn’t know whether there was anything worrisome about the kind of power he summoned, only that I could feel it.

  “With the attack, I did not know.” He looked over to me. “There was more power in that presence than I was expecting.”

  I could sense the way it unnerved him. “I know.”

  He let out a long sigh. “Then you understand what must be done.”

  “I still don’t understand what you have been trying to show me, but I acknowledge the danger of murtar.”

  “I have been testing for Affellah.” He held his hands down at his sides, and there was a strange power flowing from him, spiraling onto the ground, working up and through him.

  Stranger still was that I could feel it, though I didn’t know why. What was he doing that allowed me to detect it so clearly?

  “Were you testing for murtar?” I asked.

  “There is no murtar here other than the memory of it,” he said.

  “That memory was potent enough to influence you. I know you want to deny it, but I saw it. I felt it.”

  “You felt nothing more than a memory,” the Servant said. He took a step toward the empty streambed, wandering slowly and quietly, radiating heat while his feet touched the rock. “Affellah spoke to you. That is all. I should not be surprised, as I have been encouraging you to find your own connection to Affellah, and you did.” He continued onward, and I followed him, saying nothing for a few moments.

  “I need to find the other places that were influenced by murtar,” I said.

  “You need nothing,” the Servant said.

  “If I’m going to help protect my kingdom—”

  “That is not why you are here,” he said.

  “Then I’m not exactly sure why I am here,” I said. “If it was to find Affellah, you have succeeded. If it was for me to understand this dangerous power that exists, then you have succeeded. If it’s merely to trap me here . . .”

  I looked over to the dragon. I had a feeling I could climb onto his back and we could leave together. Maybe that was what I needed to do. I had been here long enough, and I had uncovered something else.

  I headed to the dragon, my hand on his side, resting it along his flank, feeling the heat and energy radiating off him.

  “I think it’s time for me to return. I did what I came to do. I did what I committed to do. You’ve shown me what you wanted me to see. I’m not exactly sure if there’s anything more,” I said, looking over to him, waiting for some response and getting nothing, “but I suspect you wanted me to know about the murtar, and you wanted me to know everything the people of your lands have done to confront it.”

  And it was more than I had imagined.

  I hadn’t known what to expect coming here. I hadn’t known anything about these people, and in some regards, I still didn’t. But I understood they faced down a danger unlike any we had encountered in our lands.

  “If you must,” he said softly.

  “If murtar poses a threat in my land, I have to. I think it’s imperative I do so. We can be a barrier against it.” I looked around the Vard lands, staring at the hard, rocky ground. “We could work together. Our people.” It was a dream, and I knew it was unlikely, but at the same time, why couldn’t we? “We can fight it together. I just need to get to the king, have a chance to speak to him, and tell him what we are dealing with.”

  The Servant smiled sadly and continued to glow with heat. “The only way our people would be able to work together would be if you understood Affellah. Have you found it?”

  I started toward the dragon, resting my hand on his spiked back for a moment before climbing onto him. There was a sense of eagerness from him mixed with uncertainty, which surprised me. I figured he would have wanted to return as quickly as possible.

  “I felt something.”

  “‘Something’ is not Affellah. When you understand Affellah, you will understand what must be done.” The Servant looked to the north.

  “Would you permit me to return?”

  I felt Affellah’s energy radiating off him, but couldn’t do much about that feeling.

  “Only if you choose to understand.”

  He held my gaze, the heat radiating in his eyes, his skin crackling with energy, then he started north, toward the volcano.

  I felt as if I was somehow disappointing him, though I knew it was foolish to feel that way. This was somebody who had attacked the kingdom, however well intended it might have been. This was somebody who had brought his people to destroy a city using the power they were connected to, rather than trying to connect to the king and explain to him the dangers that existed.

  But then, my people had done their own share of violence. He had shown me. I had seen, felt, and come to understand that.

  I focused on the dragon, then power cycled out from me, and we took to the air, circling. Seeing the Vard lands from above was a strange vantage for me, especially after having wandered through them for as long as I had. I could feel the heat and energy radiating off the ground, something I had to keep telling myself was not from Affellah but from the sun burning and baking the ground.

  The dragon looped, and on a whim, I decided to guide us toward the end of the earth. I could feel something from the dragon, a sense of concern and unease, a curiosity as to why I’d want to go there, but I didn’t have the answer. I wasn’t exactly sure what motivated me. I had seen the destruction and violence there, but I didn’t really know what it meant—not for us, not for me, not even for the people of the Vard lands. I had only caught glimpses of it. That wasn’t enough for me to truly understand it the way I needed to. Perhaps that was what I wanted. Understanding, insight, and maybe something more.

  The dragon traveled quickly until he soared above the other broken city.

  As we traveled, I continued to focus on the power within the dragon, the way that energy flowed from me to him, but also the way the dragon intended for that power to continue to cycle. He wanted me to feel his energy, to know he was there, as if concerned for my own safety.

  I didn’t know if there had been any part of the Vard lands that had changed me, though I didn’t think there was. I might try to deny it, but there was a part of me that recognized the heat and power I felt here, recognized there was something I might be able to call upon if necessary. I had done so once. I didn’t know if it was only tied to my being here, or if perhaps it was something linked to the Servant.

  When we reached the place known as the end of the earth, I looked down. This was where the Vard lands ended. I tried to cycle through the dragon, encourage him to keep going, but felt a hint of hesitation from him, as if he was afraid to keep moving.

  “What is it?”

  I wished the dragon had some way of speaking to me. I couldn’t tell what he wanted, but I knew he felt some concern about being here and what this place meant for him.

  “Is it murtar?”

  If so, it would make sense for the dragon to hesitate. Perhaps this was where it originated. Or perhaps it was tied to Affellah, and the dragon did not want to be influenced by that same power. We continued flying along the border. Far below, the land dropped off, drifting into darkness, to a place I couldn’t even see. The dragon refused to go there, leaving me questioning what might be beyond the end of the earth. Not water. I knew water surrounded the borders of the kingdom off to the far east, but there was no sign of water here. No sign of
anything but a massive drop-off, as if the earth itself had been torn away.

  “We should return,” I said softly to the dragon. He roared softly in response, then banked, making his way north.

  Wind whipped around us, pulling at my hair, my cloak, and dragging along my skin. The very first time I had flown with the dragon had left me feeling afraid, but now it was exhilarating. There was something amazing about it, and I had missed it more than I could ever have imagined possible. As we continued traveling, making our way toward the Southern Reach, I could feel the heat flowing between us, the connection that formed, but I could also feel a sense of freedom.

  At the Southern Reach, I looked down, noticing Affellah off in the distance. I felt a faint awareness of it, as if I could place the heat, even though I wasn’t sure what it was. The Southern Reach was the southernmost part of the kingdom. We had always been taught it was dangerous because of the Vard, but I wondered if perhaps this was some barrier that had been erected to create an intentional separation. I cycled power through the dragon, and he seemed to understand what I wanted, leading me down to the ground.

  Everything here was barren, a vast expanse of grass and hills and a hint of rock, but in a different way than the Vard lands. There, the barrenness came from the abundance of rock, from the lack of other life, but they had people. They had energy. They had something more.

  Out here, the barrenness seemed to come from a different source.

  As I walked along the grass, I realized I had never truly been to the Southern Reach. We had flown over it many times, and there had been the strange attack along this section—an attack I had initially believed to be Vard related, then had fought with others within the kingdom to prove it wasn’t.

  There was a heaped pile of earth ahead, and I moved toward it, climbing along it. The dragon stayed behind, pushing heat through me, and I suddenly detected a hint of a warning from him at the same time I felt a faint stirring.

  It was a resistance similar to what I had felt in the Vard lands, but this resistance was active, as if this were something more than a memory of the murtar.