The Betrayed Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 2), Dan Michaelson [best books to read all time .txt] 📗

the dragon, surging up through me, through heat within me that seemed to reverberate. Then it stretched into my fingertips. That seemed to be the key.

“You’re nearing it,” he said. “Find a way of pulling the power through you. It should be a simple matter. All you need to do is draw that energy between you, wrapping it around you and carrying the power as it courses throughout you.”

Wrap it around me. That was what he wanted me to do. All I had to do was find some way of pulling that power as it coursed through me.

I didn’t even know if it were possible, but I had to see if that energy would make a difference. It was not the same as what I’d done before. This was different enough that I had to believe it would work. I could feel that energy. I had to use it.

I focused, closing my eyes, letting that power flow up through me.

There was a hint of power, a surge of that magic, and it flowed between my fingers.

It was the first time I’d ever felt that happen.

The connection that formed, the circle from deep within me that went out through my arms and between my fingers, was different than anything I’d ever encountered before. I held on to that power, letting it cycle, feeling it as it buzzed within me. There was something almost overwhelming about it. I could feel it coursing through me, building, and could practically see it. It bubbled up, and there formed a connection to the distant dragon that rolled through me in a way that allowed me to draw on that power.

“There. You’ve done it. What I would like you to do is try to control the bands of power. Don’t try anything too complicated. Simply hold what you have, harness it, and let that power flow out from you. What you need to do is wrap the connection to the dragon from one hand to another. Nothing more than that. You will learn to focus that power over time.”

As the energy cycled within me, I could feel how it went from one hand to the next, almost as if it were jumping between my fingers. It was the heat and energy of the dragon, and as it flowed, I could feel how that energy built up inside me.

“I’m having a hard time just holding this,” I said.

“Most do, at least the first time. The longer you hold it, the more you feel it cycling through you, the easier it will be for you to recognize that power. What I’d like you to do is simply maintain that connection. Nothing more than that. You don’t need to unleash it. You just need to wrap it from one hand to the next.”

I let the energy flow, and did nothing to try to diminish it. I wasn’t even sure if I could. All I wanted to do was hold on to that power, to feel the way that it rolled through me. As it did, I recognized the strange connection that had formed between that dragon and myself.

“I see you have connected to the same dragon you traveled to the capital with.”

“I did,” I said. “For whatever reason, I can feel his power more than I can the other dragons.”

“That is not surprising. Most find that the first connection they make with a dragon is the most potent. At least until they gain control over them. Over time, you will learn to use the connection you share to the dragons to draw upon any power that you need. It won’t matter which dragon you focus upon.”

I could feel that power flowing through me. It worked from one hand to the other, the energy drifting upward, rolling through me. As it did, I held on to that power, maintaining that connection that I shared with the dragon.

Control involved using the power. I knew that about it. The challenge was owning that power, and concentrating it in a way that could be useful. As I tried to continue to hold on to it, I could feel it flowing from the dragon, through my arms and in between my fingers.

I attempted to concentrate it. Holding on to the power was one step, but concentrating the power was the next—and possibly most important—step. Once I did that, I could use that energy in a way that allowed me to recognize the magic that flowed from the dragon, enabling me to help draw that off and connect to the dragon.

Something started to unravel. The connection that was within me began to practically vibrate, making it so that I couldn’t hold on to it.

I scrambled, trying to focus, squeezing my fingers together. As I did, the relaxation part of opening myself to the dragon magic started to fail. I tried to focus on the heat within myself, but even that wasn’t working.

“You must slow yourself,” Thomas said. It seemed as if his words came from a distance, and I tried to do what he said—tried to let myself relax so that I could call upon that power in a way that would enable me to still use it, but even as I did, I couldn’t feel that relaxation working the way that it needed to.

“I’m trying,” I said through gritted teeth. “I tried to concentrate the power, but it didn’t work.”

“I did not tell you to concentrate it,” he said.

I looked over. “I know you didn’t, but I know the next step in my progression with the magic within me is to be able to use it. In order to do so, I have to try to focus the way it flows through me.”

“Do you know that now?” There was a hint of irritation in his tone. He was upset that I would dare attempt to use power without having his instruction.

I couldn’t shake the thought that I knew what I needed to do.

When I had heard the other instructors discussing the way that power