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

might uncover with him. As we hurried through the city, moving beyond passersby and soldiers, I started to feel the draw of the dragons in the distance, the steady pull that came to me from the dragon pens on the outskirts of the city.

“Are we going to the dragons?”

“I was given the rest of the week to prove my innocence.”

“Why do you blame the Djarn?”

Thomas glanced over to me. “My experience with the Djarn is different than yours, I’m sure. You might not think they can do anything dangerous, but I’ve been around the Djarn enough to know just how challenging they can be.”

“What exactly do you think they might do?”

“I think they might try to infiltrate the kingdom.”

I started to laugh when I looked over at Thomas, realizing he wasn’t laughing. I could feel the power of the dragons coming off of him as it cycled through him; it became clear to me that he maintained his connection because of his concern about what might happen next.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m dead serious,” Thomas said. “The nature of the Djarn is to hide in the forest. They don’t want anyone to know where they are, what they’re doing, and the danger that they pose.”

“I don’t think they pose any danger,” I said, though I increasingly started to question whether that was true.

“Because you haven’t been a part of it. The Djarn have been particularly dangerous, and those of us in the know recognize that.”

I frowned at him. We didn’t have the same perspective, and I wasn’t sure that we even could. At this point, nothing was certain to me.

“The Djarn have not been challenging. I have a friend whose father has been helping them. Besides, if the Djarn were a part of this, wouldn’t Donathar have known? He was embedded within them.”

Thomas stared at me. “Which is the exact reason I’m concerned about him.”

I watched him, glaring at him for a moment, before chasing after him again. “What do you intend to do with the Djarn?”

“I intend to ensure that if they have taken our dragons, they won’t get away with it.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. I didn’t really know what he might do, but I knew that I hadn’t seen anything with the Djarn that would make me concerned that they would go after the dragons. I had only seen their isolation. There was no reason for us to get involved with them.

We reached the green lawn outside of the dragon pen, beyond the Academy, and from there I stared for a moment, watching to see if he might go toward the dragons. I glanced briefly to see if there might be any sign of Natalie, but I didn’t see anything.

“When are you going?” He glanced back at me. “You obviously intend to go after the Djarn soon.”

He headed straight for the dragon pen. There was heat radiating from it, which I could feel, though only faintly. Once inside the pen, he approached the same black dragon he had before and rested his hand on its side, whispering something that I couldn’t hear. But I could feel something radiating from the dragon, a hint of energy that suggested he was connecting more thoroughly to it now than he had before. I could feel the way the power cycled through him, flowing from the dragon and over to him, circling out and back.

He looked over to me. “Well? I assume you would want to come, especially given your overwhelming concern for the Djarn.”

“You knew that Donathar had been embedded with the Djarn, so if they have a hand in this, then he’s involved,” I said. “He’s looking for the missing dragons.”

Thomas snorted. “He’s working with the Sharath.”

“Why don’t the two of you get along?”

Thomas clenched his jaw, and for a moment, I didn’t think that he was going to answer. “It’s complicated. He views the Vard differently than I do.”

“All of this is about the Vard?”

“You dealt with the Vard. I would think that if anyone would understand, it would be you.”

“I . . .” I shook my head. Thomas was in no mindset for me to respond with what my experience with the Vard had actually been. “You might disagree with him about the threat of the Vard, but the two of you want the same thing.” When he frowned at me, I hurried on. “You want to protect the kingdom. It’s not the Djarn.”

“You’ve been in the city for how long?”

“A few months.”

He grunted. “Not long enough to know the dangers that I know.”

A flicker of darkness crossed his brow, and for a moment, I wondered if perhaps Thomas was the one I should be trusting.

“I intend to find the dragons.” He climbed onto the dragon’s back and waited. "I think that with your potential, you might be able to help. You may not want to, but you are going to have to make a decision. Eventually, that decision will choose your path for you."

"This doesn't have anything to do with me. I'm a student at the Academy. Nothing more."

He laughed softly. “You might be surprised what it has to do with, Ashan.”

With that, the dragon took to the air, launching himself upward and circling before streaking off and out over the forest. I could still feel the energy of the connection to the dragon even as he flew away, and with each passing moment, I recognized the way power flowed from him.

I breathed out slowly, steadily, and then turned my attention back to the dragon pens. Inside, the green dragon had crawled toward me. He remained separated from the others. There was something about him that touched upon me, letting me draw upon his power, and something within him seemed to call to me. I wasn’t sure if the calling of power was something I should be more aware of, or if it was something bound to me, only that I could feel the way the dragon filled with power—and the way he filled me