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

“Do you think he’s guilty?”

“Of what happened?” I shrugged. “It seems to me that he is just as interested in finding the missing dragons as the king is. I don’t have a sense that he is responsible for it.”

“Has he pulled you into his search? I saw you going off with him one day.”

“He pulled me in, but it wasn’t so much to find the dragons. At least, I didn’t think that it was. To be honest, I’m not at all sure what he intended.”

“It sounds like he intends to find the dragons with you. That should be reassuring.”

She pulled on my arm, and we continued to wander through the city. Every so often, she would stop, occasionally at a small garden, then at a square, and even once outside of the tavern where she leaned close to the building, listening to the music that drifted outside. When I suggested heading into the tavern, she shook her head.

We wandered for much of the night, talking, sharing stories about our childhood. I spent that time trying to feel for a connection to the missing dragons, and while I felt something, there was no other sign of them. In the time we’d been walking, I felt something that I had never known before.

By the time we had practically circled around the entirety of the city, and had still not come upon her home, she grinned at me. “I think you should return to the Academy.”

“You didn’t let me walk you home.”

“I told you that I can walk myself home,” she said.

I laughed softly. “You don’t have to do that,” I said.

“I know. And you don’t have to walk me home. I am a big girl, after all.” She flashed a smile. “I will see you around, Ashan.”

She started off, heading toward the center of the city before taking a side street and disappearing.

I needed rest. In the morning, I had to decide what to do about Thomas, and would have to see what I could find out from others within the Academy about why a dragon would attack one of the mesahn. I would have to approach it carefully, much like everything these days. And I would have to figure out the strange irritation I detected coming off of the dragons—and why it bothered me as much as it did.

19

I woke to power that filled the inside of the Academy, connecting to a dragon somewhere nearby, though not one I recognized. The irritant persisted, like a sore tooth or a mild headache.

Dragon power called me through the Academy, and a sense of energy pressed through me, but I hadn’t been able to find it. There had to be something here.

What was it though?

It was far more intense than what I had felt before. This time, what I felt was distinct and powerful, practically overwhelming.

All the time I’d spent searching for dragons had led me to this point.

I could feel the other dragons. That was what Thomas wanted from me, though his reasoning was more about proving the Djarn responsible.

What I felt now . . .

This was close.

I dressed quickly and followed the sense of power flooding into the Academy, curious about its source. As I hurried through the halls, passing lanterns that seemed to surge every time there came a pulsing of power, I couldn’t help but wonder who might be using that much of the dragon magic.

It was early. Darkness still covered the windows, though a hint of early morning sunlight began to creep up. Despite staying out late with Natalie, I had gotten up at my usual time. Thankfully, I hadn’t overslept, but maybe I should have. It might have helped me feel better. Otherwise, I was exhausted, and thankful that I hadn’t consumed any ale the night before. That would’ve made everything much worse.

The power guided me through the halls, and I came upon a staircase leading down into the depths of the Academy. This was a section I rarely went to, not having any need to spend any time there. The basement consisted of old storage rooms, as far as I knew.

Still, I could feel the energy flowing from here, and surprisingly, it seemed as if the connection to the dragon came from here as well.

Missing dragons. The strange irritation. The mesahn that had targeted the dragon in the forest.

Those thoughts stayed with me.

And this dragon wasn’t one I’d felt before.

I hurried down the stairs, but paused when I reached the landing. There were no lights here. Though I felt the connection to the dragon, I had no idea where the power flowing around me was, nor any idea who was summoning it. The only thing I could tell was that it came from farther along this hallway.

I started along the hall, moving carefully, and paused when I reached an even darker section of the hall. I focused on the connection I shared with the green dragon, and started to pull that power through me, tamping it down into the heat of my belly, until I could draw upon that energy, creating a faint finger of flame that I stretched between my hands. Nothing more than that. The hallway was illuminated.

It was plain. Stone walls without any decoration. My boots thudded on the stone floor. The air had that musty odor of darkness and dampness. There were no lanterns like there were in the upper levels. Doors interrupted the wall every so often, most of them stout oak, though the light from my hands reflected off of metal in the distance. I headed toward that, feeling for the energy there, focusing on the power that I could, and came upon a sense from dragon magic.

It was near enough that I thought this is what I had detected. This had to be the source of it, but what exactly was it?

I paused in front of the door. This one was different than the others. It