Map

*for a printable version of this map, please visit Sarah’s website www.sarahklwilson.com

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

DRAGON SCHOOL: BRIGHT HOPES

First edition. May 7, 2018.

Copyright © 2018 Sarah K. L. Wilson.

Written by Sarah K. L. Wilson.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Behind the Scenes:

For anyone who needs hope in a dark place.

Chapter One

I knew I was in bad shape because I kept flashing in and out of consciousness like life was one big bad dream told in multiple little flashes. I’d hear people talking or open my eyes for a minute and then darkness, as if I’d fallen asleep during a story and was only catching it in little chunks.

Hubric was arguing with Savette in the background in this flash.

“I don’t know where they are! We all were transported to slightly different spots. Maybe Kyrowat and Raolcan came out closer together than Rasipaer did. Maybe he just got transported a little further away.”

“But if they are still back there, then we have to go back for them!” Savette sounded nervous. Who wouldn’t be after what we went through?

“Absolutely not. Rasipaer will understand. We must get to safety. He and Iskaris will be doing the same thing. Both the Dominar and Amel are gravely injured and it’s lucky that we were at least in mind-range of each other. Now, we must fly for help. Here, help me finish this pallet. If you ride Raolcan and I ride Kyrowat, we can each take one of the wounded with us.”

Savette’s tone was gentler than it had been. “Don’t worry, Hubric. I’ll take good care of her.”

The dragons must be fine if they were carrying us. I let the darkness swallow me again.

The next time I came to, I opened my eyes enough to see a campfire. Across from me, the Dominar lay on a pallet, his arm being tended to by Savette. Why did that feel significant to me?

“I don’t know, it’s like it wasn’t dressed at all,” she was saying to Hubric. “It must have been really hurt in that final battle. Good thing he’s hearty and muscled. He should at least survive the injury. Should I take his mask off?”

“Absolutely not. We’ll get them to healers as soon as we figure out where we are. Soon there will be some sort of town or landmark to tip us off.”

“Still no word about Rasipaer?” she asked.

“I haven’t asked Kyrowat in a while, but I know he’s still searching for Rasipaer with his mind. I don’t want to bother him while he’s trying to tend to Raolcan. Maybe tomorrow we’ll have Kyrowat carry both the wounded to give Raolcan a break.”

“Raolcan won’t like that.”

“Tell me about it.”

This time, when the darkness came, it was filled with fitful dreams of fleeing through underground tunnels. I woke with a gasp to find it was midday, and I was strapped down in a pallet, with nothing but air and sky above me. I pushed against the straps.

Easy, spider. It’s just me. I’m carrying you.

They’d said he was hurt. He should be resting.

It takes a lot more than that to get this dragon down.

Please, Raolcan, take care of yourself. My consciousness began to fade as he sent me one last thought.

After I take care of you.

The next time I woke up, the world was spinning so badly that I had to keep my eyes closed. I heard Savette’s voice and what sounded like another argument with Hubric.

“Because getting her to a healer is more important!”

“Don’t tell me that,” Hubric said, his voice harsh. “We need you alive, Savette, and there’s only one way to do that now.” Someone coughed – a terrible, hacking cough. “Don’t tell me that you don’t know what’s happening. We don’t have much time if we’re going to save your life. Raolcan says -”

“Raolcan would want Amel healed before she dies of her injuries.”

Hubric cursed. “Savette, Amel and you both need help. You can both get it in the Lands of Haz’drazen. That’s where we need to go, not some sky city close by. And don’t think I won’t pull rank on you, Initiate. I’m a full Dragon Rider. What I say is what will happen.”

“And I’m the wife of the Prince of Baojang and according to you, the Chosen One of legend. I’m pretty sure that tops ‘full Dragon Rider.’” She almost sounded as haughty as her old self, but then she deflated. “We both want the same thing, Hubric.”

“I know we do.”

They sounded grim, like something terrible was happening. There was a moan from nearby and then a voice. Was that Iskaris? It sounded like his voice. Perhaps they had found Rasipaer after all!

“Water.”

“Don’t move, Dominar. I’ll fetch it for you,” Savette said. There was a rustling sound and then the sound of water being poured. “Let me help you up to drink. Here.”

I faded from consciousness and woke again in the night. It was getting harder and harder to hold on to full thoughts.

“Shhh,” Savette whispered from beside me. “Don’t make a sound. Hubric told me not to try this, but Amel, I’m dying anyway and I think you are, too. This is the only way I could think of to help, so please, hold still.”

She took my head in her cold hands. I should say something to tell her everything would be alright, but I was just so tired. She’d understand...

“I think that if I focus very, very hard...”

A moment later she was panting and gasping. “It’s no use. I just don’t know what to do.”

She shouldn’t be working so hard to help me. She should be resting.

“Come on, please work, please work, please be true. This has to be true, I just know it.” She sounded desperate now. Was she crying? I thought I felt a hot tear hit my face. “This has to work. Come on, Amel!”

Light flared around me, filling me up with the feeling of a beam of sunlight on your face – only this beam was inside, washing, repairing, making everything bright and fresh again. I relaxed into it, not stopping the waves of light from rolling over me. I didn’t know how long it lasted, but when it was done, Savette reeled back in a coughing fit.

I was lying on a blanket on the hard ground. Something dug into my hip. It was dark around me, with only a sliver of moon to make movements distinguishable, but not people. Above me, the silhouettes of tree branches swayed in the song of the wind. I sat up. What was that feeling in my head? I hadn’t felt this in a long time. It was – free. Free from pain and free to think again.

We were in a clearing, the dragons off to one side – dark mounds in the dark night. Were they sleeping? In the middle of the clearing, a fire had died to embers and I saw two bundles of cloth on either side of it. Hubric and the Dominar. Savette must have crept over to heal me in the night. She was still coughing, but no one came to check on her.

“Savette? I whispered. “Are you okay?”

She laughed, a breathy whispery laugh.

“I’m dying, Amel.”

Chapter Two

“I thought I was dreaming,” I said slowly. The ground was so cold, and the wind chilled my body through my tough leathers. Savette must be freezing in her light dress and cloak. She pulled in her knees so that she was hugging them to her chest and I scooted closer, wrapping the blanket around us both. “When I saw Eeamdor fall, I thought it was just a bad dream.”

“It was real.” There were tears in her voice.

“Did you just heal me, Savette?”

“Yes.” She sniffled. “Hubric told me not to. He told me to save my strength.”

I agreed with him. She should have saved her strength.

“Where are we?”

“Just north of a sky city called Umtal. We saw it in the distance when we landed here. Hubric recognized Magika Tower in the cityscape - a tall tower with a disk at the top. I think we should go there. The Dominar’s arm is bleeding badly. I’m worried that his infection is back and I was worried about you. We didn’t think you could live for much longer.”

Wait. Raolcan! I still didn’t hear him in my mind.

“Savette, is Raolcan okay?”

She nodded. I could feel it despite the dark as her shoulder rubbed against mine.

“Sort of. He was injured in the battle, broken ribs, we think. He can still fly. Kyrowat said he would heal quickly, but he needs rest to heal. He went into that dragon deep sleep state when we stopped for the night to try to regain his strength. He’s very insistent that we go to the lands of Haz’drazen. He’s certain we can get help there from the Queen of Dragons.”

“Savette?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for healing me. Thank you for saving my life.”

“You’re welcome, Amel. You’re my best friend, you know. I don’t think you should die with me.”

“You can’t die, Savette.” If she did, all of Hubric’s hopes – all the hopes of the Lightbringers – all my hopes? – would be gone forever. It was hard to imagine a world that didn’t have Savette in it.

She snorted. “Maybe you should get some sleep. Do you feel okay? Are you really healed?”

“I am,” I said. I felt perfectly fine.

“I put your crutch beside you on the ground,” Savette said. I felt around until my hand closed over it. “It’s amazing that it survived everything. Good thing it had those straps. After Eeamdor...” her voice faltered. She coughed and started again. “After Eeamdor flicked us with his tail, the dragons had to get us back in the circle. They dove in while I was finishing tuning the portal. I didn’t get it right. I mean, I don’t really know what I’m doing with them and I... well, we ended up in mid-air and scattered. Kyrowat caught Hubric and the Dominar while they were falling and Raolcan caught you and me. I was just falling, falling, falling, sure I’d die and then his purple claws snatched me out of the air like an eagle with a fish. We don’t know what happened to Rasipaer or Iskaris. They must have come out further than we did – or maybe they were hurt more. We couldn’t find them. Hubric’s really upset about that. I think he thinks of them as his responsibility.”

“Do you want to get some sleep, Savette?”

“I can’t really sleep, Amel. I just cough the whole time.”

“Your eyes are dimmer.” The cloth around her eyes barely glowed. “Is that because you used all our power healing me?”

“They were already fading. I think it’s because...”

Because she was dying. Words of the Ibrenicus Prophecies tumbled through my mind – words of hope and destiny. None of them would be fulfilled without her, would they? It was funny, because before when Hubric wanted me to believe that a healthy, powerful Savette could save the Dominion I just couldn’t bring myself to believe, but now that she was broken and withering – now that all hope seemed lost – I was certain that the prophecies were about her and not Starie. And I was certain that they were true. There had to be a way to save her life again.

Words of the Ibrenicus prophecies came to my mind, unbidden.

For in the day of darkness the Chosen One will find hope in our hearts, and from hope truth, and from truth, light that opens doors

The Chosen One needed our hope. I was going to make sure that she had all of mine.

Chapter Three

Eventually, she nodded off, her head bobbing against my shoulder as she fell in and out of sleep. I laid her gently on the ground, wrapped her in the blanket and then pulled myself up on my crutch. I felt good – better than I had in weeks. My head was clear, and my hip didn’t even twinge as I settled my crutch on my arm and limped over to Raolcan.

He slumbered like a small purple mountain beside Kyrowat. Kyrowat’s eyelid cracked open, fixing me with a baleful stare for a moment before shuttering closed again. He was clearly warning me not disturb his friend. I wasn’t going to wake him. I just needed him to know he was loved. I settled my blanket around myself and leaned into his warmth. I may have drifted off for a little while, but it was still dark when my eyes fluttered open.

“Amel? Is that you?” Hubric whispered. He crouched in front of me, his arm held out like he’d been about to shake me awake.

“Hubric?”

He sighed with relief. “I was worried when you weren’t where I left you. Thought you’d wandered off in your fever.”

“Hubric, I need to apologize. About those messages-”

“No.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to talk about that, and I don’t want it to happen again. I ... I thought you were dying ... I thought that this was the end of everything and here you are, lying against Raolcan like nothing ever happened. I swear, you are almost glowing. This ... this isn’t the time for recriminations or regrets. It’s time to hope again. Shall we agree on a fresh start?”

“Fresh start,” I agreed, my eyes moist. I blinked back the tears. Whenever I thought Hubric was going to scorch me he ended up being more tender than a mother with her newborn.

“I delivered the messages to the Dominar when he woke up last night. He’s in a lot of pain, but his mind is still there. So, that’s an end to it.”

I nodded.

“We made it, apprentice. We went down into the belly of the earth, but the earth couldn’t hold us. We’re free.”

I smiled, but I was worried. He gave the messages to the Dominar, did he? If my memory of Eeamdor wasn’t a dream then maybe I hadn’t dreamed the other part of that memory, either.

“Hubric,” I said, “I need to talk to you about something.”

There was a scuffling sound from close to the fire and then someone lit a candle and walked toward us. My words died on my lips as the light reflected off of the Dominar’s carved mask. I didn’t know what face was behind that mask, but I suspected it wasn’t the face that had been there when we entered the warrens. I clenched my jaw, meeting the eyes set in that unyielding mask. Were they ruthless eyes, or was I imagining things?

“You’re both awake. Good. As soon as it is dawn, we fly to Umtal.” His voice was muffled by the mask, but it didn’t sound like the Dominar. It didn’t sound like Iskaris, either. Was he disguising his voice?

He walked away without awaiting a reply and Hubric made a clicking sound of disapproval with his tongue.

In a whisper he said to me, “Amel, as soon as the Dominar is finished with our services we must get Savette to the lands of Haz’drazen.”

“We should go there now,” I said.

“We don’t fly against the Dominar’s orders.”

“But what if he isn’t the Dominar? I saw him do a strange thing, Hubric. I saw him drag an unconscious Iskaris out of that circle just before we were transported away. I dragged the man back in but... I don’t think the man in that mask is the Dominar.”

Hubric scoffed. “I think you weren’t entirely conscious, Amel. A lot of the things you remember from the past few days are mixing with dreams in your mind. Don’t trust them.”

But I did trust them, and I was certain that if I ripped that mask off the Dominar’s face I’d find the face of Iskaris with his mocking scowl beneath the burnished silver of the mask.

Chapter Four

“Raolcan?” I stroked his shoulder gently. “Raolcan?”

Kyrowat growled.

“Take a step back, Amel,” Hubric said from where he was trying to repair a saddle strap. We didn’t have much left in the way of gear. The blankets had survived the underground battles, as had a little water and some hard tack, but there was no tea or kettle or change of clothing for any of us. What hadn’t been lost during our scuffles with Ifrits, had been lost in that tight squeeze through the last warren.

I stepped back quickly – Kyrowat’s expression brooked no nonsense. He reared back and coughed a tiny puff of flame on Raolcan’s side. What the...

I’m up, I’m up!

Raolcan reared up like someone had ... lit him on fire. Yeah, that made sense. But as soon as he saw me, his expression warmed and he leaned down slowly until his great head rested against my shoulder.

Amel! You’re awake and well. It’s like a dream come true.

Tension I didn’t know was building up in me gently unwound in his embrace. My dragon. With him, I was safe. But what about him? Hubric said he was injured.

Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix. I feel better already.

I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. Of course, he was going to be stubborn. That was just like him. He was probably badly injured and hiding it from everyone.

Would Kyrowat flame me if I was damaged as badly as you think?

Who knew? That dragon was unpredictable and prickly as an old barn cat.

Of course he is, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad dragon. He wouldn’t hurt me intentionally.

What kind of dragon was Haz’drazen? If we were going to bring Savette to her, then Raolcan must trust her.

She is wise, though not without her faults. She sees the world in her own way.

That was mysterious.

Why is Hubric in such a hurry?

Oh yes, he’d slept through the ‘Dominar’s’ demand that we fly to Umtal.

That’s a strange emotion you’re projecting about our Dominar, Amel.

He was not the Dominar, that’s why I felt so wary. He was Iskaris. The more I remembered back to that hazy time before we transported out of the warrens, the more I was certain that was who he was.

Raolcan tilted his head like he was looking at something far away and then his gaze spun to meet Kyrowat’s eyes. They both tilted their heads together. What were they doing?

We ... it’s hard. It’s hard to tell. His thoughts are not clear to us – and his fever does not help. Something about the mask or crown - or whatever it is - shields us from them. I see in your mind what you remember, and yet Hubric is right. You could be imagining it. The blow you took to the head was hard enough to threaten your life, spider. It was definitely strong enough to shake your memories around. We’ll need more proof than your shady memories before we can go against him.

But if it was Iskaris, then we didn’t need to follow the ridiculous order to go to Umtal when Savette clearly needed help right now. Did Raolcan really think they could help her?

I have heard rumors that Haz’drazen has the ability to break the bond. If the bond is broken, then Savette won’t die. It’s not something we talk about, because we assume that those of us given to human riders will die far from home. There’s no point hoping to be free of that. But I have heard the rumors. And the Chosen One is as important to dragons as she is to humans. Haz’drazen will have a plan.

I hoped she did. I glanced over at Savette. She was clearing up the campsite and gracefully maneuvering towards us. I’d better saddle Raolcan before we took flight again.

Are your eyes glowing?

What?

I think there’s a faint glow to your eyes – not like Savette’s but... yeah, it’s there.

She had healed me. Had some of her truth-power ended up inside me like it had in Rakturan?

It’s not nearly that bright. Maybe it will fade with time.

Or maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe it would go the other way and slowly brighten until I had to wear a blindfold, too. I shivered, hurrying to saddle Raolcan. As grateful as I was to move without pain, I was worried about what that would mean. What if, like Savette, I was given truth power? What would that mean for my future? For my responsibility to the Dominion and to the world? I wasn’t ready to carry around the burden on Savette’s shoulders.

Well, not to burst your bubble, but you’re inflating this situation. All I said was that your eyes were brighter and from that you’ve decided that you’re nearly as important as the Chosen One. Are you sure you aren’t a dragon with an ego that size?

I felt my cheeks heat as I cinched the saddle in place. Savette joined us, stuffing the blankets and a single waterskin in the saddlebags before doubling over in a fit of coughing. We needed to get her south immediately. I ground my teeth as I tried to think about how to convince Hubric and Kyrowat that the Dominar was really Iskaris. Maybe I should rip his mask off.

And if you’re wrong you’ll be lucky to live the week out and die horribly.

And if I’m right?

Then somewhere out there, Rasipaer flies with the true Dominar, vulnerable, hunted by enemies, and usurped by a treacherous villain who will destroy the land we love.

I shivered. There had to be some way to prove I was right. I would find it and use it. If I was wrong, then soon this false Dominar would meet Starie, the false Chosen One and I couldn’t imagine that being good for anyone.

Chapter Five

We stopped for a water break just outside of Umtal. The skycity loomed large on the horizon, under an hour’s flight from the stream we stopped along. It had a flavor all its own – similar and yet different from Vanika or Dominion City. This skycity looked like a tree with wide swaths of hanging moss swaying beneath it in the wind.

The people here hang nets and hammocks and even rooms from the edge of the city.

What kind of crazy person would do that? Weren’t they afraid of falling?

You do know that you ride a dragon, right? You are more in danger of falling than anyone in the world - or you would be if it weren’t for me. I’ll never let you fall.

And after everything we’d been through I knew that was as true as the sky and the stars.

Finally! A little faith.

Hubric and the Dominar dismounted at the same time that Savette and I did. Savette and the Dominar striding off in two different directions towards the scrubby trees near the stream while the dragons sunk their massive jaws into the water.

It feels so good when it trickles over my tongue. Skies and stars, I’m beat. I need to sleep for a thousand years.

I swallowed nervously. This was my one chance to talk to Hubric before we reached Umtal. He never liked it when I questioned his decisions and he wouldn’t like this now, but I couldn’t let it go.

I approached him in the deep grass beside the stream. The smell of fecund earth and algae was strong, but he was reaching out to where the current was deep to fill up his waterskin. I hobbled up beside him, my own skin ready to be refilled. I swallowed down my fears, ready to speak.

“Hubric?”

“Hmmm?” He kept his eyes on the water, deep in thought.

I lowered my voice, feeling like I was sure to be overheard even with the Dominar off in the bushes. “We can’t bring him to Umtal. I’m certain that he isn’t the Dominar. If we bring that man there, then everyone will believe he is our ruler and no one will be able to prevent Iskaris from assuming the throne and joining with Starie against all that the Lightbringers stand for.”

His steely eyes turned on me, narrowing as he spoke. “And if you’re wrong?”

“Isn’t it worth the risk?”

Hubric closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling as he took in a deep breath and let it out again. He set down the waterskin and took my hands in his.

“Amel, I have never had an apprentice that I loved so much. And I have never had one who caused so much trouble. Do this, and you will get yourself executed, and me and our dragons along with you. Do you want that?”

“Hubric, he’s only one man. Out here, alone, with us. He has no power but that mask. Did you read the messages?”

Hubric made a sound like a curse at the back of his throat and took another deep breath. “Are you suggesting that we murder this man? Why would you think I would do such a thing? Even if he is not the Dominar he is still a man who fought alongside us.”

“Of course, I’m not suggesting that!”

“Then what are you suggesting, Apprentice? Think! What are our options? Rip his mask off his face and then what? If it is the Dominar, we are both dead. No question about it. And our honor will be gone forever and with it our chance to help in this conflict. Who will protect Savette and ensure that she is able to do all she is called to do?

“If it’s not the Dominar. What do we do? How could we prove to anyone else that it is Iskaris? We’d have seen his face for a moment – sure – but no one knows what the Domianar looks like. There is no way they would know. All he’d need to do is order us executed – which he will - and we’re back to being dead and unable to help.

“If we choose to murder this man, then we’ve killed someone, not in battle, or in the heat of self-defence, but in cold blood – a crime I will not commit or let another commit in my place. Maybe you are right. Maybe Iskaris lies behind that mask, but here’s the thing Amel: whoever wears the mask is the Dominar. Do you understand?”

“No, he’s not!” I wanted to shout, but I hissed it in a whisper, terrified that even out of sight Iskaris could hear me.

“You don’t understand. The mask makes the Dominar, not the man behind it. The moment Iskaris put that on – if that’s what happened – he became the Dominar. There’s nothing you or I or anyone else can do about it. He is the Dominar now.”

“What if the true Dominar surfaces? He must be with Rasipaer.”

Hubric looked around us like he was checking for anyone who might be listening. “We’ll do all we can for him. But we won’t be able to prove who he is. No one can prove it since no one has seen his face.”

But that wasn’t true. I’d seen it, and so had Ashana Willowspring. So why did it feel wrong to say that right now? Was it because I’d sworn to her that I’d never speak of it? Didn’t this make that promise null?

“Let’s get our water and fly to Umtal and hope we can leave quickly and get Savette to Haz’drazen,” Hubric said. “Remember, Amel - you’re family to me. I want what is best for you.”

I filled my waterskin with the horrible realization that I wanted something else entirely. I wanted to take that mask off of Iskaris and demand that he confess what he did and if he didn’t confess, I wanted Raolcan to flame him to dust. What did that make me?

Incredibly human.

Chapter Six

Umtal was just as incredible and unique as it had looked from afar. Brightly colored cloths and banners flew from spires all through the city and long embroidered banners hung from the edges of the city along with the suspended rooms and decks. Some even had hanging bridges strung from one room to the next, as if to add yet another level to the tiered structure. In the heat of mid-afternoon, a haze made the tallest tiers indistinct from this distance, but just like with Vanika, we were stopped by swooping black dragons while still in the air.

The Dominar – or Iskaris, as I couldn’t help but remind myself whenever I accidentally thought of him as the ruler of this land – had demanded Savette’s red cloak. He wore it now - the deep hood disguising the crown and mask.

Hubric spoke a few words to the Black Dragon Riders and then signalled for us to follow. I expected us to fly to the dragon cotes on the edge of the sky city – they were obvious from our vantage point – but he headed up and in toward the top tier of Umtal. I swallowed down nervous flutters as we watched the city unroll beneath us, layer after layer of winding snail-shell streets, tightly packed buildings and bustling city-dwellers. It was really happening. We were headed to the Castelan’s palace with a fake Dominar so he could be welcomed by the great people here. I felt sick at the thought.

Let’s just get through it and be on our way with Savette. The sooner we are gone from here the better.

I agreed with that, though I hoped we could re-supply. With her cloak gone, Savette was wrapped in one of the blankets, coughing and hacking. She hadn’t spat up black goo yet, but I knew what was coming. We would need food and water and a new cloak for her at the very least. A kettle would be nice, if we could manage that.

We were escorted by black dragons all the way to the top tier, but all of them except their leader peeled off and went their own way when we set down outside the smooth walls and vaulted entrance of the High Castelan’s palace.

The Black Dragon Rider leapt off the back of his dragon and ran up the steps and into the entrance. A moment later, alert and precise, the palace guards came running down the steps in formation, fanning out around us in a solemn ring that pushed back the steady stream of people coming and going into the Castel. Excitement filled their serious faces and they looked more like parade guards than men on the alert.

So, they knew that the “Dominar” was here. They were the first honor guard sent. A second wave of officials arrived a moment later, lining the way from the ring of guards to the entrance, puffing and straightening clothing as if they had run all the way there. I could recognize some of them. There was a collection of red and white Dragon Riders, a few healers in white robes, a Dominion Envoy and a few men who looked like clerks.

We waited long moments in silence until our escort re-emerged. At his heels, dressed in the high-collared coat and segmented breastplate of nobility, strode an impressively large man in his thirties. He was clearly the Castelan here.

Adanti Umtal, High Castelan of Umtal.

He marched down the line of waiting dignitaries until he was right before Kyrowat and then lowered himself to his knees in a dramatic bow. As if by order, the guards and dignitaries around us followed suite.

The Dominar, with a flourish, threw back his hood, light glinting off his crown and mask. I chewed at the inside of my cheek. The sound of a hundred throats drawing in breath surrounded us.

This couldn’t be good. He didn’t need to speak a word and they believed it was him. Surely, there had to be a way I could have prevented this.

There really wasn’t. Let the fools follow a fool. We have our own business to worry about.

“Lord Dominar, glory to your reign,” the Castelan said in a loud, carrying voice. “We welcome you to Umtal Castel.”

The Dominar accepted Hubric’s hand down from Kyrowat’s back. When his feet reached the ground, he flung the red cloak off. Gasps surrounded us as his missing arm was revealed, the makeshift bandage Savette had used red with blood. He swayed slightly at the effort of standing with such a grave wound. That alone should have been enough to have tipped her and Hubric off. Ashana and I had sealed that wound with tar. If this was really the Dominar, it should be healing by now. But neither of them had seen that, had they?

“Master Nestor, hurry,” the Castelan said, scrambling to his feet and waving one of the healers forward. “Please, Dominar, allow us to offer you our best of healers.”

“So be it,” the Dominar said.

“And anything else we can do to ease your arrival.”

The Dominar – Iskaris – looked back at us and I wished I could see his face. “Do not permit those who came with me to leave this palace until I give instructions for their dispersal.”

“Of course, Dominar,” Castelan Umtal said with an additional bow as the healer moved forward, respectfully guiding the Dominar toward wherever the healing halls were.

The inside of my belly was roiling like a pot at full boil. We needed to leave as soon as possible, but with the Dominar’s order, we were stuck here. What plan did he have for us that needed us to remain? Wouldn’t he want us as far away as possible? After all, we were the only ones who could know what had happened in the warrens.

The only loose ends he needs to tie up, you mean?

My lips pressed together as I considered that. Iskaris had no qualms about stealing a crown that wasn’t his and condemning its true owner to death. What qualms would he have about killing us if it suited his purposes? There was no question in my mind that he was Dusk Covenant and a traitor.

Trust me when I tell you, evil follows a man who embraces it. This man has a long shadow and someday, alone in the dark, that shadow will swallow him up.

I shivered at the thought.

Chapter Seven

The High Castelan followed the Dominar into the Castel with his entourage close on their heels. Rumors and whispering buzzed all around us. Likely, this was the most important thing to happen in this city since the rumors of war reached this place.

As he walked up the steps he leaned in to speak to someone, but I didn’t realize who it was until everyone else had filed out, leaving only the usual Castel traffic, a small ring of guards and a Dragon Rider with black scarves.

“Hubric Duneshifter. I thought you were dead, old man.” The Dragon Rider was old enough to be my father, bearded and a bit soft looking around the middle.

“Ulif Fidelis.” Hubric didn’t seem enthusiastic.

“It looks like hospitality falls to me. Let’s get your dragons in the Castel cotes and your people in their quarters.”

Hubric sighed but signed a dismount. Reluctantly, I obeyed. We shouldn’t be dismounting. We should be winging our way south toward the dark lands of Haz’drazen.

We wouldn’t make it five minutes if we left right now. Better to wait for a clean opportunity.

“I didn’t see cotes along the sides of the Castel,” Hubric said, falling into stride beside Ulif as I helped Savette down. She seemed distracted suddenly, like she wasn’t processing what was going on very well. I hadn’t seen her like this since ... since the last time we were near a lot of people. Did people cause that distracted air or was it a symptom of her new illness?

“They hang below the Castel – convenient, right? Don’t worry. There’s a servants’ entrance around the side of the Castel with room for dragons to walk.”

Servants’ entrance? And the cotes hang below the city? Is this man even a Dragon Rider? He doesn’t have any idea how to show proper respect to dragons! Where is his dignity?

“What news is there in the Dominion?” Hubric asked.

“Times are grim, Duneshifter.” Ulif lead us around the side of the Castel, the Castel guards tailing us in case we chose to escape.

They’re for show. The real threat is the dragons circling the city. Those are the ones who would turn us into a rain of charcoal if we tried to flee.

I was still thinking about running while we still could. After all, what would Iskaris do if we stayed?

“War creeps south,” Ulif said. “Even with the soldiers all the cities have sent north, we are losing ground. General Eaglespring was defeated when he tried to retake Leedris City, and his men were pushed back south of the Dragon Snout mountains. We have not regained the coastal cities or the lands of the north. Now, Ko’Torenth is spear-rattling about an old land dispute with Woelran. They know we can not afford war with them, too, and that we will have to concede. There are pockets of good news. A few hundred dragons, led by a young dragon rider re-took Saldrin and held her long enough for the citizenry to flee, but refugees are a problem. They have flooded the frontlines, making supplies scarce. Crime and brutalities have increased along the front and none of us have men to spare to deal with the situation.”

“You seem unaffected here.” Hubric stayed close to Ulif, but his voice carried well as we entered through the wide servants’ entrance filled with carts and hand-trucks bringing parcels and supplies to and from the Castel. The dragons followed behind Savette and me, though I saw Raolcan eyeing the guards with a baleful glare. It was a wonder that Kyrowat hadn’t flamed anyone yet.

“My own nephew went with the soldiers north. I feel like I’ve been chained to a stone, ordered to stay here when others go to fight. At least I was here to see the best news yet – better than the news from Dominion City we received today - that our Dominar is not lost as men have said. He lives and wounded though he is, that is a great comfort. There will be celebrating in the streets like no one has seen in a thousand years! Though I doubt you’ll see it?”

“Why is that?” Hubric asked casually. We entered a huge storeroom, cavernous enough to hold dragons and Ulif led us to a wide staircase.

Dragons don’t like stairs. They aren’t our thing. Give me a sheer drop over stairs any day of the week.

“Doubtless, the Dominar has kept you close to relay messages of his return to the surrounding cities – though I’m hoping you’ll tell me the full story first. Did you find him with his guards? They said he fled Vanika when the city fell to treachery. Was he the only survivor, or were there more? Was it a terrible retreat?”

“I’ll tell you all of it over a game of cards. But first, what news did you receive from Dominion City today?”

“By the vote of the Council and the sitting Generals, Castelan Starie Atrelan is the Chosen One of Legend and she shall go on our behalf to Haz’drazen and demand more dragons for the war effort. Together, we will roust these invaders from our Dominion and sweep over them like the tide until all of this world is ours. She prophesied our victory and wealth. It’s a certainty.”

It was easy to make those sorts of promises when you were a self-serving liar. Had she thought about the innocent lives she would ruin with this war – or how ridiculous it sounded when our own country was overrun with enemies?

I’m more worried about the part where she is off to make demands of my Queen. Haz’drazen has little patience. If the Council and the sitting Generals have given Starie permission to speak for them, she could undo a treaty that has linked our two people for hundreds of years. More than ever, we must hurry to the lands of Haz’drazen.

I swallowed as the staircase narrowed around us. Savette reached out and took my hand. Her palm was as clammy as mine was.

She shares our worry. None of this is good.

The stairs ended suddenly at a doorway, and beyond the doorway, the room – large as it was – seemed to sway so that the doorway only lined up with the stairwell half the time. Was the whole room swinging?

It’s suspended. I hope whatever Magikas built it knew what they were doing. I don’t imagine plummeting to my death inside a poorly built room would be a grand way to die.

The worst part was that the possibility of dying in a falling box wasn’t even the most concerning part of our situation. Beside me, Savette began to cough. I stopped as she doubled over beside me and spat on the ground. We were running out of time.

Chapter Eight

Four days later, we still hadn’t been allowed to leave the Umtal Castel Dragon Riders’ barracks. Worse, we hadn’t been allowed to see the dragons in that time.

We’re fine. We’re taking turns in deep sleep. I feel almost as good as new. Stop worrying.

And Savette’s cough was getting consistently worse.

That part isn’t fine. We need to get her south sooner than later.

I spent most of my time with her. She wanted me close, hugging me often and holding my hand when she slept. It was like she wanted someone to tell her that she wasn’t really dying, but what could I possibly say? I just held her hand and tried not to cry when I thought about it.

That’s all you can do.

There was no way to escape. Our rooms were guarded, the barracks were guarded, the dragons were guarded – by black dragons – and we were kept apart from Hubric who seemed to be spending most his time playing cards.

Sometimes he plays the type of cards where you get information.

And the rest of the time?

He really likes cards.

There had to be a way out. There had to be something we could do. I sat on the edge of my bed, tapping my foot as I thought. Beside me, Savette slept on the bed, her fingers twisted in mine for comfort. There were windows, at least, so I could watch the sun rise and set over and over again counting down the days until we lost everything.

“Amel? Are you there?” Was that Hubric whispering through the wall?”

“Yes,’ I whispered back, carefully untangling Savette’s fingers from mine and getting up from the bed to crouch on the floor near where his voice was. I leaned in close to the wall.

“Things are getting worse. The Lightbringers contacted me through our card game.”

“Can they get us out of here?”

There was a long pause. “They were hoping I could help them.”

“Savette is getting worse, Hubric. Her time is ... short.”

“I know. Trust me, I know.” Stress bled through his voice. “When Starie was embraced by the Council as the Chosen One, she made her beloved mentor her right-hand woman – Grandis Elfar of Dragon School now leads a group of elite Black Dragon Riders and soldiers known as the Dusk Covenant of the Chosen One. They are hunting down and destroying all the Lightbringers they can find. They say the fall of Vanika was our fault. The Dusk Covenant has been made the one true people of the Chosen One and they are absolved of all past guilt. It’s bad, Amel. Each piece of news I hear is worse than the last. They’ve found knots of Lightbringers and slaughtered them, burnt our safehouses and businesses. Lightbringers are hiding their tattoos and refusing to meet. We are in hiding. What’s worse, is that the Dusk Covenant have negotiated peace in some of the villages bordering the war with Baojang. They are being heralded as the people of peace.”

“But, that’s all so twisted! That’s not how things are at all!”

Lies have a way of seducing people. Good becomes evil and evil becomes good in the eyes of those who see what they wish to see and are driven by their own selfish ambition and bitter jealousy.

“Of course, it’s lies! But it puts us in a precarious spot. The Dominar has added his official sanction to their efforts and he has declared you and I and Savette to be Lightbringers. According to the guard, we are now officially under custody until there is time for an investigation.”

But it wouldn’t take much to investigate us. Hubric doubtless bore the mark. We both carried the Ibrenicus prophecies and Savette – Savette was as Lightbringer as they came. All you had to do was look at her eyes to see that.

This is dire news.

What option did we have except escape and flight?

There is no opening for escape – not yet.

“Hubric?”

“Yes?”

“Is there a way for you to come through the wall to join us? The guards haven’t let me into the common room all day. They bring our food to us. I think they don’t want Savette out there because they think she’s contagious.”

Hubric coughed. “Since the Dominar ordered us under custody we are now locked in our rooms. And no, I don’t see an easy way to get through the walls. My card games are over and with them, the information I need to make decisions. We’re trapped, apprentice.” There was so much resignation in his voice. “And there’s more.”

“More?” This was already too much.

“The Dominar leaves today for the Dominion City. Ulif Fidelis has been ordered to follow him, bringing along both us and the other Lightbringers they’ve captured. Cages are being constructed for us and for our dragons.”

Cages? Are they kidding? I will flame them all!

“And if Raolcan and Kyrowat really do flame them, they will kill us in front of them and let them die of rot in the weeks after,” Hubric whispered, clearly hearing his own dragon’s objections in his mind. “We are well and truly trapped. This time, it won’t be us swooping in to save the day.”

I swallowed, chewing my lip nervously. What did you do in the face of so much opposition? I took out the small book of Ibrenicus prophecies from my pocket and looked at the worn pages and scratched leather binding. Talsan had read it often. Had he found any hope in the pages when he went to them over and over again?

“I understand,” I said.

“Get some rest. We’ll need it for what comes next.”

Did he hope we’d find a way out then?

While there’s life there’s hope.

I settled into a seated position on the bed next to Savette and opened up the book of prophecies. She leaned against me, coughing intermittently and drifting in and out of fitful sleep. Like Talsan, she was not done yet - not ready to go until she’d accomplished that one last thing - but her last thing was saving the world and I was starting to realize that maybe my role in life was to make sure she survived to do that.

It was going to be a tough role.

Chapter Nine

They came for us the next day.

“Gather your things,” the guard said, his face set in a grim mask as he delivered a breakfast of tea and bread. “Dragon Rider Fidelis has ordered you moved in one hour.”

“The Dominar needed Savette’s cloak when he was wounded. She doesn’t have appropriate clothing to travel in.” I gestured to where she sat on the edge of the bed in her filmy white dress – dirty from travel – coughing in a way that made my own lungs ache.

The guard set his jaw like he was about to refuse.

“Please,” I said. “I’ll give you this scarf.” I unwound Ashana’s scarf from my neck. I had nothing else of value to offer. “It belonged to Ashana Willowspring, Top Rider of the Purples.”

The guard took it in his hand, considering the fine weave and nodded. He left and returned after a moment with a worn grey cloak. It was fur-lined, despite the frayed edges and I nodded gratefully when he threw it to me.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t know why you bother. She’ll be dead by the end of the week.”

There was something about the casual cruelty of his words that made me set my own jaw in defiance. There had to be some way to prevent that, and I – Amel Leafbrought – was going to find it. I placed the cloak gently around Savette’s shoulders and she smiled in gratitude. She didn’t talk anymore if she didn’t have to. Any words made her cough worse and she coughed all the time.

There weren’t many things to grab. I collected the blankets and the water bottles we had. There was a little medical kit Savette had brought from the storeroom when we fled to the warrens. That was all we had. No food. No spare clothing. Nothing but these things and the tiny handwritten book in my pocket. I’d read it last night until the light had faded. One part stuck out to me in particular. Maybe because every time the prophecies mentioned “the earth” I thought of the Ifrits – the earth demons.

In the last days, distraction will take the minds of the people. Their hearts will turn away from truth and to the comfort of lies. No longer will a man embrace the wisdom of his fathers or a woman the words of her mothers, but they will seek a new way – a way that leads to destruction. The powers of the earth will cloak themselves in peace and with lies, they will swallow up the people. They shall snuff out light from across the land and give the souls of the people to the earth in exchange for the power their hearts crave. When you see their sign in the skies, do not lose hope. Though blood soaks the earth and truth has fled from the land, the light will spread and heal. The light will choose as it wills and shine truth into the hearts of all men.

I was getting as crazy as Hubric believing prophecies like that were meant for us. Maybe they were meant for someone else, generations from now.

Or maybe they are meant for both you and that far off generation, Raolcan said.

I was still considering the implications of that when the guards strode silently into the room and held the door open for us. There was no point trying to resist. There were five of them to our two – and I was crippled and Savette was coughing up her life a little at a time. I slung our tiny bundle of blankets and water over my shoulder, bracing my crutch under my other arm. Savette grabbed my belt, holding tight to what she could when I had no free hand to give.

As her light fades, she is losing her sight.

That made sense, I supposed, in a grim way. Together, we limped out of the room as silent as the guards. In the common room, there were more guards and Hubric, too. They’d tied his hands. I supposed they realized they didn’t need to tie Savette or me. We followed their silent direction out of the common room to the dragon cotes. Would we fly down from here?

Hardly. Prepare yourself.

His warning didn’t come soon enough. As soon as I saw him, I froze in my tracks, fear stabbing through me like ice. Raolcan and Kyrowat were already in metal cages. The cages hung from cables and were being slowly lowered to the ground by a pulley system.

I’ve never been so humiliated in my life. Not even my first days at Dragon School. They will pay for this. They will all pay!

But Kyrowat and Raolcan kept their mouths tightly closed, not a flame escaping them as they were lowered to the ground.

We were ushered to another cage nearby. The door was held open. It was large enough for a dragon, but instead, there were two other people and some wooden benches along the sides. My heart sank as I realized we would be lowered in the same silent, terrible way.

Below, on the ground, teams of horses were hitched to long trailers. I realized, belatedly, that the trailers were the exact size of the cages. We would be loaded on one of those and spend our journey bumping along Dominion roads in a metal cage. Horror, raw and yawning filled me, so that it was only the pull of Savette’s hand on my belt that gave me the courage to step forward into the open door of the cage. We sat, side by side, on the hard bench. Hubric was shoved onto the bench on the opposite side, but when they began to lock the door, he hobbled across to sit beside Savette instead, helping to support her as she doubled over with coughs again.

Across from us, two silent figures in grey cloaks stared at the floor. They were both women – one young and one about Hubric’s age. Their fingers tangled and untangled in their cloaks, and they sat close together as if they were friends. Neither one lifted her eyes as the lock clicked with a strange finality and the cage was raised, pivoted, and then was lowered down, down, down through the hole into the air beneath.

The wind howled around us in exact tune with my howling, raging thoughts. If only we – me and the wind – could fly free together and we would rip apart this smug city with the hanging nets and laughing people with their sense of superiority while the rest of their nation battled for their lives. We would blow it over so that it couldn’t be rebuilt and then the people of Umtal would pay for believing the lie that Iskaris was the Dominar and that we were their enemies.

You sound like their enemy, Amel. Don’t let anger cloud your mind. You are only humiliated if you allow yourself to be. Don’t accept their judgment of you, but don’t be driven by revenge, either. Revenge is a double-bladed knife. It will cut you as easily as your enemy and innocents will always be hurt in the process.

His words sounded true, and yet they went exactly against the bent of my heart.

Then take your heart in hand and bend it the right way, Amel. We are victims, yes, but if you let your heart bend you the way it wants it won’t be your enemies who suffer. It’s up to you to manage your heart and to make it bend to your will, not the other way around.

I fought my heart as we were loaded on the trailers. Fought as the horses pressed against their harnesses and we went from stop to go. Fought as the soldiers traveling with us surrounded the cages on prancing black horses and spread out all around us. Fought as the chill of the morning was burnt off in the haze of the sun’s eye and the burning rays baked our shade-less bench. But it was no use. My heart only wanted one thing, and it wasn’t forgiveness or peace.

Chapter Ten

“Why do her eyes shine?” It was the first time anyone had spoken since we began to move, hours ago. It was the older woman, addressing Hubric and at first, I thought she was talking about Savette. Her eyes never left me, though.

“Amel?” Hubric asked. I met his eyes and he drew back slightly. He cleared his throat but was drowned out when Savette burst into another fit of coughs.

“Her eyes shine. I thought maybe it was just a trick of the light up in the city, but it’s noon now, and I can still see the glow,” the woman said. Her brow was furrowed like she was thinking. “You two are Dragon Riders?”

“I am Hubric Duneshifter of the Purple,” Hubric said, “and this is my apprentice, Amel Leafbrought. I don’t know why her eyes might glow.”

“And you’re Lightbringers,” the woman said, pulling her sleeve up to expose the mark of a rising sun over a hill. She nodded at two other cages being dragged up ahead of us. “Like the rest of us.”

“I am,” Hubric said. “Amel has yet to be inducted by us. No opportunity.”

The woman smiled at me. “I’m Analia Berrycrusher and this is my daughter, Haskel Berrycrusher. We were apothecaries in Umtal. No one special. But that doesn’t seem to matter anymore. They rounded up everyone I know in the Lightbringers. Those still alive. The Dusk Covenant has been after us for months. There have been accidents. Suspicious deaths. Mysterious circumstances. At least the worst has finally happened. There’s no more waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Her daughter spoke for the first time. Her voice was throaty and deeper than I expected. “This isn’t the worst. Is it?”

It was Hubric she was looking at, not me. His expression was grim as he nodded.

“We weren’t allowed to bring our herbs,” she said, gesturing to Savette, “but maybe we can help your friend.”

Savette’s head lolled against my shoulder as she half-slept, half-coughed her day away. She was getting worse, and I didn’t want to think about how bad it was going to get for her.

“A kind offer,” Hubric said, “but we can’t help her. Only Haz’drazen can now. And skies and stars I hope we can get her to the Dragon Queen in time. She’s ... she’s important.”

“How important?” Haskel asked, her head tilted to the side.

Hubric hesitated. Why hesitate now? He hadn’t been shy before about sharing his suspicions.

I spoke in his place. “Savette Leedris is the Chosen One of legend – the real Chosen One – and if she dies in this cage we are all doomed.”

“Are you sure?” Haskel asked Hubric, as if he was the one who had spoken.

“I’m betting my life on it.”

“I don’t know how to treat the Chosen One.”

“In a cage surrounded by enemies? The best way is probably to pretend you don’t know. After all, we don’t want to draw attention to her.” He ran a hand through his hair and then pulled out a deck of cards.  “If we’re going to be here for a while – and I’m guessing we are, would you like to help me teach my apprentice to play cards properly. She’s terrible at the game.”

“Only because I’ve never been taught,” I said, but I was grateful for a distraction.

Distractions are good. A plan to get out of here would be better. I’ve tested our cages. They can be cut by flame, but we’d need a good opportunity. A distraction or some other way to ensure they don’t kill you before we melt the metal fully away.

We needed a way out. A cure for Savette. A plan to overthrow the Dominar, find the real Dominar, reinstate him, destroy Starie’s evil plans and the Dusk Covenant and...

Calm down. One step at a time. I’ll work on our escape. You take care of Savette and Hubric.

How was he going to work on our escape?

I have my ways. They don’t call me Prince of Dragons for no reason.

Did anyone call him that?

That’s a harsh way to speak to your best friend. Now, I need to focus.

And I needed to think about how to help Savette while we were in a cage with nothing but a deck of cards, a few friends, a bottle of water, and a little book of prophecies. I must really have been going crazy because I was actually considering reading that little book again and trying to see if there was some way it could help me out of this. Had Hubric just rubbed off on me, or had I become a true believer without realizing it was happening to me?

I played the hand Hubric dealt me and watched the cards as he explained how to play cards properly – not to pass messages, just to play - but all the while, I was thinking about Savette and her cough and what it meant that my eyes were glowing, too. Had she somehow passed some of her light to me? Did that mean that somehow, I would be able to make things true just like she did? Should I try?

Chapter Eleven

The next day, we were still playing cards and Savette was still drifting in and out of fitful sleep. Her coughs made my own lungs ache whenever I heard them, and black fluid was beginning to leak from the corners of her eyes. In the night, no solutions had come to me. We’d stopped by a creek and our guards camped around the cages, distributing water and biscuits to us, but nothing else. We huddled together in the cold - the blankets I’d brought were all we had to share between five people. The soldiers had fires and off to the side was Raolcan’s cage – if I was there I would be warm and safe - but we hadn’t been let out to stretch our legs or get warm.

The same was true for the other cages of people and dragons. I felt hope draining from me as the cold hours of the night stretched into an endless sea of hopelessness. I’d had so many bright hopes when we left the Feet of the River so many days ago. I’d been certain back then that we could find Hubric and deliver the messages and keep Savette safe while Rakturan went to try to garner peace in his homeland. Now, those bright hopes were gone, replaced with a sinking heart.

That’s going to be a problem. Hopelessness is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I played my card. I was getting better at cards under my friend’s instructions, but I still lost more than I won.

“I think we’ll start to teach you the language of the cards,” Hubric said with a yawn. He hadn’t slept either.

“We usually wait until someone is properly inducted into the Lightbringers,” Analia said severely.

“She’s made the oaths. What more do you want?” Hubric said, laying down his own card and then clearing them away to deal again.

Analia looked at me. “Usually, we’d test your loyalty.”

“She’s in this cage with us. Is that not loyalty?” Hubric sounded grumpy. He was probably missing his morning caf on top of everything else.

“And then we’d mark you with our sign.”

“Her eyes are glowing. Tell me that’s not a mark.”

Analia shrugged. “I don’t like giving up traditions. They bring structure to life, but Hubric has a point. I suppose sometimes the Light marks you before you can even get there on your own or through the Lightbringers.”

“So?” Hubric asked, one eyebrow raised.

Analia chuckled in defeat. “So, we’ll teach her the signs, you old crow.”

There was a commotion from behind us. With so many guards and cages, it was impossible to tell what was happening, but riders rode past us, looking like men with messages to deliver, while the chatter around us increased. Perhaps Raolcan knew what was happening.

Not yet...

“Ignore them. Anything that bothers them is good for us, but it’s too soon to tell what that might be,” Hubric said, laying the cards out for me to see. “As often as possible, we try to be literal. So, if you were to lay three dragons down, that means that whatever you have to say has to do with three dragons. Our two dragons are in cages here, so if I were to tell another Lightbringer about what’s happening to us, I’d lay down two dragons.” He laid down two. “If it was important to relay that we are traveling, I’d lay down the road next. If I wanted to say who was behind our capture, I might lay down a king – to symbolize a Castelan. Just as often, it’s the comments that the other players make in gameplay that communicate the message. So, if I lay the dragons and you say, ‘A dangerous play,’ or ‘I wouldn’t bid so high’ that’s a warning to me of trouble. If you said, ‘With a hand like that I’d think you’d bid higher!’ that tells me that things are looking good for us. Understand?”

We were thrown to the side suddenly, our benches toppling over. I caught Savette, while Hubric scrambled to collect the cards so that none fell through the cage sides or floor. Beside us, a cage was pulled quickly by - a single occupant within. His guards were in such a hurry to bring him to the front of the line that they’d pushed our own horses aside.

The eyes of the man inside the cage met mine and my heart leapt in my chest. He was young and dark, and the stump of his arm was bandaged at the shoulder. I gasped, and I saw in his eyes a look of recognition. He knew me just as I knew him. I was one of only two people in the whole Dominion who knew that face without the silver mask that used to cover it.

“Hubric?” I asked as the cage pulled past ours. A tingling spread out across my skin as if ants were crawling over me. The young man gripped the bars, desperation and hope searing across his face as his eyes held mine. Were they glowing slightly? I had no way to save him, no hope to give him and yet I knew that there had to be a way to get to him and to help him, too. “What does it mean if I play the Dominar card?”

“It means that you’re talking about either the Dominar himself or his rule,” Hubric said.

Already the Berrycrushers were laying out one of the benches as a table and Hubric was dealing the cards. I picked mine up, balancing Savette on my shoulder and slowly, deliberately, laid down the single Dominar I’d been dealt.

He was here with us and only I knew about it. It was time to change that.

Chapter Twelve

Hubric gave me a curious look but I made my face firm. I’d played that card on purpose and I wasn’t taking it back.

A moment later our cage was jolted to the side again and this time a second cage went by. Inside, was a wild-eyed Rasipaer. From the expression on his face, he was barely able to contain his fury. They must have threatened him, too. Who would they threaten to kill that would make Rasipaer so angry? Ashana was far from here in the lands of Haz’drazen.

The real Dominar. They are friends now. He’s filling me in.

By the pre-occupied look on Hubric’s face as we scrambled to fix everything again, Kyrowat was also talking to him.

He came out a long way from where we were. Both he and the Dominar were in the same spot, but he couldn’t contact us or find us. The Dominar didn’t have his mask, but Rasipaer knew who he was. Remember when he spoke to him mind-to-mind in the warrens? Remember how I told you that was rare? Well, he recognized the Dominar’s mind immediately and they flew together. At first, they searched for us. When they couldn’t find us, they flew south. Rasipaer wanted to find Ashana. The Dominar was looking for Lightbringers. He thought that perhaps they could help him. Perhaps they would believe him. He wasn’t sure who would know him now that he has lost his crown.

Smart. After all, it would be hard to prove who you are when no one had ever seen your face.

Worse, you heard them all tell you – the crown is the Dominar, not the man. He really isn’t the Dominar anymore. Just a man who knows a lot and is missing an arm.

I needed to get him here into the cage with us. Was there a way to do that?

Working on it...

“How did you know?” Hubric asked me. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“I told you what I saw. I told you it was Iskaris in the mask.” There was no point hiding what we knew from the Berrycrusher mother and daughter. They were as doomed as we were.

“But you knew as soon as you saw him and ... no one should be able to recognize that face.”

The women’s gaze swiveled back and forth between us as if they could follow our subtle conversation.

“He’s missing an arm,” I hedged.

“In war, that happens. It wasn’t the arm that tipped you off. You know his face. It was not just messages that you snuck a peek at in the cave, was it?” Hubric’s lowered voice was grim. Was he going to be angry about that, too?

“You were unconscious, and someone had to help him. He was dying.” I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

“You are too headstrong by half, Apprentice. This is a very grave crime you’ve committed.”

I leaned in close. “If I hadn’t committed it, then no one would know who he is.”

“No one but Rasipaer,” he replied.

“And you know as well as I do that people don’t listen to dragons the way that they should.”

“Amel.” Hubric’s voice was tight. “I care about you like a daughter, which is why I beg you to please listen. There will be many times that you will want to throw everything away because you think you know better. It happens to me all the time. Please, please remember that the outcome does not make any path getting there a good one. What paths you go down affect the future and there is no closing some doors once they have been opened. Please tell me you are hearing this.”

I nodded, trying to look guiltless.

He tsked. “At least promise me this. Promise you will try to think twice before you do these things. That you’ll take a big breath before you leap into these things.”

“I promise.”

His wry smile told me that he didn’t believe me.

I didn’t promise anything.

There was more commotion up the line. A scream and loud cursing. What was happening?

The only cages without dragons are packed tightly with people – and yours of course. I scorched the Dominar’s cage – melted the bars. They’ll have to put him somewhere else. It will definitely be with you.

Hadn’t he melted his own bars in the process?

I was careful. The black dragons are clear. If I melt my own cage or yours, they’ll kill you. No one said anything about not melting his.

But they would almost have to punish him somehow. Worry gnawed at my belly. What would they do to him?

They’ve already done it. Five arrows to my flanks.

I bit my lip, tasting blood.

It’s only a flesh wound. Worth it to finally do something instead of just sitting in a cage like a canary.

And there was no one to pull out the arrows or tend to him! I remembered how Kyrowat looked when we found him full of arrows.

I’m younger and fitter. I’ll have them pulled out and be fever-burning them off in no time. Don’t worry about me. Oh! And don’t worry if I get quiet. I might go into a deep sleep to recover faster. After all, I have nothing better to do right now.

I wished I could be in his cage. It was cruel to keep us apart. Especially when he needed me.

I need nothing.

He needed me.

Fine, I need you.

There was commotion all down the line of cages and guards and then suddenly our horses stopped and the constant sway and squeak of the cage on a trailer stopped. A pair of guards marched forward, swords drawn and held at the ready while a third moved to unlock our cage. What did they expect us to do?

If Savette was well, she could blast them all into dust, though I doubt they know that.

“Stay back or we’ll strike you down!” the guard said.

The lock opened with a clink, and then from behind the first guards, a new pair strode over and pushed a man with only one arm into the cage. He had a woven sack over his head. Hubric caught him as he stumbled forward, snatching the sack off of his face.

Raolcan’s plan had worked. We had the Dominar with us now.

My plans always work. And now ... sleep calls me.

Chapter Thirteen

The guards left, returning to formation. Our cage lurched forward, and the caravan continued as if nothing had happened. Hubric helped the Dominar onto a bench. He was pale and wide-eyed.

“I remember you,” he said, looking at me. He turned to Hubric. “And you. Thank you for your assistance.”

I didn’t know if he meant the assistance Hubric had just given or our help in the warrens.

“D-” I began, but he shook his head, his hand clamping over my mouth, fast as a viper.

“Shonan.” He smiled, tightly. “That’s the name I go by.”

Was it his real name? I felt a thrill to finally know it after wondering all that time that we were tending him.

“Hubric Duneshifter,” Hubric said. “Purple Dragon Rider.”

The Dominar – Shonan – bowed slightly, and pale as a ghost, Hubric bowed back, his bow deeper.

“Please, allow me to show respect, Dragon Rider,” Shonan said, with authority. He had a point. It would be easier to hide who he was if we weren’t bowing and scraping. “What happened to the bright one?”

He took Savette’s hand gently in his. She coughed but stayed asleep.

“Her dragon died in the battle,” Hubric said, deferentially. “She will join him soon.”

“Unless we can find a way to save her.” I didn’t like admitting defeat. Not when there was still hope.

The Dominar sat silently between Hubric and Savette, studying her face. The Berrycrushers returned to their cards, but now that I knew the signs of the cards I could see their question to Hubric in the cards they played. They had followed our conversation more than I meant them to. One played the Dominar.

The other said, “You shouldn’t play your cards so close to your chest, Hubric. It’s a team game.”

Beside me, Shonan chuckled. “Lightbringers never change. You see what everyone else misses.” He looked around at them. “So, you all know?”

The Berrycrushers nodded their heads.

“No one can prove it.”

“No one can prove that Savette is the Chosen One, either,” Hubric said. “And yet she is.”

The Dominar’s eyebrows lifted. “This bright one? That is grave news. It’s her bond to the shadow world – to her dead dragon who lives within it – that is killing her. Correct?”

“Yes,” Hubric said.

“Then it’s a good thing that you have me with you.” He looked around furtively. “We’ll wait until nightfall. Until then, why don’t you deal me in?”

The Dominar, it turned out, was pleasant company. He chatted easily with us about the terrain, pointing out local bushes from which dyes were made and local birds that lived in the neighboring hills. It was hard not to like him. He played cards one-handed with a grace that was impossible for me, and yet with his arm missing only a few days, he’d already adapted to living without it – all except his balance. More than once, Hubric caught him as the cage jolted and his one good hand was full of cards.

He hardly seemed to be playing to win, but I noticed that Hubric’s eyes narrowed with every hand he played while the Berrycrushers didn’t seem to be reading any extra significance into the plays. Was he playing with a card language they didn’t know but that Hubric did? Twice, Hubric lost for no reason. His cards were too good to have made those plays. It was clear to me, if to no-one else, that he was using the game to communicate, not to win. I wish I knew more than the basics of play. I longed to join them in the exchange. Who would have thought that there would be more than one card language?

“How did the Dusk Covenant capture you, Shonan?” I asked. I’d bowed out of this game, settling back to smooth Savette’s hair in an effort to comfort her. With her breathing more labored, I was getting more and more tense. There had to be some way to save her.

“Rasipaer and I set down at a Lightbringer safehouse.” He knew where those were? His words were guarded as he spoke, like he was keeping the details vague on purpose. “But it was a trap. The residents there had been slaughtered and at once an Ifrit sprang from the ground and kept us pinned down until these Black Dragon Riders came for us.”

“An Ifrit?” Haskell exclaimed at the same moment that Hubric grabbed Shonan’s good arm and yanked the sleeve up. Just above his wrist was the sign of the Lightbringers.

I gasped.

“I thought so,” Hubric said smugly.

“If you don’t mind, would you lower my sleeve?” Shonan said crisply. “It’s hard to adjust it with just one hand.

“Of course.” Hubric had the grace to look embarrassed, but he rallied quickly. “And this means that we have four Lightbringers here. Enough to say the words over my apprentice and properly induct her.”

Analia and Haskel were nodding enthusiastically and even Shonan nodded though he said, “You know, you could have asked.”

But Hubric had never been the asking kind. They gathered around me, to my surprise, each placing a hand on one of my shoulders.

“Do you love light and truth? Have you sworn to pursue them all the days of your life?” Analia intoned.

“Yes,” I said. It felt strange to be so much the center of attention.

“Join us – with my blessing - as a bringer of Light into dark places,” Haskell said.

“Join us – with my testimony to your character – as a guardian of Truth,” Hubric said. He was practically glowing with pride. I knew this was a big deal to him, but it was like I was being crowned a ruler, not simply officially inducted into their sect.

“Join us – with my blessing,” Analia said, “to stand until strength ends and life fades.”

“Join us.” Shonan’s deep baritone felt final, “with my testimony and blessing – as a courageous warrior against the dark.”

It shouldn’t have meant as much to me as it did. It shouldn’t have filled me with hope – not when I was in a cage. But it was like the inside of me was light and warmth just waiting to bubble out. I held back a grin. Now was not the time for grinning.

I think it’s always the time to grin.

Chapter Fourteen

The trailer stopped so suddenly that we were all jarred in our seats. The sun was sinking in the west, and at first, I thought our guards wanted to stop to make camp. Around us, awed tones and excitement filled the air. I watched one guard nudge another, pointing to the sky and then a rider from the back of the group rode past at a gallop. What could have them so excited? I followed the pointing hands and wondering gazes to a place right above the horizon toward Dominion city.

As soon as I saw it, my heart froze, acid burning my throat. There, hanging in the sky was a smoky symbol – a spiral with a diagonal line running through it – the sign of the Dusk Covenant. It was as if they had claimed the skies as their own.

They have.

I thought Raolcan was in his deep sleep.

I wake up from time to time to make sure you haven’t gotten into more trouble.

This time I wasn’t the one making trouble. Whoever had written the sign of chaos and dusk in the sky – that was the person making trouble. Now, as a formal member of the Lightbringers, that was a sign of all that I was against from the center of my bones to the thoughts zipping back and forth in my brain.

I’m guessing it’s Starie. And smoke pictures aren’t the only trouble she’ll be making.

I swallowed. I’d known that girl was trouble from the moment I met her, but along the way, she’d often seemed as horrified by what she was becoming as I had been. Was she horrified now as she promoted Ifrits, chaos, and death? Or had she grown used to the path she’d chosen?

It’s all too easy to grow used to bad habits. Evil is like the worst habit of all. It numbs you in all the wrong places so you can’t feel it when it slowly eats you alive.

I shivered.

“We need to hurry,” Shonan said, staring at the symbol. His tone was as shaken as mine was. We all felt the weight of that terrible symbol hanging in the sky. “As soon as they settle in for the night, we’ll act.”

“Escape?” Haskell whispered.

“Better,” Shonan said. “We’ll bring some Light and Truth to the matter.”

Why did that sound so intense? Like it was more powerful than thunder and lightning?

Because truth usually is. I’m going back to sleep. Wake me when you start. And try to be hopeful. Remember that prophecy you read? About how you shouldn’t lose hope when you see the sign in the sky? Remember that one.

It took our captors too long to settle in for the night. But eventually, they set their tents up, built fires, gave us our meager rations and tended the horses. The night was already cool and dark when they gathered around their fires and settled in.

“Gather in a ring on the floor,” Shonan ordered as we scrambled to obey.

Hubric helped him down and I carefully eased Savette onto the floor, following her to sit with her head cradled on my lap. She hadn’t woken all day except to cough. That wasn’t a good sign.

“Throw the blankets over us like a tent,’ Shonan whispered as Haskel and Analia hurried to do as he instructed. “We need privacy. Can I rely on you apothecaries to manage the blankets, stand guard, and keep everything quiet? If we are discovered, all is lost.”

“You can rely on us,” Analia said gravely.

Haskel ducked out of the blankets. “I’ll keep an eye out from here.”

“And Hubric, you will be needed to read from the Ibrenicus Prophecies. Can you see well enough by the faint light Amel and I give off under these blankets?”

“Not quite,” Hubric said.

Gently, I tugged Savette’s blindfold off. Her eyes had faded to a ghost of the light they once shed, but it was still enough to increase the light beneath the blankets.

“That will do,” Hubric said, opening his book. “Any particular prophecy that you have in mind?”

“Start at the beginning and continue to read steadily no matter what happens afterward,” Shonan ordered. It must be so ingrained in him to give orders that he didn’t even realize he was doing it.

“Very well.” Hubric opened the book and began to read in a calm, steady tone. “These are the prophecies collected by Ibrenicus of Haz, son of dragons. For the time comes soon in which these prophecies will be needed...”

As he continued to read, Shonan lined himself up with me so that we were knee to knee. He shifted Savette so she was on both of our laps.

“Do you know why Hubric is reading the book?” he asked me.

“I do not.”

“The Ibrenicus Prophecies contain truth. We must have truth and life all around us as we do this. Do you know why your eyes glow?”

I shook my head.

“You’ve come into contact with the power of truth. Did this bright one heal you?”

“Savette. Her name is Savette.”

“Did Savette heal you?”

“Yes. From a fatal injury.”

He smiled, nodding to himself. “I thought as much. She is young and does not know her way in the power of light and truth. She accidentally gave you part of herself while she healed you. That was bad for her – she needed to keep it to fight for her life – but good for you. Tell me, have you felt much pain in that bad leg of yours?”

Now that he mentioned it, I hadn’t. “It’s felt better than ever.”

“I suspect that she healed more than just your fatal injury. She probably healed that leg, too. I bet you haven’t tried to walk without that crutch, have you?”

My heart thundered in my chest. Could it be true? Could I have been healed of my bad leg, too? He was right. I hadn’t tried to walk without my crutch. Why would I? I was used to being unable to rely on my leg. But it also hadn’t hurt in days. It had felt pain-free for the first time in as long as I could remember.

“Why don’t you try to stand up and walk around?”

I gently rolled Savette onto his lap. I probably shouldn’t. We should be focused on her, right now, but the curiosity was so strong. I’d just see if he was right and then I’d sit right back down again.

I stood, without help from my cane. Stood, and grabbed the side of the cage with one hand – not because I as in danger of falling, no my leg felt strong and firm and reliable under me – and it felt good. I grabbed that bar to hold me up because my heart was hammering in my chest and my ears felt like they would burst from the roar of excitement in my mind. I couldn’t think a thought. I couldn’t breathe. Hope roared up and filled me so full that I wanted to run, to leap, to laugh until my sides ached. It couldn’t be true, could it? I couldn’t be healed completely – could I? Why hadn’t I realized it?

I stretched, feeling so, so good and leapt up onto one of the benches, walking down the length of it and reveling in the capable feeling of every step. I could rely on this leg. I could let it be able and sure under me. I walked a lap around the cage before reminding myself that I had to be responsible. I had to go back in and care for the sweet friend who made this possible for me.

I ducked back into the tent, my face hot with excitement. It felt too enclosed in here. I should be running across the fields right now, breathing in fresh air while my strides stretched out over the ground. I shouldn’t be in a stuffy cage.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Shonan was smiling as Hubric continued to read, dutifully, from his book of prophecies.

“It’s like a dream,” I said. I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. Raolcan was right. I should be grinning all the time. Raolcan! I’d promised to wake him.

Wake up, Raolcan, wake up! He wasn’t listening. Likely, his sleep was too deep. But that was okay, because there was all the time in the world for him to celebrate with me. We needed to turn to Savette, because her time was fading.

“Healing gifts are like that. They give us gifts we couldn’t have imagined.” His voice was gentle, but there was a sadness behind it. Was he sad because his missing arm was still gone? I would be – had been – sad when others were healed and not me.

“Maybe we can heal your arm like that,” I said, hopefully.

He laughed, but his laugh was wistful. “I think not, Dragon Rider. That is not part of my story. And now I have to ask you a hard question.”

He paused, and I couldn’t help but push him to hurry. I didn’t feel still or patient. I felt exuberant and lively.

“What question?”

“How much do you love your friend?”

Chapter Fifteen

His gaze was intense, as if he was asking me something terribly hard to answer, which was ridiculous because the answer was so easy.

“Very much. I think that maybe I’m here to keep her alive.”

He nodded gravely. “And what would you give to heal her now?”

I answered without pause. “Whatever it takes.”

A tear slid down his cheek. Why? Was he okay? I leaned in, worried about him.

“Amel, we can heal her, you and I. We’ll concentrate on the truth Hubric is reading and any part that really resonates, you’ll lean into and I’ll do the same. As soon as we are both in tune with the truth of the words, I can help pull her from the land of death and back to the land of life, cutting the bond between her and the dragon who was tied to her soul. It’s possible, but difficult. I have not done it before though I have read about the theory behind it.”

“I can do my part,” I agreed. I could listen just fine.

He smiled gently. “But at this point, even breaking that bond will not save her. Her own life has dwindled too much. She needs to be given back the gift she gave you – her light.” Would that mean I’d die? The gift she’d given me was my life. “You won’t die, if that’s what you’re thinking. That injury was healed intentionally and isn’t tied to what she did accidentally. But, I fear that she accidentally left some of her light in you and it is bound up in the healing of your leg. If you choose to help me – that healing – the healing of your long-time injury - will be gone.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. He should never have told me in the first place! I felt like my bottom had dropped out – I was too heavy in my feet and legs, too light in my head. If he’d never told me I was healed, I wouldn’t feel now like he was ripping a gift from my hands!

“I had to tell you,” he said, as if he understood. “This choice can only be made by you. It wouldn’t be fair for anyone to make it for you or to lie about the sacrifices involved. What do you choose?”

I wanted so badly to choose my legs. Just to run once – it would be a dream come true. My own tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, hot and streaming. But I would never take something good for myself when that meant the destruction of someone else. I’d never put my happiness, my freedom, my own life over Savette’s. Would I? I needed to make the right choice before my desires took over my reason and changed my heart.

I held my hand out and Shonan clasped my forearm in his one hand. Beneath our clasped arms, Savette’s body shook with coughing.

“We need to do this quickly,” I said. “I don’t want her to suffer a moment more.”

Chapter Sixteen

Shonan tightened his grip on my shaking arm and waited until I met his gaze. The power blazing in his brown eyes held me captive. I couldn’t look away – didn’t want to. In the background, someone cursed and scrambled to pull the flapping edge of the blanket back into place. The wind was whipping up around our cage, flapping the blanket and riffling the pages of Hubric’s prophecy book.  Now that I was gazing into the true Dominar’s eyes my mind focused on what Hubric was reading.

“And one will come from the north, burning, burning,

Judgment and Wisdom bourn by the flow of spirit to spirit

Do not speak to us of the times that follow,

For they shall be as a dream of death as a nightmare walking,

The dusk shall vanquish all but the covenant until the dawn of the tide,” Hubric read.

I focused on the Dominar’s eyes as a roll of thunder boomed in the distance.

“Focus on the truth of who Savette is and what she means for us,” Shonan said. I leaned into the words Hubric was saying, thinking of all the hopes we had tied up in Savette as our talisman. “All you have to do is focus on the truth and remain open. I will do the rest.”

I hoped he knew what he was doing. If Savette had accidentally given me part of herself when she healed me – and she was very powerful! – what might the Dominar do if he didn’t get this quite right? And for that matter, did anyone out there know that he, too, possessed the strange magic Savette wielded? I’d never heard rumors of that.

“Focus,” he reminded, and I let myself drift on the words Hubric was reading.

“For our enemy captures all who oppose him.

He gathers them up in one place under his sign

And that sign is the sign of destruction and woe to all who love light and truth.

But the Chosen One is not far off, the bright one comes,

Death cannot prevent it, the bonds of the next life cannot drag our salvation away,”

Let’s make sure they didn’t. I focused on my knowledge of who Savette was – courageous, determined, responsible. She had sacrificed part of herself to heal me. She shouldn’t die with Eeamdor. We still needed her here.

“The hidden one, still powerful, draws out death,” Hubric read. This had to mean the Dominar, right? “Healing comes from the one who pays a steep price.

In this, victory will begin to grow like the first sprout of a mighty oak

And our hopes, bright as the dawn will rise over the horizon of our hearts.”

I leaned into those words, focusing on the hope and the victory that could sprout with Savette. A victory against darkness, evil and the demonic creatures of the dust that were terrorizing our land.

When had the rain begun? Our blanket was drenched and the sky dark. I could hear the patter of it all around us, as lighting lanced back and forth in the sky.

“Focus,” Shonan whispered. With effort, I turned my mind from the storm and back to Savette.

“And the people will be free of terror and the nations of uproar,

when the Chosen One brings truth to the heart of the Dominion,

when the dominion of darkness comes to an end.”

We needed that! I concentrated my mind on how badly we needed it and then the light around us began to grow.

Shonan closed his eyes, but light poured out around his eyelids. His forearm glowed, too, as if the symbol of the Lightbringers was glowing beneath the skin. My own vision blurred for a moment before clearing. Was I glowing, too? The light in his arm seemed to sear my own, but I held on tight.

Light filled our tiny enclosed space and then someone yelled and the blanket tore loose, whipping away and smacking the side of the cage with a wet sound.  A spear of lightning lanced upward from us to the sky – as thick as my body and so long that I couldn’t see the top of it. A sound like a thunderclap hit me and I rocked, only the Dominar’s tight grip on my arm keeping me from flying backward. The light blinded me. Gasping, I blinked as purple afterimages and bright white light filled my gaze successively. I concentrated on my breath.

Breathe, Amel. That’s right. One breath, two, three ... my vision began to clear at four though it was mostly just blurry shapes. There was a shout – it sounded like Hubric.

At five, I was shoved roughly backward. I felt the weight of Savette still on my lap. There were shouts from outside the cage coming closer and the sound of panic in Analia’s voice as she spoke to Hubric.

At six, my vision cleared completely, though everything was rolling around me. I must be dizzy. Our captors were pouring towards our cage, anger on their faces and shouts filling the air. Someone shoved my head down and the dizziness began to lessen.

“Breathe deep breaths,” Haskel said roughly.

There were legs around me. Hubric’s. Analia’s. Shonan’s. I realized after a moment that they were standing over us to protect us. Somehow, my crutch had ended up underneath me. I wiggled it loose and strapped it to my arm. If we’d done what we planned to do, I would need it close by. If we’d succeeded, I’d never again walk as freely as I had a few minutes ago.

“What happened here?” Someone shouted from outside the cage. “What is that light?”

I looked up. Shonan still glowed very faintly, but not enough for anyone to notice. I looked down at Savette lying next to me. Her eyes glowed bright again and her breathing was easy. I let out a long breath. It had worked. I could even see some color in her cheeks again. But how long would it be until she was recovered enough to be able to use her truth-power?

I had a bad feeling that we’d need it very soon.

Chapter Seventeen

“Open the cage and haul them out here!” Our cage was entirely ringed with enemies now. We had no weapons, no way to fight them off. The only one of us with any power was Savette and she was still asleep.

You did cause trouble while I was sleeping. Didn’t I warn you about that?

Raolcan! He was back!

Hold fast. We have a plan.

There was a clanking at the door of the cage. I grabbed Savette and pulled her onto my lap. I didn’t want anyone to slip and step on her as she lay on the floor. She murmured something.

“Savette? Are you waking up?”

No reply.

There was a sudden roar from further up the line of cages. I turned towards the sound just in time to see a burst of fire roll out of one of the cages up ahead. A second and third burst rolled out right afterward and then flames spewed in a steady stream.

There were screams from the tents too close to the outburst as they lit up like bonfires. People ran in all directions, dragging things from the flames, throwing water over their burning possessions and calling for the black Dragons. What were our dragons thinking? They were going to be burnt to cinders when the other dragons arrived!

Not if we get out of these cages first. We permitted this nonsense when your lives were held hostage. We won’t allow it now that they threaten you.

The door of our cage swung open and one of the guards strode into the cage. “What’s going on here?”

“Lightning struck the cage. What do you expect with metal cages in the middle of field during a storm?” Hubric growled.

The guard shook his head, but behind him someone called, “Lock the cage back up. The dragons are escaping!”

The guard’s eyes narrowed and I could almost see what he was thinking. We were their hostages to keep the dragons in line. Maybe it was time to use us for that.

“You’re coming with us,” he said, gesturing for us to follow him out of the cage.

“Our companion is ill and cannot walk,” Hubric objected.

“You have arms, don’t you? Carry her!”

Despite his raised voice, he was barely audible over the commotion in the yards. People ran back and forth, screaming and shouting. Black dragons – far down the line – launched into the air. The crowd that had been outside our cage moments ago had melted away to just a handful of guards, the rest distracted by the chaos beyond us.

Hubric lifted Savette up in his arms, Haskell helping him. My lips pressed tightly together. She wasn’t heavy, but Hubric wasn’t young. Savette would strain him if he had to carry her far.

“Hubric?” she mumbled.

“Right here, girl dear. Right here,” he comforted her, carrying her like a child despite his reddening face. The rain had soaked all of us through, though it did little to put out the fires raging through the camp.

Were Raolcan and the others out yet?

Yes, but we’re a tad occupied. Hold on.

A purple dragon barrelled across my field of vision. Kyrowat! He flamed at people, horses, and tents indiscriminately. Would he know who we were? What would stop him from burning us with his flames, too?

Crazy though he is, he does love Hubric. In his own cranky way.

The guards around us fenced us in on all sides and the one who had opened the cage wheeled around to address us. “Get your dragons in line! If this chaos doesn’t end immediately I’ll kill you one by one until it does.”

“How do you expect us to do that, huddled in the rain?” Hubric demanded. He lowered Savette to the ground where she leaned against him. Could she sort of stand now? “If you want them calmed down, then you’ll have to let me near them.”

I hobbled forward and put my free arm under Savette’s transferring her weight from Hubric to me. Her head lolled, but she was definitely holding up most of her weight. Was she recovering? Her power was our only hope!

Not exactly our only hope. Never discount what dragons can do!

But there were at least a dozen black dragons headed this way. As if my thought had summoned the worst, Kyrowat dashed back across my vision, retreating back the way he came. Fire flared behind him as a pair of black dragons and their riders chased after him. How would our dragons fare, fighting other dragons? It was a horrible thought! And none of us had weapons – except my crutch. I often forgot about that...

“You’re not going anywhere,” the guard said, grabbing Haskell by the hair and yanking her to him. She shrieked, clutching at her hair and kicking at him, but he put his sword to her throat, forcing her to stillness. “Results. Now! Or this one dies.”

What could we do? We couldn’t ask our dragons to stand down. That would mean their deaths.

“One,” the guard said.

“Can you stand, Savette?” I whispered.

“Mmm?”

I looked around, for someone to take her. The Dominar was close, and he still had one good arm. I gave him the dragon rider sign for “come here.” Would he know it?

Yes! He shuffled subtly toward me and I leaned Savette toward him until her head found his shoulder instead of mine. The guard’s focus was on Hubric. If I could just work my way around him without anyone realizing what I was doing...

Behind Hubric, Kyrowat turned on his pursuers so suddenly that one of them reared up while the other stumbled. Like a shot, the Purple’s neck shot out, his jaws shutting around the black dragon’s neck and his teeth sinking deep into the flesh of the other. The black dragon screamed and round me, I heard a dozen mouths suck in breath. Every guard around us was watching the grizzly display as Kyrowat shook the other dragon like a dog with a groundhog in his jaws. Screams and flames were ripped from the mouth of his victim. I used the distraction to hobble to the side of the guard and release the catch on my cane.

A second set of gasps met my ears, but I didn’t look to see what new horror Kyrowat had accomplished. Instead, I flicked my crutch into the quarterstaff it could be transformed into and then with careful precision, struck the guard on the temple with as much force as I could muster.

Chapter Eighteen

He slumped to the ground, his sword falling from his limp hand.

The next moments seemed to stretch out as we scrambled to defend ourselves. I pivoted so that Savette and the Dominar were at my back at the same moment that Haskell screamed and rushed away from the guards to the Dominar’s side. Hubric leapt forward and snatched up the fallen sword.

The nearest guard had already engaged me and after that I lost track of anything else, concentrating all my power on keeping his sword blade from reaching me. I was handy with the quarterstaff, but no match for a trained swordsman. There was a scream from behind me followed by a series of sobs. What had happened? Who had fallen? I didn’t dare turn my attention away from the battle to look.

On my way.

I was pressed backward. I heard Hubric curse loudly, but the grunts and groans from his direction told me he was holding his own with that sword. I backed up another step, trying to keep the guard from stepping too close and finishing me off. It was a mistake. I stumbled into someone, heard someone moan and then a second guard joined the fight against me. He pressed in from one side so quickly that I had to pivot backward, stumbling over something on the ground. It was Analia, lying lifeless on the rocks. It must have been her scream I’d heard. My breath was growing rapid, my lungs burning from the exertion of pivot, thrust, parry, and sweep. I tasted blood in my mouth from the effort of my lungs fighting to keep up.

“Hold them back!” Hubric called.

I was trying! I missed a parry and hot pain seared me as the guard’s sword bit into my bad leg. Flashes of pain shot through my leg all the way down to the ankle and all the way up to my chest. It hurt so much! Fortunately, I was at least used to working without a leg.

I pivoted again - ignoring the warmth of blood spilling down my calf - and gaining distance between myself and the guard with the bloodstained sword. I was already sweating hard, my lungs and heart pushed to their limits as I worked faster and harder than I’d ever had to before.

This was it. They were too strong for me. Too quick. I couldn’t keep up. I barely registered the glint in one of the guard’s eyes before he nodded to his friend and together, they lunged forward. I stepped backward, lost my balance, was falling through the air when out of nowhere a purple jaw snatched the first guard from the ground, flinging him through the air. As soon as he was free of the snapping jaws, a stream of white-hot fire seared the other guard to ash.

Sorry, I’m late.

Raolcan! I rushed to him, embracing his wide neck. Relief filled me.

No time. Hop aboard.

I climbed up on his back and before I was even settled, Shonan was there with Savette. Together we hauled her onto his wide back. I held her tightly with one arm, the other arm holding on to the base of one of Raolcan’s wings. Dragons needed to come with handles.

Despite the enormous stress of the moment, I felt Raolcan laughing beneath me.

Hurry. We have only a moment before they regroup.

Across from us, I saw Hubric leaping onto Kyrowat’s back. He helped Haskell up behind him. Was there a place for the Dominar?

Rasipaer comes.

There he was! Shonan ran to the Purple, awkwardly mounting the great Purple dragon, hindered by his lost arm.

The dragons formed a circle, tails in, heads out. Were we still under threat of attack? Couldn’t we just fly away?

Look up.

I looked up.

Around us, at least a dozen dragons were joining a swirling ring. On the fields to either side, the guards and warriors regrouped, I saw hands pointed towards us. Even if we were to open the other cages right now, the allies we could find would be as weaponless as we were. We had three dragons to their dozen and two people with weapons – did I even count as that? – to their many. We needed help. We couldn’t do this on our own.

I’m calling for help as hard as I can.

Not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear that help was on its way.

Hold on tight. This part is up to us.

I gripped his wing tightly and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Savette grip his other wing. Good! She could help me keep herself safe.

“Are you back with us, Savette?” I asked.

“Mostly,” her voice was weak. “I’m weak as a newborn kitten.”

We wouldn’t be getting any magical assistance from her, then. Not this time.

“Just try to hold on. We’re about to be attacked.”

The dragon ring showed the first sign of change when one dragon dropped out of the circle, darting towards us like an arrow. A loud cry rose up from the men on the ground, and then their dark figures rushed towards us at the same time that the dragons - all, as one unified whole – dove to attack.

Chapter Nineteen

Raolcan rose into the air, spiraling around his first attacker like a duelist seeking an opening. The dragon was fierce-looking with a wide mane-like frill around his face that flared out when he looked the angriest. His rider – dressed in Dragon Rider black – also wore black scarves. One of them, trimmed with gold thread, covered his nose and mouth. Somehow, the mask-like effect felt chilling.

I gripped Raolcan’s wing as he dove forward, barely missing the spewing fire of the other dragon. Heat seared across my back from the blaze, but I leaned forward, pressing my body over Savette’s with my leathers on, I had a little more protection than she did in her simple dress.

We wheeled to the side, Raolcan snapping at the other dragon’s neck and then bursting his own flare of fire off at the dragon. The moment we were out of his reach, a second dragon dove towards him. He twisted out of the way, but his movements were more limited than the black dragons’ were. Their riders were in saddles and straps. They didn’t have to concentrate on staying level, like Raolcan did.

Maybe he should leave us on the ground.

Look at the ground before you say that.

Kyrowat still stood on the ground, spinning in a tight circle, flaming at a steady rhythm like a metronome was setting his pace. Even with steady gouts of flame in all direction, he could only keep the crowd immediately in front of his face at bay. Hubric hacked and slashed at the guards that surged to Kyrowat’s rear as he spun. Some, Hubric wounded, but they pressed in so close that as I watched, Haskell was dragged from Kyrowat’s back and lost in a sea of guards. Kyrowat kicked off, leaping into the air.

Where was Haskell? I scanned the crowd looking for her, but I could see no trace of her before Raolcan spun again and I lost all sense of where we were. In front of me, Savette’s light was growing brighter. Her head began to hold itself up. Could she recover in time to save us?

Unlikely. Focus on holding on.

A dragon dove in so close that all I saw was his massive eye. I screamed as his jaw snapped inches from my face. We dropped - the pit of my stomach dropping out with us – out of danger for a moment. My gaze traveled upward to see Rasipaer flaming at the dragon who had almost killed me.

We were holding our own, but for how long?

Raolcan shuddered under me and I had to let go of Savette to grip his wing with both hands as we shook back and forth, fishtailing through the sky. Beside me, a white-faced Savette held on to the other wing. My grip wasn’t strong enough! I was going to fall.

Two of them have me by the tail!

In front of me, I saw Rasipaer surrounded by four spiraling dragons. They surrounded him on every side, flaming and snapping like a living cage.

There was no sign of Kyrowat or Hubric. Wherever they were, there were plenty of black dragons left to keep them as pinned down as we were. We had only moments before we would be overwhelmed and destroyed and with us, the hope not only of the Dominion, but if the Dusk Covenant and their Ifrits spread – the hope of the world.

“Savette!” I called. “Is there anything you can do?”

She shook her head, terror in her eyes. The rain, kicking up again, lashed against us, filling our eyes and mouths as we tried to speak.

“There’s no hope,” she said. “I can’t reach my magic. I’m too weak.”

So, this was it. We’d come so far, and this was it. I looked off in the distance, trying to catch one last glance at the moon between the clouds of rain. Somewhere out there, Leng was under the same moon. Hopefully, he’d understand that we’d tried. We’d done all that we could.

Raolcan twisted, snapping at the dragons on his tail. He was too occupied to even talk to me. I didn’t judge him for that. We were just trying to survive. I lessened my grip on his wing, reaching to wrap my hand over one of Savette’s, seeking to give and receive comfort all at once.

A new black dragon slipped in on Raolcan’s blind spot, clamping his teeth into my best friend’s neck. Raolcan screamed. Tears intermingled with the rain on my face. There was nothing I could do. No way I could stop the death of my best friend. I hoped he knew that I loved him, that I understood he’d sacrificed himself for me the day he chose to be my dragon.

Chapter Twenty

Raolcan! Please know that I love you! Please don’t die thinking you are alone. I’m here with you all the way.

Not dead yet.

He reared back suddenly, as three dragons – Red, Green and White - appeared out of the torrent and ripped the black dragon from Raolcan’s neck. They dragged the black dragon away, out of my line of vision. Raolcan spun, and I saw a mighty Purple dragon descend from the clouds. It flamed the dragon still gripping Raolcan’s tail, while its rider leaned forward and with artisan-like precision, slid his short sword into the dragon’s vulnerable eye.

I gasped, but not just for the violence of it all. In the middle of the storm, lightning flared and it glinted off the bald head of the rider.

Leng!

He’d come for us.

Savette was openly weeping – from relief or something else. I gazed around us in wonder as hundreds of dragons descended around us, subduing the black dragons and their riders and the guards on the ground and gathering them into an ever-tightening ring of hundreds of multi-colored dragon bodies.

I’d almost forgotten about the wild dragons. I’d almost stopped wondering where they were! I’d feared the worst about them for so long that I’d begun to believe it myself!

Ahlskibi spun around and swooped in, level with us. In the torrential rain, I could just make out Leng’s “all’s well” dragon sign before they darted past us.

My mouth was still hanging open as Raolcan began to drift toward the ground. Was I dreaming?

If you were dreaming, my neck wouldn’t hurt so much. Seriously. You let some human bite your neck and see how much you like it. It might not kill you, but I bet you anything you’d be wearing a scarf for a few weeks while it healed.

Why hadn’t Raolcan told me they were close?

Didn’t want to get your hopes up.

Had Leng really just shown up at the head of an army of dragons and rescued us?

Let’s hope so, or this landing I’m planning is a terrible idea.

Relief was so powerful that I felt like I was losing my grip on what was real. I wouldn’t really be able to believe it until I was touching Leng, both of us standing on the ground.

Oh sure, that’s what you tell yourself. “I just need to touch him to know it’s real.” Not because you’re in love with him and you can’t keep those hands to yourself. Not at all. Oh, and don’t mind me. It’s not like I have bite wounds on my tail and neck or anything.

Right. We needed to attend those first. What could I do to help?

Honesty, I just need a rest. Why don’t you two stand on your own feet for a moment?

Savette and I dropped to the ground. I circled around to place a hand on Raolcan’s cheek and look him in the eye.

“Thank you, my dearest friend. I don’t think I say that enough.”

You certainly don’t.

Around us, a hubbub of voices filled the air. I looked over to their source to see Hubric was opening the cages and letting all the Lightbringers out. He walked with a limp, still carrying his sword, but he winked at me when he saw me looking at him. A battered, muddy Haskell walked beside him.

It would take more than a little fire to kill that old oak tree.

Raolcan lay his head on the ground – his eyes closing.

I just need a minute.

Beside him, Savette lay down, cuddled against his side, her own eyes closing. Raolcan wouldn’t be alone in his sleep. Was he really going to be okay? It wasn’t like him to drift off on a battlefield that was still being subdued, even if he was injured.

It’s self-defence.

Against what? My heart leapt in worry. Was there another attack coming?

An attack on my sense of decency. It’s already almost upon us.

What was he talking about?

Wet footfalls smacked across the ground, the sound of rain spattering in the divots they made filling my ears. I turned, straining to see in the heavy downpour, and before I had a chance to catch my breath, Leng caught me up in his strong arms, almost lifting me up in the air before drawing me close in a firm embrace.

“You’re alive,” he murmured into my hair. “I was so certain ... so worried. When I heard about Leedris City and the Ifrits there-”

“When I heard about Saldrin-” I interrupted.

“I was certain you were lost to me.”

“I feared the worst, too.”

His kiss was hot in the cool rain, and the sense of complete safety that it brought with it made my last defense crumble. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him in tighter.

“I’m so glad I found you, Amel. But, we have to stop meeting each other this way.”

“By saving each other’s lives?”

He kissed me again.

“Finding each other in terrible danger?” My voice muffled at the end when he cut off my words with a kiss.

When I could speak again I carried on, “Swooping in to save the day?”

“Amel?”

“Yes?”

“This is the part where you stop talking and kiss me.”

And that is why it’s better to have my eyes closed.

He kept them closed for a long time. Long past the time that the prisoners were free. Long past the time that the wild dragons finished subduing our foes. Long past the much later time that Leng and I finally stopped whispering to each other and turned back to the business at hand. He’d earned every second of his rest.

You said it, spider.

Read the rest of Amel’s story in “Dragon School: Mark of Loyalty.”

Behind the Scenes:

USA Today bestselling author, Sarah K. L. Wilson, hails from the rocky Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario where she lives with her husband and two small boys. Her interests include the outdoors, history, and philosophy. Her books are always about fantastical adventures in other worlds.

Sarah would like to thank Harold Trammel, Eugenia Kollia, and Sarah Brown for their incredible work in beta reading and proofreading this book. Without their big hearts and passion for stories, this book would not be the same.

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Dragon School Reading Order:

Dragon School: First Flight

Dragon School: Initiate

Dragon School: The Dark Prince

Dragon School: The Ruby Isles

Dragon School: Sworn

Dragon School: Dusk Covenant

Dragon School: First Message

Dragon School: Warring Promises

Dragon School: Prince of Dragons

Dragon School: Dark Night

Dragon School: Bright Hopes

Dragon School: Mark of Loyalty

Dragon School: Dire Quest

Find them all on their Amazon series page.

Why Novellas?

I love watching television series. I don’t really like movies, because they’re simply too short of a story arc for me. I prefer long, drawn out stories in smaller, bite-sized episodes. Dragon School is my book version of the television dramas that I love. I’m writing the type of series I want to read – long and rich but with short episodes I can read in a single evening. I hope that you’ll enjoy this format as much as I do. I am planning approximately twenty episodes for the first season. The first season will be a complete, self-contained story. There is a second season planned for 2019 that will continue in the same world and timeline with a new main character and dragon. Stay tuned!

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Behind the Scenes: