The Lost Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 3) by Dan Michaelson (top 10 best books of all time .TXT) 📕

When I’d left, Manuel thought I had potential to be a rider, as far as I knew. Perhaps he had known I could be a dragon mage, as well, though he had not said anything about it. The only thing he had told me was that I had a connection to the dragon and I owed it to myself to try to understand that connection and master it.

When I’d last seen Joran, I still hadn’t managed to do much with my power.

Now . . .

Much had changed.

“How have you been?”

“You mean since the last time you were here? The storms have been pretty bad this season. We try to deal with them as much as we can, but there has been flooding.” Her eyes took on a brief sparkle. “Maybe you and the dragons could help with that.”

“What do you think we can do with flooding?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Dragons have magic. You can ask the dragons to burn off the flooding. That way we don’t have to deal with it.”

“Sophie? Why haven’t you closed the door?” a voice called from inside the house.

“Because I’m talking to Ashan,” Sophie yelled.

“Ashan isn’t here. You know he went—”

Tara stepped forward, looking over at me. She was a few years younger than me and had dark, almost black hair compared to Sophie’s brown hair. She had a round face and full lips, and wide, dark eyes that watched me. Everything within her went tense the moment she saw me.

“It’s okay, Tara,” I said.

“What are you doing here?”

Sophie turned to her sister. “This is Ashan,” she said. “He can be here. Well, he can be here if he has the permission of the dragons.” She glanced over to me. “Did you have to ask the dragon’s permission to come?”

I smiled. “I sure did.”

“So, a dragon told you it was okay to come?”

“A dragon brought me here,” I said.

Sophie’s eyes widened again. “A dragon brought you here?”

“Don’t mind him,” Tara said. “Even if he were able to train as a dragon rider, there’s no way they would have allowed him to leave the city on his own with a dragon. He’s only been gone the better part of a year.”

Could it really have been that long? Sometimes, though, it felt as if it had been a lifetime. The world I had known when I lived here was so vastly different from the world I know now within the capital. There it was a matter of navigating between instructors, working with dragons, and doing things I once would have deemed impossible. Here it was a matter of getting up in time to start my chores for the day, feeding the livestock, making repairs around the farm, and keeping it running as well as I could.

Other times, it felt as if it had only been the day before. There were times when I’d wake up early, get out of my bed, and start out the door before realizing I was within the Academy and I didn’t have my chores to do. Those days were often harder than I thought they needed to be. It wasn’t that I missed the chores—at least, not most of the time. But chores were mindless, and though it had often been unpleasant work, it was easy. I always knew exactly what I needed to do.

In that way, especially, I suppose the Academy was different for me. There were times I didn’t know what was expected of me, or whether I should be studying or practicing or doing any number of different things.

I didn’t know how much Joran would have shared with his family. Maybe not enough for them to know what I’d learned.

“He told me the dragon is here,” Sophie said, glancing back at me and grinning. A playful look flashed across her eyes, and I could imagine her running out around the hillside to see if I really had brought a dragon. “And you know Ashan never lied to me.”

I nodded slowly. “I never have. I could have him come, if you’d like?”

“Him?” Sophie said. “Don’t they have girl dragons too?”

“There are girl dragons, but the one I rode here is a beautiful, green, boy dragon.”

“Could you take me for a ride?”

“Even if he did bring a dragon,” Tara said, and there was an edge to her voice, suggesting she didn’t believe it, “you could not ride it. Honestly, Sophie.”

She joined her sister at the door, looking me up and down.

“Is Joran here?” I asked.

“He’s out with Father in the east fields,” Tara said.

Which meant he might even have seen me arrive. There was no real way of hiding a dragon, and given how we had circled down before we descended, I don’t think I would’ve been able to conceal our arrival.

I looked off to the east, and my stomach rumbled.

“Listen to him,” Sophie said. “He sounds like he’s a dragon.” She laughed and hurried into the house, leaving me standing there with Tara.

“Why did you come back?” she asked.

There were many reasons I could think of saying, but the truth fit the best. “I wanted to know how my family was doing.”

“They’re in Berestal.”

“I know.”

“Then you could have gone to Berestal.”

“I could’ve, but not the way I traveled.”

Her brow furrowed as she frowned at me. “By dragon.”

“By dragon,” I agreed.

“Am I really to believe you came by dragon alone?”

I shrugged. “You can believe whatever you want, Tara.”

She fell silent, and I could feel the hesitation within her, the uncertainty that I suspected stemmed from what had happened when I left before. I knew she was connected to the Vard, and her mother was connected to the Vard, though I didn’t know how tightly bound within it they were. I had a new understanding of the Vard, one I hadn’t possessed before, and one I now began to question. It left me filled with concern for anyone who might try to ally themselves with the Vard. Even my friends.

“I didn’t know,” she said softly.

“What was that?”

She took