The Betrayed Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 2) by Dan Michaelson (best free ereader TXT) 📕

him about Elaine while I was here, but I didn’t want to draw that kind of attention to myself. The fact that I had traveled with Elaine outside of the city tied me to the Vard, at least in the eyes of the instructors within the Academy, even though I remained uncertain about whether Elaine had truly been with the Vard.

“He has been having me work on my connection to the dragons, mostly by trying to get me to reach for the power and feel it flowing through me, cycling through the dragon.”

“That would be one way,” he said.

“I’ve been trying to let power come through me. I know you want me to connect to as many dragons as possible, but I find I’m best connected to only one of the dragons.”

Jerith stared at my hands, watching the way that the flames crackled between them. I tried to focus on the power, letting it flow from one finger to another. I hadn’t yet begun to work on sending it up my arms, back through me the way I’d been instructed, but I thought I could if I needed to. There was still so much I needed to learn about controlling the dragon magic, but having the ability to do anything was a blessing.

“It begins with a connection. I suspect that’s more than enough for you. The more you hold on to that connection, the more you can begin to know just how powerful it is for you.”

I forced more of the power down into me, pressing my hands together, then finally released the connection to the dragon. “I know I need to learn more, but I . . .”

I turned away, staring at the fire.

Jerith chuckled. “Go on with it. Get it out there.”

“I think I made a mistake,” I said. “When I was traveling with Thomas out into the forest—”

Jerith got to his feet. “What do you mean you were traveling with him out into the forest?”

I turned back. “He brought me into the forest this morning. I guess he’s been looking for the missing dragons. He thought I might be able to help him.”

“You’re a student at the Academy. A relatively new student, at that. What would he be thinking bringing you out with him? Especially with what has been going on with the dragons.”

I didn’t know how many dragons were missing. There was the red dragon that Ames had noticed, and there was the rumor that Manuel had mentioned, but I didn’t know any other specifics. Any dragon missing was too many, though.

“I don’t really know. He brought me there, and . . . well, I felt something. We landed, and we followed what I’d felt, and we came across the Djarn.”

“The Djarn shouldn’t be so close to us in the forest,” Jerith said, frowning to himself.

“I don’t know anything about that, but when you had tested whether I could detect the dragon, I came across the Djarn that day as well.” I hadn’t shared that with him before, and that was a mistake.

“You came across the Djarn near the outskirts of the forest?”

“It wasn’t so much the outskirts. We were deeper into the forest.”

“How deep?”

“I don’t know. I sort of got lost.”

I hated admitting that, but it was the truth. Jerith had been good to me in my time at the Academy, and I didn’t want to lie to him about what I had gone through and what I had done.

“That explains it, then,” he said. “Why it took you so long to return. I know there were rumors going around about what had happened with you, and while I don’t normally put much stock in those rumors, the fact was that you had taken quite a while to get back.”

“I followed the dragon into the forest. Maybe I should’ve told you this before, but when I got deep enough into the forest, I was surrounded by the Djarn.”

“They surrounded you?” He frowned at me, glancing down at something on his desk before looking back up. “The Djarn shouldn’t attack you while on a testing, especially not dressed in your Academy robes.”

“There were at least two spears, which suggested there were more that I didn’t see. Then they disappeared.”

“Did you follow them?”

I chuckled. “One doesn’t simply follow the Djarn. At least, that’s been my experience.”

“You have experience with the Djarn where you’re from?”

“Only knowing they’re in the forest outside of the plains. We almost never see them. They decide who they want to work with, and who they want to trade with, and only reveal themselves to a few people.”

“You haven’t been one of them,” he said.

I shook my head again. “I haven’t been one of them. I have a friend whose father had traded with them, and he claims to know them fairly well.”

“Interesting,” Jerith said. He took a seat and started shifting papers on his desk. “There are several schools of thought when it comes to the Djarn,” Jerith said. “There are those who believe them to be a threat to the kingdom, even though in the time that we have been here, situated as we are at the edge of the forest, they’ve never made their presence known to any but a few. We almost never see them, much like you had experienced in the forest of your home. It’s something that leaves some people troubled. Not knowing anything means it’s dangerous. At least, according to one school of thought. Others recognize that they’re living their lives and we should leave them to it.”

I took a seat and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my thighs as I watched Jerith. “We weren’t necessarily afraid of the Djarn in Berestal, though we did respect them. Very few people had any real interaction with them.”

“There are some who fear the Vard are working with them.”

I frowned. “I don’t know if that’s quite true.” I shook my head. “At least, from my experience. We have plenty of Vard sympathizers in Berestal, but I can’t think of