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

any who had traveled outside of the city to the forest with the Djarn.”

“I can’t say that I know. I haven’t traveled beyond the forest. At least, not recently. But you should know that the king will find any with the necessary potential to train with the dragons.”

“Like sending the delegation out to Berestal to test for potential abilities.”

He nodded. “We haven’t talked about that.”

“I’m not sure that anyone really wants to talk about it.”

“The instructors at the Academy do not. I would argue that most of the king’s dragon mages don’t, either. The idea that there could be one among us who had betrayed the king and gone to the Vard is painful.”

I looked up and met Jerith’s eyes. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t think that Elaine was working with the Vard, but I held back.

“You don’t need to fear. The Academy grants those who have the necessary potential, such as yourself, the ability to work with the dragons. The king would prefer to have everybody who has that ability work with him and his people.” Jerith shook his head. “Out beyond the borders of the forest, out near the plains and Berestal, and in some of the places that have only recently been annexed by the kingdom, it is a little bit different. The people there aren’t beholden to the kingdom in the same way, and yet . . .” He looked down at the stack of papers in front of him, sorting through them as if he were looking for some sort of secret that he had left there. Finally, he looked back up at me. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. The kingdom still hasn’t found what we think we need.”

“Which is what?”

“A way to fully defeat the Vard.”

“And how do the Djarn play into this?” I asked.

“It depends on who you ask,” Jerith said. “Some believe the Djarn, having lived here long before the kingdom existed, have a connection to the dragons. Others think they are simply connected to the forest itself. Given how easily they navigate the forest, and how quickly they disappear when they are seen, that is the most believable.”

I sat back, thinking about what I felt from the Djarn, the way I’d detected the connection between the people, the same sort of connection I had felt between the dragons and dragon mages.

“I think they are,” I said.

Jerith nodded. “It would make sense for them to know the forest. As you’ve said, they can slip through it without being seen, and very few people know where they are, which gives them—”

“I should clarify. I think they’re somehow connected to the dragons,” I said.

Jerith leaned forward, watching me. “Why would you say that?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. It was something I felt.” I closed my eyes, thinking about what I had detected when we had traveled—the sense of power that had summoned me toward it. Had I been so connected to the dragon that I could feel what the Djarn were doing?

The idea seemed impossible, but at the same time, there was no doubt in my mind that something had compelled me forward, something had drawn me, and when I had encountered the Djarn, there was a certain feeling of power that linked them to the dragons. That was a connection.

That was what concerned Thomas—and why he wanted me brought before the king.

“I thought I felt the Djarn connected when I was there with Thomas.”

“Did you feel it when you were there the first time?”

“No, I didn’t. But at the same time, it wasn’t until later that I began to feel a different connection to the dragon magic.”

Still, even then I’d been able to follow the dragon, hadn’t I? I had recognized the power of the dragon, and I should have recognized how that power pulled upon me, along with pulling upon the Djarn—if there were such a connection.

“It might have only been Thomas you detected,” Jerith said. “As the chief dragon mage, he does have considerable control over the dragons, along with their power. You may have only sensed him cycling that power.” He chuckled to himself. “I never would have described it as cycling before, but it does fit.”

The way the green dragon forced power through me was definitely a cycling, even though I had no control over it. And what Jerith said about Thomas was right. I had seen it firsthand. I had seen the way Thomas could borrow from the power of multiple dragons. He had touched upon that power, switching from dragon to dragon easily.

“None of that’s the reason you came to me though, is it?” Jerith asked.

I shook my head and turned to him. “He wants to bring me before the king.”

Jerith frowned. “Thomas does?”

“I think he’s upset about what happened with the Djarn. That, combined with how the dragons have gone missing, and . . .”

If I played it out, and if the Djarn were somehow connected to the dragons, and if they were responsible for calling those dragons away, or even sneaking in and taking them directly, then I wanted to know.

“Do you think he’s accusing you?” Jerith asked.

I shook my head. “It’s not like I’ve had much of an opportunity to steal dragons. I’ve struggled just to have a connection to them at all.”

“I don’t know if struggling is the right way to describe it,” Jerith said. “You have a connection. It’s just that you haven’t known how to use that connection. Over time, you will master it. As you’ve already shown. Perhaps all you needed was to have an opportunity to work with someone who can help you better connect to it. I wish I could claim that person was me, but if it had to be somebody, it might as well have been the king’s chief dragon mage.”

“Have you ever gone before the king?”

Jerith smiled. “I am a dragon mage,” he said.

There was a moment of silence. “So is that a yes?”

“The king is present at every Academy