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

graduation,” Jerith said. “I suppose that were you in the city longer, you would’ve known that. If you serve well, then you’re pulled into his dragon elites.” He looked over to me, smiling and shrugging. “They are dragon mages who have served the king more directly. They serve directly under Thomas, or at least they used to. These days, with Thomas’s absence, the dragon mages have begun to reorganize. That’s the reason for Donathar’s return to the city. Now they are serving beneath the king’s Sharath under the guidance of Donathar.”

The Sharath was the king’s right-hand man, the one who served him most directly. I knew so little about him other than rumor. I doubted anybody really knew much about him, especially somebody like myself who hadn’t spent much time in the city. I had quite a bit of catching up to do still to get up to speed with everything within the city.

“Do you think Thomas is angry that he’s been pushed aside?” I asked.

Jerith watched me. “What are you getting at, Ashan?”

What was I getting at? I wasn’t even sure, to be honest. “The dragons are missing, is that right?”

Jerith tapped on his chin. “You have seen the dragon pens, Ashan.”

“I was just thinking about what I’d seen Thomas doing,” I said.

He looked as if he wanted to cross the distance between us, and he frowned at me, squeezing the tips of his fingers as he pressed his lips together. “What exactly have you seen him doing?”

How was I to explain it? I had witnessed Thomas’s connection to the dragons, but he’d focused on each of the dragons, touching upon them.

I had no idea what that meant, or whether it was significant at all, only that I was certain about what I’d detected. I’d seen and felt that connection.

It mattered.

“Maybe nothing,” I said. “Or maybe it is something. I don’t really know.”

“Tell me what it is,” Jerith said. “We can work through it together.”

I started carefully. “When I first met Thomas, he was working with each of the dragons. He touched upon them, and I had felt the way that he used his connection to the dragons.”

“What do you mean you felt it?”

I shrugged. “I don’t really know how to describe it. I can tell when somebody is using the connection to the dragon. I can almost see it,” I said.

“How so?”

“It’s a distinct sensation,” I said. “It’s a matter of feeling the way the energy flows from the dragon, working not only from the dragon, but also toward the dragon mage.”

Jerith leaned back, steepling his hands together as he watched me. “Can you feel it now?”

I focused on what he was doing and whether there was anything to it that I might be able to detect. I realized there was a hint of power coming off of him. It was faint. Focusing on it, I could trail after that connection. Power stretched away from him, feeding from him and all the way toward the dragon pen. It was almost as if there were a string attached to him that he held on to, power that flowed out and around, cycling through.

“I can,” I said.

“What exactly do you detect?”

“I detect you holding on to the connection to a dragon. I don’t know which dragon.” Though, as I thought about it, I had to question whether such a thing would even be possible. I might be able to uncover which dragon he connected to if I were familiar with more of the dragons. “But more than that, I can’t really tell.”

Jerith frowned. “Interesting.”

“Why? Is that different than others?”

“Yes, your connection seems to be a bit different than others I’ve trained.”

“Different than other students? Or just . . .” I wasn’t even sure what I was asking, only that I didn’t like the idea that my connection to the dragons was suddenly so different.

Still, there was value in my ability to detect the connection to the dragons and the way others were bound to it. There might be value to the Academy, as well. Especially if I were to be able to use that connection, use what I’d detected, to figure out if there were some other practical aspect to it.

“It’s just different, Ashan. You don’t need to be concerned about your difference. I certainly am not. Although, if that is what you can do, I’m not at all surprised Thomas found you compelling. Normally, detecting the flow of power from a dragon takes years of connection to them, and even then, it’s not an exact art, such as it is.”

“I don’t know if I want to be different,” I said.

He smiled at me. “You don’t need to be disappointed that you are different. I would suggest you focus more on what makes you unique.” He glanced down at the desk. “And don’t worry about what Thomas wants from you. If he intends to bring you before the king, consider it an honor. There aren’t many students like yourself granted such an opportunity.”

I took a deep breath, nodding. Perhaps that was how I had to view it. I needed to think about it as an opportunity. Coming to the Academy, coming to the capital itself, had both been opportunities for me, ones I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

“If there’s nothing else, you should get back to your assignments,” Jerith said.

When I stepped out into the hall and headed toward the student quarters, the sound of Brandel’s voice caught my attention, so I veered away. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him right now.

I wasn’t sure I was in the mood to deal with anyone.

Instead, maybe I’d go back out to the dragon pens, sit there and see if I could figure out anything more about my connection to the dragons and whether I might be able to control some new aspect of it.

12

I waited by the dragon pen, anticipating that Thomas would be there, but he had not yet arrived. Maybe he had come earlier than me and