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

I realized that I didn’t pay that much attention to just how many dragons there should be in the pen at any one time anyway.

Several students were near the pen, and I veered far enough away so that I didn’t have to interact with any of them. I didn’t know if it was Brandel and his followers, but I wasn’t about to give him the chance to bother me. Instead, by the time I reached the main part of the Academy, I wanted nothing more than to reach my room and settle into my bed, maybe even take a few moments to study. I was hopeful that I could find some new technique in my study guides that I could then incorporate into my lessons from Thomas. I was determined to keep learning.

Hushed voices in the hall caught my attention—one of them was a master instructor’s. I leaned against one of the walls, not really wanting to listen, but there was something in what they had said that troubled me.

“We’re missing another,” Master Matthew said, his distinctive voice carrying down the hall. “That makes how many now?”

“At least four,” Master Onas said. “We will find them.”

“We’ve gone years without any occurrences, and now we are losing dragons in addition to having one of our own betray us on behalf of the Vard?”

They were talking about Elaine. Jerith had made it clear that the instructors and the dragon mages hadn’t wanted to talk much about Elaine and her betrayal. I hadn’t brought it up, either, so overhearing it now was a little unsettling.

“She was always questionable,” Master Onas said. “Eager to acquire power, never eager to study.”

“She had power. She didn’t need to acquire it,” the other said.

“She had only seen that power. She did not have any of her own.”

I couldn’t tell who was speaking now, only that they were heading off in the opposite direction, neither of them speaking loudly enough so that I could overhear. I poked my head out and around the corner, trying to see who was talking, but could not tell anything.

When they disappeared, I leaned back up against the wall.

Another dragon had gone missing.

I was too new to the Academy, too inexperienced, to think that I might be able to do anything, but at the same time, I had a feeling that if I didn’t try to do something, especially given what I had seen out in the forest with the Djarn, there might be even more dragons that went missing.

I needed to go and try to find Joran again, speak with him and his father about what the Djarn had been doing, and try to get some answers. I could bring the dragons back to the Academy, keep my friend and his father out of it, and maybe offer another service to the king in the process.

As I reached my room, closing the door behind me, I couldn’t help but feel as if that weren’t going to be enough. Maybe I needed to alert Thomas. I didn’t know what he might do or say, but as the king’s chief dragon mage, there had to be something he could do.

And more than that, I had to hope that he would have more time to visit with me and train me—and that anything I might say would keep him interested in training me.

I pulled one of my study guides out, setting it open on my lap, and started to read. It was difficult to keep myself in it since I remained concerned enough about what was going on, but I forced myself to focus.

13

I hadn’t been able to find Joran or his father again. I knew they were leaving, and had thought that maybe I could come across them before they departed, but I didn’t know where they were staying other than a few vague references that Joran had made. Now I had to wonder if perhaps any opportunity that I might have had to uncover what they were doing—and whether it had anything to do with the Djarn and what was happening with the dragons—had disappeared with them.

I stopped in the dining hall and saw Donathar sitting at one of the tables, Jerith sitting across from him. They were speaking quietly, and I had no interest in interrupting them. A group of students sat at another table, including Brandel and Dominic. Brandel looked over to me, smirking as I stood in the doorway, which was enough for me to turn away, head back out of the Academy, and walk over to the dragon pen.

It was late, the sun starting to set, and I looked through the pen, staring at the small green dragon, feeling the energy coming off of him. It connected to me, cycling through me the way it had over the last few days, ever since I had come to understand how to use that connection.

I held the power flowing through me, creating the flames that stretched out between my first three fingers, stretching my hands apart as I probed, detecting power.

It was an easy connection now, and it grew increasingly easier the more I held on to it, struggling to maintain a hold over it. All I wanted was to master that connection in some way, and to be ready when Thomas brought me before the king.

I pulled upon the power cycling through the green dragon, working from him to me, rolling through my arms, and building upward with a vibrant connection. I had gotten comfortable with holding on to the power, letting it cycle through me, the magic of the dragon circling through me, stretching between my fingers.

I had started twisting it, wondering if I might be able to control the flames. I had seen some of the dragon mages use power in that way, twisting their flames, weaving them together, but I had not seen much beyond that. There were levels of instruction at the Academy, and I was in one of the most basic levels, working to