“The crown,” Braxton answered. “Kingston suggested we look in theHall of the Forgotten. So that is where we should start tomorrow morning."
“That is likely to give us at least a clue,” I agreed.
“Once we return, we can visit Larie’s shop for your sword and to get the new armor for the guard,” his commander advised, referring to his girlfriend, and Kingston’s daughter, Skylar.
“I must start training your guard at Elevated Warrior level, so unfortunately, I will not be accompanying you tomorrow. Nonetheless, I wish you luck,” Imogen offered.
“I understand,” Braxton admitted. “Do you need anything from me?”
“I need to give them rides.”
A thoughtful yet slightly concerned expression captured his face for a moment, but then my mate’s Dragon Eye ignited gold as he connected with Tharion… Or so I assumed. An internal exchange occurred between them until the light in his gaze dimmed, letting the connection recede. I loved seeing how easily his Dragon powers came to him now.
“Tharion will find six Dragons who want companions and send them your way,” he grunted, as though their conversation hadn’t gone as planned. “They’ll meet you in the training field first thing tomorrow.”
His use of the wordcompanionsinstead of riders when referring to his Dragon family’s wishes took me aback. Yet, slowly, it helped me realize something important. We had spent so many years using the Dragons to help us that somewhere along the line we forgot they weren’t our weapons, or our rides. We didn’t get tousethem… they were our allies in this fight.
This cause was theirs too, and it had taken Braxton and his legacy to remind me of that.
“Sounds perfect. I have trainees to traumatize.”
“Could you hold the reading lessons before dinner tonight?” Kingston suddenly asked, surprising us all with his interest. Until now, he had only attended while grunting and complaining the entire time.
“I can totally do that, Chief.” Brax grinned, pleasantly surprised like I was. “You guys up for it?”
“Let’s go, darling. I need to see Kingston writing his name with my own eyes.”
13
BRAXTON
The next morning, Evanna, Kingston, Asher, and I headed for theLost Kingdomwith Tharion and Star. I honestly had no idea which Dragons from the honeycombs Tharion sent to meet my mentor, but I supposed I had to trust him. As long as it didn’t mess up the four Dragons I needed for the battle, whatever they decided was fine by me.
Ripples of love and appreciation swept over me as we flew, calling my gaze towards Evanna the moment we began to descend. She sat on her soulmate’s neck, gently caressing her like she’d been doing since we left the mountain, and Star was soaking it all in unashamedly.
The sight brought a smile to my face. It seemed like Evie experienced some sort of enlightenment because she appeared far more grateful for Star today than other times. She’d even made a point to ask Star if she wanted to come with us. I loved seeing it, because it felt like the love and respect that I held for my Dragon family was growing inside her too.
Evie was beginning to appreciate them as something more than rides, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Kingston’s lips stretched into a smile too while he sat behind her on Star’s back.
“Let’s go,” Asher urged, seeing me a bit distracted. “Are you alright?” he added before we jumped off Tharion.
“Yeah, I just…” My eyes connected with Evie’s, who walked towards us alongside the chief. “I need your advice on something, but I’ll ask you later.”
“Anything you need,” he assured, slapping my back as we all crossed the gate.
“Where do you want to start?” Evanna asked, glancing around the ruins of the grand hall.
“Kingston and I agreed we might find a clue in theHall of the Forgotten.”
With a nod, we all extended our retractable spears, using them as walking sticks while we climbed the dilapidated stairs to the second floor.
My father’s trunk was the first place I looked since that was where we got his journal, but the pages didn’t hold any clues. Asher, Evanna, and the chief spread through the hall to cover more ground; hopefully that would help us accomplish the impossible.
We spent hours inspecting every drawer, every box and scroll, looking along every bookcase to look for hidden compartments, under every table, and even sweeping all corners. To my dismay, we didn’t find anything remotely close to showing us where the Dragon Crown could be. We had wasted the entire morning.
“Nothing here either,” Evanna informed, closing a chest with dresses and jewelry that belonged to one of the queens of our past.
“It is not here, but wewillfind it. We just need to think of other options,” Asher offered, remaining positive.
