“Killianas had lived through roughly three changes of calendar styling. We have some sense of his age—but it was rough, not exact. We did ask, or rather, some of us did. He was not of a mind to answer in a useful fashion. It was not his concern.”
“And the chancellors didn’t know? One of them was a Dragon!”
“The chancellors, if they knew, did not choose to answer lowly students. It was not always considered wise or safe for chancellors to teach classes, and it is in the teaching they would have had the most exposure to us.”
“Why wasn’t it considered wise?”
“Aramechtis once sat as a guest lecturer, and at the three quarters mark burned down half the classroom. There were injuries, but no fatalities.”
“...Half the classroom.”
“Even so. To the Dragons in the room, it was trifling; to the rest of students it could have been deadly.” He shrugged. “A face full of Dragon fire, as you put it, did not materially harm any of the Dragons; it was an indicator of the severity of the temper of the guardian, in the Aeries.”
Bellusdeo winced, but after a brief pause, broke out laughing. “It is most of the reason we were segregated,” she told Kaylin, amusement coloring her entire expression. “A face full of Dragon fire would most certainly have harmed us when we lived in the Aeries. I remember watching the males,” she added, lost for a moment in childhood memories. “They could fly. They were not as good with speech and tasks that required manual dexterity. We wanted to join them in the air.”
“In all probability, so you could injure them for their behavior,” was the Arkon’s clipped response.
She laughed again. “Yes. We had to learn how to be more cunning if punishment was our desired goal.”
“Regardless, it was seldom that the chancellors came into contact with the lowliest of their students. And no, not all chancellors were Draconic; I am certain that the Barrani did not rain fire upon cheeky students. Is there a reason you ask? You have never struck me as one who has a particular interest in history.”
Kaylin nodded. “Killian looked Barrani to me.”
“He did indeed.”
“But...so did the Ancestors in Castle Nightshade.”
“You are making a fundamental error,” the Arkon said, when Bellusdeo sucked in air in a sharp, short way. “What Killianwasbefore he became the heart of this place is not what heis. What he is, however, is injured. He is barely functional.”
“And returning a library book is going to change that?”
“Do not underestimate librarians.” His brows furrowed. “Bellusdeo,” he said, in an entirely different tone.
Bellusdeo had come to work, in a manner of speaking, in Dragon armor. She nodded and gestured. Kaylin’s arm caught fire—or felt like it had. There was no sound in the library except for the Hawk’s involuntary grunt of pain. A shield rose around them, a bubble of color that was very similar to the protections that Hope could interpose between Kaylin and, say, Arcane bombs.
Purple fire blossomed beneath their feet.
Chapter 21
Kaylin would have rolled to the side, but Bellusdeo caught her arm, the Dragon’s hand moving so quickly Kaylin saw it as a glint of reflected light. The Arkon hadn’t moved at all. Flames unfurled beneath their collective feet and rose to the height of their chests. Nothing burned except carpet—but that gave off a terrible stench as it did.
The Arkon glanced once at Kaylin and Bellusdeo. His eyes were a deep, deep red, muted only slightly by the raising of inner membranes. He was beyond angry. In a single instant, he had passed into a deep fury.
Had he been any other Dragon, Kaylin would have assumed the fury came from the possible harm done to Bellusdeo. He was the Arkon. Someone had attempted to start afirein thelibrary. And if the flames were purple and the heat less intense than Dragon fire, they burned carpet. They’d burn books. This was not a place in which any fight, no matter how important, was to be started. Ever. Given that the Arkon was an enraged Dragon, it was a miracle that the library wasn’talreadyash.
“Is this shield yours?” Kaylin asked the Dragon.
Bellusdeo nodded.
“Good.” She drew a dagger noiselessly from its sheath. Hope’s wing was still draped across her eyes. “Hope can protect me from magical attack.”
“Where are you going?”
“Someplace else. If our attacker keeps this up, the Arkon is going to explode. And that’s not going to do us any good.”
“It’s not us he’s concerned with,” the Bellusdeo’s dry response. She hesitated for half a beat. “Go.”
Kaylin left the golden half sphere. As she did, light guttered; the library became dark and cavernous. Whatever spell the Arkon had cast to improve visibility had been extinguished. Dragon eyes were more adaptable than mortal ones—neither the Arkon nor Bellusdeo required much light.
