“I can feel its magic,” I said, my tone that of wonder.
Kassidy smiled. “It’s remarkable, isn’t it?”
I sent my magic through the egg, trying to determine whether any of that invasive magic had slipped into it. Before I finished, that feeling of being watched overtook me with this menacing presence that pushed into my chest.
I hugged the egg to me, wanting to protect it from whatever came for us.
“A shield.” I rushed the two words to Brenton, knowing his magic allowed him to build protective shields. I set the egg on the ground, rising to my feet as I drew my sword from the inner pocket of my magic. “Build a shield around the egg.”
He did as I asked, not questioning me as he and the others rose, also drawing their sword.
That invisible danger slammed into me, and I heaved over in pain as my gut twisted. Brenton’s smoke magic encircled me, trying to find a way to help me while the pain intensified.
“You know not what you are playing at,”a female voice said in my head.
Gods, who . . . was it?
With a hand to my stomach, I spun, trying to find who’d spoken to me when the dragon Kassidy had ridden atop collapsed to the ground.
“I take only what I must,”that same voice said.
Could it be Leanora? Surely, that was impossible. But itfeltlike her. Her vile evilness.
“Show yourself,” I said, anger and fear clapping in my head.
Brenton took my arm, trying to position himself in front of me, but neither of us knew where the danger came from. Still, he kept his hold on me, as together we made small circles.
“Finley,” Kassidy called.
My head snapped in her direction to find her kneeling beside her dragon, her scales dimming against the red Elder’s mark on her head. Her fear coiled inside me, making the pain in my stomach grow.
And that presence inside me vanished. The sudden absence made my skin prickle. Whatever had attacked us had taken what it came for.
“Please, can your magic help Solana?” she asked, her eyes begging for a mercy I couldn’t give her.
I shook my head, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered the words that strange female in the woods had said to me.
Could there be more to my magic? Something I hadn’t yet discovered?
King Elias rushed to their side with Nalari landing behind them.
“She can’t die,” Kassidy said, her words just above a whisper.
Where once our king could have used his magic to tend to the dragon, now he was without magic. The absences carved lines of quiet hurt across his features.
“What of Nalari or the other dragons?” Elias asked. “Surely, their magic will heal Solana.”
“The dragon’s magic does nothing to aid our dragons,” Callan replied while Kassidy stared at Solana through tormented eyes.
“I know how to heal myself,” Brenton said, kneeling beside Kassidy. “I can try to heal her.”
He looked at Hoshiko, holding a private conversation with his dragon, before he placed a hand atop Solana.
My magic stirred inside me the way it often did when it wanted to be released. A whisper that promised nothing but doom. I took a few steps back, wanting to put distance between everyone in case my magic erupted.
“Where are you going?” Everly asked.
I grimaced at the female who’d made it clear how little she cared for me.
