Page 88 of Scalebound

Today, Abner would help me, allowing Angie to work with her dragon,Washailameii, for the day. This left him as my teacher, helping Belle and me find ourmaxz.

Clementine’s dragon,Teiimanam4, burst with light as it sprung into the air, utilizing theirmaxzto bring light to the sky, as it was solely a storm brewing before. Clemmy held on tight asthey sprung upward, her short and vibrant green hair whooshing in the breeze.

Loker and his dragon went invisible as they surged, following after them. Luella bursted up sending ice shards flinging down at us. “Careful, Luella!” Abner called out as he rolled his eyes.

“Sorry!” she exclaimed before she swooped to the left, flying off not to be seen anymore.

The stormed clouds covered the sky, not a speck of light flickering through. Their oppressive presence smothered any glimpse of the sun. The mists were dark, like a brewing nightmare. As the first droplets of rain trickled down, they danced across my skin, sending shivers down my spine with their icy touch.

Worry shattered throughout my body like untamed glass. Damian must have been able to sense it and came to my side. His touch was comforting; he wrapped his hand around my arm, squeezing it for luck. “Don’t overthink it, my Queen.” He winked at me. He loosely let go of my hand, not wanting to decipher any of our emotions or feelings at the moment. I needed to focus on training today.

A sudden, firm grip seized my wrist, pulling it into Abner’s scrutinizing gaze. He examined my fingernails meticulously, tilting them this way and that, observing the Celestials flitting from nail to nail, their movements dictated by the alignment of the sky.

Without hesitation, Damian’s hand darted to where he concealed his dagger, swiftly retrieving it by the hilt. His solid grip of the knife raised up in defense against Abner.

“If you hurt her, I have no problem connecting this to your throat.” The blade of the dagger was sharp, but dull with shine from the lack of light protruding from the clouds in the sky. Damian’s face was grave with control, ready to put up a fight. I gulped, not knowing how to respond.

“Curses, Damian,” he said, releasing the hold he had on me and throwing his hands in the air in defense. “I just wanted to check her fingernails from her connection. I know theMachmuax5 breed is unreliable and wanted to see what we were working with. I needed to make sure that nothing was different about them. I also know you both are together. Don’t you worry. I wasn’t trying to steal your girl.” Abner stepped further back, his jaw tightening.

“We’re not together,” I stated. I glanced over at Damian and saw his dagger still up, trying to protect me, but there was an ever so slight quiver that made me know that my response had hurt him. Brushing the thought away, I fixated my gaze back on Abner.

“Whatever,” he muttered. “Your connection looks normal. Let’s see what ya got, Lia.” The tension zipped back through my body.

There was a wave of anxiety that brushed through me, thinking of him and the kingdom that I had tied responsibilities to. The kingdom I was responsible for saving.

“Breathe,” Damian approached, his lips grazing my ear as he spoke softly, his words a soft whisper. I took in his words, breathing in and out–letting the anxiety roll out through my deep breaths. Not because of his voice, but because I had to find mymaxzso that we could go back and kill them off.

Turning behind me toward Belle, I nuzzled near her snout, pushing my forehead against her scales. After taking a deep sigh, I grabbed the horns along her back and lifted myself into the rider’s position. “MyUanai6, you ready?”

“I’m feeling that today is the day,”Belle expressed, hopefulness radiating in her voice. I wrapped my arms around what I could of her body, the scales textured and rough.

“Me too, little one.”

We didn’t wait for Abner’s instructions. Belle erupted into the misty atmosphere, accepting the raindrops for what they were. I tried everything they taught us to draw themaxzout: my hands, images in my mind, thoughts, anything to bring energy to themaxzheld inside of Belle.

We tried light, water, wind, earth, and shadow manipulation. We attempted to try themaxzof force or time, but nothing worked.

Being up in the sky for hours made my legs weak from holding on. My face was wind-stricken and starting to rash, and my fingers became numb with the cold.

“What if I don’t have a maxz?”Belle longingly said, concern filling her voice.

“You do, don’t worry! We’re going to find it!”I said, attempting to cheer her up. However, I had the same concerns. What if she didn’t have amaxz? What if she didn’t have any abilities? What if that was what her division detected and kicked her out?

After hours of practicing all eleven elements we knew of, nothing worked. No sparks, no magic, nomaxz. What if it was the twelfth element? What if we were doing something wrong? Missing something?

We blazed through the sky, returning to the peak of the mountain. The wind rustled through my hair, tossing it from side to side.

Belle tilted to the left as she swooped down when something happened.

My skin tingled, unfamiliar sensations bubbling across my skin.

One second we were in the air. Next, we were on the ground. Did I blink? Blackout?

“What theHaxnau7,” Abner swore, his eyes squinting in disbelief, fixating his gaze on Belle and me. “You just… just…”

“Teleported,” Damian finished, folding his arms as a sly grin crept on his face, aimed toward Abner.

“What do you mean?” I laughed awkwardly, knowing something was wrong. Something just happened. And it was not normal.

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