Page 34 of Storm In The Sky

“Let’s go,” he said as he walked toward the fire.

Winter was so close to him that he could feel him brush against him. Before, he would’ve told Winter to put some space between them, but he didn’t want that anymore. No, Keylon wanted to be as close to Winter as possible, and not only because he was afraid one of them would get hurt.

Things had gotten so much better between them these past few days. Keylon had let down his walls, and Winter had slipped underneath them the way he always had when he was Alvin. Keylon was giving him a chance, and so far, Winter hadn’t given him any hints that he didn’t deserve his trust.

It would be just Keylon’s luck to lose Winter so soon after deciding he wanted to be with him.

Keylon stayed close to Winter. He desperately wanted to cast a protective spell on him, but he knew Winter would say no. He could get hurt when he was in his human form, though.

“What kind of spell is this?” Winter asked as they walked.

Keylon was focused on the flames. He wasn’t as good as Penley at manipulating water, but he was good enough to pull the water from the air and use it on the fire. He alternated between that and controlling the fire itself, but it wasn’t easy when the fire was fueled by a spell.

Winter stuck close to Keylon, keeping him from stepping into a hole or getting burned. He pulled Keylon away from the flames several times when Keylon was distracted.

Keylon was glad to have him here.

“It’s not a spell many mages use,” he explained. “It’s almost impossible to control once it starts, which isn’t something most mages want. It makes sense that Carlyle decided to use this on us, though. He can’t get to the castle, and maybe he thought he could burn it down.”

“I just hope he’s not using this as a distraction,” Winter murmured.

That was one of Keylon’s fears, but he knew Carlyle wasn’t getting anywhere near the castle. It had taken Keylon years to perfect the spell he’d put on the castle and the area around it. It had taken him almost as long to put the spells into place. He was only one man, so he’d had to rely on objects to help hold the spells in place, but Carlyle wouldn’t get to those, either.

That had to be why Carlyle was doing this. He was infuriated that he couldn’t get to the castle, and he was getting his revenge. Keylon didn’t think he was somewhere in the forest hiding and waiting for the mages, although he wouldn’t have put it past him. Carlyle cared too much about his safety to put himself in danger that way, though.

“The purple fires will vanish as soon as we destroy the object the spell is in,” Keylon explained. “We’ll still have to deal with the natural fire, but that should be fairly easy to extinguish once it’s not fed by magic.”

Winter nodded. He was scrutinizing the ground, trying to find the object. It felt like looking for a needle in a haystack—the needle was tiny, and the haystack was as big as a forest.

* * * *

There was only one explanation for what was happening, and it was that Carlyle was trying to kill them all. Keylon wasn’t surprised. It made sense that Carlyle would want to get rid of them like this instead of facing them like he had last time. That hadn’t gone well for him, and he’d want to avoid the possibility of getting stuck in a gemstone for decades again.

He wouldn’t be this time. None of the mages was willing to compromise. One way or another, they would get rid of Carlyle this time. It was the only way to ensure he wouldn’t return a second time, the only way to keep their families and loved ones safe permanently.

Keylon wasn’t looking forward to killing someone. He’d never done anything like that, and he didn’t know if he could. But when he remembered what Winter and the other dragons had gone through, he got angry, and he thought that maybe hecouldmake Carlyle pay.

First, he had to take care of this fire. They couldn’t afford to let it reach the castle. The castle was protected, but as long as thepurple fire burned, it wouldn’t be safe. The humans who worked and lived there were also family, and Keylon and everyone else would do everything they could to protect them.

“What do you think Carlyle was trying to do?” Winter asked as he walked behind Keylon.

Keylon was using his magic to extinguish the normal fire. It helped create a path in the forest, but it wasn’t enough. Keylon was already sweating and feeling like he needed to drink his weight in water. The purple flames were everywhere around them, hopefully leading to the object that had created them.

“Get us to leave the castle, probably.”

“What would he gain by doing that?”

“Well, he could ambush us, or maybe he’s hoping the fire will kill us. If we can’t find the object in which he placed the spell, there’s a good chance at least some of us will die.”

“I don’t like that,” Winter grumbled.

Even though the situation was dire, Keylon found himself smiling. “None of us like that. Unfortunately, we still have to deal with it.”

“I hate Carlyle,” Winter added.

Keylon agreed with that sentiment. He was pretty sure they all hated him.

Keylon had been satisfied when they’d managed to trap Carlyle in the gemstone. Now he was out, and they needed to destroy him for good. Carlyle had to know they’d do that. Why couldn’t he have just disappeared and tried living a peaceful life? Why had he taken one of their dragons, and why was he trying to burn them down?

---