Page 37 of Storm In The Sky

Winter wasn’t sure he could let Keylon go, but he didn’t have a choice. He would have no idea what to do if he found the thing, but Keylon knew. He’d be able to destroy it.

Hopefully.

Letting go of Keylon was the hardest thing Winter had ever done. He uncurled his talons from his mage and allowed Keylon to take a step back. He was tempted to shift so he could stay close, but he could better protect Keylon like this.

He followed closely, but not so close that he would bother Keylon. The protective spell still shimmered around the mage, so the flames couldn’t hurt him, but how long would he be able to keep up the spell? How much magic did he still have stored in his body?

Some mages pulled the magic from around them, while others found it deep inside of them. Some, like Penley, could use the magic from the world around them. With so much fire, though, there was no way to know if Keylon would be able to do that, especially since he wasn’t used to manipulating that kind of magic. That meant the mages were pulling from their personal magic, which in turn meant that eventually they’d deplete it, and if the fire was still raging, they would have a problem on their hands.

Keylon extinguished the fire from a small area around the base of a tree. Winter glanced up at the tree as Keylon crouched in front of it. He watched Keylon push away leaves and ashes, revealing a small object.

Winter sucked in a breath. He remembered the small white and blue ceramic cat he’d found where Simon had dropped it at the cottage. This wasn’t a cat, even though it was ceramic, too, and made with the same colors. If Winter had to guess, the same person had made both of the figurines.

The ceramic dragon was dirty with dust and ashes, but as Keylon cleaned it with his thumb, more of it appeared. It was delicate looking, and it would probably break if Keylon dropped it, but the figurine wasn’t the important part of this. No, what mattered was the spell inside of it, and Winter had no idea how that worked.

“I need to tell the others,” Keylon said as he got to his feet.

He left the figurine where it was, which made Winter decide that he didn’t want to touch it. Did that mean the spell was too strong for Keylon to do anything about it now, or did he just want to be cautious?

Keylon used a spell as the beacon so that the other mages would know where to go. Since they had to wait, Winter curled one wing around Keylon, pulling him close again. Keylon rolled his eyes, but he leaned against Winter as he started extinguishing the fire still raging around them.

Winter kept an eye on the figurine. He wasn’t surprised to see it release tiny purple flames that grew as soon as they met the air. It was terrifying to see. It was easy to imagine what this figurine could do if left untouched. It had already destroyed part of the forest. Could it destroy the castle and the entire area? When would it ever stop? Winter wanted to ask if the spell was timed or if it only had a certain amount of energy, but he couldn’t in this form, and he wasn’t about to shift. He’d have to keep all his questions for later.

The first people to reach them were Meyer, Tyne, and Samuel. Samuel rushed to Winter’s side as soon as he saw him, running his hands over Winter’s body as if to check he wasn’t hurt. Winter huffed and twisted his head so he could look at his friend. Samuel could have gotten hurt, not Winter.

“He’s fine,” Keylon said. “He shifted to protect me from a falling tree.”

Samuel was sweaty, and there was dirt on his face. There was also a big red burn on his arm, but he didn’t seem to have noticed it or to care. His entire focus was on Keylon and Winter.

“You’re both fine?” he asked.

“We are, thanks to Winter.”

“Good. Have you heard from the others?”

“No, but they should be arriving soon.”

“You found it.”

It wasn’t a question, so Keylon’s only answer was to tilt his chin toward the base of the tree where the figurine lay. When Samuel saw it, he swore, but he didn’t try to touch it.

That had to mean the magic inside of it was powerful, didn’t it? Samuel was a good mage, but he was young. His magic still hadn’t fully unfurled, and he was still learning how to use it. It was a miracle he’d only been burned once, and Winter wondered if that was thanks to Meyer, who was in his dragon form, too. Tyne was keeping a safe distance from the dragon, which left Meyer close to Samuel. It didn’t seem to bother him, but Winter knew better. Tyne’s rejection had to hurt.

It made Winter feel sorry for everything he’d done to Keylon. Thankfully, that was in the past, and they were working things out, but he swore to himself that if he ever had a problem in the future, he would find Keylon and tell him about it. Running away and ignoring each other hadn’t worked the first time, and it wouldn’t the second or third time, either. It was time for Winter to let go of his fears and grow up. It was time for him to take this relationship seriously.

“Where is it?” Jarvis asked as he and Marlow arrived.

He was on Marlow’s back, but he quickly slid down and rushed toward Keylon. Keylon moved away from Winter, and it took everything Winter had not to pull him back closer. Thankfully, Keylon didn’t go close to the figurine. He pointed at it, then took a step back.

Jarvis crouched in front of the dragon figurine and stared at it for a moment. “I thought I recognized the cat, but I’m sure of it now. I bought these for Carlyle when he was young.” He reached for the figurine as if to stroke the small dragon’s back, but a hand on his wrist stopped him. He turned to look at Dallin, who shook his head.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“You think you can eliminate the spell inside of it?”

Dallin put a hand in his pocket and retrieved a small box. “I don’t know yet, but I placed a neutralizing spell on this. It’ll ensure that the spell inside won’t do any more damage. I can get rid of the spell once the fire is gone. We can’t focus on this object right now, Jarvis. We have to extinguish the fire first.”

Jarvis nodded and stepped away to allow Dallin closer. Winter still wasn’t sure what Dallin’s specialty was, but he watched as he crouched in front of the object and used the box to pick it up, sliding it inside with ease.

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