Page 59 of Dragon Heir

“So what has this young girl been doing on your watch?” Allard spoke up, the question pointed at our two guides.

Blade twisted his head around to look over his shoulder at us. “Mostly she’s been burying things in the ground.”

Will lifted an eyebrow. “What kind of things?”

Saber stepped to one side and slowed so we caught up to him. He dug into his pocket and drew out a small object which he set in Allard’s open hand. “This.”

Allard opened his fingers and revealed a small glowing ball. A soft red light emanated from the round object and a soothing warmth flowed from its hard semi-reflective surface. I leaned in close and beheld my face in the swirling depths that inhabited the interior.

I looked up at Saber. “What is it?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know but she put out dozens of these in the ground.”

“And you didn’t think it was important enough to tell us this earlier before we headed out into the woods?” Enna growled.

He shrugged and tapped the ball with his finger. “They’re harmless. We watched a deer chew on one and spit it out.”

“And did you watch the deer for anything wrong with it?” she countered.

He winced and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, maybe not for long. I mean, you told us to watch the girl so we kept following her.”

Enna threw up her arms and rolled her eyes. “You fools are hopeless.”

Saber snatched the ball from Allard and shook it at her. “These things are completely harmless! Anybody can touch them! See?”

He tossed the ball at me. I juggled the orb a few times before I clasped it against my chest.

And that’s when a wave of heat and light blasted out of it.

I started back as the shockwave swept over our group and disappeared into the depths of the forest in all directions. Everyone froze and stared in bewilderment at me. I slowly opened my clasped hands. The red ball pulsed with magic and heat.

I yelped and flung apart my arms. The orb dropped to the ground and the brilliant illumination vanished, replaced by its earlier soft glow as it rolled to a stop a few steps away.

Enna whipped her head around and swatted Saber. “Anyone, huh? Where in the realms is she even getting these things?”

Blake shook his head. “W-we don’t know. She just cups her hands together and presses them into the hole and when she pulls them back there one of them sits.”

Allard cupped his chin in one hand and furrowed his brow. “Most interesting. That would imply she is making this magic herself.”

“But what is she making?” Vargas chimed in.

Will stooped and studied the ball I had dropped on the ground. “This is powerful fire magic for such a young girl.”

“Then perhaps she is in cahoots with the sorcerer who is using the curse to attack you,” Vargas suggested.

“She’s not.”

The definite words came from my own mouth. All eyes fell on me and a light blush accented my cheeks.

“I-I mean, I don’t think she would be helping someone like that. She’s just a little girl.”

Vargas scoffed. “And that possessed Tenky was just a little man but you witnessed the damage he caused. Size matters little in regards to the danger from magic-do not touch it!”

Her words were directed at Will who stretched out his hand toward the ball. The tips of his two longest fingers grazed the surface of the ball. The light pulsed and dozens of small crackling threads of flame shot out in all directions. Everyone but Will leaped back to avoid being within range of the hot magic.

He furrowed his brow. “It appears to be dragon magic but of a kind I have never seen.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Like you’ve never seen? What does that mean?”

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