Page 7 of Grave Situation

“Master?” I push open the door, surprised to find the room lit only by the fire crackling in the hearth. “Is everything okay?”

“Hmm.”

My eyes adjust, and I find him standing over by the window. He’s been doing that more and more lately, just standing and staring out. I’m not sure if he’s thinking, processing a new magical concept, or just… staring. I’m not going to ask either. He’ll tell me when he’s ready for me to know.

Another lesson I learned the hard way.

“Do you need anything, Master?”

With a sigh, he turns. “No. How are the burns?”

I shrug. “Minor. But I suspect some of the other students want to hold her down and set the rest of her on fire, so I left her in the infirmary for the night.”

He huffs. “That’s remarkably indulgent for you. What happened to tough love?”

“That’s my job. I can’t be sure these baby mages are capable of doling it out without killing anyone.”

That gets a small smile from him, and he turns back to the window. “I don’t need anything tonight.”

“Good night, then.” I head back toward the door.

“Talon?”

Taking my hand off the knob, I face him. “Yes, Master?”

“I know you want to get ahead with your research, but perhaps get an early night.”

Okay, there’s definitely something going on. “Is there something I should know, Master?”

He shakes his head, still looking out the window. “No. Just… a feeling. Something…. We should be rested.”

I wait to see if he has anything else to add, but that’s it.

“Good night, Master.”

Back in my snug room—kept warm because I’mvery fucking goodwith fire—I glance toward my desk. There’s a lot of research still to do if I want to make it to level-3 this year. And these few hours when my master doesn’t need me are my only time to get it done.

But he doesn’t often try to govern my time, so I can’t take his suggestion lightly. Instead of giving in to the urge to study, I go to bed.

I surge to wakefulness,sitting bolt upright and slamming a protective shield of air into place around my bed before I realize the threat isn’t physical.

In fact… it isn’t a threat. Not to me, at least.

“Tia?!”I scramble to reach my twin’s mind.“What’s happening?”

She doesn’t bother to reply, just lets me see and hear through her. The riders’ barracks are buzzing, with half-dressed riders racing through the halls and out into the night, toward the dragons’ valley. The roars coming from it are terrifyingly loud, and as I dampen the sound a little—for both of us—I realize I can actually hear the echo of it with my own ears. It’s carrying through the night, all the way to the academy.

Tia blocks my sensory input as she enters the valley. No human can go there unless they’re bonded to a dragon, and she decided long ago that meant mentally as well as physically. I stay with her, though, waiting for information, tensed to leap out of bed and prepare for… I don’t know what. Battle? We haven’t been at war for centuries. And the City of Knowledge is in the dead center of the continent of Vaderyn. If the Baswich Empire across the ocean was attacking, we’d know long before they got here.

Finally, Tia says,“Something’s upset the dragons. We don’t know what. Leicht keeps saying, ‘It’s back,’ but I can’t get anything else out of him. None of them are saying more.”

Fucking dragons and their fucking drama. Still, there’s nothing I can do about dragons having a joint nightmare.

“Okay. Let me know if you need me. Or if they say anything useful.”

She sends a vague acknowledgment, already preoccupied with settling Leicht, and I pull back from her mind.

Then, knowing that the councilors will have woken—hundreds of dragons causing a ruckus is the kind of thing the Council of Mages stays abreast of—I send a telepathic knock to my master.

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