Page 107 of Centaur Bolt

Even the attempt to not think of her meant I was thinking of her.

I’ve never met anyone who muddles quite like you,Iskar mused.

Muddles?This Gryphon used the strangest words.

Considers things in never-ending and pointless circles.

That pretty much describes my life,I growled.I am less muddled, however, and more—terrified.I wasn’t a person who normally frightened easily, but the creature that kept emerging in our dreams scared me to distraction.What is it, Iskar? You know, don’t you.

I have my suspicions, but I must be wrong.

Tell me.

Not until I know for sure.

That is just stupid. Knowledge is power,I insisted.

Not in this case. Shifting form with control involves precision. If you visualize the wrong thing, it can have disastrous consequences.

Cara had stated that visualization was important.Although my demons aren’t coming through pure,I pointed out.

No. You seem to have the ability to mix and match. Which makes proper identification of the hidden piece all the more important.

I wasn’t getting anywhere with this argument. Besides, I had more pressing concerns. Riley had scared me with that idea of hers. What if she tried it, and failed? What happened to Jumpers who lost their way mid-Jump?

I put the question to my inner wise man. He hesitated, before saying,According to what I have read, only the most powerful Jumpers have been able to Jump using an image.

She said the Phoenixes do it.

Maybe they do, but that doesn’t mean Riley can.

She says she already has.

He was silent for a moment.Then she is stronger than I thought.

My heart constricted.Could she die while trying?

I’m afraid so, yes.

I shoved the last Haba nut into my mouth and folded my arms around my legs, pulling the cloak tighter to me. Had Riley seen enough to try something so precarious?

I glanced over to the old house. The Dragon had regained his cloak and sat hunched beneath it. He hadn’t gone back to sleep. I guessed my little beasty emergence had discouraged any further thoughts of rest.

All the hair on my body lifted, as though a cold breeze had drifted across my skin.

The air above the pond suddenly came to vivid, golden life. A wave of water rose and washed through the reeds, and something landed with a resounding splash right in the center.

I was up to my waist in water in seconds, my hands searching for what I knew must be there.

Not what. Who.

If I hadn’t come in after her, she might have drowned. She coughed up water as I lifted her from it. I stared down into her dazed eyes, and froze.

They weren’t green. They weregold. As I watched, they darkened to an amber color, then rolled back in her head, before she went limp.

I frantically felt for a pulse—it was there, and steady. She must have fainted, but that wasn’t all that had my heart racing. Yellow scales chased across her features, altering them as they did so. They spread across her neck and down her arms, and talons sprouted from her fingertips.

I closed my arms tighter around her. “Riley?” There was no answer. It had to be her, but it looked less and less like her by the second. Was she—

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