Page 76 of Enchanted Crown
I endedup healing one winged shifter who was stuck in his teenager human form, and one elderly shifter stuck in her equineform. The team waiting to guard the carriages as they traveled to the castle added the two extras I healed to the mix. And then to top it all off, the Wylan team spread out and practiced some combat training exercises in the meadow. I was certain the last time I had used my Enchantment this much was when I turned Esta back.
“Feel better?” Emric asked as I headed with the others.
More than I was sweaty, I felt exhausted. I needed entirely more sleep. “A bit.”
I was thanking each of our team when a large shadow came over me from above. I would have known if Esta was near, so I wasn’t surprised to find Nyx instead.
“Nyx,” I greeted.
Prince.
“What are you doing in The Aaruk?”
Malachi fetched me. He thought you might want to spend some time in The Drak. Stretch your wings.
As if on cue, Malachi walked over to us in his human form. “I have to help get the carriages back safely, but based on the meeting today, those wings of yours need to be stretched.”
Hop on,Nyx offered.
“Not without me you don’t,” Dex demanded.
I looked to Emric. Normally he dealt with the team after they were done every day, which was always before now. The morning meeting and my healing two extra shifters had delayed them. Not to mention our training session. “Go,” he told me. “I’ve got it.”
So Dex and I climbed on Nyx. I knew I couldn’t fly all the way to The Drak. Not only because I couldn’t reveal my wings yet, but also because I wasn’t sure I could make that long of a flight without hurting myself.
You are mated to the queen,Nyx told me a few minutes into our flight.Her lair is now yours to use, should you tire while we are there.
I was tired enough from using my first Enchantment that I wasfairly certain I could’ve gone without flying and passed out, but I was not going to miss out on the opportunity to use my wings.
“Thank you for coming to get me,” I told the dragon.
Don’t mention it.
Over halfway to The Drak, my magic flared. It could have been in response to something Esta was doing, but I also felt like I had already lived this nightmare once.
When Dex asked, “You feel that?” I immediately told Nyx, “Land. Something isn’t right.”
He wasted no time as he tucked in his wings and plummeted to the ground near some tree cover. As soon as we got off him, Nyx shifted into his human form so the three of us could move further into the trees under cover.
“What is it?” Nyx asked.
“I don’t know,” I told him. “I looked around some but wasn’t about to let them shoot another dragon out of the sky, so I had you land. As much as I want to fly back up there with you, all things considered, it’s time to call in some help. Something or someone is out there lurking.”
Nyx shifted back sohe could alert the nearest shifters. Dex used his Enchantment to get random sticks and branches out of the way for Nyx’s bigger form that way he could remain hidden.
Or as hidden as a dragon could ever be.
I reached for my tether to Esta to inform her of what was going on. Much to my dismay, as soon as I focused in on our bond, I felt Esta already in motion, her anger and fury hitting me in droves.
I didn’t see anything,I told her.But Dex’s magic and my own both flared. It wouldn’t unless our Enchantment felt a threat.
She didn’t say anything in response of course, but I couldalmost feel her speed pick up. Her panic was overwhelming my own senses, causing my own heart rate to pick up.
Meanwhile wherever we were, Dex wanted to go back up with Nyx to see what they could find, but I had absolutely refused. They were not going to leave me safe and risk themselves on my behalf. We would do this right. Wait for the team of shifters to fall in and attack, much like they had with the Agrian spy.
Whoever was out there lurking was about to get found.
Malachi and half of his team covering the carriages are moving this way,Nyx informed me.
