Page 126 of Of Blood and Banes
“Hatchling?”she grumbles underneath the seat.“Mind you, I am far bigger and more advanced than any hatchling. I might have only been in this realm for half a year, but I have lived for centuries, several times over. Maybe you should start taking notes from me.”
“Quite the arrogance.”I chuckle.“Do you…remember anything from your previous lives?”
“No. Only that this one with you has easily become my favorite.”
My heart fills to the brim. A giddy smile on my cheeks.“I love you, too.”
We pass over the front of the Serahaven mountains, soaring over snow-dusted peaks, and find the other side is even more breathtaking.
A masterfully designed stone castle sits in the rocky face of a gargantuan mountainside, lush with greenery. Waterfalls pour from the tops of the mountains, snaking down the slopes behind the castle and pooling in a massive lake between us and the fortress. And from that lake, several rivers branch off and meander their way through the mountain ridge. Bridges spanout from the grand citadel, stretching long over the lake until they touch land.
A thunderous hum rises from the earth, vibrating the blood in my veins as we fly closer.
“There’s magic here…”I murmur to Daeja.“A lot of it.”
“A’nala says we’ll land on the outskirts. There’s a magical barrier at the end of the bridges nearest the castle. That’s probably what you’re sensing.”
“Can you sense it, too?”
“Yes…it feels like I’ve been here before. It feels like…”
“Home,”I finish for her, and warmth spreads the bond between us.
A’nala dips down, and Daeja follows with the rest of the dragon riders on either side of us. We turn left, circling around the back half of Vitalis as the wind rips my braids back from my face and threatens to force my eyes closed. My stomach tips, warning it’ll plummet to the ground at the dizzying speed and angle we’re gliding, parallel with the mountainside. Luckily for my own pride, we even out before I throw up.
Minutes later, we circle back and land at a southern bridge, each chaotic flapping of wings stirring dust and overgrown vines and fronds. Sethan dismounts, and I unclip myself from the saddle and slide off.
The rest of the dragon riders follow suit, and we all gather a few feet from where the bridge arches over the sparkling, turquoise blue lake below. Sethan’s eyes are glued on the water, scanning its surface before he plucks a loose cobblestone from the street. Before anyone can ask what he’s doing, he chucks it into the lake below, taking a few steps back and bracing his forearm against my chest.
And waits.
A bubble of water turns into a rush, and a hiss emerges from the depths below. Daeja flares her wings, as do the other dragons, tails whipping and talons scraping against the cobblestones.
“Get back,” Sethan whispers.
I obey, slowly walking backward until I bump into Daeja’s chest.
“Water dragons,” a woman next to me growls, withdrawing her blade.
I follow suit, unsheathing my own and tossing it to my left hand—while pushing back the thought of who exactly taught me I was better with it.
A long, skinny, blue muzzle with white whiskers rises from the edge of the street near the bridge and scans us in a flash of turquoise eyes. Two rows of webbed horns start at the crown of its head, then slip back and down its neck. As it parts its dripping muzzle, it reveals a mouth as black as the oceans.
According to my father’s journal, water dragons could have a myriad of abilities. And while I’m praying this one might only be capable of the less dangerous ones—echolocation or camouflaging—the possibility of the other powers has me sliding Sethan’s outstretched arm away from my chest. I take a step forward. If this one is capable of blasting boiling water or producing electric shock waves, we might all be doomed if we don’t play our cards right.
But I have the Blood Ring. And it was me who was able to stop the dragonfire from completely ruining Vathstone. Me and Daeja. What’s to worry about but one single water dragon?
Daeja follows me like a slick shadow, her chin a few feet above my head, clearly attuned to my thoughts. Slowly as to not spook the water dragon, I slide off my gloves and tuck them into my waistband.
“What are you doing?” Sethan hisses each word from behind me.
“Taking the lead,” I whisper without taking my eyes off the dragon.
Its vibrant eyes watch me, narrowing. Water creeps up over the edge of the street and snakes through the cobblestones. Collecting quickly enough that it begins to bleed out from the grout lines and merge into one wave of water rushing toward us. The wave is maybe three inches deep when it gushes over the tip of my boots. But the water rises more rapidly, more furiously from around the water dragon.
I’m not willing to chance the powers it holds. Today is not a good day for drowning. I rip my right hand up. Rather than pulling the magic as I’ve practiced with Marge, I push it. Slamming a wall against it to keep it from venturing farther than a few inches behind me. As I force the water back, inch by inch until it’s dammed out in front of me, the water dragon hisses.
Just as the fire dragon spoke in my mind back in Vathstone, I reach, calling out into a cavernous void in the event it might hear me.“We mean you no harm. We only wish to pass to Vitalis.”
