Page 27 of The Lost Nation

“You again,” I grit out, wondering what to do. I couldn't see him yet, which meant neither could Wren or the other witches. I was on my own.

I tensed, my claws digging deep into the rock.I could only hope the witches or Wren had felt the shimmer as well, and knew what it meant.If I screamed, they likely wouldn't hear me from down here. Unless I let out a distress call.

Don't be stupid...just use your voice magicks. Then if he defeats you, use the distress call. I opened my mouth to sing.

"What's your name?" A voice asked.

The warble died in my throat as I blinked in confusion. Then I saw him, materializing out of the shadows and crouching on the rock opposite of mine.

The black draken moved with a quietness that was unnatural. His eyes were bright despite their black depths, and I nervously flared my wings. If the rumors were true, he was the new leader of the demon fortress. I would be stupid to trust him.

His head tilted to the side. “You are all white. My inner draken tells me that’s significant, but I don't know why.”

I hissed at him, fear curling in my belly. He took a large step back to increase the distance between us, his hind legs scrabbling a bit on the last bit of rock as the ocean sprayed behind him. I was struck by the changes in him.

The last time I had seen him, he looked sostrongand radiated power. Now he was sweating, barely able to stand upright before me. His breaths came in great, panting gasps.

“What is wrong with you?” I bristled, not letting my guard down in case this was an act. I ignored his earlier question.

“Expending more magicks than I should,” he stuttered out, his obsidian scales glinting against the sunlight. I frowned, not sensinganymagick coming from him. that was active. White sigil tattoos snaked around his chest and back, and my eyes traced his muscles with interest.At least he was a fellow warrior.

I huffed. “That is foolish. You could die exerting yourself too much.”

I had been taught that as a young drakling.Everydraken knew that. “What are you even doing that requires so mucheffort?”I was curious despite myself. Magick had never been my strong suit, after all.

He laughed, but it came as more of a tortured gasp. “Helping a friend,” he replied.

“Must be a good friend,” I muttered, eyeing him warily. It was odd really—my instincts screamed at me to hide when any of the other unmated drakens were around, but they were suspiciously quiet around this one. Maybe it was because the rumors I heard were true—he wasn’t entirely a draken. Did he demon blood confuse my draken instincts?

Or perhaps he wasn't entirely a threat to me, and that's why they remained silent.

Nevertheless, he’d end up dead of magickal exhaustion if he didn’t stop. I rolled my eyes, not even aware I'd made the decision to help him until I held out a hand.

“Here.”I wasn’t entirely sure this was smart, but I had to trust my instincts. Ihadto. They'd given me hope in my darkest hour, and they'd kept me alive this far. If they didn’t sense danger from this strange draken half-breed, then I had to believe there wasn’t any.

The dark draken eyed the white scales of my hand, then threw caution to the wind and grabbed it. I winced at the sudden contact, unable to help my physical reaction even though I knew it was coming. I would likely fear touch the rest of my life. Instead I focused on sending magick into him, and ignored his shocked intake of breath.

I hummed out of habit, the song lilting around us as it balanced the thrum of magick in the air. Oh gods, it feltgoodto use my voice magicks again. I lost myself in it, my singing growing louder and then there were hands on my body—

The sudden touch snapped the spell, and I jolted in fear. The hands disappeared instantly, and I was able to keep from screaming out a distress call. Barely.

As it was, a small warble of fear managed to bubble out from my mouth, and I was incredibly thankful none of the other males were around to hear it.

Oh.

The black draken twitched, breathing heavily as his eyes bore into me. His eyes were fierce, and I realized how stupid I was. Therewasa male draken around to hear it. His body scrunched down, shaking all over. He looked half-torn between wanting to jump me, and horrified he'd frightened me.

"I don't like to be touched," I offered lamely, then wondered why I was reassuring him.

“You were one of the prisoners in the fortress.” He offered instead, a question in the lilt of his voice even though it wasn't one.

I closed my eyes, able to still feel the pain of the white magick as though I were still there. It felt soreal, sonear—

I opened my eyes, and realized it was coming fromhim. My face must have shown my fear because he tightly clamped down on it until I couldn’t sense it anymore.

“I’m so sorry,” he said instead. My head tilted to the side, trying to figure him out. He was a draken, yet had managed to restrain himself when my small distress call slipped through. He was unmated, yet was clearly respecting my wish to remain untouched.

He won’t hurt me.

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