Page 40 of Iron Hearts and Dragon Magic

It was much larger than it had seemed from a distance. The front door was huge, and he could enter it without difficulty, as long as his wings were not spread out.

Inside, there were no interior divisions. This was all one huge room, illuminated by sunlight coming from the center of the domed ceiling. A huge metal cage made of bronze stood in the middle of the room. The fact that Fel could sense the metal so quickly meant not all of his ironbringing was gone—it was just weaker, as if it were a dim and blurry vision. It still felt good to know that he had access to some of his magic even as a dragon. Of course, ironbringing was the part he wasn’t supposed to let anyone know about, even if he had no idea why.

The male dragon, in human form, opened a huge door leading to the cage.

“This is not a prison,” Relia said. “It’s a tool we use for interrogation, and shouldn’t harm or hurt you—as long as you speak the truth.”

Fel had no choice. Even if by some miracle he could fight his way out of that building, he had no chance of leaving the valley. And then, Tzaria had warned him this would happen and had told him not to worry. But then again, why was she afraid of these dragons? Running away from them?

There was no point ruminating on these questions. Even if they had been asking him to step into a torture chamber, he would need to obey. Fel mustered all his dignity and walked into that cage, then heard its door being closed behind him. The bottom of the cage was also made of bronze. It had to have some magical meaning, but it wasn’t something he could identify. Then again, his magical senses had been terrible since he’d swapped forms.

They stood in silence for a few moments, then some ten guards entered the room. They were either human or dragons in human form, and wore some kind of white shiny metal armor. It was funny and ridiculous. Had he been in control of his ironbringing, he could incapacitate the entire group in less than a second. Of course, if they were wearing that, it only meant they indeed had no inkling about his magic, which was good.

A few more minutes passed, then three people entered, wearing shiny armor like the guards, but theirs was dark blue. Perhaps it was some kind of ceremonial attire. Again, all Fel thought was that if he had control of his magic, none of these dragons would stand a chance against him. It was odd to be so powerful and powerless at the same time.

A man wearing blue armor said, “Stranger, can you use your human form?”

“I can’t.” Fel tried to send the thought to him, wondering if the others would hear it. To his surprise, his words resonated in the room, as if being reflected by the walls. Strange magic indeed—but helpful.

“It’s fine,” Relia said, her tone gentle. She turned to the man. “He’s a halfling.” The woman then smiled and turned to him. “Half dragons rarely transform, unless they get a lot of training.” Her tone then changed to formal. “Let’s start. Can you state your name and where you’re from?”

“I’m Isofel Umbraar, from Aluria. More specifically, the kingdom of Umbraar.”

Relia narrowed her eyes. “And who’s your mother?”

Fel couldn’t say it, but he figured he could get around the question. “I never met her. I was raised by the Umbraar king, and always thought he was my father. He never talked about my mother.” It was a faint hope, but maybe they wouldn’t ask much more.

“Have you ever heard about Ircantari, the Seventh Dragon Mage?”

Relief washed through him as he realized the questions about his mother were over, and now he could simply tell the truth. “Tzaria mentioned him. She seems to think he’s my father.”

“Huh.” Relia laughed. “Quite a strange assumption. As if Ircantari would—”

“No.” One of the newcomers interrupted her. “Can’t you see it? Can’t you sense it? Heishis son.”

Relia’s expression soured. “I guess.”

The man stepped forward and removed his helmet. He was about thirty or forty, and had dark brown hair, medium brown skin, and yellow eyes. “I’m Ekateni. Your uncle.”

Fel exhaled, and was so surprised that he released a soft blast of fire by accident. None of the people around him seemed to find it strange or threatening, though. Uncle? It meant he had family here?

* * *

“Promise you won’t hurt me,”Leah said.

Iona sighed. “I already told you I have no intention to do so.”

“But I want a promise. Then I’ll tell you how much magic I know.”

The woman stared at her. “I will not commit any action or say any words with the intention of causing you physical or mental harm. Happy?”

Leah couldn’t find any trick in the words, and in any case, she was curious to hear what the fae had to say. She took a deep breath. “I didn’t know I was a deathbringer, so I don’t know much about that magic.” The fae didn’t seem disappointed. If anything, her eyes had a spark of curiosity, relief, something. Leah then added, “But I was… uh… interested in necromancy, and learned that type of magic, so… I know a little.”

“You know about the passages of the dead.” She glanced at Leah’s necklace. “So this is for something…”

“Scares evil spirits.”

The fae nodded. “I see. I’m no deathbringer either, so we might be in trouble. How did you even get here?”

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