Chapter Twenty-Two
Laric wasn’t sure what to do or how to react.
The idea that he had an uncle that he hadn’t known about was amazing, and he couldn’t wait to tell his sister so she could see that they were no longer alone the way they had believed. They had lost everything, including their farm, their parents, and previously their grandmother, so it would mean so much to still have family.
“You have questions,” Dizarn said.
“I have some,” Laric admitted. “Primarily about why you came here now.”
He regarded Laric for a long moment. “We have been following the dragon movement. They should not have been making their way out here. It has been… unusual.”
“‘Unusual’ is one way of putting it, but I think that it’s more than just unusual. There have been mages who have been attacking, and that has been the real issue here.”
Dizarn frowned at him. “Why would they have been attacking?”
Laric shrugged. “Mainly because they have been trying to gain control over the dragons. Haven’t you been part of the fight with the mages?”
“That has not been my purpose.”
Laric kept looking at the others behind Dizarn. His cousins, if this was all true. And the idea that he had cousins was so strange, shocking, and a little overwhelming in a way, because he had gone so long without having a connection to anyone but his sister.
“So you haven’t been part of Korthal fighting with mages?”
“Is that what she told you?” Dizarn asked.
“No,” Laric said. “But again, I didn’t know anything about her until recently. And in a way, I still don’t think I know anything about her.”
That was what made this difficult, more than everything else that was happening. He did not know anything about his grandmother despite wanting to, and he thought that perhaps there would be a way of understanding her. If only he had known more about his grandmother and had an opportunity to speak to her about everything she had been through, about where she fit with Korthal and what she knew about mages, perhaps this wouldn’t be so hard for him.
“Very few have been involved in such things,” Dizarn said. “There have been some who were asked to participate, but it has been a challenge for them. You have seen it.”
“I haven’t,” he said.
His uncle frowned at him. “You have not seen this?”
“I’m not entirely sure what you think I should have seen.”
Dizarn looked back to his two children before turning his attention to Laric again. “I would have assumed that you have traveled to the borders. Have you not?”
“The furthest I’ve ever gotten from my home was about two days into the mountains,” Laric said.
“But you are bonded to the dragon.”
Laric snorted. “Being bonded to the dragon is a relatively new accomplishment for me, and I don’t get the sense that he is excited about the connection I have to him, nor do I think the dragon is all that eager for me to stay bonded to him.”
Dizarn was quiet for a moment. “Troubling. Very troubling. Come.”
He stepped to the edge of the pile of debris and then climbed out of the cavern. The other two lingered for just a beat, watching Laric as they did, before finally following their father out.
Laric hesitated. He wasn’t quite sure what he should do, and at this point, he was certain that he should not be part of all this. By the time he got out into the open, he found Dizarn looking around.
“Why would she have kept this here?” Malik asked.
“We used to have a farm not far from here,” Laric said.
“You used to?” Janear said.
“Dragons destroyed it.”
Dizarn’s gaze narrowed.
“We thought Korthal came here to attack,” Laric explained.
“If she was here, they would not have come to attack.”
“Well, she’s been gone for quite a while, and seeing as how I didn’t know anything about her or her connection to this place before, I don’t know that it’s worth thinking about what they would or would not have done.”
It was problematic, and a little troubling.
“Where is the dragon?” Malik asked.
“Somewhere,” Laric said, waving his hand, but even as he said it, he had a sudden surge of awareness in the back of his mind that seemed like a flare of heat.
Then Sashaak came hurtling toward him, streaking out of the sky, until he landed near the old farm. Laric couldn’t shake the feeling that it was possible that Sashaak had been involved in the destruction of the farm, though he tried to ignore that, knowing that even if Sashaak had been involved, there had been no real intention behind it.
It had not been because of him.
“There he is,” Dizarn said. “Quite a powerful creature.”
