There were several of them in the sky, all getting smaller.
They were evacuating.
Chapter Three
Malcolm stood at the mouth of the cave, looking out into the distance with a darkened gaze, which Laric understood. He felt much the same way, though in his case, the reason that he felt the way he did was because he felt something as well. The sense had him somewhat unnerved, and without much in the way of an explanation.
“Where are they going?” Malcolm asked.
“Leaving,” Laric said. “But why?”
“Doesn’t your dragon tell you why?”
As Laric focused on Sashaak and attempted to make sense of whether there was some part of the dragon that he might feel, and perhaps even master, he did not know what to make of it. Sashaak had left him, but he hadn’t really left him. It was strange for him to be aware of it, but not so strange since he could feel some lingering connection to the dragon, as if there was some part of that link that had formed between the two of them that Sashaak had wanted him to feel.
Was that the way it was going to be from now on?
When Malinar had transferred the connection of Sashaak over to Laric, Laric had thought that it was simply a matter of connecting to the potential of Sashaak, not that he would be bonded to Sashaak himself in some way. And in this, he still didn’t know if what he sensed, and what he felt, was something that his grandmother had anticipated for him.
“The dragon is there, but quiet,” he said.
Rowan bit her lip. “What do we do, then?”
He shook his head. “Head back to town. Xavier might know something.”
“If he does, do you think he’s even going to share it with us? He knew something before, but he didn’t reveal it.”
“Maybe things will be different now,” Malcolm suggested.
“You’re saying that as if we’re going to tell him about what has happened,” Rowan said, rounding on Malcolm. “I’m not completely convinced that we should. He might not keep the secret.”
“Secret?” Malcolm asked, grinning. “What kind of secret is it? Laric has connected to a dragon. Think about it. We’re going to have a dragon around, and maybe we can all start to learn something about it. Can you imagine—”
“Can you imagine what the people of town are going to think if they were to see the dragon?” She kept her voice soft, but it carried.
Within that, Laric understood the real challenge. He had been feeling a bit like Malcolm had been, and he had even started to permit himself to believe that the idea that he was connected to a dragon, to the potential within Sashaak, would somehow open him to something that might give him a way of defending not only himself and his friends but also the city. And perhaps it still could, but it wasn’t straightforward.
Having been attacked by dragons—and perhaps even this dragon—Laric knew that the townsfolk would feel fear that a dragon would be so close to them.
Laric looked over to Malcolm. “We should head back. We can see what Xavier might know, and then we can decide what we need to do.”
“We still have to deal with Talia,” Malcolm said, ignoring the other piece. “She’s trapped, right?” He glanced down the length of the opening leading back to the chamber. “She’s not going to be able to escape?”
“The dragon sealed it off,” Laric said. “So I’m hopeful that she won’t be able to escape.”
“I think we need to be more than just hopeful,” Malcolm muttered.
“Go get the others,” Rowan said. “It’s a walk back.”
“Why do we have to walk? We could take the portal—”
“And deal with Talia?”
“Oh. That’s right,” Malcolm said, shaking his head. “I’m distracted.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not,” she said.
Malcolm scrambled away, leaving Laric and Rowan together.
She stared out into the darkness. “What are you going to do?”
“I need answers.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Talia?” he asked.
“For a start, but it’s not even just her, is it? If it were, this would be harder, I think. It’s more than just Talia. It’s about the other mages and what they might do.”
Laric had allowed himself to forget about that for a moment.
He breathed out softly. “We haven’t had any response, so I don’t know that we really have to worry about them.”
“We still have to worry about them,” she said. “We don’t know what she did, and we don’t know who she talked to, but there’s a real possibility that she sent word out to the mage council. If so, you’re going to have to figure out why and what they will do.”
“You’re concerned about what they will do,” Laric said.
“Not particularly,” she said, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I think I need to be more concerned about what we have to do.”
