“She might not look it, but Zahara is only two years old,” Anders said.
The group gasped collectively. “She’s only two?” Maija said in surprise, turning back to watch Zahara looping and diving into the water in pursuit of her meal.
Anders nodded, “I know. Hard to believe, right?”
“So, you left her with the elves?” Kirsten asked, waiting for Anders to explain how Zahara came to be with him now.
“Yeah, I knew we had a special connection, but I couldn’t keep her away from her family, especially at such a young age,” he said.
In awe, Maija tilted her head to the side and put her hands up to her heart.
Anders blushed and smiled, then continued, “That’s when Nadir joined us,” he paused, seeing their blank expressions. “He’s an elf prince. The elf king sent him with us when we left Cedarbridge. The elves were supposed to meet us here before we marched on the fortress, but they were waylaid en route and arrived after the battle had begun. Sensing danger, I guess, Zahara decided to follow them to find me. In the height of the battle, Zahara suddenly appeared, saving me and many others who would’ve been defeated by Thargon, and that’s when she gave me the gift.”
“What gift?” Thomas asked.
“Magic,” Anders said.
“That’s how it works?” Thomas asked.
“Apparently,” Anders held his arms out in front of his body turning them over as he examined them before resting them back behind his head. “She gave me the use of magic and now it flows within me. I have no idea how it works, apart from what Ivan’s tried to explain to me. He was bonded during The War of The Magicians, but his dragon was killed before the end of the war. The small bit I’ve attempted to use is hard to control. I’ve pretty much been using it constantly since she gave it to me and, as a result, I’ve never been more tired in my life.” He blinked heavily, letting his eyelids remain closed for several seconds before opening them again. “Once I’ve eaten a little more, I’m going to take a much-needed nap.”
“Wow,” Kirsten said. The rest of them sat in silence for awhile thinking about all that Anders had told them. He continued to eat several helpings of roasted mutton.
Zahara flew back overhead, returning from her fishing excursion. With the subtleness and gentle paws of a barn cat, she landed just behind Anders as he nibbled the last shreds of meat off the roasting stick. She let her body sprawl out on the green grass around them, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the warmth of the early afternoon sun.
“Yep, that seems about right,” Anders said and walked over to where she lay stretched out on the ground and bedded down next to her, closing his eyes and letting sleep overtake him.
Everyone else at the fire suddenly also felt the effects from their long night. Max and Bo joined Anders and his dragon, lying back on the ground where they’d been sitting around the cookfire. Maija walked around to where Anders and Zahara were napping and joined them only a short distance away.
Before Thomas and Kirsten joined the rest of the group in their afternoon nap, Kirsten asked her brother, “When should we tell Anders about what we found in Merglan’s chambers?”
Thomas shrugged, “Let him get some rest. We can tell him when he wakes up.”
Kirsten nodded and looked over to see her cousin soundly sleeping on the grass next to his dragon. She couldn’t believe all she’d experienced in the last several months. “I’ll tell him when he wakes up,” she said looking back to Thomas. But Thomas was already sprawled out on the ground, eyes closed.
When Anders awoke, he couldn’t immediately make the distinction between the darkness behind his eyelids and the darkness of the night sky. He shivered, feeling the cold ground beneath him sucking energy from his body. He sat up a bit confused.
I thought Ivan was going to come and get us before going to search for the missing dragonriders?
Anders searched the area around him, looking for Zahara. As his eyes adjusted, he began to make out his surroundings. The grassy patch on the valley floor beneath the fortress walls where they’d been napping no longer was beneath him and he couldn’t locate Zahara.
He snapped his head around, searching for the cookfire where he’d last seen his friends and family. The fire was gone and there wasn’t a soul around. He squinted into the darkness, but couldn’t see any sign that anyone had been there.
Anders rose to his feet and took several steps forward. The crunch of dirt and rocks beneath each step echoed through the night. He definitely wasn’t in the same place where he’d fallen asleep. Anders’ heart began to beat faster.
Where am I? he wondered. Anders remembered how Ivan used his magic to sense the people near him. Maybe I can do that now.
He closed his eyes to focus on creating a mental grid of the area around him, searching for any signs of life. He stretched himself out, feeling the cold dirt surrounding him continue farther and farther afield. As he strained his mind to maneuver through the space surrounding him, Anders heard a noise. Opening his eyes, he swiveled to face where he thought it had come from.
“Hello!” he shouted into the darkness. With no immediate response, he turned his right ear to the direction where he thought the noise came from, waiting for an answer. There was none.
“Is anyone there!?” Anders shouted and again thrusting his ear out into the darkness.
Then suddenly he heard it again. A reply to his call. Anders heedlessly ran toward it, not letting himself think about whether the noise he was running toward was a trap or a friend or family member. He didn’t care what had made the sound, he just knew that he needed to find it.
“Where are you?!” Anders shouted as he ran.
The noise replied again, this time turning into what sounded like muffled words. He couldn’t hear exactly what was being said, but he was able to pinpoint where the noise came from.
As he approached it, he could see the outline of several trees in the darkness. Under the trees there loomed a shadowed shape, darker than the night around him. Coming closer, he began to make out a distinct form… a dragon.
Anders skidded to a halt. Could it be, Merglan?
He heard the person call to him again.
“Help. Please, help me.” It was a woman’s voice.
That can’t be him, it’s a woman, and she’s hurt, he thought.
He started running again toward the dragon. As he drew closer, he could see the dragon was lying on top of the woman who’d called out for help. He rushed to the woman’s side and heard his feet splash as he ran through something wet. Looking down, Anders nearly lost his dinner when he realized that he was standing in a pool of crimson blood.
Forcing his last meal back down with a hard swallow, he bent down onto one knee and began to examine what kind of trouble the woman was in. Her long brown hair covered her face. She was being crushed under the weight of the bloody dragon’s body. He opened his mouth to ask her if she was okay but was cut off when he heard Ivan calling his name. Anders looked up in surprise wondering how Ivan had found him in this desolate place.
“Anders, wake up,” Ivan said, shaking Anders by the toe of his boot.
Anders opened his eyes, the setting sun momentarily blinding him with an unexpected jolt of light. Realizing he was no longer next to the woman crushed under the dragon, he bolted upright not sure what was happening to him. Just a moment ago he’d been in a dark place next to a strange woman and a motionless dragon lying in a pool of blood. Now he found himself back in the grass lying beneath the towering walls of the fortress. He put his arm along his brow to block the setting sun so he could see Ivan’s figure more clearly. Squinting, he could see that Zahara was still lying next to him, sprawled out sleeping. Max, Bo, his cousins and Maija were chatting around the smoldering remains of their cook fire. He looked back at Ivan, who continued to stare down at him.
“Anders, get up. We are going to search for the missing riders,” Ivan said with a stern expression.
