He isn’t mine anymore. Let him go.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“Yes,” they answered in unison.
“Good, but I have to warn you both, my magic has been off lately. I don’t know what’s happening, but the last several times I tried to create a portal, I failed.”
Heidel narrowed her eyes. “You failed? What makes you think you’ll succeed now?”
I gave a sidelong glance at Kull, then looked away. “Luck, I hope.” After all, he’d once been my good luck charm.
After another deep breath, I placed my hand between theirs, letting my palm and fingers connect with the glass. With our three hands pressed to the mirror, I closed my eyes and conjured the magic.
Swirling colors of blue and amber mingled and then spiraled around us. When Geth had taken the magic from Faythander, I’d been forced to rely on Earth magic, and now it was a part of me. Once Faythander’s magic had returned, my powers had become an odd mixture of magic from each world, which could have been one reason why I had such trouble conjuring portals. Letting my mind relax and my breathing deepen, I envisioned the dragons’ forest.
My vision blurred as the ground fell away and the wind whistled through my ears. Blue and pink lights sparkled, then the dragons’ forest appeared around us.
Just as I thought of pulling my hand away from the screen, lightning crackled from the mirror, jolting through my body, and reflexively, I jerked my hand away from the glass. The forest disappeared, and instead, my body tumbled through an open void.
Screaming, I panicked as I fell through the emptiness.
What’s happening?
Cold droplets stung my face as thunder boomed loud in my ears. Gray clouds crowded around me, dampening my skin. Finally, I was able to comprehend the situation. I knew where I was now—I was falling to my death.
A flash of gold formed below me and swooped me up. The familiar texture of my stepfather’s smooth scales made me open my eyes.
“Fan’twar?” I screamed, one part relieved, the other still terrified.
“Hold tight,” he called back, “we are not out of the storm yet.”
I clung to him with every ounce of energy I had left.
I’m alive. I won’t die today.
The storm disoriented me. I had no idea where land was, or if the sky was up or down. Lightning crackled around us, and thunder boomed so loud it deafened me, drowning out the sounds of pattering rain.
Keeping my arms firmly clamped around my stepfather’s neck, I prayed we made it to the ground without getting electrocuted. Fan’twar spiraled downward, and I clenched his neck with a death grip.
Up ahead, a patch of light gray formed, and Fan’twar headed for it. The driving rain made it hard to see, but I focused on the small patch of light. As we flew nearer, the clouds began to thin, and after a few minutes, the downpour turned to a damp mist.
Fan’twar spiraled downward again, and soon I saw mountains. Their jagged peaks rose into the air, touching the sky. Surrounded by clouds, the mountain range seemed to float in the air.
The wind died down, and now only the whoosh of Fan’twar’s wings disturbed the air as we circled the dragons’ mountain. But where were Kull and Heidel?
“Fan’twar,” I called, “where are my friends? What happened?”
“Trouble with the portals,” he called back. “When your companions arrived unscathed in the dragons’ forest, I immediately searched you out. I’m lucky I found you when I did.”
Trouble with the portals? So, it wasn’t just me who was having problems. Fan’twar glided down until he spotted the cave’s opening. We slowed our descent and then maneuvered into the cave. His feet connected with the ground, and as I slid off his back, I felt as if I could finally stop holding my breath.
We stood in the dragon caverns—a massive network of caves and tunnels that the sky king and some land dwellers called home. This was where my stepfather reigned, and it was where he had raised me.
I circled Fan’twar until I stood near his face. My heart leapt at the familiar sight of my stepfather. Golden spikes rimmed his eyes and protruded from his long neck. I gave his neck a tight hug and didn’t pull away until I heard footsteps behind me.
Kull and Heidel, both soaking wet, entered the room.
“I see you’ve made it,” Heidel said.
Kull didn’t speak.
As I thought back to the past several days, I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard him so quiet for such a long period of time. But this isn’t Kull, I reminded myself. Perhaps this is normal for King Skullsplitter.
I patted my stepfather’s neck. “I had help. We’re lucky I’ve got a clairvoyant dragon king as my protector. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I would have fallen to my death.” I glanced up at him. “What’s going on with the portals?”
He growled, a deep sound that told me he wasn’t happy about something. “The first unstable portal we noted happened when Stranatos tried to cross to the Southlands. It took him halfway there and then dropped him into the sky.”
“He’s lucky he has wings,” I said.
“Yes. After that, more portals became increasingly unstable. As of yet, I have only theories as to why such a thing is happening—I think it may have something to do with the missing starstone.
“I feared the same trouble with the portals would happen to you whenever you tried to cross, so I have been keeping watch for you since then.”
As he spoke, he led us through the tunnels. I noticed several sky dwellers milling about, which was a contrast to what I’d seen the last time I’d been here. The loss of magic had taken a heavy toll on the dragons, but now it seemed they were recovered. However, I feared the missing Arrubicus stone and the unusual portal activity did not bode well for future peace in Faythander.
We entered Fan’twar’s chambers. He ruled from a round dais surrounded by turquoise water. Large,
