If they were trying to find more, it meant war.
Dragon war.
Not with the Vard, but whoever Elaine served.
When I was younger, I probably would’ve been thrilled at the possibility that there might be dragon-on-dragon fighting, but now all I could think about was how that would destroy my home. How that would harm people I cared about. All I could think about was what would happen to them.
The king had brought us peace.
I had to stop Elaine.
I took a step toward her. Pain throbbed through me, though strangely it was tolerable. At least tolerable enough that I thought I could withstand it.
Elaine watched me. “Look at you trying to fight through it. You might learn to control it, if you had time. Unfortunately, you will not have that time.”
The needles shot through me again..
I staggered, and almost stumbled.
I had to reach her.
The pressure and tension within me continued to build.
It seemed to me that the tension was helping in some way. It was almost as if it helped fight off the pain.
I staggered again toward Elaine.
I heard Alison cry outand knew that she was in danger.
“You’re going to leave us alone,” I said.
Elaine grinned at me. “I don’t think so. Not knowing what you are capable of.” She grinned at me. “And to think that I would have never come if it weren’t for those who had believed there was potential within Berestal.”
I kept my focus on her. The power continued to build within me, pressure that radiated upward. I feel it surging. If only the dragon would help.
Elaine watched me, and I could feel the energy she radiated. It struck me, but it also moved past , as if she was trying to use it to attack something behind me. I could feel that power and energy, and the way that she targeted it. I could tell that she was attempting to do something more with it.
It wasn’t just me she was attacking.
It was the dragon.
Strangely, I could feel the way she targeted the dragon. I don’t know how, only that the pressure that built within me told me that she was doing something to the creature.
The dragon was no better able to fight it than I was.
I took a step, staggering toward her.
She was not far from me, though still down the ravine a few steps. With as much as the pain wracked through me, I didn’t know if I could get to her.
There was something I could try, though.
I might not be able to keep moving, but I didn’t have to be controlled by the pain.
She watched me. The pain stabbed into me, bright and burning.
“The others will be here soon,” she said.
“No,” I grunted. “Mesahn.”
She sneered at me. “The mesahn won’t be any problem once I have the dragon under control.”
I could barely stand. The pain was almost too much to bear. It wouldn’t take much. All I had to do was be willing to let go.
I leaned forward.
It wasn’t much, just enough that I lost my balance.
Then I tumbled, crashing down the hillside.
I slammed into her. I heard something crack, and pain shot up my leg. I ignored it. The magic she’d been using on me suddenly eased. The tension within began to build even more. I needed to release it. I pushed off Elaine, trying to get up, and when I did, something exploded through me.
It slammed into Elaine.
She tumbled away from me.
I tried to sit up, but the pain in my leg made it difficult.
A shape slithered toward me. I could feel the ground shaking, and some distant part of my mind cried out that it came from the mesahn, though I didn’t know if that was true or not. I looked over to see the dragon darting forward, and when it reached Elaine, it swung its tail, striking her in the chest.
Long spikes on the end of the dragon’s tail suddenly flared with light and heat. Elaine’s eyes widened as the tail came toward her, she tried to bring her hands up but she wasn’t fast enough.
The dragon’s tail slammed into her chest, and she fell back, unmoving.
The dragon turned toward me. It took a step closer to me. I tried to crawl away, but I could barely move. The pain in my leg was too much.
Then the dragon was there, shoving his head up against my injured leg. Pain flared hot through my leg and I cried out. That tension that had built briefly before disappearing. The pain eased, and then it, too, disappeared.
I sucked in a breath, blinking back the tears.
The dragon stayed close to me, resting his head on my leg, and I realized it no longer hurt the way it had.
I sat there for a long moment, barely able to comprehend what had just happened, when a rumbling sound came again.
22
I started to get my feet, and saw Joran and Alison looking down at me. I didn’t know what to say.
“We need to get moving.” I couldn’t believe I was thinking about walking, let alone running, after the injury I’d sustained, but somehow the dragon had healed me. “The mesahn is coming. I’m not sure we want to be here—"
I didn’t get to finish.
The mesahn pounded into the ravine. It was an enormous creature, looking like some massive wolf. It prowled toward us, sniffing at us, twisting his head from side to side as it seemed to test the air.
Alison cried out. I looked up at her, and her eyes were wide as she stared at the mesahn.
“You did well,” a voice said out of the darkness.
I jerked my head around, and saw a lean figure striding toward us. He was dressed in dark leathers, and had a sword sheathed at his side, his shaggy hair hung to his shoulders.
I had seen him before.
The pawprint I’d followed made sense now.
“You,” I said.
The man cocked his head to
