“Does it hurt the dragon?” Alison asked.
Manuel sniffed. “I would not hurt the dragon,” he said. “The king would flay me if I were I to do that.”
“He would?” Joran asked.
Manuel glanced over to him, chuckling. “I was being a bit facetious. No. The king would not flay me if I did anything. Well, I suppose if I decided to start serving the Vard, he might.” He nodded. “Come along. I can show you how to find your way out of the forest.”
The mesahn bounded off, as we followed Manuel, who guided the dragon. Every so often the dragon would look back at me, and I could feel that tension building between the two of us. Now I understood that it came from the dragon. When it dissipated, it did so slowly, as if drifting out into the forest away from us. We followed a stream, though a different one than the one we had taken before. After a while, we veered away from it. Finally, we came across one of the Djarn paths.
We stopped at the path, and Manuel motioned. “You can take this straight. Do not veer off it. Once you reach the third trailhead, you go left. You’ll find your horses not far from there.”
“How do you know these paths so well?” Joran asked. “Are you working with the Djarn?”
Manuel smiled slightly. “Not with the Djarn, though we follow the same trails. I’m the hunter. It’s my job to know.”
I started forward, guiding Joran and Alison, when the pressure began to build again. It was an enormous sense of tension that rose within me, making it difficult for me to do anything other than pay attention to it. I turned, looking back, and realized that the dragon was watching, as if it were intentionally causing that pressure to rise within me.
It started to glow as well.
Manuel watched me. “You have a connection to the dragon, don’t you?” Manuel took a step forward. The mesahn was there, just at the edge of the forest, prowling nearby. The dragon reached toward me. “I should’ve seen it before, but I was too caught up in the attack.” He glanced past me to Alison, then to Joran. “You weren’t selected within the city, though.”
I shook my head. “I was not.”
Manuel chuckled. “Something must have happened for you to have formed a connection to the dragon.”
“I freed it from the wagon,” I said.
Manuel sighed heavily. “Perhaps that’s it. It’s rare, though I suppose you know that.” He watched me for a moment, shaking his head. “Or maybe you don’t. Out here in Berestal, it’s possible you don’t know anything about dragons.”
“I don’t really know that much,” I said.
“There are different types of connections that the Academy searches for. There are those who have the ability to touch dragon power, draw upon it, and connect to the dragons themselves. They can become the riders. They are useful to the king, mostly in defending the kingdom and protecting us from outside invaders. The Vard, and others who might do us harm. Perhaps those who attacked your sister. Then there are those who have a different connection. Those who can channel that power.” He looked over to me. “If you are connected to the dragon, it suggests that you could be a rider. Maybe more.”
More?
What did that mean? That I could be a dragon mage?
Manuel chuckled. “It seems to me that you have a choice to make.”
“What choice is that?”
“You can return home. Return to your life. I doubt the others will return anytime soon, though if they are with the Vard, they will eventually. You can forget about the connection that you formed with the dragon. And the power you feel.” He watched me. “I can see it in your eyes. I can see how you recognize that energy. I can see how that power builds within you. It’s there, is it not?”
I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. “There’s something,” I said.
He grunted, chuckling again. “Of course there is. The dragon has connected to you. Perhaps it won’t stay connected to you, but the fact that you can connect at all tells me you have potential. I think the king has neglected Berestal long enough.”
“What’s he saying?” Alison asked, grabbing my arm.
“He’s saying I could go with him and learn what it means to have connected to the dragon.” I looked over to Alison, shaking my head. “I can’t do that. You need me. The family needs me.”
With our father dead, I had to be there for them.
For Alison. Thenis. My mother.
They needed me.
Alison watched me. “You’d abandon everything for the family?”
“I wouldn’t be abandoning anything,” I said. “I’d be taking care of my family.”
She looked at the dragon, and there was something in her eyes that seemed to shift. Softening. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I do.”
She took my hands, squeezing them, as she looked up to meet my eyes. “You’ve been trapped long enough,” she said softly. “You’ve done everything to help the family. It’s time for you to do what you need to do.”
I looked from her to Joran. “With Dad gone—”
“With him gone, it will be easier,” Alison said. “Not easy. And I’ll miss him, but we can get Thenis to a healer, and from there…”
“I can’t leave you,” I said.
“You have a chance to learn about the dragons. That’s something that you’ve always wanted.”
“What I’ve always wanted is to take care of my family,” I said.
Alison smiled at me. “Of course you have, but this is a chance to do something else.”
I shook my head. “I can’t leave you.”
Joran strode forward, and he looked at me. “You should do this, Ashan. I’ll help take care of your family. My family will, too.”
I looked at him, watching him for a long moment. “You will?”
“Think about it. This is something that you’ve wanted your whole life. You wanted to
