The Servant watched me.
“We will return you to your people. In exchange, you need to stop Affellah. I presume you can do that?”
“I am a Servant of Affellah,” the Servant said, his voice terrifying, but he tipped his head, and I felt something tingle, almost as if there was a surge of magic upon me.
“You’re making a mistake,” Thomas said.
“They will destroy the capital. They will destroy all of these people.”
Thomas shook his head. “That won’t be possible.”
“You might not think so, but I’ve seen the way the lava is flowing. The Sharath is holding them off, at least for now, but I don’t know how much longer he can withstand what is taking place.”
“Ashan . . . this is our chance. We have an opportunity to use this to understand the Vard in a way we have not been able to.”
“Not this way,” I said.
Through the connection I now shared with Natalie, and the cycle that she had joined, I could feel something else: the way the Sharath struggled. Though he pulled on power, attempting to resist, it was almost too much. Eventually, he would be overwhelmed by the power that was out there, and the capital would fall.
“We can’t release him. We can learn so much.”
“Not this way,” I said again.
If we failed here, the capital would fall. Given what I’d seen from the king, I didn’t even know if I cared, but there were innocent people within the capital. Too much would be lost. Worse, I couldn’t help but feel as if the king wanted to fight the Vard. This was not something I wanted.
I had never wanted to fight.
Maybe that was from my upbringing on the edge of the kingdom, situated so close to the Wilds as I was. Maybe I really didn’t serve the king or the kingdom.
I didn’t want war, though. It didn’t help anyone. It certainly didn’t help the people of the capital. And it didn’t help the Vard.
Even if Thomas didn’t believe me, I had to get through to him, somehow.
Thomas was a part of the cycle, and now that Natalie had been connected to the cycle of the Djarn, he might have some way of seeing something else—a shared vision, what I could make out through that connection.
I pushed through, cycling power from myself to Natalie, and she nodded.
It went into Thomas.
Thomas sucked in a sharp breath, and his eyes widened slightly. He blinked, trembling, and as I pushed on him, I felt a hint of resistance, something I hadn’t been aware of before. There was a hiccup as I tried to send the cycle through him, one that reminded me of what I had felt when the dragons had been targeted.
Why would I feel that within Thomas?
“No,” Thomas whispered, drawing my attention away from trying to probe along the cycle and trying to understand him.
“You see it?” I asked. Through the cycle, I had tried to reveal to him what Natalie and I had seen along the border of the Southern Reach. We had seen the danger, and we had seen just how much violence was there, but more than that, we had seen what we needed to do to stop it.
Even the Djarn had seen it. They had done what was necessary.
And now we would have to.
“The Sharath is trying to reach the king, but I’m not sure he will be able to. You need to talk with him. You need to make him understand that there was no other way.”
Thomas licked his lips. I felt a surge of power as he pushed through the cycle, but then it loosened. At that point, I realized he had some protection looped around the Servant, which he relaxed.
“Go,” Thomas said.
The Servant regarded him. “You will stop your attack?”
“You attacked us,” Thomas said.
I wasn’t about to get into an argument with either of them at this point, but I had a feeling they were both wrong. The Vard hadn’t attacked, and neither had the kingdom.
I had a feeling both sides were used.
The problem was that I didn’t understand who was using them.
“Go,” Thomas said again.
The Servant stared at him. “You learn nothing by destroying.”
I frowned at the Servant. “Is that how you really feel? We could have peace between our people. We could have understanding.” I glanced from the Servant to Thomas. If one of them would relent, we might have a breakthrough—only, I didn’t think either side would be willing to do so.
“You would seek the understanding of Affellah?” the Servant asked.
There was more to the question than just what he asked.
And I understood. Our people needed to find peace. They needed to find understanding. How could we do that if we continued to fight?
I was not of the kingdom. At least, I didn’t feel that way. I was not of the Vard, either.
What if I could learn from both?
If I did this, I ran the risk of never being a dragon mage.
Not the way I wanted to be, at least.
“I would learn about Affellah,” I said.
The Servant regarded me. “None of the kingdom have ever wanted to learn of Affellah.”
I glanced to Thomas, then Natalie, and finally back to the Servant. If we could stop the fighting, put an end to it, we could find peace.
And it would have to start somewhere.
Why not with me? Why not with a student, an outcast within the Academy?
“I would,” I said.
“Ashan—”
I shook my head. “If it will bring an end to the fighting, I will go with you. I will learn of Affellah. But if you attempt to attack me, I will resist.” I frowned at him. “As I’m sure you’re aware from your attempt to draw upon my power, I can resist.”
I had no idea whether I’d have the ability to do that within their lands, but at this point, I felt we needed answers, understanding, and peace.
It wasn’t going to come any other way.
“The
