The Lost Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 3) by Dan Michaelson (good summer reads .txt) 📗

the dragon pen, curled up and sleeping. I cycled power through him, through the others attached to our cycle, and let that energy flow outward until I could feel there was nothing else taking place. The dragon seemed connected to me, maintaining that hold; there was nothing more I needed to be concerned about.

Finally, I relaxed, releasing the tension within me.

It was only my imagination. I was just overreacting. Perhaps it was the dreams or what had happened the night before—or perhaps it was simply that I had felt something from the Vard. But how was it possible I could feel something like that?

I breathed out, looking into the dragon pen. There was no sign of Thomas’s dragon.

If had he returned, he would’ve woken me, would’ve said something to me. It meant he was still out there.

Had something happened to him?

I could return to the Vard lands. I had a vague sense of where we’d headed, and if the dragon were able to ascend to a high enough level, I might be able to trail across the land, find my way back toward where Thomas had guided us, and perhaps see where he’d trapped the Vard, but what point would there be in doing so?

The Vard had tried to draw power off of me and the green dragon. They hadn’t gone after Thomas. That had been the entire point of my escaping.

I sat in place for a long time, gradually waking up.

When I finally did, I headed into the Academy, gathered some food from the kitchen, and then made my way along the hallway. The dragon lanterns seemed to call to me, the power alternately flickering and glowing brightly from the light within them. I paused long enough to look at them, to see if I could influence them, but even as I focused on the power within the lanterns, I found there simply was no energy within me to do so. I was far too exhausted to attempt to practice the power, even though I wanted to.

One of the doors along the hallway opened, and Eleanor stood there, regarding me for a long moment. I had the sense she was pulling upon dragon energy, though I didn’t know if she were using it in any specific way. At this point, I was too tired to try to detect that, and had no idea whether or not it even made a difference.

“Ashan Feranth. You were absent this morning. I went to check in with you. I thought you and I could discuss your training.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. I wasn’t sure if I had anything to fear when it came to Eleanor, but I’d encountered other instructors at the Academy who had proven unreliable, especially when it came to their service on behalf of the Vard. She hadn’t struck me as somebody who would betray the kingdom, but others had proven me wrong before.

“I was out with Thomas,” I said.

“Were you? And what has Thomas had you doing this time?”

I knew he didn’t want Eleanor to know anything about what had happened in the city, though I still wasn’t entirely sure why he thought to keep those things from her. “He was working with me on some of the connections to the dragon magic. He made it clear that I needed to continue to work on the power within me so I could master it, harnessing the energy so I could do more things with it.”

“Where is Thomas now?”

I shook my head. “He sent me back to the city. I was waiting for him.”

As soon as I said it, I realized I had probably told her too much.

“He sent you back to the city? That means he took you from the city. Where, exactly, did you go?”

“Thomas decided I was ready to work with the dragons, to learn how to fly with them,” I said. Hopefully that wasn’t a problem, but I didn’t know what criteria the instructors used to decide which of the students were ready to work with dragons.

“You?” She arched a brow. “You would be too old to learn to fly with the dragons. Most of the students who become riders practice from the time they are young. Very few of them were dragon mages, though I suppose that with the potential you’ve demonstrated, it would be beneficial for you to learn.”

“I’ve been around animals my entire life,” I said. “I think Thomas suspected I’d be comfortable with the dragons, as well.”

She frowned. “Dragons aren’t like other animals. Though, from what others who are familiar with horses have told me, they aren’t so dissimilar to those majestic creatures.”

I blinked, rubbing a little bit of sleep out of my eyes. “They are quite different than horses,” I said. “You don’t know what it’s like to ride a horse?”

She shook her head. “I’ve spent my entire life within the city.”

I almost laughed. There were others like her. Brandel, in fact, had spent his entire life within the city, resulting in a limited perspective about others within the kingdom.

“I could teach you, if you’re interested.”

“Indeed? Perhaps I will take you up on that offer, Ashan. There aren’t too many horses within the kingdom for us though. Most of us prefer to ride by dragon.”

“It’s faster,” I said.

“I suppose it is, but there must be something exhilarating about streaking along the road,” she said, closing her eyes slightly as she smiled.

I was seeing a different side of Eleanor than I had seen before. This was not somebody I needed to fear. This was somebody who had lived in the city their entire life, and would therefore be serving the king. I needed to trust her.

“How often does Thomas disappear?”

“Seeing as how you have much more experience with Thomas than most these days, I’d anticipate you would be better equipped to answer that. With the recent attacks, he has increased his vigilance, which I suspect the king has authorized, but it makes it difficult for us to know what he’d