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

a level of control over the pattern that gave her the ability to withdraw the magic back inside her again.

“Show me your technique,” she said.

“I’m not saying it’s my technique,” I said.

“Show me what you would try,” she said.

“I don’t know if it will even work.”

“No? You seem to think you understand this pattern.”

“It’s just one I’ve seen before.”

She waited.

I didn’t even know if I’d be able to create the pattern. I’d only seen it once, maybe another time, but certainly not often enough for me to know what it would take to hold on to it. Still, I had a sense from her that she wasn’t going to do anything else until I attempted it.

I thought I could create the crisscrossing pattern, though it would take a bit of focus. I thought about what was needed, the way that power flowed, and I thought about what I could do to force it outward.

It would take linking separate strands.

Knowing what I did of Thomas and the way he had created those strands, there would have to be some anchor to them. I held my hands on either side of the opening, and I formed separate strands between them. I split them into five different strands, keeping them as tightly controlled as I could possibly manage, and then pressed down, thinking that if I could anchor the strands to the stone in some way, then I might able to leave my hands and withdraw from it. For a moment, it seemed as if it were going to hold, but then as I pulled my hands away, it shimmered for a moment and then dissipated.

I switched to the other orientation and placed my hands back down again, separating them into multiple strands, and let the power flow out from my hands, from one to the next. The flames crackled between my hands, and as they settled, the pattern formed.

When I withdrew my hands, it stayed.

She nodded to me. “Very good. That is far more intricate than most students manage on their own the first time, though I’m not terribly surprised you were able to do it. From what I understand from those who have seen you working with Thomas, you’re quite gifted.”

“Thank you, I guess?”

“Yes. And it does appear you’re every bit as gifted as what they say. Very good.”

“Why did you want to show me with this one?”

“I wanted to show you that if you hold it here for just a moment, pressing the power into it, the pattern itself makes a difference. Take a look.”

I studied the pattern, but I couldn’t tell anything from it—only that it held. In my mind, that was far more than I had expected I could do. I had no idea I’d even be able to create anything like that, so I was pleased with myself more than anything else.

“I’m not exactly sure what you want me to see.”

“What I’d like for you to identify is the laxity in this pattern.”

I blinked. “Laxity?”

“I’m quite certain your skill is significant, Ashan. I don’t want to diminish the technique itself, but it’s more about the purpose behind it.”

“What exactly should I learn from this?” And how was this another part of my testing? That was what I needed to know from her.

“I would like for you to see that the pattern has gaps within it.” She motioned for me to move off to the side. “Now watch.”

I away and watched as she created a band of power between her hands. It wasn’t nearly as potent as the one Thomas had used, but it was more potent than what I had seen from Walter. She had a measure of control, and an understanding of attack type magic that suggested she had some skill with it. Perhaps not as much as Thomas, though as the chief dragon mage, I wondered if anybody had the same skill as him.

For what she was doing, I wondered if she even needed that much skill. All she did was create a loop of power, sending it from one hand to the next, then she whipped it at the opening.

The barrier I had formed held for a moment, but nothing more than that.

The flames crackled where the magic struck, and as soon as it did, they sizzled, then the bands collapsed, falling in on each other.

“So you see, it has some weaknesses. Not a bad pattern, and for those without any connection to the dragon mage magic, it would be incredibly effective, but against somebody with any power, it would not hold.”

“I wouldn’t have even thought to try that,” I said.

“What would you have tried?”

“I probably would’ve tried what you did the first time.”

“Indeed? Why don’t you try it then?” She placed her hands on either side of the stone opening, and single bands of power slithered across from one side to the next, moving quickly in a lattice type of pattern. It was different than the way I had placed it, but ultimately the effect was the same. It created a crisscrossing pattern. When she was done, she stepped off to the side, and motioned for me to move forward. “Go ahead and see what you can do with it, then.”

I stepped up to it. The heat from the dragon magic flowing out of it was profound, but the connection I shared with the dragons allowed me to ignore it, shielding me through their power. I was distinctly aware that the connection she shared with the dragons was different from the dragons that were part of my cycle.

Would that make a difference?

I wondered. Perhaps that would be a reason I’d fail here.

As I tried to call that power back into me, adding it into the cycle, I found it resisted my attempt.

“Try what I did,” she said.

“I don’t know if it would—”

“Try,” she snapped.

I stepped back, formed a band of power between my hands, and whipped it at the opening. When it connected, I felt the faint sizzling I had felt before, and