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

cycle of dragons, feeling the power flowing from them.

I had to use something within that to find even more power. Could I gain knowledge from the cycle? It seemed I should be able to do so. It seemed the cycle itself should reveal some power to me. When I tried, the cycle wasn’t closed off, but the dragons didn’t seem to know anything more than what they had already shared with me.

I continued focusing on the other dragons. I was most aware of the green dragon—the one I was riding—but there were others scattered throughout the forest.

They were all part of the cycle. Some of them had been healed by my joining them to the cycle, and some of them were added later. In this case, I wondered if I might be able to use the cycle to feel whether the Vard were pulling on some of the dragons. It would force me to detect individual variations within the dragons. I suspected I could do that, but it was going to take some additional focus.

I had to release the pull upon me, that energy I detected coming from somewhere else, the drawing of the Vard. It was somewhere near me, near enough that I thought I could call upon that power.

I shifted focus to the various dragons in the cycle. I knew I didn’t need to determine whether the Vard pulled on those in the pen. There was no point in it, especially as those dragons wouldn’t have any additional connection.

Flipping along the cycle, I moved from dragon to dragon, using what I could to feel for whether there was an influence. One dragon seemed to be curled up on the edge of the forest near the city. As I focused on that dragon, I could feel it grow more alert before I moved on, heading to the next dragon. I could feel the energy of each dragon I shifted to, and I used that energy to slide from one to the next, trying to gain insight.

When I touched upon another, there was a bit of a pull, though it was faint.

I shifted, gliding to the next. There was no sense of the Vard. I shifted to the next, and . . .

“There,” I breathed out.

I closed my eyes, trying to use what I could of the connection to the dragons in order to determine where that pull came from. It was nearby—near enough that I thought I could draw upon it.

Near enough that I thought I could use it.

I gathered that power to me, and continued to drag it through, calling it toward me.

The dragon was south, much like I had thought.

By holding on to that power, by using the energy of that dragon, I could feel the way it was connected to me, and I could feel the way it was lured by whatever the Vard attempted.

More than that, I realized the dragon needed additional help.

I forced power through the cycle toward that dragon.

Having an awareness of individual dragons allowed me to control the cycle. I could use that control to help specific dragons. Which I did now.

The dragon roared.

I could hear it, but I could feel it, as well.

“What was that?” Natalie asked.

“That’s one of the dragons in my cycle,” I answered, without thinking.

She looked over, frowning. “One of the what?”

“A dragon I’ve connected to,” I answered hurriedly. I wasn’t sure how to explain the cycle, and really wasn’t sure I needed to. From what I could feel from her, it seemed as if Natalie had her own cycle, and if that were the case, then she was connected and would already know that the cycle was a series of dragons all linked together. “I can feel a pull on the dragon. Maybe Vard.” Though I didn’t know. Not really.

“If you can feel it, you need to protect it.”

“I did.”

She held my gaze for a moment before nodding.

We streaked south, heading toward what I felt of that dragon. It was moving, though not nearly quickly enough. It seemed to remain under the influence of the Vard, as if they were trying to pull on that power.

“When I saw one of the Servants of Affellah, he was connected to fire. Sort of how I’m connected to the dragons.”

“How close were you?”

“I stood right across from him,” I said. “There is Vard influence in Berestal, but it’s nothing like that.”

“Most of the Vard are like you and me. It’s only those who serve Affellah that change,” she said. “I don’t understand it. I asked my father about it at one point, but he doesn’t understand it either. It has something to do with how they can pull the heat and fire.”

“From the volcano?”

“From the volcano. From the dragons. From anything that contains fire.”

“He was terrifying,” I admitted. “Part of his face looked like dried lava, and the other parts looked as if lava were running along his cheeks.”

Her eyes widened. “I can only imagine. I’ve never been close enough to see one. I’ve only seen them from above.”

“From atop a dragon,” I said.

Natalie’s eyes took on a drawn, almost haunted appearance. I could imagine what she had seen, having seen one of the Servants myself. I understood just how terrifying they could be.

“Why do you hide your connection to the dragons?”

“I don’t hide it.”

I shook my head, keeping pace with her. We were almost upon where the dragon had been, and I could still feel the pressure pulling on me. I felt an urgency to reach it, but I also wanted to know what Natalie had experienced. “You do hide it. If you didn’t, you would have worked with the Academy.”

“I’m not of the kingdom, so I couldn’t have worked with the Academy,” she said.

“Does that bother you?”

She shook her head, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around the dragon. “The people have taught me all I need to know.”

There was something about her tone that made me wonder if she disapproved of the Academy. But why?

“Do you disapprove