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

though I couldn’t feel anything more. I strained against the energy I detected, against the pulling. It was almost as if . . .

Almost as if they wanted to try to join the cycle.

As I realized that, I wondered if such a thing were even possible.

Could the Vard overwhelm my connection to the dragons? I hadn’t thought so, but it was possible. If so, they may be able to tear that connection away from me, prevent me from using what I needed.

I had to resist, and I had to delay any further influence from the Vard.

The attackers focused their attention on me.

I could feel them doing so, the way they were using that linkage in order to join the cycle. If I weren’t careful, they would force their way in. If that were to happen . . .

I had no idea. Could they do anything that would harm me or the dragons? They might be able to withdraw power and use that against us.

I had to fight.

But I couldn’t stay.

I recognized the danger in remaining here. I motioned to the dragon, and we started to turn, but something held on to me, restraining me. I struggled again, trying to fight, forcing myself back, trying to overpower the energy coming toward me, but it was almost too much. I pulled through the cycle, funneling power to me and the dragon, and as I did, I could feel the dragon growing stronger. But at the same time, the Vard pulled upon us with more force, dragging out more energy, attempting to steal even more from us.

I cried out.

It wasn’t going to be enough.

The dragon roared, flames streaking from his mouth.

We needed energy.

We needed to cycle even more power to the dragon. I forced more and more energy through the cycle, gifting it to the green dragon. He roared again.

This was no longer about trying to conceal our presence. There was no point in attempting to do so, as the Vard were probably already fully aware of us. Now it was all about escaping. It was all about finding some way to break free of what they were doing. It was all about trying to separate.

I called upon as much energy as I could, pulling it to me, letting that cycle flow.

Even more power continued to build.

I held on to it, sending as much as I could into the dragon, letting the power build and surge through him.

There was a resistance, but not so much I couldn’t overpower it.

Now I forced even more. I drew from all of the dragons I could feel, all of them gifting the dragon power. They all granted us the understanding and energy, and all of them let me pull their power to me.

The dragon roared again, and we streaked into the air, heading straight toward Natalie. I noticed her as a darkened shadow above, circling. I slowed as soon as we neared and the dragon roared again.

I had been trying to convince myself that the Vard were not dangerous, despite what Thomas had demonstrated by showing me one of the Servants. I had tried to allow myself to believe that Joran and his family didn’t serve something horrifying like that, but how could I feel that way when I had seen it myself?

The truth had been there before me.

The Vard were every bit as dangerous as I had believed.

They were terrifying. And they wanted to destroy us.

“What happened?”

“They were too powerful,” I said.

“What did you try to do?”

“Nothing other than detect them. Unfortunately, they were powerful enough that they nearly pulled me from my cycle. We need to get back. We need to let your father know the Vard are moving.”

She watched me for a moment, a hint of concern burning in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything more, just nodded.

We veered away, making our way back toward the capital. As we did, I could still feel the pull upon me, the energy of the Vard as they attempted to drag power off of us.

I resisted, straining and struggling to ignore their energy, but I was worried I wouldn’t be strong enough. I was concerned they might find some way of penetrating the cycle. If they did, I had no idea whether we would be able to withstand it or if they would gain control over it.

There was a different danger in addition to the Vard. They were enough of a threat alone, but if they had decided to work with this other threat to the kingdom, then we were in far more danger than I had believed. Probably more than even Thomas had believed.

This was the first time I had ever felt terrified of them, and I worried about just how much they could do—how much power they might take.

How could we stop them if they could draw the power of dragons away?

15

We reached the capital as dawn began to break. I had no idea what time we had set off, but we had flown quickly and searched for the Vard for a short time. I had slept a fair amount before the sense of the Vard began to pull upon me, so we hadn’t spent the whole night searching.

We landed near the palace. As we did, a pair of dragon mages looked over to the dragons and frowned.

“We need to see the Sharath,” I said.

The mages looked at me. I recognized them from when I had been to the palace before, but they shook their heads at me.

Natalie strode forward. “I will see my father,” she said.

The nearest dragon mage nodded quickly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were with him,” the man said. He had short dark hair and wore heavy chain mail. I could feel the way power flowed from the dragons to him, though it was distant, not at all like it had been when I had first come to the palace. Now their connection to the dragons was a little bit different, and more traditional.

We hurried forward, leaving the