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“Of course, let me know if any other questions come up.” Roderick knew they were going to keep digging and his eyes were worried.
“We will,” Claire said.
“Later,” Malcolm said. “We are going to give Claire a tour and maybe get some training in as well.”
Claire rolled her eyes and grinned when Roderick caught her. “Do I have you to thank for his obsession with training?” she questioned him playfully.
Roderick smiled. “I don’t know what you are talking about. He must have gotten that from my Mara. Speaking of, the mothers wanted to talk to you all at dinner tonight so don’t be late. I don’t need to incur their wrath.”
“We just saw them at breakfast,” Everett said, the wariness in his eyes made Claire want to laugh.
“Well now they want to see you at dinner,” Roderick shrugged. “You know how they are.”
“If this is a trap for an awkward conversation, you owe me a round in the ring,” Malcolm pointed a finger at his father.
“I’d be happy to give you that ass kicking anytime.” Roderick smirked and Claire bit her lip to hide her smile as her men exchanged wary looks. Oh, dinner was going to be fun.
20
The Dragon Mountain training arena was nothing less than impressive. They had traveled deep into the mountains, underneath the jagged peaks before they emerged into the open air on the other side of the tunnel. A large open space extended in front of the tunnel entrance showcasing the training arena. The arena wasn’t flat or sandy, instead it was like a small valley, nestled in between the peaks. The bottom part was flat but rocky and the terrain would force the trainees to have nimble feet. The open air allowed the dragons to shift back and forth and train for attacks from above or below. The training area seemed to be as fierce as the dragons it molded.
Malcolm walked down the narrow stairs that led to the bottom of the arena. Claire followed him but shook off Everett’s offer of help. She was going to need to learn to be surefooted and that came from her men not catching her every time she stumbled. In more ways than just walking down a flight of stairs.
This late in the morning, the training area was mostly empty. A few dragons threw them curious looks as they straightened up the weapons wall and practice dummies.
“Alright, taskmaster,” Desmond said, directing his question at Malcolm, “What are we training with this morning?”
“Actually,” Claire said thinking back to their breakfast conversation, “I’d like to practice something specific.”
“What did you have in mind, little treasure?” Malcolm arched an eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“This morning you talked about a unified Triad being a powerful force on the battlefield and yesterday before we left for the Dragon Mountains, your dragon was bigger as was Everett’s gryphon and Desmond said his magic has been growing stronger.”
“Yes?” Desmond waited for her to make her point although Claire could see his brain whirling.
“I think we should focus on training with our bonds and using them. Maybe even speaking through them. I’ve been able to send a word or two or short sentences here and there through them to you but I think we need to practice that more.”
“It would be a handy skill to have,” Everett admitted, “Especially when we need to have private conversations with others present.”
“We can practice pushing more communication as we go through our day,” Malcolm said, “Right now, we should focus more on using the bond in fights.”
“I wonder if I can push magic through it?” Desmond said, his eyes slightly unfocused as he thought through the possibilities.
“I think you can,” Claire said. “I think I can as well. I also think that Malcolm and Everett can lend us their strength from their shifted forms. Maybe Malcolm can even lend us his fire while Everett lends us his stealth. I don’t think there’s an end to the possibilities.” The magic inside of her only seemed to grow the more she learned and they seemed to keep doing ‘impossible’ things with their bonds so it was worth a shot.
Desmond looked impressed. “You’ve thought about this a lot.” It was a statement more than a question but Claire answered anyway.
“I have. Winona’s journals mention our bond often. No details but the repetitive mentioning of it seems significant. I think we would be fools to ignore it.”
“Well I’ve never been accused of being a fool. These two maybe.” Desmond jerked his thumb over his shoulder and shot Claire a wink. He dodged Malcolm’s slap to the back of his head in a practiced move.
Ignoring Desmond’s laughter, Malcolm spoked up. “I can arrange a training session with the dragons that will test our abilities and our bond.”
Everett nodded in agreement. “Set it up for a few days from now.”
And that’s what they did. For the rest of the morning, Claire and her men practiced fighting as a unit using the bond. Claire couldn’t wield Desmond’s magic or Malcolm’s fire through it yet but she could feel it whenever any of them shifted or used magic. They did find that she could send them Energy and boost their abilities so they practiced that until it became as natural as breathing for Claire. Or at least it would have been as natural as breathing if Claire could catch her breath. Bond work required intense focus and Energy and they were all dragging by the time Malcolm called it to a halt.
“That was a lot,” she panted softly, her muscles aching as she caught her breath. Puck, who had been watching from one of the rocky outcroppings above them, sailed down to land in her arms. Although her arms protested his weight, a soothing heat flowed down their bond into Claire’s center, causing the ache to ease slightly as she was finally able to catch her breath. She scratched under his chin in thanks as she sank to a seated position on the ground.
