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“You better heal before you die. River, I want to scream at you. How am I going to do it if you’re dead?”
He closed his eyes. “Just stay. Stay close, while I rest. Your magic will help me.”
What magic? She didn’t have any healing magic. Would this be enough? Perhaps what he needed was a real healer. Either way, she could leave him be for a few minutes. This was the second time she saw his chest, felt his skin, but all she felt now was panic that he could be dying. Naia got up to make sure the door was barred, but then got back and lay down beside him. Her own eyes closed.
* * *
Fel’s nightwas filled with strange dreams. He was in human form, walking through long, dark hallways. Leah was there, but hiding from him.
From a distance, her voice echoed in the walls. “Go away. I can’t let them find you. Go away.”
It wasn’t that she was angry or afraid of Fel, but rather afraidforhim, trying to protect him, and yet he knew that they would be stronger together, but there was no point in calling her. Her voice echoed on the walls, such smooth walls—metallic walls.
Fel shredded them to pieces, and then stood in an empty valley, only mist surrounding him. Dark, heavy mist, as if to conceal him.
He opened his eyes. “Leah?”
No voice came from him, just a thought sent out to nobody, an empty, pointless thought. He’d slept at his uncle’s house, on one of thosedragon sofas. There were dragon beds inside, in rooms that belonged to his two cousins, who weren’t there, but even then, he didn’t want to take anyone’s bed. In fact, he didn’t even think he needed a bed at all. One thing he had been in desperate need of was sleep, though.
It felt like an eternity from the previous evening, when he’d eaten some kind of raw meat his uncle had brought him. He hadn’t asked where it had come from or what it was, and perhaps it was best not to think too much about those things.
Sunlight came from the door that led to the opening, so he’d probably slept through the night. Being in this form didn’t feel strange—it felt good, in fact, but he couldn’t wipe from his mind everything going on in Umbraar. He hoped his father—adoptive father—was all right, hoped his sister was safe. She should be. For some reason he didn’t hate River as much as he hated the white fae, perhaps because of how much he seemed to care for Naia.
Fel had to find an answer, a solution for his kingdom. At the same time, he wanted to understand what had happened to his father, to his mother. The answer was in Tzaria and Risomu. The question was how to get to them, and whether they would tell him the truth. Then he also had to wonder what they wanted with him, and on which side they were. There was no doubt that the dragons in this city were peaceful and wished him no harm. He couldn’t say the same about those two dragons, though.
“Hello?” He sent a thought throughout the house, and it went unanswered. Fel was alone in this dwelling in the mountain, realizing he was unsure where to go or what to do.
Could he fly down and find someone to teach him about dragon magic or how to swap into his human form again? Probably not. He wouldn’t even know where to go or who he could speak to, and he didn’t even speak Fernian. But waiting idly, alone with troublesome thoughts, was agonizing in its own way. When there was so much to be done, sitting in a dragon-sized room by himself was an enormous waste of time.
A bright circle then appeared on the floor, and Fel exhaled, relieved that his uncle was back.
But the person standing in the middle of the circle wasn’t Ekateni—it was Tzaria. “Sorry I took so long.” She was speaking quickly, in hushed tones. “We need to be fast. I’m going to open a large ring—”
“No. Why should I go with you? Why are you pretending this place isn’t safe? This is a peaceful city. I’m at my uncle’s house.”
“Isofel. When you don’t know where the enemy is, unfortunately, you have to hide from everyone. The Boundless have corrupted too many dragons. This city is not safe.”
“Right. Says the dragon who didn’t protect my father. Was that why you didn’t tell me how he died?”
She sighed and shook her head. “Things are not as simple as they seem. I’ll tell you everything, but we need to go.”
“How can you even get in here? Isn’t this city hidden, isolated?”
“Exactly. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Isofel, I’m begging you. Come with me. I’ll tell you all about your mother.”
That was a low blow. Tzaria knew how much he wanted to know about her, and was using it to try to get him away from here, perhaps away from safety.
He tried to understand why she was doing that. “You think I’m in danger here. Truly? Perhaps my uncle is planning on murdering me in my sleep—except he didn’t.”
“No.” She frowned. “You can trust Ekateni.”
“Well, then, he’s saying this city is safe, so I guess I’ll trust him.”
All she did was stare at Fel for a few seconds, then said, “Let’s hope he’s right.” She disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and then there was no sign of her or the brilliant circle on the ground, as if it had never existed.
Fel then heard wings flapping outside. He perked up, hoping to see his uncle, but instead saw a light-green dragon with brilliant scales entering the room. The newcomer soon changed his form to human, and was a young man in his late teens or early twenties, with black hair, brown skin, and brown eyes.
The new dragon asked, “Can you understand me?” He had a strong Fernian accent.
