A roar ripped Galin from his sleep. His heart raced as he jumped to his feet. His eyes never left the entrance. Nothing—well, nothing yet. Between heartbeats he looked around. Ellis and Mae were gone, only the blankets they slept under remained. Jena! Jena was gone, too. “Jena!” Galin yelled.
A shadow fell over the cave entrance. A sickening laughter, as if from a demon, echoed throughout the cavern.
Three skulls rolled from the entrance to Galin’s feet. He knelt down. They were covered with spittle. Something spit them out! Were these his wife and best friends? He fell to the ground. They were dead, and it was his fault. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he curled up into a ball. He hugged one of the skulls. “Jena, I’m so sorry.”
The laughter got louder.
Galin looked up.
It was enormous, bigger than the warehouse in Nia. The beast had red scales and wings like a bat. Its lizard-like head grinned at him.
He snatched his sword from under the blanket. Galin stared at the skull and the tingle from his heart turned into a burning. The tiny lightning arcs jumped across his skin. As they engulfed his sword it began to glow. “For Jena!” He charged at the dragon.
It reeled its head back like it was taking a breath.
Galin raised his sword over its foot. He looked up. Fire raced out of the dragon’s mouth. Pain shot through his body. He’d felt nothing like it before. His sword fell to the ground as his arm incinerated. “Jena!” His world went dark.
Galin jumped up. Sweat was pouring off him. He looked around and saw Jena, Ellis, and Mae. He smiled. “I dreamed that—”
Jena’s face had turned white. Her mouth opened but no sound came out.
“What is it?” Galin asked.
Without saying a word, Ellis pointed behind Galin. “It’s back.”
Galin swallowed. This was no dream. Slowly, he turned around.
It was huge, at least thirty yards long. The shiny scales were a deep blue and its wings were tucked along its sides. It sniffed them. “Humans?” The dragon smiled. “I haven’t had a human in a long time. This will be a treat.”
Ellis and Mae backed up against the wall.
Galin felt Jena at his side. Everything told him to run, but he couldn’t. He had to do it. Galin wouldn’t let his nightmare come true. No, not Jena. His will eroded with every step towards the dragon. “You can speak.”
“Of course I can speak,” the dragon said. “Your primitive tongue could be spoken by a hatchling. Before I sample you, I’m curious. Why are you in my home?”
Galin swallowed. “We’re waiting for you.”
It raised an eyebrow. “You want to die that badly?”
He shook his head. “No, that’s not why we came. We . . . we want your help.”
“Really?” it hissed. “You sound like one of those gnomes. They always start out like that, then I eat them.”
His heart raced. Was this a mistake? “We’re not gnomes.”
It frowned. “I know that.”
“Yes, they sent us, but that is not why we wanted to see you.” He willed images of his mother slain by the Dark Elves to the forefront of his mind. A small tingle spread throughout his body until it turned into small electrical arcs jumping along his skin. Galin’s eyes began to glow. “I need your help with my dragon magic.”
It smiled. “Interesting.” The dragon moved closer. “I’ve roamed the world for more than three thousand years and I’ve never seen this. This must be the work of the gods themselves.”
Galin stepped back. “Will you help me?”
It backed away. “Maybe. What do you offer in return?”
He hadn’t thought of that.
“What are you going to do with your power? Would you come back to claim your glory by killing me? Humans always attack me for their glory and I give it to them.” It laughed. “Such a suicidal bunch.”
“I have nothing to offer you. But, I need to learn so I can kill the Dark Elves that killed my family.”
Its head jerked up. “Dark Elves? Did you say Dark Elves?”
“Yes,” Galin said.
“The reason they are not in Fozzgart is because I keep them out.”
“You protect the gnomes?” Jena asked.
It laughed. “No. I do it to keep them away from me.”
“You know them?” Mae asked.
“Yes. You see, dragons mate for life, and we stay close to our hatchlings, even after they grow up. I am known among your kind as a blue dragon,” it said.
“No kidding,” Ellis said while trying to hide the shakiness in his voice.
Galin glared at him. “Shut up.”
“My family lived in Setan. The Dark Elves hunted us down because their war mages use dragon’s blood in their magic.” Its eyes began to well up. “They killed them. They killed them all. I wasn’t there.” A tear rolled down its cheek.
“What did you do?” Galin asked.
“I killed them. Lots of them.”
Mae frowned.
“One day, they cornered me and nearly killed me, too. That’s when I came to Fozzgart. As long as they don’t know I’m here, they’ll leave me alone,” it said. The dragon’s eyes narrowed. “What do you intend to do?”
Galin smiled. “We’re going to kick them out of Axain and send them back to Etrana.”
“So you do have something to offer me,” the dragon said.
Galin’s face went blank.
“You offer me a victory to avenge my family.”
“Will you teach me to use my dragon magic?” Galin asked.
“Better. I’m going with you.”
“What’s your name?” Jena asked.
It sat down across the cavern from Galin and the others. “You couldn’t pronounce it.”
“What should we call you?” Galin asked.
“Call me . . . Soreth. Yes, I’ll be known as Soreth,” the dragon said. “We’ll start in a few hours.” Soreth closed his eyes.
“Is he going to be your teacher or did he become our ally?” Mae asked Galin.
“Both, I think.” We can’t lose, Galin thought.
The moonlight illuminated the cave entrance, reflecting off Soreth’s blue scales. He was looking down at Galin, like a master looks down at his pupil. “I’ve never had a human student before.”
“I can do it,” Galin said.
Soreth sighed. “I know you can, but that’s not the problem.”
“What is it?”
Soreth lowered his head, staring right into Galin’s eyes. “You see, dragons, even young ones, don’t have the single disadvantage that you do.”
Galin pointed at his sleeping friends in the cave. “Everyone’s depending on me. There’s even a prophecy about me.”
Soreth laughed. “Prophecy? Really? Do you really think that is why your friends follow you? Galin, you are naive.”
Galin frowned. “I’m right.”
“About a prophecy? Perhaps, but that is not why people follow you. I can see it in your eyes. You have courage, you’re smart, and, most importantly, you care for others more than yourself.” Soreth looked away. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you really didn’t want this life at all, rather it was forced upon you by circumstance.”
Galin tore his eyes away. Images of finding Sarah, his adoptive mother, mutilated in her bedroom when he lived in Crey Village, appeared in his mind’s eye. That was the turning point in his life and he knew it. “How do you know that?”
Soreth smiled. “Centuries of experience.”
“I see.”
Soreth stood up. “The disadvantage you have is that our magic destroys flesh. You may hurt yourself, not just your enemies.”
Galin nodded. “I have to be careful. That’s happened already. When I was in Tadus School of Magic, Nyna never let me forget that. She believed that it was my anger and rage that increased my power, but I had to control it so I wouldn’t kill myself.”
“That’s nearly correct.” Soreth leaned against the cave wall, staring out over the tree line below the volcano. “Get your sword and show me something.”
Galin hurried back to the pack near the campfire. Grabbing his sword, he raced back to Soreth’s side. With his sword in hand, he looked right into his eyes. “I’m ready.”
“Proceed.”
Galin willed images of Jena being captured by the Darkstriders. As his rage grew, a tingle from his heart spread throughout his body. Tiny lightning arcs began jumping across his skin. His eyes began to glow. When the arcs leaped from his hands to his sword, it began to glow. He felt the surging power run through his veins. He felt the familiar burning sensation on his forearms.
“Strange,” Soreth said. “Your power is that of a youngling, but erratic.” The dragon stared right into Galin’s eyes. ~Can you hear my thoughts?~
Galin blinked. “What the—?”
~You can hear me, can’t you?~
“Was that you?” Galin asked.
~Yes, you know it is.~ Soreth said without speaking. ~Try it.~
Galin closed his eyes. Is this right?
~Yes.~
How is this possible? Galin thought.
Soreth smiled. ~All dragons can read thoughts. We don’t use primitive tongues to communicate with each other. Our minds speak together, as if we are one. Can you feel it?~
Feel what?
Soreth looked inside the cave, towards Jena, Ellis, and Mae. ~The minds of your friends. You can hear their thoughts, too. All you have to do is try.~
Should he? He would win every argument with Jena before they even happened. Galin could stop Ellis from blowing his relationship with Mae, before he did something stupid. After he won the throne, how powerful would he be at the negotiation table if he could read his opponents’ thoughts? Galin would know their every feeling, every thought. He could get anything he wanted, while making them think it was their idea. Yes, such power, such—. Galin shook his head. “No, I can’t do that. I would take away their privacy, their freedom to make their own choices. I will never do that. If I did it once, even for the best of reasons, I couldn’t resist it for the wrong ones.”
Soreth smiled. “Very wise. You aren’t like most humans. I expected that you would be excited in the exploiting the thoughts of others for your own power. You surprise me, human.”
“Was that a test?” Galin asked.
“No, but I liked your answer anyway,” Soreth said. The dragon licked its lips. “There is one strange thing, well, besides a human using dragon magic. I’m not sure how you’ll deal with the ‘Transformation.’”
“What do you mean?”
“As young dragons mature, so do their powers, until it reaches the time for Transformation. At that time, the young dragon will hibernate for one hundred years and emerge a full-size dragon. I sense that you are near the time of Transformation.”
Galin swallowed. “What will happen to me?”
Soreth laughed. “How should I know? You’re not a dragon. Only by the gods will are you even able to use dragon magic.”
“But, Nyna said some elves have used it before. The snow elves.”
“Yes. A very few of them got great power from the Transformation. Others simply lost their powers, but most died.”
“How?”
“Their bodies aren’t designed to handle dragon magic and it consumes them. Imagine being burnt alive, and increase the pain a hundredfold,” Soreth said. “It is not a blessing that you can use dragon magic, it is a curse. But, you are the only human I know that use it.” He shrugged. “Who knows what will happen to you?”
Galin turned away. What did it all mean? Was the prophecy wrong? Was it all some sick joke by the gods? Did all those people who died to save him from the Darkstriders, since he was a baby, die for nothing? No, no way. Even if this was some twisted joke by Methos, he’d turn it around on the goddess. Yeah, he’d draw strength from it. If the Transformation turned him into a ball of fire, he’d take those bastards with him. He’d make Jena the Queen of Axain, just as he promised, even if it cost him his life. He swallowed. Did she—would she—even care about that, once he was gone? Would she be so filled with grief that nothing else would matter? He shook his head. “How long do I have?”
Soreth frowned. “Again, you’re human, not a dragon or even an elf.”
“Tell me!”
“Three moon cycles, at the most. Not a lot of time, but enough for us to punish the Dark Elves.” Soreth moved his mouth closer to Galin. “Remember, you promised me a chance to help you kill them.”
Galin looked back at Jena. “Who will look after her?”
“Not my problem.” Soreth spread his wings. “I’ll be back in the morning with breakfast.”
Galin watched the blue dragon fly high into the air. Three months to live? What am I going to tell Jena?