Chapter 9 #2
But then she wriggled her fingers in some kind of pattern he didn’t recognise and a series of notes appeared on the paper, as if written with an invisible pen.
Noah stared, that sense of wonder sweeping over him from long ago, when he had just been a boy and magic had been something all around them. Alincourt had been one of the first places to lose the everyday magic everyone had taken for granted.
And here he was with someone who still took it for granted. They all did, the Starlings. Everyone on this island. Like everyone had taken the dragons for granted. Until they were gone.
He rolled his shoulders back, feeling awkward. ‘Your great-aunt mentioned travelling there, to Elanholm. Knowing scholars there.’
‘She travelled all over the place. Nothing stopped her. Are you planning to ask for introductions?’
He ignored the dig. She was determined to push him away.
‘You never wanted to emulate her?’
Portia shook her head. ‘All I ever wanted was to make my mark in the Academy.’
‘Why?’
She frowned as if no one had ever asked her that before, setting aside one dragon and picking up the next.
Perhaps they hadn’t. Questioning Portia Starling didn’t seem to be something her family and friends tended to do.
And definitely not her colleagues or employees.
But now she looked unsure. ‘I… I just did. I don’t know.
To be someone. To be taken seriously. All kinds of reasons.
My family have a reputation there. Good and bad.
I wanted to tip the balance more towards the good.
A fine mess I’ve made of that.’ More marks appeared on her book.
When she opened her hands to release the dragon, Jade flew down to her, scolding its fellow who didn’t move quickly enough.
‘Now now,’ Portia murmured with genuine affection.
Jade settled smugly into her hands and Portia closed her eyes, concentrating.
A moment later, her eyes shot open and her mouth formed an ‘O’ of surprise.
‘What is it?’ he asked, genuinely concerned. ‘What’s wrong?’
The marks on the page went on longer than before.
‘She’s got a very strong magical connection. I had no idea.’
‘You never checked before?’
‘No reason to.’ She released Jade, who seemed in no mood to move on, snuggling into her lap. ‘Teacup dragons don’t tend to. Just a hint. Iris always called it an echo. She’s more than three times the level of the other two. Well, that’s… that’s interesting.’
Noah peered closer. The normal thaumaturgical field around a teacup dragon was negligible. He knew that. Everyone did. Which begged the question, why was Jade so much more powerful? ‘Why would that be?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Something to investigate perhaps? It might have an effect on her care.’
‘It might. I’ll keep it in mind.’
‘It might explain her bond with you,’ he went on, trying to coax one of the other dragon down from the rafters where he had settled. Rusty was having a more difficult time with his dry scale. It made him irritable. ‘Your magic might call to her, or strengthen her?’
Behind him Portia gave a soft whistle and he watched as Rusty quivered suddenly, and then let go to glide down to her waiting hands.
‘He’s somewhat weaker,’ Portia said after a moment.
‘Poor love. It’s going to be all right.’ Her voice was a soft murmur.
She made more marks appear in the journal and released him.
The sylvan dragon hopped over to Noah, looking for more affection.
He was larger than Jade, copper brown with glints of gold-like fleck on his scales.
He had little horns, like knots of wood, on either side of his head and his wings were looking a bit ragged now, like dry leaves.
‘You might want to start with him. He needs it most.’
At first, everything seemed fine. The four dragons responded to the Starling balm quickly, their scales gleaming, their spirits restored.
Jade particularly seemed to improve rapidly and became spritelier by the day.
Noah examined each and every one thoroughly.
So did Iris. The ones in the control group, meanwhile, showed only a little improvement.
It really was a virulent infection and he was doing all he could. But it wasn’t going to be enough.
After a week, Iris called them both to the orangery.
It was where she spent most her afternoons now, with the youngest of the flight swooping around her.
His elderly employer looked even more tired, something that Noah wished he hadn’t noticed.
The rest did not appear to be improving her condition, despite what the doctor had told them.
She checked Ripple, Glitter, Rusty and a wriggling Jade carefully, then glanced up at the others who had gathered above, peering down at them.
‘I think it’s time to expand the control group,’ she said.
Noah frowned and drew in a breath to question that, but to his surprise, Portia got there first. ‘Are you sure? It’s early days yet.’
Iris just smiled. ‘Look at them. They’re happy, in the peak of health with no discernible side effects.
I told you. Art could work wonders when it came to dragons.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ripple look so well.
Reintroduce them to the flight in the snuggery.
The others are pining for them. Look at how eager they are to see them again. ’
Noah watched the little dragons carefully as they were released back to join their flight, all of them swooping and cooing at each other in delight.
It was like a circus overhead as they rolled and danced in the air, their songs interweaving in pure joy.
Where they landed, they rubbed against each other, entwining their necks and tails, just as they would in the wild, re-establishing the familial bond of the flight.
But Portia was watching them too, with a frown pulling at her brow.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ she murmured. ‘Probably nothing but… no, Iris knows better than I do. I’m sure it’s fine.’
* * *
It took a week before it all went horribly wrong.
He was woken by someone banging at the door of his bedroom, far too early.
It was still dark outside. Noah dragged himself from his sleep, pulled a shirt on over his bare chest, and jerked open the door to reveal Portia in her nightgown, a robe pulled hastily around her, her hair long and wild down her back.
A ball of witchlight hung beside her, illuminating the hallway outside.
But the light was wavering and as panicked as she was.
Portia thrust the limp body of a small green dragon towards him, her hands shaking and her eyes wide. It was Jade.
‘Noah, do something. Please. You have to do something!’
He gathered Jade in his own hands, examining her with a rising feeling of dread. ‘What happened?’
‘I don’t know. I heard a thud and woke up and… I don’t know!’
The dragon was breathing fitfully, and her heart was a wild flutter. Something was wrong. He knew that. He gently forced her eyes open to see that they were cloudy and dull. Her scales still gleamed healthily, but that was the only thing.
He stepped back into his room and glanced up at the witchlight which bobbed after Portia as she followed him inside. ‘Can you make that brighter?’
The light increased at once and Noah put the dragon down carefully on the writing desk.
As Portia leaned in, the light came closer too and he could see the shivers running through Jade’s body.
There were ripples of light as well and something…
something in the air around her. Like static. Even he could feel that.
‘Magic?’ he said. ‘Is that… is that magic?’
‘No, it’s… I mean, yes, it is magic, but it’s wrong… like…’ Portia closed her eyes concentrating hard. ‘It’s like it’s bleeding out of her.’
A dragon’s connection to magic, even a teacup dragon, was integral to them.
Great dragons were beings of magic entirely, shapeshifters and enchanters right to their core, and their tiny cousins, while being creatures of the physical rather than the metaphysical, still had that vital link to the flows of enchantment that ran through the world.
They used it all the time; it was as natural to them as breathing.
Portia had said Jade’s link was stronger than most.
But now Jade’s connections were torn and ragged. The air chilled around her and it felt like there was ice gathering on the back of Noah’s neck. If he could feel that, it was bad indeed.
‘Can you move the witchlight closer?’ he asked, a thought occurring.
‘Why? Do you need more light?’
‘Just do it… please.’
She cast him a confused glance but did as he said, the light, like a small sun, hovering over the desk now and slowly dropping down to no more than a foot above Jade’s fragile body.
The dragon fell still, the shivering stopped, and she uncurled a little as she basked in the touch of magic in the air. She stretched out further, her wings fluttering and she drew in a shaky breath. So did Portia.
‘It’s helping. How did you know it would help?’
‘It’s keeping her stable, restoring some of her natural magic. But something has broken the connection and she can’t access it by herself. I think something is making it slide out of her grip. If even I can feel it…’
‘Oh no,’ Portia gasped. ‘Oh Wenn, no. The others. We have to check the other dragons. This… this is all my fault.’