Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Briar
I turned half toward him while also looking in the direction of the sound. “The what?”
“The shadow dragon,” he stated again as if there were one in every household.
So, I hadn’t heard him wrong the first time, but I had no idea what he was talking about. “What is a shadow dragon?”
“Perhaps you should ask your mother that too,” Lyra drawled.
“She wouldn’t tell me, so why don’t one of you, instead of playing stupid mind games?” I snapped back.
“It guards Wildwood,” Knox said. “I don’t know if a dragon was visiting my father when they cast the spell and that’s how it came to exist, or if the spell created it. We were all in the harem when the curse happened.”
“But it’s… it’s a dragon made of shadows?”
I’d never heard of such a thing, but I’d also never considered it possible that the night casters could turn an entire kingdom into a place of gloom and roses.
“It’s made of something that protects Wildwood,” Knox said.
“The improper use of magic has consequences,” I murmured as I studied the sky. “What the night casters did here wasn’t only improper, but it was so big that its consequences resonated throughout the land.”
“You know this, but you don’t know how to break the curse,” Lyra said.
“I know the rules of magic; we’re all taught them at a young age. I don’t know what they did to create this”—I waved a hand at the roses nearby—“or how to fix it.”
“And we’re just supposed to believe you?”
“Believe me or not, it’s the truth. I wish I could help, but I can’t. I haven’t even gone through my Needing or come fully into my powers. How do you expect me to break a spell that created a shadow dragon?”
“I expect you to give us answers,” Knox said.
“I’ve given you answers. You just don’t like the ones I gave.”
In the distance, the dragon bellowed again, but this time it sounded closer. Is it coming to eat me?
I inwardly shuddered at the possibility. If it protected Wildwood, then it probably didn’t like night casters… even if they were the ones who inadvertently created it.
Their spell never should have been performed. It was too powerful and malicious, and it had consequences the night casters never foresaw… this dragon.
To counteract the devastation unleashed on Wildwood, the spell created something to protect the kingdom ravaged by magic.
“I’ll learn the truth of your words for myself,” Knox said.
“And how do you plan to do that?” I demanded.
That cruel smile tugged at the corner of his mouth again. “I spent seven years at the mercy of your kind; do you think I didn’t learn your weaknesses?”
“You can do whatever you want to me; my answer won’t change.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Before I could reply, another roar sounded, but this time it was much closer and coming fast. Something dark swept across the unnaturally gray sky.
It looked like shadows, but the black creature streaking across the sky was clearly the shape of a dragon. On the top of its head, two black horns hooked backward, and from the end of its tail, a single black spike emerged.
Trailing the monstrous beast were streaks of black shadows that blotted out more of the sky. With its wings spread wide, the dragon tilted to the right and swooped over the land before circling back to us. It was as astonishing as it was terrifying.
I’d never seen a dragon before. They lived on an island far out to sea, but no one knew for sure where it was: most who tried to find it never returned, and the ones who did failed in their search.
Occasionally, the dragons would visit the dragon shifters in Wildwood. It was rumored that the dragon shifters knew where the dragons lived, but no one in the other kingdoms could verify that.
I’d heard tales of the dragons’ savagery, and some believed their island was a place of precious jewels and gold. That was the main reason some eternals tried to find it; they were convinced the dragons possessed endless treasures and sought to claim them.
I had no idea why they believed this. No one had ever returned with jewels… as far as I knew.
The dragon swept overhead again; its wing tipped to the left as it arched that way. When the dragon opened its mouth and bellowed again, a stream of black erupted. While it wasn’t the lethal fire all other dragons spewed, I didn’t doubt it was every bit as deadly.
“Will it kill me?” I asked.
“Not if you don’t try to run.”
I wasn’t sure if he was telling me the truth, but I wasn’t going to take any chances with that thing. The dragon soared out of view as Knox clasped my elbow and led me toward the castle’s large wooden door; along its frame were the same symbols as on the pennants.
Knox opened the door and stepped aside to gesture me inside. I stepped through the doorway and into a room with flickering candles and lanterns, but the surprise of finding lighting here wasn’t what made me hesitate… it was the giggle from somewhere above.
My head tipped back, but I didn’t have time to figure out what made the sound before Knox stepped through the doorway and a cascade of white powder poured onto him.