by L J Andrews
After a few breaths I heard something crashing through the forest. Branches broke and snapped. Birds erupted from their nests on the boughs. Even the chill of the wind altered course and whipped my hair against my face.
“You’ve blocked me from speaking to the earth,” Mini shouted over the wind. Teagan’s lips curled slightly when the crashing only inched closer. Mini backed away, her smile fading just so, and there was a new quiver in her tone. “Teagan, what are you up to? How have you warded against me?”
“Anything goes,” he whispered, though now I saw how his arms were trembling in exertion. The wyvern marks along his arms had shaded once more to the gilded sheen as his power surged through his body.
Then I saw what was coming our way. Sapphire pulled me back, Raffi tugged against Eisha, and Dash shifted instantly and shot to the clouds when the frigid water pummeled through the trees like a monstrous wall. I covered my mouth, watching all the water from the distant river raging across the ground as it carved a new path—a path leading straight toward Mini. The mage held up her hands, desperate to defend herself, her smile gone now. The harder she tried, the less power she seemed to grasp. The water swirled around Teagan’s body, leaving him dry and in control as he used his strength to direct the deadly force. Mini gripped her powerful knife, and with a final effort to defend herself, tossed the blade across the distance. The point was aimed at Teagan’s heart, and the mage had expert aim. Teagan shouted angrily when he was forced to dodge the blade, and the water stopped it’s deadly rampage, swallowing him and Mini as it spilled across the forest floor. The water calmed quickly, filtering like peaceful streams through the trees once Teagan’s hold was gone, though the forest now looked like a swamp.
Teagan raised to his hands and knees, soaked and pale from summoning such energy. Mini’s hair was plastered to her forehead in thick chunks. Her mouth was set as she tromped through the water that nearly rose to her waist. Teagan curled up to his feet and smirked at her.
“Are you going to get angry at me for nearly beating you?” he said, bringing Mini to pause.
“I want to, but mostly I’m incredibly impressed. You don’t even understand what strength is required to summon that much water from such a distance. Though I don’t believe you had the control you think you did—I probably would have died in the end.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” he teased, finding a seat on a stump and resting his face in his hands. “I had control.”
“Yes, until you crumbled from exhaustion. Even still, well done, Teagan. I’d wanted to start with my power, just to show off a bit, but had planned on using the weapons because I was certain you wouldn’t be up to the task. I wasn’t expecting to drown today.”
Teagan chuckled. From above, Dash returned and shifted quickly. “I am not a water dragon, next time I could use some warning,” he snapped. It only made everyone laugh.
“I can take you back to rest, Teagan. You look sick again,” Sapphire said.
Teagan shook his head. “I think I’d rather stay here. The forest helps,” he mumbled.
“I’ll stay with him and help,” I said.
“How did I guess that was going to happen?” Raffi whispered toward Dash who grumbled with a smirk in the back of his throat.
“We’ll stay then,” Sapphire said.
Mini laughed, and there was an unusual hint of madness in her tone. “Kon, did you see what just happened? If any sparrows or rabbits attack Jade, I think Teagan can handle it. Oh, don’t look at me like that, I’m only teasing. But I think we can stand guard at least a little distance away,” she said, shoving Sapphire’s shoulder when he glared down his nose.
“It’s time for our watch at the borders anyway,” Eisha said. “We’ll return soon. Teagan, we’re placing Jade in your care. Don’t fail us.”
Raffi and Dash rushed deep into the forest after Eisha where they would shift and take to the sky away from curious eyes. The borders of Wyvern Willows were protected by the willow, but each day my closest friends took it upon their shoulders to ensure it stayed that way.
Sapphire folded into his wyvern form, and Mini clamored on his shoulders. She was beaming, notably thrilled with the show of power when Sapphire shot into the sky. Teagan slid from the rock, and leaned his back against it, holding his arm out so I would come sit next to him. I obliged—how could I not? Teagan’s arm wrapped tight around my shoulders, clutching me against his side. I wrapped my arms around his middle, urging my strength to revitalize whatever power had drained during his training.
“You’re marvelous to watch,” I said, smiling when he shook his head. “I mean it, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”
“I don’t know if I hate what’s happening, or if I never want it to stop,” he admitted. “It’s almost painful, and it makes me feel like I haven’t slept in weeks, but when I hear the power—or whatever it is—telling me what to do, it’s almost addicting. I feel stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before, then weaker than I’ve ever been when it’s all over.”
“I can’t believe how quickly you’ve harnessed the mage energy,” I said, nuzzling my head against his shoulder.
“I don’t know about that, but now that I’ve accepted this is real, I don’t know, it’s coming a little easier. I’m sure there’s a lot to learn. I’ve actually been thinking,” he said, tilting my chin so I looked at him. “I’ve read about the shift of wyverns—would you want to try? I mean, try having me release you?”
My mouth dropped wide. “You know how?”
Teagan shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but what I read sounds like what Mini did for Sapphire. If you want to, I want to help you.”
“Yes,” I said quickly. “Yes, please. Try. Do you feel strong enough?”
Teagan nodded and cleared his throat. “Okay, so I’m supposed to touch you—”
“So far so good,” I teased, causing a smile to cross his lips.
“And I say something—I have no idea what it means, but I memorized it. It works with both of us,” he explained. “I have to command the power, but then you must accept it.”
“Okay, I’m ready,” I said when he gently placed his hands on my shoulders.
“Don’t laugh, I’m going to try and pronounce this right,” Teagan said, closing his eyes. “Orietur verus forma.”
The longer Teagan gripped my shoulders, the more fire I felt inside my chest. As though a match had been struck through my heart, my body burned. Yet, my skin was still fleshy and pale. Teagan swallowed, his eyes opening to see if anything had changed before trying again. My eyes clenched tight, and I could feel his unusual yet comforting power bleeding through my body. Inside everything seemed in place. I wanted to shift, but as though the drawbridge of my ability had been sealed up, I could not change forms.
Four more times, Teagan tried. His voice cracked and his head was beading in sweat when I finally rested my hand against his cheek, accepting our failure. “I feel like I’m locked inside. I sense your power, but I fear it is on my part that I can’t shift. You need to rest, you’re exerting too much energy.”
Teagan dropped his gaze to the ground and his shoulders slumped forward. “I’m failing you. All you want to do is shift, and I can’t do it. I can bend a river to do what I want, but I can’t release you.”
My hands found the sides of his face. “It isn’t you.” As I said the words my eyes burned with frustrated tears. “It’s me. I can feel something deep inside blocking me from accepting the shift.” I didn’t ask or wait for him to move toward me before I kissed him. The sweeping swell of power electrified between our touch once again, and though Teagan’s skin was still pallid, he gripped the sides of my arms with firmness that only encouraged me to scoot closer.
Teagan pulled back after a time, gasping, but smiling. “I’m lightheaded,” he admitted.
“I have that effect on all the boys,” I teased while I settled against the stone and urged his head to rest on my lap.
I couldn’t remembe
r a more serene moment than sitting in the quiet, power-filled forest with Teagan as we watched the birds, the squirrels, the crickets prepare for the night. The ground was damp from the river, and though the forest had quickly absorbed the strange rush of power, much longer would bring a chill to the both of us if we soaked our clothes.
“Jade, I’ve been thinking about something,” Teagan muttered after a long silence. His fingers interlocked with mine, and he rested our hands on his chest. “What if my…parents died during the war too? What if everyone just thinks it was an accident. I mean, they must have been mages, right?”
“How I understand it is, yes, you must come from a mage bloodline,” I said, combing my free hand through his hair. I bit my bottom lip, wondering how much I should say. Teagan stared up at the sky. I noticed he did it often, almost like it brought a certain level of peace to his soul. Clearing my throat, I lowered my voice. “Sapphire believes, and I think it’s entirely possible, he thinks you…”
“What?” Teagan asked, leaning on one elbow when I didn’t continued.
I met his penetrating gaze, my nerves faltering for a moment. “Sapphire believes it’s possible that you’re…not an orphan.”
Teagan’s brow furrowed. “He thinks my parents are alive?”
I folded my knees beneath me, clasping Teagan’s hands tightly. “He spoke of your last name, how it is a tag for a mage. Until you started showing how powerful you were, he didn’t put it together. He believes it’s possible your parents wanted you to be known as a mage—for what reason, we can’t know.”
Teagan sighed and leaned back against the rock when he sat straight. “But, my aunt, she’s told me stories of my mom.” Teagan glanced at me, his eyes filled with a new determination. “I think we need to go speak with her.”
“Your aunt? What do you think she would know?”
Teagan shook his head. “I don’t know, but Liz has to know something about them. Will you come with me?”
“Leave Wyvern Willows?”
Teagan brushed off his pants and, to my disappointment, went in search for his shirt. “Yeah,” he said simply. “Haven’t you ever left?”
I shook my head. “No, never.”
Smirking, he helped me to my feet. “Well, I think you should know you’re the first girl I’ve ever brought home to meet the family. The only problem is getting there.”
“Eisha has a car,” I said. “We don’t fly to school, you know.”
Teagan grinned, though I sensed his nerves picking up a bit. “Will they allow you to leave?”
It was a question I didn’t know the answer to. “I think leaving us alone today was a good sign they trust us. But I’ve never left the willow. I agree you need to find answers, and I’m not letting you go alone, so I suppose they will have to just accept the idea.”
A thrill of excitement pulsed through me at the idea of seeing a small bit of the world besides my tiny town. It was frightening in the same sense too, but I trusted Teagan with my life. He would be there and all would be well. As I held Teagan’s hand and began our walk back toward the reform house, I was in awe at how my life had changed so quickly. I felt powerful in my own ways, like I was closer to being ready for the throne than I’d ever been in my existence. King Nag didn’t haunt my dreams any longer, though inside I still believed our destinies were intertwined. But if I were to meet the serpent king again, I would be ready.
I marveled silently at Teagan. Thinking back to our first meeting, I could sense the anger in his soul. I felt every bitter resentment, though I also recognized the pureness of his heart. He’d been confused, lost in the world, and separated from the life he’d known. Yet tonight, as he held his shoulders strong and tall, he was different in so many ways. He still had the pure heart—it was ravishing, and I was falling in love with it—but he was something so much more. I may have been the rising new wyvern queen, but Teagan was something else. He was, and I knew it with all my heart, the powerful new mage that was destined to forever change my life.
Part Three
The Mage
Chapter 23
My lungs burned like I’d been running a marathon, and for a while all I wanted to do was curl along the grass and sleep for twelve hours. Then Jade touched me and everything calmed.
Wyvern Willows was meant to serve as my prison. The place where I would learn to behave, where my anger would be given a voice, where I was supposed to become the man my aunt Liz deserved after her years of raising me. Never in any realm, of any dream I’d had, did I imagine the reality I was living now. Wyvern Willows wasn’t my prison, it was the place where I was finally free. All my life I’d been different, I’d known I was meant for more but didn’t know what. The only way I’d been able to reach any sense of freedom was pushing the limits, challenging the rules. It wasn’t the sort of personality that fit in normal society.
Then there was Jade. How I’d struggled to wrap my mind around every emotion I’d felt with her in recent days. The connection had been undeniable when I’d first met the queen of the elementals, but now, with her hand warm against my palm, I was invincible. I would die to protect that feeling. I would die for her.
It was truth that I’d spent plenty of wasted time with girls like wild Angie, or girls like Jenna. Jade didn’t need to know all the details of my past just yet, but there was a truth that was an ever-constant companion when Jade was close: she was the first girl to set me on fire with one touch. There was something powerful about our connection. Yes, everyone talked about the mage and wyvern protection bond. Every time they brushed away the significance of what had grown between the two of us made me want to scream. There was more to this; I could hardly explain it to myself. I simply knew what lengths I would go to defend Jade. I knew the man I wanted to become when she was near. She filled a missing link I’d never realized had been waiting specifically for Jade.
“You’re lost in your thoughts,” she whispered, her smile pressing a weight against my lungs.
My hand tightened its hold on hers as I pulled heavy shrubs out of her way. The reform house was close, I could see the lights from the porch through the trees, but I didn’t want our solitary time to end. “I was just thinking of everything that has happened since I came here. I was thinking of you.”
Jade’s body pressed against me as she rested her head on my shoulder briefly, giving me the extra jolt of energy to wash away the drain of the exercises from the day. I thought of the obstacle course. Raffi had designed it, probably hoping I would sink in the thick mud. I’d nearly had the bulky warrior dragon when we’d climbed the ropes, but he’d quickly knocked me from the top platform and the water had swallowed me away. When I opened my mind as Mini had often instructed, I could feel the sting of every ounce of energy of the earth. The water spoke to a certain part of my mind, different from the trees, different from the soil. With every day that passed I was more confident in my control of the different energies. Though, to Raffi’s pleasure, I hadn’t been able to slog through fast enough. That course had prepared me to stand against Mini. She’d used the trees against me, and the stones, but I knew I could single out elements of power. Where I’d stood on the ground something whispered in my mind that I could do it, so I commanded the river to come. It seemed insane at the time, but when the water had surged through the trees, I was forever changed. Feeling the powerful energy rushing through my veins as the water had rushed against the trees was a high I never wanted to lose.
The feeling was painful, burning my blood like it was wild electricity. Sometimes I hesitated to use the new strength, yet at the same time the power was something I couldn’t live without. The potential ability I knew was in the earth was a thought never far from my mind. I wanted to sculpt my abilities, learn all I could. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept through the night. I was often either consumed with thoughts of Jade or studying mage power. Thankfully, the bond between us in the moment kept fatigue at bay.
Jade’s fingers were tracing the wyvern ma
rks on my forearms when we stepped onto the lawn of the house. Mini was hesitant to praise the seal spreading across my back, but I wasn’t lying when I’d said it was my favorite of all the marks. I wondered what would happen if ever the armor built around my body as it had when Graham had attacked.
“Look, Eisha is here,” Jade said, breaking me from my thoughts. Eisha’s dark BMW was parked right along the curve of the drive. Though the students of the reform house would be buried in school work by now, I still worried someone would overhear anything Eisha or Sapphire said. I never wanted to see another hideous thing like a zomok come into Wyvern Willows with the pure intent of harming Jade. Though as I had the thought, I knew I didn’t want any of them to be harmed. Raffi and Dash were having more trouble concealing their respect toward me, and Eisha—even though I sensed her distrust, I didn’t want anything to happen to her. The woman had practically raised Jade, she’d kept her safe for so long. No, nothing would happen to any of the wyverns hiding in plain sight in the Willows.
Jade stopped short of walking up the stairs, her jaw was pulsing slightly, and her smile fell. “You okay?” I asked.
Jade’s eyes were fierce like there was green fire behind her irises, and every time she looked at me I found myself lost for words. “I don’t know…” She looked at the ground as though the words were hard to gather. “I can’t believe I’m going to suggest this, but I think we should just go.”
My brow furrowed and my throat dried slightly when Jade glanced toward Eisha’s car. “You want to leave without telling them? So, I’m supposed to run off with you, leaving four dragons who have basically raised you behind.” I chuckled nervously, thinking of Raffi and Dash in their true form. They weren’t exactly kittens.