“Well, of course, you wouldn’t think so.” I could feel anger bubbling up. I didn’t have time for it, but there it was, like a snake sleeping in a basket until someone shakes the basket. “You’re Dusk Covenant - or Ya’kar - or whatever they call it here.”
“It was just a ruse, Amel. A way to get to them so I could try to negotiate for peace – for an end to this. They’re aligning the matrices here at Za’cazar – we’d heard rumors of it. It makes all the magic throughout the world more powerful and unpredictable and then the Ifrits began to pop up and we knew it had to be coming from whoever was aligning the matrices – the Crescent Prince, just like this Prince Rakturan said. I thought that perhaps I could come and negotiate with them. I could get in close with the Ya’kar and talk to their leaders. I didn’t expect you to get caught up in it. I didn’t know there would be an ambush there. I thought you’d just go on your way and I’d go on mine when we got to the city. When you got caught up in it ... it was too late to stop them from getting you, but I still had to try to negotiate. Peace is just too important. You have to believe me.”
“Why should I?” I wasn’t looking at him. I was intent on the Ibrenicus Prophecies.
“Would they have put me in this basket with you if it wasn’t true? They don’t want to negotiate. They just want to eliminate anyone who doesn’t agree with them.”
I looked up at him, letting my gaze wander back and forth from him to Rakturan and back. I hadn’t really trusted either of them, but here we all were ready to die for the same thing. If you couldn’t trust people willing to die for the same things as you, then who could you trust?
I swallowed and nodded as I made a decision. I didn’t have a clear prophecy to rely on. I didn’t have a dragon to get me out of this or friends with plans. I didn’t even have a plan of my own, but I was the only one that all of them had.
Raolcan needed me before the Sentries finished him off. Rakturan and Renn here in the basket needed me before we died in one grisly way or another. Savette needed me to find her the allies she needed. And if I didn’t find a way to step up and do something about this Ifrit-manufacturing-hole-in-the-ground, then there was no one else who could. I gritted my teeth. Time for a last-ditch gamble.
I cleared my throat and handed Renn the book. “I don’t care if you don’t believe a word of it. You’re going to start at the beginning and read it aloud until either I tell you to stop or we get out of this basket. Don’t pause and don’t stop. I have a world to save here.”
It was a bold speech. I didn’t dare to question whether I could back it up.
Chapter Nineteen
The basket swayed beneath us as I shifted to shake Rakturan.
“Wake up, Rak.”
Nothing.
“I think he’s passed out. If you’re going to do something, you’d better do it now.” Renn was peering through the wall of the basket.
“Do you see anything out there?”
“Just people chanting for our deaths and dust demons pouring out of the ground. I think that if the matrices could be somehow thrown back out of line it could stop them – collapse whatever vortex is letting the Prince pull them up from the heart of the earth, but I don’t know how that would work. Pity we don’t have a Magika with us.”
If we did, they likely wouldn’t be on our side. In my experience, Magikas – like most people with more resources than the rest – liked power more than they liked doing what was right.
“You seem to know a lot about how the magic works, Renn.”
“I’m interested in that kind of stuff. You know, philosophy, Lightbringer prophecies, Magic – anything supernatural really.”
“But you don’t really believe in any of it.”
“Not really. It’s good to believe things – good for society, but I’m just not easily led. I think for myself.”
“Then why join the Lightbringers – if that’s even true.”
“Oh, I joined. That’s all true.” He was staring out the wall of the basket. “I’m just not a fanatic like you or Talsan. It’s not worth believing a book or dying over. I thought it would be good for society – help level things out and bring opportunities to people who are at the bottom of the heap, you know? I still do.”
“Okay, Free Thinker. Start reading.” I wiped my palms on my pants. They were sweaty already and shaking a little as I took Rakturan’s hand in mine. I didn’t’ know if I needed to do this part, but it’s what I did with Shonan.
What had he told me to do last time? He told me to focus on the truth of who Savette was and to remain open, that he’d do the rest. Great. What was the rest?
I focused on Rakturan as the familiar words were read by Renn’s unfamiliar tongue. He stumbled over one and then another, but I was growing so used to the text that the words came to mind as if I was the one reading them. He hadn’t started at the beginning. He’d just opened it at random and begun to read.
“In this, victory will begin to grow like the first sprout of a mighty oak
And our hopes, bright as the dawn will rise over the horizon of our hearts.
And the people will be free of terror and the nations of uproar,
when the Chosen One brings truth to the heart of the Dominion,
when the dominion of darkness comes to an end.”
Great. It was so clearly about Savette and so clearly not about Rak. I really needed something that could be true for us here and now. I needed that healing power to restore what he’d lost. Maybe Savette was the hope for our people, but wasn’t Rak the hope for his?
“And behold the light dawns in the East,
For the calming of the wild sea.”
When we’d flown over that battle it had looked like waves breaking on the rocks. I wanted to see that calmed here in the east. I wanted to see Rakturan’s light return and dawn on this place. I thought of him – leaving everything out of pure devotion to Savette, willing to give his own life. I’d always found the why behind it confusing, but what if it was always just what it had seemed like? A man suddenly converted to a new way of seeing things, utterly devoted to the one he believed was bringing it all to fullness?
I concentrated on that thought of him, holding him bright and steady in my mind. My hands clasped around his were slick with sweat and the basket rocked unnervingly beneath us, lowering with a sudden jerk before pausing again. The light was turning golden as sunset approached.
“For the light shines where it wills and heals what it wills.
Truth is not determined by man nor made true by faith.
Like a rock, it stands unmoved through the ages.”
And that was it, wasn’t it? The truth was what mattered. It was just as real now as it was when Shonan and Savette were there. It didn’t matter that I had no power in me. It didn’t matter that I was just a single Dragon Rider in a foreign land. The power of the Truth could still shine here. I focused on that, like a pinprick of light in the dark, pouring all my own hopes and deep longings into it and trying to channel them into Rakturan.
I ignored the jerking of the basket, the orange of the fading sun against my closed eyelids, the way that Renn’s words eventually faltered as the light began to fade and focused only on the truth of the prophecies and what they meant for the world.
It was never meant to end here.
It was never meant to end with Rakturan dying of dehydration in a basket while dust demons poured out over the world.
I thought about those matrices lined up just right. If they could be aligned, they could be unaligned. I heard a scream from above, but I ignored it. I had to focus. I had to try to lean deep into the truth and let it put everything right again.
I didn’t really know what I was doing. It was like feeling in the dark, but the desperation inside me met with the faith that had slowly grown up in my core and as they met they twined around each other and the words of the prophecy came to my mind.
“For in the day of darkness the Chosen One will find hope in our hearts, and
from hope truth, and from truth, light that opens doors.”
“Whatever you’re trying to do isn’t working,” Renn said, but his voice felt far away. “We’re just getting lower, Amel. And we’re not the only ones. There are others being lowered in baskets, too.”
Come on doors, open to me! Open! I wasn’t the Chosen One, but maybe – just for this – I could be a Chosen One.
I didn’t know how long this was taking, but Renn was cursing in the background and the air – hot before – had grown cold, my sweaty palms and brow turned clammy. Every so often there was another jerk as the basket lowered.
“Behold, behold in the dark of the night,
Surrounded and harried to flight,
Up from the ground through the earth’s veins
Light of light and he who reigns
Dawn of hope through mercy of the past
Arriving to shine over us at last.”
Wasn’t there something here from the past that could come up and help us? Come on!
Maybe it was because I wasn’t Savette that nothing was coming. Maybe because I wasn’t Shonan. Maybe normal girls didn’t get to touch the infinite. Maybe they just had to be content to live on the scraps of leftovers from other people – but even a scrap of the power of Truth would be enough now.
Please, just a scrap! Please!
“Just give up,” Renn was whispering. “It doesn’t work. It’s just silly words that never applied to us anyway.”
I think I was reciting them out loud now.
“Surrounded on every side, not overcome,
Light battles the depths, commands armies come,
Her battle not with mortal man, but earth and fire
Ancient ally returns in battle dire.”
I sounded feverish, but I wouldn’t give up, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t let myself die just sitting there and not even trying. Wasn’t there a little magic left for people like me? Just a scrap of Truth for people who came with open hands and desperation?
I kept on quoting, my voice growing weak as my dry mouth and aching heart grew heavier and heavier.
“Ancient ally returns in battle dire
For the love of the one with empty hands and a full heart.
For Truth is never far off. It is in your core and on your tongue.
It blows where it wills and flares when it must.”
And then something flared in me.
Chapter Twenty
Light.
So much light that I could hardly see. I could feel a presence – an ally of some kind from below. I let my heart lean toward it. I sensed a greeting and a promise rolled into one. Also, a reminder.
Oh yes. Rakuran. With a smile, I turned to him and focused on his eyes. They flared to life, a small light in the midst of the glorious one that filled my vision. Renn huddled against the side of the basket, his arms wrapped around his face as if to block the light. Curses rolled from his tongue, but I had no time to think about that. It was hard to concentrate with so much roaring through my mind – like trying to listen to a voice when standing beside a waterfall. I let the roar fill me.
Our basket rocked and swayed – this time upward – until it settled on something that felt solid. I stepped forward, extending a hand and letting the light of Truth open the wall. After all, we were never meant to be hanging over a chasm in a basket.
It all felt so ... certain ... even though I’d never known it was coming. I felt – not calm, but just so assured that what was right was finally happening.
“Come on, Renn,” I said, offering him a hand.
Rakturan was already on his feet, stepping out of the basket, his eyes bright with restored hope and the bright light Savette had given him back at last. It was as if all the exhaustion and hopelessness had dropped away and he could hold his head high again.
Renn shrunk back. “Your eyes!”
I reached up to feel them, but they felt the same. It wasn’t hard to remember how I’d felt when it had happened to Savette, though – I’d probably looked just like he did.
“You’ll get used to it,” I said but I didn’t have time to wait for him. I left the basket and stepped out onto the platform.
Around me, screaming people fled in all directions. Ifrits - rushing in swirling clouds – were already passing them as they fled mindlessly away from the tear in the ground that birthed them. I smiled as I saw the source of their terror.
All along the lip of the chasm, slow-moving creatures, like dragons without wings - but with transparent skin and lit from within by an eerie aqua-white glow – pulled themselves up over the lip of the chasm. Most of them bore the ropes of baskets in their mouths. I turned to see the creature who had rescued us. He watched with patient eyes.
I bowed and felt a strong sense of kinship.
Now, Raolcan.
I found him almost immediately, stiff across the ground, the Sentries clinging to him like barnacles. I flicked my hands up and they flew off like dry leaves in the wind. I watched them tumble across the ground quickly, yet so slowly I could see every wave of every tentacle.
Renn was behind me saying something. It was hard to focus on what it was. The thoughts and realization still roared through me – understanding of the Truth of the core of everything, mental communication from the glowing dragon-creatures, the spirits of the freed people crawling out of baskets, and the fleeing enemies in the dark beyond. Maybe this was why Savette was so distant. Maybe she felt like this all the time.
I’d hardly even noticed that I was walking just fine – and with no crutch. It was only a distant thing that barely registered.
Rakturan was shouting orders from somewhere, but I ignored him, leaning down over my fallen dragon.
His eyes were closed, but I still smiled, certain of what was coming next. I laid my hands gently on his head and remembered his wholeness and his bright beautiful core. My eyes flared and his opened a fraction of a second later.
I see you’ve managed to get some bright eyes. About time. Everyone else had them. I didn’t want to mention it, but you were starting to look a bit shabby. Incidentally, can you think about rescuing me before twenty creatures digest me to death next time?
He was beautiful. He was whole. He was Raolcan.
I was worried for a moment there.
I took a step back, letting the panorama sink in. The glowing dragons had formed a ring around Rakturan.
They’re Trogs – troglodytes from the very core of the earth. He shivered, awe filling his tone. Remember how I mentioned them before? I’ve never seen one above the ground. I’m not sure whether I should be hopeful or scandalized that they’re here.
It was starting to become easier to think.
Incidentally, I’m relieved that you’re safe – even with the eyes. I didn’t get a chance to say...
To say what?
... that I love you.
And I loved him, too. I threw an arm around his neck just as my leg suddenly crumpled under me.
Ummm, Amel?
“Hmmm?”
I think maybe you should get your crutch. It’s still in my saddle.
But I could walk now.
Your eyes are fading.
He was right. My thoughts were growing simpler ... clearer ... and it was getting more difficult to see in the dark, though the Trogs and Rakturan were still glowing from their place on the cliffs. I felt a flash of disappointment. Why did I always lose these amazing gifts almost as soon as I got them?
On the contrary. Power is meant to be spent for good.
I smiled and hugged him tighter. In a moment I’d need to finally listen to whatever Renn was going on about behind me. In a moment I’d need to see what Rakturan said we were doing next. But for now? For now, I was just going to enjoy the fact that for a few moments I had been a Chosen One and because of that my best friend was still here to hug.
Read more of Amel’s Story in Dragon School: Ancient Allies
Behind the Scenes:
USA Today bestse
lling author, Sarah K. L. Wilson, hails from the rocky Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario where she lives with her husband and two small boys. Her interests include the outdoors, history, and philosophy. Her books are always about fantastical adventures in other worlds.
Sarah would like to thank Harold Trammel, Eugenia Kollia, and Sarah Brown for their incredible work in beta reading and proofreading this book. Without their big hearts and passion for stories, this book would not be the same.
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Dragon School Reading Order:
Dragon School: First Flight
Dragon School: Initiate
Dragon School: The Dark Prince
Dragon School: The Ruby Isles
Dragon School: Sworn
Dragon School: Dusk Covenant
Dragon School: First Message
Dragon School: Warring Promises
Dragon School: Prince of Dragons
Dragon School: Dark Night
Dragon School: Bright Hopes
Dragon School: Mark of Loyalty
Dragon School: Dire Quest
Find them all on their Amazon series page.
Why Novellas?
I love watching television series. I don’t really like movies, because they’re simply too short of a story arc for me. I prefer long, drawn out stories in smaller, bite-sized episodes. Dragon School is my book version of the television dramas that I love. I’m writing the type of series I want to read – long and rich but with short episodes I can read in a single evening. I hope that you’ll enjoy this format as much as I do. I am planning approximately twenty episodes for the first season. The first season will be a complete, self-contained story. There is a second season planned for 2019 that will continue in the same world and timeline with a new main character and dragon. Stay tuned!
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