A Destiny of Dragons (Tales From Verania #2)(118)

“Ryan!” I ran toward him, scooping up the sword as I went by, tossing it handle first, the blade slicing shallowly into my palm, wetting the metal with my blood. Ryan caught the sword and, with a yell, turned and shoved it into the mermaid’s mouth and down its throat. The mermaid’s eyes bulged as the blade pierced its insides, and I was almost to him, I was almost— It flailed back, hand still gripping Ryan’s ankle. Ryan was lifted up and over the mermaid, slamming back down on the other side of it.

Out in the sea of sand.

The mermaid began to sink. Ryan’s sword still stuck out of its mouth.

And it still held on to him.

His eyes were wide as he began to dip below the surface.

“No,” he said hoarsely. “Don’t you do it. Sam, don’t you do it.”

“Sam!” a voice cried out behind me.

And somehow I was able to turn away from Ryan in time to see Tiggy knocked into the sand as well, thrown off the back of the mermaid. It instantly flipped itself back into the sand and dove beneath the surface.

Tiggy began to sink immediately, his weight pulling him down. He thrashed and kicked and fought, but it was no use.

“Sam,” Ryan said, and I turned back toward him, heart in my throat. The sand was up to his armpits. “Get to the dragon.” He was scared, I could see that, gods how I could see that, but he was trying to keep himself calm for my sake. “You gotta get to the dragon.”

Everything was slowing down around me. Too much was happening at once. Ruv was too far away, on the other side of the island, the same mermaid still chasing after him, but now a second one too, both tails whipping back and forth as they surged after him.

Kevin had set Gary down on solid land and looked to be coming back, but he wouldn’t make it in time. Not for either of them.

Blood pounded in my ears.

Everything was brighter than it had ever been. Sharper.

I breathed in deeply as Tiggy slipped below the surface of the sand, raising his hand and wiggling his fingers at me, a little wave goodbye.

Ryan said, “I love you, Sam. I always have.”

And then he was gone too.

And I just—

“No,” I said. “No, no, no.”

I stood slowly.

Once upon a time I went into the Dark Woods to find something unexpected, as tasked by Morgan of Shadows. In those woods I found a hornless unicorn and a half-giant. I saved them from an evil man, and every day since then, they saved me from myself.

Once upon a time I saw a boy who’d come to the castle. I was told he was from the army. That he was to be a knight in the Castle Guard. I’d never seen such a beautiful boy before, and that day, I gave my heart away, even though I thought I’d never get his in return.

They weren’t going to be taken from me. Not now.

Not ever.

Wizard, the waking dragon whispered to me. What will you do?

Everything, I said in return.

There is an old tongue spoken by wizards. It is in these words that magic forms in those that have it in their blood. The spells and incantations and words of power that bring the magic surging forward, from out of the blood and into the real world. It draws from everything around us. It draws from everything in us.

Only a few didn’t need those words.

Morgan.

Randall.

They had centuries of experience to draw upon. They were one with the old tongue, the language of magic. They didn’t need the words aloud because they’d built it up inside of them. Their cornerstones had given them the foundation to become something stronger than the world had ever seen. They formed their words in their heads and hearts, and the thoughts alone brought the magic into the world.

I was like them, in that respect.

I didn’t need those words either.

But there was a difference.

Sometimes, I didn’t even need the thought.

So when I pulled myself to my full height, there was no clear plan in my head. There was only the thought that someone had taken from me, had taken Tiggy, my friend. Had taken Ryan, my cornerstone.

And it was enough.

The sand began to swirl at my feet. First it was just a small corona, whipping itself around me as if caught by a moderate wind.

But it grew.

Clouds began to form in the sky above us, and as I turned my face upward, I felt what little moisture there was being sucked out of the air. The clouds were black and gray, and they trembled and they shook even as the thunder began to roll.

The corona was bigger now.

Much bigger.

The path was made clear beneath my feet, an old, worn stone thing that had been rubbed smooth by the moving sand.

And it grew bigger still.

Lightning arced in the clouds above. I wasn’t ready for it yet.

And it didn’t matter that I hadn’t done this before. That I’d never used this much magic before. None of it mattered. The only thing I could think of was Tiggy. And Ryan. And getting them back.

The corona had given way to a tornado.

The sky was dark now, almost like night had fallen, though it was still midday.

There were others, I knew. Other people I cared for. But they were safe. They would let me do this.

And then I raised the entire sea of sand.

It shot up around me on either side of the stone path, rising high up toward the storm above.

And I could see them then. Through the sand.