Page 23 of Curse of the Midnight Dragon (The Moonlight Dragon #2)

Amaya

I landed near a small gardening shed on the manor’s property where I kept a stash of clothing. Once back in human form and dressed in a black sweater and leather pants, I took a cliffside trail that wound around the periphery of the village.

No one walked this trail at night. Barely anyone used it during the day, either, which was one reason I preferred it. But tonight, I came across my mother on the trail. I swiftly turned away from her, but she’d seen me and called out.

“What are you doing?” I asked once we’d closed the distance between us. “Are you searching for me?”

“No, dear, I knew you were out flying. I was…” Her eyes glided over to where a shadowy figure was walking much closer to the edge of the cliff than the trail ever went.

“Is that Celestina?” The shadow moved along the edges of the plateau. The silhouette reminded me of a tragic heroine that would wander through muddy moors in those overly dramatic human gothic romance novels Trace would bring back to the village from Earst.

“It is. The poor dear has been sneaking out every night.” My mother clicked her tongue behind her teeth.

Quite a distance away from Celestina I spotted a tall figure. He moved only when Celestina moved. “And that’s Trace following her?”

“He is her protector.”

I had a feeling Celestina didn’t see it that way. “She doesn’t know he’s there, does she?”

“He’s in a tough spot with her. She wants her freedom, but she needs to be protected. He’s trying to give her that.”

“She feels trapped here.” I could feel her panic like tiny pinpricks against my skin.

“There’s an emptiness in her that she’s looking to fill. Trace thinks she comes out to the edge of the plateau because she’s trying to connect with her dragon form and doesn’t know how. It makes her restless. It must be hard for her to be around so many dragons who can shift forms like water pouring from a pitcher while her dragon side is bound up like a block of ice by that evil queen that stole her from us.”

I watched Celestina move slowly and carefully along the edge of the plateau’s cliff. “That’s not why she comes out here,” I said.

My mother put her hand on my shoulder. “I think you’re right. I believe our dear Celestina takes these nightly jaunts because she’s aching. Part of her soul is empty, restless. She’s searching for a way to connect with this place. What she needs to do is resurrect long-buried memories of the village from before her abduction. Then she’ll be a peace.”

No, that wasn’t it, either. But I didn’t tell my mother that Celestina was scouting the edge of the cliff, searching for a way to escape.

The plateau had steep cliffs on all sides, making it a perfect place for dragons to hide. But that didn’t mean humans never stumbled across our village. There was a hidden and mostly overgrown path that rose sharply up the southern side of the plateau. It was the same path the old lady had taken to reach the manor house during the storm.

Since we were all dragons in the village, we rarely needed that trail. If we wanted to leave the plateau, we flew. I had asked the old lady more than once how she happened to find our hidden trail, but she’d never given a clear answer. She would mention the storm and wave her hand as if that were all the answer I needed. The old nameless human had been good at gathering information from us but never giving anything specific about herself.

I wasn’t surprised Celestina had failed to find the trail. She would have to push through heavy bushes and blackberry brambles to find the opening.

“Why don’t you go to her?” my mother suggested. “She could use a friend.”

Was my mother serious? Trace would rip my head off if I dared approach his precious dragon. “I was heading to Ivy and Gregory’s.”

“Wonderful. Take her with you. She needs to hear Gregory’s tales.”

I reeled back. “Trace would never allow that.”

“I’ll handle Trace. Go on.” My mother gave me a gentle shove toward Celestina. “She needs you.”

I doubted that. But I crossed my arms and headed toward the cliffside where she was leaning precariously over the edge, peering down.

“You’d die if you tried to escape that way,” I said as I approached her.

She spun around. “I wasn’t—”

“You totally were. But I get it. You’ve been brainwashed by the vampires to see us as the villains and them as the heroes.” I kept more than a few arm lengths away from Celestina so Trace wouldn’t worry that I might push her over the edge. Even so, I heard scuffling and angry whispers behind me. “I’m heading over to Gregory’s cottage. He’s the clan’s historian. You’re welcome to come along.”

I walked away, not waiting to see if she’d follow. I expected she wouldn’t. She was too charmed by her vampire to want to listen to the truth. But after I’d gone a few yards, I heard her barely-there footfalls and the swish of her long woolen skirt behind me. “Gregory and Ivy, they’re not…” She walked a little faster. “They’re not having a party at their cottage, are they?”

I tilted my head toward her. “You’ve been to one of their parties?”

She shuddered. “Trace thought it’d be a good way for me to meet his friends.”

“He did? I got the impression that he’d be more protective of you than that. Taking you to one of their parties is the same as throwing one of our lambs to the wolves that hunt the forest below the plateau. The younger dragons don’t always school what they do with their hands.”

“It wasn’t like that. Everyone was nice.” She fell in step with me and rubbed her arms. “I’m sorry about what happened. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about…everything. But you haven’t been around.”

“I’ve been locked away.”

“You’ve been busy?”

“Yeah, something like that.” I guess no one had thought to tell her that I’d been locked away for her safety.

“I wish I had more to do to occupy my time and thoughts. Trace has given me a few lessons on his loom, but he’s been busy with clan matters. He hasn’t had much time to show me much more than how to set up the threads. And he keeps telling me that I need to rest, to heal.”

She still had a heavy bandage around her neck and a sling on her arm.

“You aren’t healed yet?” Come to think of it, she did look unnaturally pale. Dragons could heal themselves so readily, I found it impossible to believe she wasn’t better. The younger dragons suffered much worse injuries during combat training, but then again Celestina wasn’t like the others. And she was more important.

“It’s—” She shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“Sorry about digging my talon into your neck.” She had almost died. I hadn’t really thought of the damage I’d cause. Getting her to stop channeling my magic had been my only priority.

“I’m sorry, too. I promise to be more careful around you. I wouldn’t want to accidentally channel your magic and endanger any more lives.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t want that. Your vampire nearly died. What a shame that would have been.” What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I keep the bite from my voice?

“He isn’t your enemy, Amaya.”

Gods, she actually believed that. We were getting close to the cottage. “How about this? I don’t touch you, and you don’t touch me.”

“Seems like the safe way to go.” She clutched her hands behind her back.

“I don’t want to be your enemy,” I admitted.

“You’re not.”

We’d reached the cottage’s front stoop, but neither of us knocked.

Celestina shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “Trace says that I’m meant to channel your magic. He thinks I should practice controlling your powers”—she drew a long breath—“and you. He says that’s the way we were made.”

“And what do you think?” I was interested to know.

She snorted. “What he says doesn’t make sense. Maybe Gregory can help. I do want to learn more about this clan and about dragons and how dragons interact with others on the continent. Maybe then I would understand.”

Celestina

Gregory was thrilled to find us both at his door. The large, friendly redhead ushered us inside while calling for Ivy to put the kettle on.

Once we were in the living room, Gregory crushed Amaya against his chest in a massive bear hug. “I’m so glad to see you, Amaya. We’ve been worried, haven’t we Ivy?”

Gregory’s equally friendly mate came into the living room from the direction of the kitchen. “I never thought you meant to cause Celestina harm. And look at the two of you together. It’s as it should be.” She poked Gregory’s shoulder. “Let the girl loose already so I can have a go at her.”

She gave Amaya an equally enthusiastic hug. She then framed her hands on Amaya’s chiseled cheeks. “You know we love you to pieces. I told your father he was overreacting when he locked you away.” She glanced over at me. “And look at you, coming around to our humble cottage with Celestina as if the two of you are sisters. I suspect Trace is outside. Should I invite him in?”

“No!” Amaya answered before Ivy even finished that question.

“I don’t think Trace wants me to know that he’s been following me everywhere I go,” I said. “He wants me to think I have the freedom to move about the village.”

“You knew he was there?” Amaya pried herself out of Ivy’s hug.

“Someone as tall as Trace is kind of hard to miss.” And I supposed I shouldn’t mind his presence. While I might have felt anxious to get back to Soren and my friends, I was enjoying getting to know those living atop this desolate plateau. Many of the dragons were like Gregory and Ivy, genuinely friendly and kind. Amaya must have had an incredible childhood being surrounded by a community that loved her. I’d started to envy her until something Ivy had said to Amaya sank in.

“Drix—your father—locked you up for what happened two weeks ago? That’s why I haven’t seen you?” I demanded.

“Trace wanted to execute me, so I think my father was taking the less bloody option when he put me under lock and key.”

How could Amaya sound so nonchalant about members of the village discussing killing her?

“No one would have allowed Trace to harm you.” Gregory tossed his arm over Amaya’s shoulder to give her a quick side hug. I noticed how she flinched from his touch. “You’re our secret weapon. The continent doesn’t know about the terrible power of destruction the midnight dragon wields.”

“That’s why I came to you,” Amaya said. “I have questions.”

“So I heard.” He rubbed his hands together. “Sit. Sit. The tea should be ready soon.”

“I don’t want you holding back information, especially if it concerns me or Celestina. Don’t you agree that we deserve to know? Aren’t you always saying that knowledge lets us become better decision-makers?”

“I am always saying that. And I’m glad to know you’ve been listening,” he said as we all settled into a set of comfortable overstuffed chairs arranged around the blazing fireplace. Ivy left only briefly to fetch the tea kettle. She returned with a tray filled with primitive teacups, a delicate teakettle that bore Earst’s royal seal, and plates of a seeded cake that smelled as if they’d been taken fresh from the oven.

“What kind of information are you searching for?” Ivy asked as she poured the tea.

I lifted the cup and took a tentative sip. The hot drink had a smooth, slightly fruity flavor with a touch of mint. I took another sip and let the drink’s heat fill me.

“Soothing, isn’t it?” Ivy asked.

I nodded.

“It’s my own blend. Good for promoting restful sleep. I’ll send a jar over to Trace’s tomorrow. I have a feeling you could use it.”

I didn’t want to tell her that I wandered at night only because I was searching for a way to get off the plateau, so I nodded and thanked her instead.

“So,” Gregory’s voice boomed. He clapped his large hands together. “What do you want to know?”

“The prophecy,” Amaya answered immediately. “I know it’s vague, but stories never are meant to be taken alone. There are histories and related stories that help give us a clearer picture of the past. The same must be true for the prophecies. So, tell me some of that. What stories were told at the time of the prophecy’s origins? What was happening on the continent when the prophecy was first spoken?”

“I wish the others listened to my lessons as keenly as you do,” Gregory said. “Most of my students dismiss my teachings as useless prattling. Perhaps because you are from the past—as well as you, my dear Celestina—you have a unique interest in the tales from that time.”

I sat forward. “I have always been drawn to the stories about magic and magical creatures, including dragons.”

“I’d be interested in comparing the human’s stories to ours. The victor of any conflict always paints history differently from those who suffer.” Gregory tapped his lips. “But we’ll have plenty of time to chat now that you’re back where you belong.”

I forced a smile to my lips. “There’s a prophecy?”

“A most wondrous one. Would you like to tell it, Amaya?” Gregory leaned over his mate and took a plate of seeded cake from the small table where she’d set the tray. “These smell delicious, dear.” He kissed Ivy on the cheek. The woman flushed pink.

Amaya rolled her eyes. “The two of them are disgusting like this all the time. Like a pair of younglings experiencing their first spring heat.”

Gregory boomed a laugh and then nuzzled Ivy’s cheek. His sinewy movements looked otherworldly, reminding me that while these creatures in this room with me looked human, they were something different, something ancient and primal.

I guzzled what was left of the calming tea. “The prophecy?”

“Right.” Amaya’s eyes glittered. “The moon will burn—twin magics will rise causing borders to shift like sand in a desert when the moonlight dragon returns.”

“With your knowledge of human stories and human histories, what does that prophecy mean to you, Celestina?” Gregory asked. He’d settled back into his chair and was regarding me with a serious expression.

“I’m not sure.” I hurriedly ran through the tales of the War of the Magics and how the vampires defeated the moonlight dragons with a mysterious weapon. The dragons were wiped out. The vampires went on to terrorize the continent until magical humans rebelled and defeated the vampires, beginning an age of humans. Magic was held only by the ruling classes, and the other magical creatures on the continent had retreated into the shadows or disappeared altogether.

Even knowing that the stories weren’t completely correct—Vampires weren’t creatures that only could walk in the night and didn’t live in nests scattered throughout the continent, that they held a kingdom that rivaled the others in wealth and size—I couldn’t picture a future where humans weren’t the dominant power.

The others in the room remained silent, waiting for me to say more. When Amaya started to speak, Gregory raised a staying hand. The silence stretched so long that it began to feel itchy and awkward.

“I’m not sure what it could mean. However, while the dragons hide themselves away because they’re afraid the outside world will destroy the few that remain, the humans and vampires live in terror of what the dragons can do to them.” The vision the seer had forced on me where the capital city of Sukoon was burning, and all my friends were dead, flashed in my mind. I hugged myself. “It wouldn’t take many dragons to decimate a city.”

“Interesting.” Gregory finished off his piece of seeded cake and licked the crumbs from his fingers. “I think fate had a hand in causing us to lose you to the humans for such a long time. You needed to live with the humans for the prophecy to bloom. No one in the village would ever suggest waging war on an entire continent like you just did. But perhaps that’s exactly what is needed to shift the borders.”

“I-I wasn’t suggesting…” Watching any city burn—witnessing the deaths of countless innocent lives—was the last thing I wanted to happen.

Amaya smiled. Her teeth had elongated into sharp weapons. “So begins the new age of the dragons.”