Page 3 of The Fire Apprentice (Sylvania #5)

A dragon. An actual , live dragon was flying over Woods Rest—no, circling over Woods Rest. Circling, as if it were about to land.

Jane turned to Ro, who stood in the open doorway behind her. He gazed up at the thing in the sky with wide eyes and his lips parted, a look of reverence.

The dragon was so close its scales sparkled green in the sunlight. Light flashed off the claws on its feet, which were tucked against its chest and underneath its belly but began extending downward. Now several people shouted in the village square. The dragon coasted down and disappeared behind the buildings across from her.

Jane’s heart thumped and unease flowed through her gut. She started up the lane toward the square, hastening her steps as the shouting increased. Wells stepped out his door as she passed but she didn’t stop. She exited the lane into the crowded square. Everyone was staring in the same direction.

Toward her house.

The dragon hovered above the roofs of the old smithy and the neighbors’ cottages. It flapped its wings hard, propelling itself upward, up and into the sky. Its back legs were down as if it had been standing on them, and the claws on one front foot were splayed open, while the claws on the other were closed like a cage. And something was inside.

Jane ran.

The dragon flapped its wings and headed away. Her feet pounded on the road as her house came into view. It was still standing, the stones solid and comforting. Mouser was gone from the front porch.

The children’s wailing reached her before she’d gotten the door open. She dashed down the hall to the kitchen. Maryanne had the children clustered around her on the floor by the door, her arms around the group of them as they clung to her and cried. All of them were crying, even Amare, the oldest at seven winters and the toughest.

“What happened?” Jane’s pulse pounded as she gasped for air. She counted the heads of the children—one, two, three, four, and Jacob squashed in the middle. Five heads.

Elle was missing.

“It took her,” Amare blurted out, turning his tear-stained face to Jane. “The monster took Elle.”

Dizziness swelled over Jane but she held on to the doorframe until her view steadied. She didn’t have time to fall apart. She had to find Elle.

She entered the kitchen and crouched beside the others. Maryanne was crying with them. Jane touched Amare’s head. He sniffled, tears leaking from his eyes.

“What happened, Amare? What did you see?”

“We were in the meadow.” He hiccuped. “We thought it was a pretty bird.”

“It was in the sky?” Jane prompted him.

“It was flapping, and its legs came out, and Elle was on the grass.”

“It picked her up,” Maryanne whispered. “I looked out the window and it had its claws around her.”

“She was waving at it,” Deka said quietly, peeking out from behind her brother. “She smiled at it.”

“It took her and flew away,” Maryanne finished.

Jane sat back on the floor. A dragon had taken Elle? Dragons weren’t even real—they were a myth the old folks talked about, creatures that lived in the mountains and stole misbehaving children. No one ever actually saw one.

But fairies had been a myth, too. Until they showed up and ruined everything.

And Jane had seen the dragon. Maryanne had seen it take Elle. This was happening. She’d only be wasting time if she went outside to call for her child.

She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled as her mind focused on one thing: rescue Elle. But how? The dragon had flown away. It could be taking Elle anywhere. And what was the dragon going to do with her? Did dragons eat people?

Jane shuddered and refused to consider it. She had to find Elle. She needed help. Someone in Woods Rest had to know about dragons—maybe one of the elders. She’d find someone who could help.

She pulled herself up using the edge of the stove. The dough in its bowl had risen against the towel covering it. Only an hour ago she’d been kneading it as Elle played safely outside. Each plate on the shelf and each shoe by the door seemed uncommonly sharp. The bright yard outside was exactly the same as an hour ago. But a dragon had come and taken Elle.

Jane turned to Maryanne and the children with their tear-streaked faces. Usually Jane was the emotional one, tearing up if she made a mistake or anyone laughed at her. But now her mind was clear as it worked to form the best plan. She’d experienced this clarity once before, the time Elle fell in the mill pond. Her emotions had vanished as she ran to save her child. The tinsmith’s apprentice had simply gotten to Elle first.

Jane licked her lips. “I’ll go find a grange elder,” she told Maryanne, “or a peacekeeper. Maybe they know something. Maybe someone in the village saw which direction the dragon took Elle, or maybe one of the villagers who’s been to the mine knows something about where the dragons live.”

Maryanne stared over the heads of the children with glistening eyes. They darted to look over Jane’s shoulder and widened.

“I can help.”

Jane whirled toward the deep voice. Ro stood in the kitchen doorway, his hands holding the frame. Away from the smithy he looked darker, as if a black cloud of coal dust clung to him.

“I can help you find the dragon,” he said, quiet and calm.

“How?”

“I’ve been in the mountains. I know where the dragons are.”

Maryanne straightened up, herding the children behind her. All of them gaped at Ro. Maryanne was shaking as she said, “Won’t it be too late?”

Ro stepped into the kitchen. “Too late for what?”

“Won’t it kill her as soon as it gets back to its lair?”

“Kill her?” Ro squinted at Maryanne. “Never.”

“But it had her in its claws.”

Ro shook his head. “A dragon would never harm a child, human or fairy.”

Jane’s heart thudded to a stop and Maryanne froze. Did he know about the children being half fairies? The villagers knew, but Master Smith wasn’t likely to gossip about it with his new apprentice.

Maryanne wiped the tears off her cheeks and hoisted herself to her feet. Ro had said the F word. And as usual, hearing it had brought on Maryanne’s anger.

“Of course it’s a fairy thing,” she snapped. “I should have known. Everything bad that happens to us involves fairies.”

“Maryanne,” Jane said, injecting calm into her voice, “you know it’s not that simple. Let’s focus on getting Elle back.”

Maryanne shook her head. She pointed at Amare. “Go upstairs,” she said quietly. “All of you. Take Jacob.” She watched as the children shuffled toward the back staircase and climbed out of sight.

She spun back toward Ro. “Why did the dragon take her?”

To his credit, Ro hadn’t winced once during Maryanne’s outburst. “Dragons form a bond with children who possess fire magic,” he said.

“Fire magic?”

“The ability to touch fire without burning. And to infuse its power into objects. It’s how the fairies make their fire powder.”

“So you’re saying,” Maryanne said, crossing her arms, “that dragons snatch fairy children and no one minds?”

“The dragon won’t hurt her,” Ro repeated. “Dragons don’t hurt children. They simply teach the children to use their magic. She...” He hesitated.

“What?” Jane asked softly when Maryanne stayed silent.

“Elle might have called to the dragon.”

Her daughter talked to flowers, and now she’d called a dragon? This was what Jane got for not minding when Elle drifted off in her imaginary world or said fanciful things. Maryanne had been right.

“I should have stopped her from talking to the daffodils,” Jane blurted out.

“Jane...” Ro began, stepping toward her, but Maryanne moved forward and blocked him.

“How do you know all this?” Maryanne asked, her eyes narrowing. “And how do you know Elle’s name?” She turned her glare on Jane. “Did you tell him?”

“No,” Jane said. “I didn’t even tell him my...”

She faltered and grabbed on to Maryanne’s shoulder to keep herself upright. In front of them, Ro lowered his hands to his sides, his fingertips lifted as if to placate a raging animal.

“You’re a fairy, aren’t you?” Maryanne hissed.

Ro nodded.

Maryanne pushed Jane back. “What do you really look like?”

Ro blinked and his eyes became green, the same color as the children’s. As sunlight shone through the windows, his skin shimmered, slightly pearlescent, but otherwise he looked the same. “This is what I look like.”

“Why are you here? Did you know the dragon was coming?”

“No.”

“We can’t trust him,” Maryanne said to Jane. “We should go to the peacekeepers.”

“They won’t know where to look for her,” Ro said. “Dragons live on the tallest peaks. There are no roads to their dens.” He focused past Maryanne to Jane. “I can find her.”

Jane held on to Maryanne’s arms, easing around her. She forced herself to peer into Ro’s green eyes. She always trusted the wrong people. She had no intuition when it came to people’s motives. But what if Ro actually did know where the dragons lived?

“Can you really find her?” she asked him.

“Jane, no,” Maryanne said, but Jane focused on Ro.

He gazed straight back. “I swear on every rowan tree in the forest, I will try to find her and bring her home to you.”

Jane dipped her head. “Thank you. But I’m going too.”