Page 67 of The Malice of Moons and Mages (The Broken Bonds of Magic #1)

Sixty-Seven

Audra

Western Mage

P ain blistered behind Audra’s eyes. She must have been unconscious for a long time. Her mouth was dry as sand. Each breath caused her ribs and head to protest. But beneath the physical pain and exhaustion was something worse—absence.

She reached for Lua and found nothing. Her small thread spun outward, but it slammed back into her chest. The way wasn’t blocked; it was gone. A road washed violently away without a trace.

A dark canopy draped around her to the warm ground. Dim light slipped beneath the edges. Something wriggled in the dark beside her.

A thin mouse raised its whiskers an inch from her nose. It stood on its back feet to get a better view of her.

“You left me,” she whispered. It squeaked and scampered beneath the edge of the canopy, disappearing into the light. “You said you wouldn’t.”

Sobs rolled like waves trying to drown her again. She curled into a ball, gasping until she could barely breathe.

The light shifted. The canopy rose a few inches. One edge angled up, allowing a fresh breeze to meet her wet cheeks. She studied the enclosure’s warmth, the gentle rise and fall over her. It wasn’t a canopy after all, but an old friend whose wings had blessed her.

Her fingers trailed over the leathery flesh, tracing his scales where they overlapped. She could tell Ferin was awake by his breathing. Though he sheltered her beneath one wing, he offered her privacy in his own way. He’d always been good at that.

They’d been bonded since Pangol. But he’d never been strong enough to leave Zin’s protection before. When the moons’ spell struck him, he’d needed a mage to survive. The child who carried him had to do. Neither of them had ever had a choice in it. And she’d searched for ways to heal him ever since. Now she was the one who needed care, and Ferin could do nothing except protect her while she cried.

She patted his side softly. “Can you speak?”

When the wing lifted, Starling light blinded her. Ferin stared down with shining green eyes, his response trickling down their connection.

“Not yet.” Audra leaned against him for balance as she struggled to stand. He was bigger than she’d ever imagined he would get but still only half the size of Zin in her true form. The jade was nearly invisible beneath a verdant scale along his throat.

They were perched on top of a tall cliff. The shoreline below was ringed with reefs and sand bars, making it practically inaccessible by boat. She wondered how close they were to the edge of the world. The blue-green Empyrean spread to the horizon beneath a partly cloudy sky. The thickest part of Raia rotated slowly above. Audra wasn’t familiar with this island, but Ferin must have brought her here for a reason. That thought knotted her stomach.

She was glad they hadn’t gone home. Zin’s deception had served its purpose, but the next words Audra had for her would be filled with anger. And Ferin probably needed to stretch his wings outside of her territory.

She leaned against him, heard the familiar beat of his heart. Her voice shook. “I had him. I could have saved him. But I wasn’t...”

Ferin nudged her gently. Tears threatened to consume her again. She breathed in the sea air, let the shine warm her face. “He’s alive. I know it. ”

They watched the sky change colors as Starling slipped behind Raia’s ring. A shadow covered the island and surrounding sea. When the wind changed direction, it brought a hint of thick, acrid musk, like the spires or the barn Zin slept in. Another dragon was near. Where there was a dragon, there might be another Western mage.

Dark clouds wove together in the distance. She could taste the storm’s approach. Lua said he’d drawn the clouds together. It sounded impossible at the time, but something told her it was within her power now.

Silver and emerald rose to her fingertips, spiraling together and reaching up.

“No.” She pulled it back even as the silver resisted. Somewhere in the wintery northern lands, Lua was powerless and alone. Determination bloomed in her chest. “Maybe all that thieving was just practice.” She wiped her cheeks and took a deep breath. “After all, how hard can it be to steal a mage?”