Page 38 of The Storm of the Empire (Flyers Of The First Kingdom #3)

THIRTY-SEVEN

HAZEL

“ H e’s getting worse.”

“Still?” Kiera and Jaxus said at the same time.

“Yes, especially if we’re apart.”

Kiera looked up from the book she was reading. “Apart how?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Like, distance or mentally—what kind of apart do you mean?”

“Distance, I think. Or those are the times I notice it. I hate to admit this, but I’ve been spending half my time in his head to make sure he’s not revealing this too publicly. So I can tell he’s worse then than when we are together.”

Kiera’s expression turned pained. “You’ve got to be exhausted.”

“I am.” I didn’t know how to ask what I needed to, so I just tried to spit it out. “If he keeps getting worse at this rate…” I couldn’t bring myself to finish the question.

“You think he’ll be lost to it soon?” Jaxus asked when Kiera didn’t speak.

She smoothed a hand over the page, avoiding both our eyes. “There is no way to tell. It might level out.”

“Do you really believe that?” I asked, needing the answer.

“It’s hard to know. I’m reading all the material we have on foresight, but there’s not a lot.” she sighed. “This feels like Nyx all over again.”

I bit my lip to stop myself from weeping at the thought.

Kiera was perceptive, though, and tried to reassure me. “If I need to go home to look for more, I will.”

“How long can we wait?”

“How many episodes is he having a day?” Kiera asked, tapping the page of the book.

“A dozen, maybe more. And that’s not including the dreams.”

“Are they all like the first?” She exhaled. “Or worse?”

“Most are not as bad as the first, I guess. I’m not really sure. He doesn’t really like to talk about it.”

“Even with you?” Jaxus cut in, confused.

“He can tell it’s worrying me.”

“So you spy?” he asked, fixing me in his gaze.

“Sometimes. I feel terrible.” I picked up the stack of reports, needing a distraction, but nothing worked.

“What have you two tried?” Kiera sat forward, leaning her elbows on the desk. She’d been working double time between her duties with the healers, her place in the army, and now researching foresight. I felt bad that because of us, everyone was pulling extra weight, but I had to help Luka.

“Not much. We haven’t had time. What if we put the pendant back on him? Would that slow it down? He seemed to be able to use it a little even with that on.”

Kiera grew very serious. “You realize what that will do to you right?”

“What?”

“You saw how Nyx was with Kol missing. That was all seemingly done with a similar kind of block. The pendant and the shackles were all made with Draco Fulgurite.”

“But it was fine before. Could it be that because I’m a storm dragon, it doesn’t affect me the same?”

Kiera shook her head. “That was before you melded. Now that the connection is there, you can’t just cut it off. Even if the method doesn’t disrupt your magic like it does others, the loss of the bond would still almost destroy you.” She looked frantic.

I held up my hands. “Okay. That’s a bad idea. I get it.”

Kiera turned to Jaxus. “Have we thought of any of the more advanced instructors, to see if they can get a read on his magic? I know Rakan did something like that with Zaria.”

“Nyx doesn’t trust anyone else to be involved right now, and he said he doesn’t want the King to find out yet. The King is pushing back against a lot of his decisions of late.” Jaxus sighed, taking the stack of reports right out of my hands. “If proximity to you helps, we have to keep you two together more often. At least that might slow it down.”

“I think he’s right. It will only benefit you two. Besides, you need more time to learn to train his power.” Kiera looked at Jaxus. “You have to give them more time.”

“I’m trying. The King expects everyone to be doing their duty, and because they are already melded, it’s hard to argue with him.” Jaxus rubbed his forehead. “Maybe I can get Nyx involved. Get our heads together to see if we can come up with a reason. Or figure out another duty we can claim for you two as cover.”

“That would be helpful. Thank you.” I just didn’t know if it would help enough. Luka had come a long way in a short time with shielding his thoughts and even better than he already was about sharing his power with me. But how could we train something we knew nothing about?

Not even Kiera could find any information on what to do with foresight.

“Let me know if anything changes?” Kiera came around the desk to grab my hand.

“I will. Is there any update on Kol? How is the mind healing going?”

“It’s slow. They need him to wake up to do more. He’s too shielded and trapped in himself. Gran thinks he did that to protect himself.” Kiera squeezed my hand. “He may never wake up, and we have to be prepared to lose him all over again. Nyx as well.”

“No!” I gasped. I couldn’t accept losing them both, and we couldn’t do this without Nyx. “Who will handle the King if that happens?” My mind reeled.

“We don’t know.”

“You healed Nyx once—can’t you do the same thing?” I pressed my palms into my eyes. Everything was falling apart, and I felt guilty for being worried about my own mate.

“I don’t know. This is worse almost. The guilt is eating him alive. It’s not physical or magical, so none of us know how to help him with it.”

“Are you looking for answers?” I asked, knowing in my heart she was spending more time on Luka.

“Some.”

The bells rang, and I jumped to my feel. “I have to get to a meeting.”

Kiera grabbed me before I could leave. “Do you remember the lessons on syphoning magic to share with your ryder?”

I closed one eye. “Yes, mostly.”

“You could try that but in the other direction. Instead of giving magic to Luka, syphon his off to pull it away from him and discard it. If he gets too bad, try it.”

“What? Why?” I searched her face. “You want me to starve him of magic? It could kill him.”

“It might also snap him out of it. All this functions on power. If he has less access to his power, it might just work.”

“Wouldn’t that be just like putting the pendant back on?” I challenged, the idea making me sick.

“The pendant will make you go mad. This, at least, you have control over.”

“I don’t know if I can do that to him.”

“Won’t it be better than losing him?”

I nodded. I didn’t know what else to say.

She hesitated. “But by the Goddess. be careful. It’s a fine line. If you take too much, you could kill him”

“I know.”

I walked in on Nyx and Luka going back and forth, but I wasn’t quite sure about what.

Nyx sighed and waved me further into Kol’s room. “Do you need him?” he asked absently.

“No, we have a meeting scheduled about the dragon force depletion estimates. Did you forget?”

Nyx scrubbed his hand over his face. “Of course. Sorry.”

I looked between them. “Am I interrupting something?”

“No Luka was just updating me on his intelligence gathering. I’m still trying to piece everything together into one big picture somehow.”

“Any joy?” I knew it was a stupid question.

“No. Just more loose ends,” Nyx sighed.

“We were just talking about the eggs,” Luka said.

“What about them?”

“I just keep coming back to the fact that they must be taking them to Kerani. It’s the only thing that makes any sense. According to Faolan, they’ve had this one isolated breeding pool for centuries. How else would they still be surviving if they’re not getting new blood somehow?”

“Is this about Alora’s egg again?” I watched him with so much love. I knew he was starting to obsess over it because he promised we wouldn’t let it out of our sight, and it was gone. But that was not on him, and he didn’t need that extra pressure right now.

“It’s about all the eggs, but yes. I promised you we’d get it back. I’m just trying to find a way.”

“But we have no idea if they even went there. Never mind how to get in to take a look.”

“I talked to Faolan. He knows the tunnels. He could guide us,” Luka offered. “And it’s the only place the egg could be. Think about it. It’s still near the storms, so it could get the charge to stay healthy.”

Both Nyx and I gaped at him.

“You’re serious about trying to get in?”

“I’m serious about finding out what is going on and saving the stolen eggs if we can. “

Nyx shook his head. “If the King finds you or any of the dragons missing again, I don’t know what he will do. He can’t be reasoned with.”

“I was just talking to Jaxus about finding some time for Luka and me to work on his power. Maybe he could provide a reason for us to be gone for the day, but—” I cut myself off and shook my head. “I don’t know why I’m trying to help you put something like this together, I think it’s a bad idea to go into such a place when we don’t even know the eggs are there.”

“But if they are, we could save them!” Had he gone mad?

“And we could also get ourselves killed.” I couldn’t believe he was entertaining this.

Luka looked at me then with such pity. Like he was already accepting the idea that his days were numbered with this power he couldn’t control. I refused to entertain that notion, though.

I stepped towards him and took his face in my hands. “We will find a way to get through this,” I promised him. “You need to keep positive and not throw yourself into things because you feel you have to do some good at any cost.”

He started to argue but then went rigid. His jaw tightened, and his eyes went that frosty white.

“Luka?” I stroked his cheek. He didn’t respond. “Luka!” I shook him gently.

Nothing.

Then I remembered what Kiera suggested and decided I had nothing to lose by trying it here in the healer’s wing. At least help was not far away.

I centered myself and felt for his power. It was gathered in his chest, and I could feel the control it had over him. He didn’t have the strength to pull back from it. I reached my power into him and drew his, pushing it into the stones at our feet to get it away from his body. There was so much! I kept drawing and drawing, afraid that at any moment I would reach the bottom of his reserve, and he would be left with nothing, But as the load got lighter, I felt him regaining control. Was it working?

Luka was still lost in the episode. His brow forming a deep crease. His unseeing eyes scanned the space between us, and his breath came in short pants. Then he gasped and finally snapped out of it, leaving all of us confused.

But then he spoke: “I know where the egg is.”

“How?” I asked, but of course I knew.

“I saw it.”

“Foresight isn’t firm. Things can change,” Nyx warned, looking as leery as I felt.

“It doesn’t matter. Now that I’ve seen it, we have to try.” He looked at me to back him up, pleading with his eyes. “We can’t leave Alora’s egg there knowing where it is. If you don’t want to go, I will go alone.”

I jerked back. “Absolutely not! I won’t let you go alone.”

“Then we go together. I think with your storm power disturbing the fields and my foresight looking ahead, we could get in and out without being seen. We should be safe.”

“We can’t just bust into Kerani! We don’t know the first thing about it.”

“You could take Faolan,” Nyx suggested.

I spun and glared at him. “Don’t you get on board with this. It’s madness!”

Nyx shrugged.

Luka pulled me back to him. “If it fixes one thing in this whole mess, is it not at least worth trying?”

“You want me to agree to break into a place which is bound and determined to keep the rest of us out with you like this? You’re getting worse.”

“I’m not going to get better.” His words echoed something I’d already known, but him saying it out loud wrecked me.

“Please don’t say that.” My voice hitched.

Nyx cleared his throat. “You two stay here with Kol. I’m going to gather Jaxus and Faolan so we can see if we can work something out.”

I nodded, not taking my eyes off Luka, as I heard Nyx slip from the room

“We both have to face the fact that our days our limited, like anyone else,” Luka said. “Ours just maybe more limited than others.”

“Promise me you’ll hold on as long as you can,” I barely managed.

He searched my face. “I promise. I won’t leave you a second before I have to.”

I pressed my forehead to his. “I believe you.”

“I know you do.” He rubbed his nose over mine. “I’m not as bad when I’m with you.”

“I know. Why are the fates so cruel?” I asked, not ready to let go of him.

“What do you mean?” He cradled my face so I’d look at him.

“To give you to me only to take you away.” I tried to fight my tears, but they leaked down my cheeks.

“Whatever we are, our roots have always been connected. I feel that now. We are different bodies, but our roots are growing together. We grow together, we weather the storms together, and we change seasons together. Our magic comes from those roots. There is no separating them. No one and nothing could drag you away from me if they tried. Even if I lose myself to my visions, I remain yours.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.” He wiped my tears with his thumbs.

We stayed silent for a long moment.

“I’ll go,” I told him. I needed to do this for Alora, and I knew he’d go with or without me. His heart was too good to leave a wrong he could right.

“Okay,” he whispered. “And Hazel.”

“Yes?”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily. I’m sticking around.”

I wanted to believe him.