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Chapter Fourteen

Part Thirteen

Karen listened as Lydia laid out her idea to Rilletta. Part of her couldn’t believe they were actually considering this, but it did make a crazy kind of sense – if they could trust the River Singer, and if she was right to trust her dragon allies. Karen wasn’t at all sure that she wanted them to be trustworthy.
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Chapter Fourteen

Part Twelve

Lydia sat in her seat in the meeting chamber and stared out of the window. They were waiting for her father and Queen Valeria to join them after speaking with Yemi. The view across the treetops was breathtaking but she was feeling out of sorts. Her mother must have noticed it, because she laid a hand on her forearm.

“Are you feeling alright, Lyd?” Read the rest of this entry »

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Side Story Previous | Side Story Next

As with the previous part – eight years earlier than main story and spoilers.

Side Story One

Family Holiday

Part Two

A startled yelp from Lydia and a loud splash brought her awake with a start. She looked around in time to see Matt fishing their red-haired daughter and her net out of a particularly deep rock pool.

“We told you to be careful,” Sonia scolded Lydia once Matt brought her back to the deckchairs.

“I was being careful!” Lydia protested. “I slipped because something grabbed me!” Read the rest of this entry »

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Chapter Fourteen

Part Eleven

Estara’s palace was made of living trees grown and woven together much as  Waldhafen was, and the air was filled with the heady perfume of the flowers surrounding it. A single serpent like dragon coiled around the trees trained into the door arch. Virian nodded to the dragon, who uncoiled enough to nod back and flick its tail at the door, which swung open.
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Chapter Fourteen

Part Ten

The smell of hot chocolate tickled Valeria’s nose as Matthias came back into the study in the treehouse. She was sitting with Yemi, who had been the only conscious one when they found the group that Rilletta had told them about. The girl seemed shaken up by what had happened. She’d screamed and nearly fainted when she caught sight of Matthias, but seemed to have calmed down now. Valeria suspected he’d nudged her but they needed to hear the girl’s story so she couldn’t blame him.

“Here, drink this. You look like you need it.” He pushed a mug in to Yemi’s hands. The girl looked at it dubiously.

“It smells kind of plantlike,” she said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Side Story Next

This side story takes place eight years prior to the Land of Myth arc. It does however contain spoilers for some of the twists to date. Please bear that in mind  if you haven’t read the main story yet. You have been warned.

Side Story One

Family Holiday

Part One

Lydia was sticking the little net into the rock pool with the boundless enthusiasm of a young child. Sonia watched her eight year old daughter with a smile for a few moments before shouting broke out behind her. She turned with a sigh to chide Daniel and Karen, who were squabbling over the sandcastle they were building. Mediating between warring children was part of the family holiday experience that she hadn’t missed. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chapter Fourteen

Part Nine

The silence dragged out uncomfortably. Ema frowned at them thoughtfully but made no move to draw her weapons, so Kyle waited.

“I didn’t think the blue dragons got along with the purple ones,” she said finally. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chapter Fourteen

Part Eight

“Are you sure they’ll be okay?” Darya asked anxiously. He and Kyle had left Yemi and the others at the Waldhafen border before heading into the purple dragon’s territory.

“Of course,” Kyle said. “Ystelyan sent a message to Rilletta to let her know they were going to be there. She’ll make sure the council knows. I’m sure they’ll send someone to find them.”
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Chapter Fourteen

Part Seven

Salia was woken by Karilya bouncing on her bed. “Wake up! Mummy says that we can have a day off from classes to show Coromel around the wing.” She sounded happy and excited.

“Buh?” Salia blinked sleepily at her as she processed that. “I thought you liked classes?”

“I do! But I like days off as well!” She bounced some more. “Come on! Breakfast is nearly ready.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Chapter Fourteen

Part Six

Mela wasn’t sure which surprised her more: how awake she felt, the number of people staring at her, or the fact that there was a semi-conscious dragon slumped in Sarah Tyler’s arms.

“Yeah, I’ll explain that in a minute,” Lucas said, “But we need to get your screen back up before you pass out again.” He sat on the edge of her bed and touched the tip of his fingers to her forehead. “You do it like this.” An image of threads emerging from the centre of her being and weaving into a net around her dropped into her mind. “It’s symbolic, of course, but do you understand?” Read the rest of this entry »