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In Kyle’s experience, even ancient dragons like Ystelyan rarely looked older than middle age in their human forms. But Darlryan was especially young looking. It made sense, given that he’d said in Waldhafen he’d been in transition and couldn’t be long out of maturity. Yet even knowing that, Kyle’s mind still rebelled at the fact that Darlryan looked around his own age and was dressed in very human jeans and t-shirt, rather than the robes most of his peers favoured.

“Kyle-alran, you’re staring,” Ystelyan told him quietly. Kyle flushed and looked away making Darlryan chuckle. Read the rest of this entry »

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“Mum!” Ian came careening into the sitting room with Pensura in tow. He had his tablet in one hand. “Turn on the news! We have to do something!”

Lydia grabbed the remote and turned on the BBC news. Sonia, in the meantime, put a hand on her nephew’s shoulder. She must have been calming him because he stopped shaking though he still looked upset.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Read the rest of this entry »

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Andrew watched Ystelyan’s imps go anxiously. He didn’t fully understand what his father’s message had meant, but he could tell it was bad and had something to do with why Anthony had lost control.

“Why would anyone do that? It’s so cruel.” Naria paused and gave a horrified whimper. “And we’d better test me for this infection, my mirian, given that I drained some of his energy. I don’t even want to think what this would do to one of us.”

Ystelyan’s face tightened and he nodded. “That’s a good thought, Naria-alra,” he said. “It shouldn’t be contagious here, but you were exposed on Taloa so you could be infected. Mal can look when she’s finished with the children. It seems to be quite a slow progression, so we have time.” He looked up as Lyrrekka returned. “That didn’t take long.” Read the rest of this entry »

Start | Chapter Twenty Two Part One | Index | Chapter Twenty Two Part Three

“How do I feel?” David frowned. “Strange. I’m not sure how to explain it.” He closed his eyes to think about it. Only then did he realise that they had started to tingle. The first odd physical sensation he’d had. When he mentioned it Penny tilted his head back.

“Open you eyes and let me have a look then,” she said. David did as she asked and she immediately gave a low whistle. “Now that’s interesting. you said that his grandmother was Leannaun?”

“It seems so anyway,” Liam said. “Why?” Read the rest of this entry »

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“It is contagious, but Selene rather than Anthony appears to have been infected first,” Sarah said when she came back from Selene’s room. “Why would anyone infect an ember with such a thing? It wouldn’t even have any effect except to make them snappish. Unless…” She trailed off and pressed her hands to her mouth.

“Unless?” Matthias said.

“Unless they knew what was going to happen and are setting the embers up to explode when their powers emerge.” She shuddered violently. “But why? What would anyone gain from such a thing?” Read the rest of this entry »

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Xeria pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly and nodded. “I don’t know everything, but I’ll tell you what I do know.” She paused as Malindra hurried over. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll live – I’ve had worse. Please tend to my children first.”

“As you wish, Xeria-alra.” Malindra inclined her head to Xeria before leading the two children over to the other table. Xeria watched her examine their injuries for a moment then turned back to Ystelyan.

“Xanteria has had a bit of an obsession with Taloa for as long as I’ve known her, though she’s always tried to hide it. But about nine trayinri ago she started being more open about it-”

Read the rest of this entry »

Start | Chapter Twenty One Part Three | Index | Chapter Twenty Two Part Two

Liam and Penny were busy checking over the sleeping young woman the others had rescued from Ragnar so David sat quietly against the wall of the derelict church and watched them through the fog that was creeping back into his head.

He wasn’t sure how long he spent sitting there but he slowly became aware of a silvery choral music in the distance. At first he thought he might be imagining it but as he cocked his head to listen it became clearer – though still faint – and sliced through the mental fog dragging him back to clarity. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the choral chanting but could make out few details beyond its beckoning beauty and none of the words. Read the rest of this entry »

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“Are you sure he should be out of his room?” Sarah asked flatly as Sonia, Karen and Lydia lead Anthony into Selene’s room. “What if he loses control and attacks someone again?.”

“It’s fine, Sal,” Sonia said. “I wouldn’t have let him come here if weren’t sure he’ll keep control this time – and that I can lock him down on the off chance I’m wrong about that. He was worried about Selene so I brought him here to let him see that she’s okay.”

“Humph, you’re still too soft,” Sarah said. “I’d have let him stew about it a while.” Read the rest of this entry »

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The dinner was trout with herb butter stuffing which melted in the mouth. It reminded Andrew of the way his father cooked trout so much that he couldn’t resist commenting on it. To his surprise, both Ystelyan and Naria laughed.

“It is the way your father cooks trout, Drew,” Naria said, sounding amused. “Both Halindan and I liked it so much when he cooked it while we were collared that we took note of the recipe and passed it on. Halindan and I were in a terrible state when he found us at Elapyron. They hadn’t been feeding us either way.” Her expression became solemn. “I wonder why he didn’t just kill us rather than spending so long nursing us back to health, given how he felt about dragons? I mean yes, we were useful once we were healthy again, but…” Read the rest of this entry »

Start | Chapter Twenty One Part Two | Index | Chapter Twenty Two Part One

“Damn it! No!” Leisa snarled as Ragnar vanished into the trees. Even injured and in daylight Ragnar would be able to easily outrun them not Anna was not weighing him down.

“Worry about him later, Leisa,” Sarah said as she knelt down by Anna. “We still have his scent so we can track him down any time and there’s more important things to worry about here.” She brushed Anna’s hair out of her eyes and frowned. “But a none full moon and partial first shift? That is not good.” Read the rest of this entry »