The Caged Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 1) Dan Michaelson (online e reader .TXT) 📖

When I had come into the forest before, I could’ve sworn that I had seen something. Maybe that was this creature.

“The mesahn was trying to attack the caravan,” I said, thinking of the scratch marks that I had seen on the wagons. “Those men were concerned about it.”

“As they should be,” she said. “The mesahn are dangerous and unpredictable. Come on. You saw the woman leave?” Elaine asked, eyeing me.

I nodded in response.

“I need your help finding her. She’s from the Wilds,” Elaine said.

“No one lives in the Wilds,” Joran said, starting to laugh.

“Just like no one lives in the forest here? Just because you haven’t seen it and experienced it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. And I need to find her.”

“We need to help his sister, not some random woman.”

And who would probably end up being captured by the Djarn if anything.

That might be better than running into the Vard.

She pressed her lips into a tight frown. “Seeing as how you got me out of there, I might as well give you some answers. At least explain why it would be a fool’s errand to go after that caravan and your sister, if she’s even still alive.”

“She’s still alive,” I said softly.

There was a dark expression in her eyes as she swept her gaze around the forest before turning her attention back to me. “I hope for your sake she is.”

13

We followed Elaine through the forest, heading in the general direction of the wagons, though not quite following the Djarn path like we had before. As we navigated through the trees, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was overlooking something.

I looked over to Joran, but he kept his gaze fixed on her. “What is it?”

“Something’s not quite right,” he said.

“Obviously. The Vard decided to attack the Academy caravan on the plains and capture a dragon mage.” I shook my head, thinking of the power that I’d seen back in the city during the testing. How could anyone overpower that? “And we are somehow stuck in the middle of it.”

“ We’ve chosen to get into the middle of it. And I’m starting to think that maybe we need to get away.” Joran’s voice had taken on more of an edge to it. Fear filled his voice.

“Not until we get Alison back.”

“If she can’t get Alison back, then no one can. I know that going to the marshal might not make a lot of sense to you, but that seems better to me.” He looked at me, practically begging me to leave the forest. “At least the marshal can get word to the king about the Vard attack. They need to know.”

“I’m going after Alison.”

“You can’t do that. We need to get help.”

I stopped and looked over at him. “You wanted us to get help. This seems to me better help than going to the marshal,” I said.

“Is it?” He nodded to Elaine. “Look at her. You saw what she did. How do you think that the Vard managed to grab ahold of her? What do you think they’ll do if they get a hold of one of us?”

I shook my head. “I don’t really know.”

“And then they destroyed the entire caravan.” He looked over to me. “When my mother talked about the Vard, she never mentioned anything like that before.”

“What do you mean? ”

Joran looked away.

I grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at me. “Joran? What are you keeping from me?”

Joran looked over for a moment before looking down at the ground, as if unwilling to meet my gaze. “I’m not keeping anything from you.”

“It seems like you are.” I frowned, thinking of some of the conversations that I’d had with himand some of the conversations that I’d overheard. “Your mother is one of the Vard sympathizers, isn’t she?”

He let out a soft sigh. “I don’t know if I would call her a sympathizer or actually one of the Vard,” he said, making a point of not looking at me, but keeping his voice low enough that Elaine couldn’t hear it. Joran glanced over. “Not everybody wants to be a part of the kingdom. My mother is from an older generation. She misses when we were independent, when we were allowed to rule ourselves.”

Elaine glanced back at us, shooting us an annoyed look. “Would the two of you be quiet? We must find that girl before the Vard capture her again.”

“Did you know what they were planning? Did you know they’d go after my sister?”

“I don’t think she was a part of what happened to your sister,” Joran said. “I don’t really know what they do, other than talk about what they consider a time before, when they didn’t have to worry about the king.”

“The king leaves us well enough alone.”

“Out on the plains, maybe, but it’s different in Berestal,” Joran said.

“But you live out on the plains,” I said. It felt ridiculous that I had to have this conversation with him now, and in this place.

“I do. My mother came from the city, though. It’s different for her. She still has family there. I told you about my family, what happened with them and the—” he lowered his voice “—the Vard. We were nobles. I don’t think my mother ever gave up on that.”

We reached a small clearing as Elaine motioned for us to stop. I glanced over to Joran, not sure how to feel about what he shared. I knew some of the people of Berestal viewed the king as a dangerous influence. Maybe he was. I didn’t have a strong feeling one way or the other. I didn’t know what to make of what he’d told me, but now wasn’t the time to try and process all of it. I had to keep my focus on finding Alison. Elaine gathered a pile of small branches before holding her hands out in front of them, and then a small fire began to crackle. “Take a seat,” she said.

I flicked a gaze to Joran briefly.