Chapter Six
Wizards didn’t automatically know how to handle all forms of dragon magic. It required training, practice, skill.
And Barnabas had never been marked by the fire of a silver dragon’s power. It flamed through him so hot that it burnt white. It scorched away all vestiges of his reality and threw him pell-mell into the future.
A future full of dragons, flames, magical explosions…and Nadia in chains.
The little town of Magic was crumbling, despite the residents’ best efforts, their magic, their uniqueness, their strength. None of it could compete with an angry wizard who had the power of prophecy at her beck and call.
He’d lost Nadia. And so many innocents had died in the process that it would burn him to ash.
A foot kicked him in the ribs, as if punishing him for destroying the world, but he came to and realized it was Nadia. The future hadn’t happened yet. She was right beside him on the bank of the springs, and he was alive.
“Get up, you lobcock,” she snarled.
He rolled into a sitting position and attempted to blink the sheen of silver out of his eyes. Grit stuck all over his damp trousers, and his brain felt bruised. Because she was sober now, her magic had worked—in a manner of speaking. The result was disastrous. Or could be. He didn’t have enough experience with silver magic to understand it. “I have had a vision.”
“Of course you have, you stupid, thieving wretch. Have you seen yourself on top of the world? Taking over Tarakona? That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Are you working for Victoria or for yourself?”
The time for subterfuge was past. “I am here for the Dragon Liberation Front. And I am here for you. To protect you from Victoria.”
She narrowed her eyes. “To use me for yourself.”
“Not for me personally. Nobody in the DLF would force you to do anything, Nadia, you or any dragon. That is our whole cause. Our reason for existing. Please understand.” He wanted nothing more than to reach out to her, to beg her to forgive him, to train her to hoard her magic even when she felt…a certain compatibility with a wizard. While it flattered him to no end, now was not the time.
She stomped toward the water, grabbed up a palmful, and sipped it. Viciously. As if her slurp could tear into his skin. Once finished, she flipped water off her fingers. “I do not and will not understand why you lied to me.”
Reassured by the fact she was willing to talk instead of morph into a dragon and fly away, he rose. “Because you threatened to murder all wizards within two minutes of meeting me,” he said frankly. “I am not in the habit of taking dragon threats lightly. I thought perhaps I would wait until you were clear-headed to explain.”
“Do you even know my brother?” she accused.
“I did not know before yesterday that you had a brother.”
She glared at him and crossed her arms. “That’s precisely how he planned it. And now that he’s helped me get free of you cretins, I’ll never go back there. I’ll never help any of you.”
He could understand her sentiments but still had some slim hope of changing her mind—especially once he relayed the horrors of the vision foisted onto him. He would do anything, even give up his life, to keep Nadia free. “Is Aiden a dragon?”
She lifted her chin. “None of your business.”
“We need to talk about what I saw in the vision. I’ve heard there’s some way wizards can share it?”
“Only if they’re very good with silver magic. You’re very bad.” She picked up a flat stone and flung it so hard across the water that it bounced all the way to the falls. “How about we discuss what’s stopping me from turning into a dragon and flying you to some deserted island in this dimension so that you can never bother me again?”
He nodded as agreeably as possible. They had gone from almost having a disastrous first kiss to definitely having a disastrous revelation. His cherished iron control was being challenged like never before. Not only that, but sweat had sprung up in various spots on his body, and it was exceedingly unpleasant. “That sounds better than being ripped apart.”
“Well, you aren’t Victoria,” she conceded. It had been some time since breakfast. Hungry dragons were grouchy dragons. “I don’t know for a fact that you deserve to die.”
“Victoria is going to find you and recapture you.”
Another stone fell out of her hand with a clunk. “What?”
“That is what I saw. She had many dragons with her. Though I didn’t see Victoria herself involved in the destruction, wizard fire destroyed the town, and you were in chains.”
“No. I’m safe here. Aiden promised. There’s a shield on the town.”
“I found you.”
“Because of my broth… Oh, shit on a brick shithouse,” she cursed with a decided lack of inventiveness.
Before he could explain about blood tracking, the flap of huge wings from above interrupted. They both stared up, at the armored belly of a red Tarakonan dragon.
“Friend of yours?” Barnabas asked.
“That’s Charmaine Red,” Nadia said with a frown. “What in the blazes is she—”
The dragon plummeted toward the springs in a perfect dive, and the wizard on Charmaine’s back shot fire at them. He and Nadia dodged, straight into the stream, and the green and brown grasses on the bank burst into flame.
“Nadia Silver,” the wizard shouted triumphantly. Her hair was caught in a tight topknot, and she wore scale armor that matched the dragon. A battle wizard. “I’ve been combing this fire-forsaken planet for days, and I finally found you. Where were you hiding, girl?”
“Go suck an egg, Shula,” Nadia retorted. “I’m done with Tarakona. I’m never going back.”
Fire dragon above. Angry silver below. Barnabas considered options. Silvers weren’t combat ready. They could possibly outfly the large red, but where would they be safe?
“You might as well give up,” the dragon called sadly, in a high, soft voice that was much quieter than Nadia’s. Dragons with thrall crystals were forced to obey, but no magic could force willingness—or alter emotions. “You left enough blood behind that they were able to create an enhanced tracker. She can find you anywhere.”
“Folderol,” Nadia yelled back. “A useless threat. If that worked, it wouldn’t have taken so long. Unless you’re incompetent.”
Nadia might be inexperienced with the world outside the dragon stable, but she was sharp. Her logic was sound. Since Barnabas had been able to find her quickly with a blood tracker, it followed that this wizard Shula should have, too. But the woman admitted to searching for days while Nadia was alone, unprotected.
In Magic.
They had to return to Magic. It had some sort of Earthly protection spell on it, and that must be how Nadia had remained concealed.
“You’ll discover my competence soon enough.” The wizard aimed another blast of fire at them, but the dragon dodged some invisible thing in the air, spoiling her rider’s aim. “Be steady, beast, or you’ll feel my wrath.”
“Charmaine’s doing what she can, but it won’t last. Fecking wizards, all of you,” Nadia muttered at him. They dove away from a flame ball, and she heckled the wizard and dragon. It perhaps wasn’t the wisest choice with a fire wizard who had the drop on them. “When you go back emptyhanded, Shula, tell the governor I said to feck off and die.”
“Her Grace won’t be the one dying, you pampered little idiot.” A vicious smile twisted the wizard’s face. “And you—whoever you are with Victoria’s dragon—your life is forfeit. Aiding and abetting an escaped criminal.”
Nadia’s eyes glinted silver with the onset of the shift. “Preposterous. I’m not a criminal.”
“Don’t shift, Nadia. You need to stay human,” Barnabas said urgently. And small. She’d be too big of a target if she changed. A plan was beginning to form in his mind, one that should buy them some time.
The red dragon’s eyes glinted with sadness and tears. Yes, dragons cried. “Please give up, Silver. This one’s looking for an excuse to kill you. Thinks you provide Victoria the wrong kind of power and keep the reds from battle.”
“Shut up.” The wizard kicked vicious spurs into Charmaine’s flanks, and the dragon keened in pain.
Barnabas didn’t know if Nadia cared about his request, but she remained human.
“Go away,” she shouted, punching into the water with an angry splash. “You cannot make me do anything anymore. I don’t wish to come, and therefore I shall not.”
“You will come with me or the dragon is right. You’ll die. Or perhaps you can die anyway.” The wizard raised her hands, laughing maniacally, which tended to be a red wizard thing for some reason. Arsonists, the lot of them. Her fingers began to glow. Crackle. Fume.
This would be no halfhearted smolder. Barnabas caught Nadia by her chilly arm and plunged them into the depths of the large icy pool.
They went under. Fire spread across the surface, just missing them. Nadia struggled in his grip, kicking and fighting, until she noticed the flames.
They locked gazes beneath the water. She was going to have to trust him. He yanked out his transportation amulet, wrapped his arm around Nadia, and called the power.
They whooshed through time and space—well, just space—to outside the Middlebury Inn. Torrents of water splashed down around them. It sizzled on the hot brick sidewalk and completely soaked a gardening gnome who was tending the flowerpots outside the hotel.
“Watch where you’re transporting!” the gnome yelled at them. “And quit wasting water. Stupid big things.”
“Are you all right?” he asked, his arms still around Nadia. He tilted her face to the side, checking for burns. Fully stocked for this adventure, he possessed a healing amulet—but an amulet could only correct so much damage. “Did the fire get you?”
Nadia gazed back at him for a long moment, their bodies touching from knee to chest. If they hadn’t just escaped death, he might become aroused, considering what had almost happened between them at the pool. She licked water off her lips and then…
“Pfaugh.” She wrenched away from him as if he were made of glass shards and treachery. Which, to her, he probably was.
She directed her attention to the gnome. “I need to speak straightaway with the sheriff, good sir. Where might he be?”
The small man regarded them balefully. “Down the street, to the right. Newcomers, I swear. Everything so rushed and nobody stops to smell the flowers.”
Nadia stormed down the sidewalk. Barnabas didn’t think it was due to the gnome’s response. How much time did they have before they were attacked? Transportation spells wouldn’t work if the wizard didn’t know where to go, but the springs weren’t a long flight away.
This would test the barriers of Magic. Could a wizard with evil intent get through? Would the tracker work? Was remaining inside the barrier the only thing Nadia needed to do to remain safe? He didn’t care about himself, only about Nadia. The silver. The woman he’d been trying to rescue since he’d learned of her existence.
The magnificent, angry woman who had rescued herself.
The woman whose lovely, pale legs and firm buttocks were outdistancing him as she stomped along the sidewalk.
Barnabas hastened after her. They reached the office of the law enforcer momentarily, owing to Nadia’s quick tempo. She barged right in and asserted her demands as if she owned the place.
“I need to see the dragon sheriff,” she said. “Now.”
The interior of the building was a clean, white place, as if it didn’t see much use. In a town with a magical barrier, perhaps miscreants were uncommon.
A tall, lanky man with pale blue eyes rose from behind a desk. “I’m Sheriff Theo. And you might be?”
“Nadia Silver.”
“Aiden mentioned you.” He ambled out from behind the desk as if he had all the time in the world. As if two harried and soaked persons in dire need of his assistance weren’t a matter of concern. He extended his hand for a shake. “Nice to meet you.”
When Nadia glared at Theo’s hand, Barnabas leapt into the gap and accepted the Earth greeting. Theo would have no way of knowing Tarakonan etiquette about not touching dragons unless they touched first. “I am Barnabas Courtier, and I need to ask some questions about the town barrier. In particular, will it protect Mistress Silver from those who wish her ill?”
“It didn’t protect me from you,” Nadia spat at him. “Courtier.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I do not wish you ill.”
“He’s telling the truth, ma’am,” the sheriff said helpfully. “It’s a…skill I have. Useful in my line of work.”
“Well, bother.” Nadia ran the toe of her shoe through the puddle she’d dripped onto the floor. “I hardly care, sir. I mean, about his truthfulness. I am very pleased for you that you can see lies in your line of work.”
“Uh-huh.” He watched politely but offered no more information.
“This is a matter of grave import,” Barnabas said. “The barrier?”
“As to that, I’m not the expert on magic. Topper is, but she’s on vacation in the Himalayas. Lacey out at the animal shelter might know a thing or two, but I don’t think she’d have answers to that.”
Barnabas’s sodden shirt clung to the many talismans he’d armed himself with for their outing, but the water shouldn’t harm them. Nevertheless, they would need to dry out if they were to be reliable. Extended soaking wasn’t good for their construction. He began plucking them one by one from his neck. With each new amulet, Nadia’s glare became more keen.
“Nadia,” Barnabas said, “I believe the magical barrier on this town is what protected you before I arrived. How else can you explain why I was able to find you and the battle wizard could not?”
She pulled a face. Even when she was pulling a face, she was alluring. A thing he should not be noticing, any more than he should notice her breasts in the translucent white shirt. “Obviously you brought Charmaine and Shula, and that is how they found me.”
“I did not,” he said, squeezing the water from the thin silk of his necklaces. “They have a blood tracker.” He remembered the dragon saying they’d had enough blood to create “a” tracker—not multiple trackers. Hopefully.
Theo nodded his agreement. “He didn’t bring ‘em.”
Nadia scoffed. “Then you left a trail, like a rank amateur.”
“It was not my blood they were following, I fear.” Grateful for the other man’s support, Barnabas continued. “I suspect the Seven Sister Springs are outside the barrier.”
“That they are,” Theo agreed again. “Haven has its own policies.”
“And I suspect when I found you, Nadia, I was inside the barrier—I would have been allowed inside as I intended you no harm. But that may not be enough in the future.” He stressed the last word to remind her of his vision.
She puffed out a breath of disgusted air. “Sheriff Theo, here is the situation. A malevolent red wizard with powerful destructive capabilities from my home dimension is rampaging nearby. Who may or may not want to murder me but definitely wants to murder Barnabas, and I can’t say I am too worried about that second part.”
Theo tipped the brim of his grey hat. “Come on, miss. That’s not true.”
She glanced at Barnabas out of the corner of her eye, and her pale cheeks turned pink. “I suppose I don’t want him dead. That being said, what town defenses do you have in place for the attack of a wizard who can shoot fire and any number of other things?”
And, considering what Barnabas had inadvertently seen in the future, how could they supplement the barrier’s inadequacies? Not all forms of magic could defend against other forms. While they possessed only dragon magic in their dimension, their scholars traveled to other realms for study. That was how he knew about Earth. Dragon magic, it seemed, was particularly potent.
“I don’t think they can get in, or if they do get in, they’ll see things as normal,” Theo explained. “That’s how it works for tourists or travelers or even the government, when they come poking around.”
“This wizard isn’t poking around.” Barnabas would be remiss if he didn’t warn the sheriff about what had been foretold. “In our dimension, silver dragons such as Nadia can give the gift of prophecy. I involuntarily accessed that power—”
“Nicked it,” Nadia said. “You nicked it from me.”
He spoke hurriedly before she could rant. “I accessed it and it showed me your town in ruins. Many causalities.” And Nadia, who had become dear to him in a way he’d never imagined before meeting her, in chains. “This is very likely to come to pass, and your standard defenses may be insufficient.”
That got Theo’s full attention, but he didn’t argue with them. Perhaps in a town where the fantastical was commonplace, the only thing out of the ordinary was when things were ordinary. “I’m not often insufficient, being a dragon myself and all. Not to mention all the shifters and vamps and witches and such who tend to step up when bad guys come sniffing around. This dragon breathes fire like I do?”
“No, we have magic inside us. We don’t do magic. The wizards yank the power out of us very, very cruelly, and they are the only ones who can cast spells,” Nadia said. “The wizard could have any number of dragon powers on hand.”
“So your specialty is prophecy,” he said, “but you can’t see the future yourself. Are people typically able to change these futures?”
“Absolutely,” Barnabas assured him. But here was the rub. “The future can be altered if, ah, the wizard who had the glimpse of the future is experienced with silver magic, can read the signs, and can continue to glimpse the future with more, ah, magic, in order to gauge changes.”
“And how do we make that happen?” Theo asked.
“We do not,” Nadia said. “Ever. Ever ever ever. You greedy bag-snatcher. This is all a plot to get my magic, isn’t it?”
She turned on her heel and stormed out of the building.
“I don’t want your magic,” Barnabas said to the puddle that remained where Nadia had been. “I want you to be safe.”
Theo clapped him squishily on his wet shoulder. “I know, man. I know. If me telling her you don’t want to hurt her doesn’t do the trick, you’re on your own, bro. Not everybody wants to hear the truth. I’ll do what I can to rally some troops, but let me know what’s what. We’ve taken on mad scientists and evil aliens and even the government. I don’t wanna have to call Topper back, or, God forbid, get the Fates involved. They tend to want people together, if you know what I mean, and I don’t have time for that mess.”