But over all of that was a desire to stop Lothinal. They were behind everything.

  The smoke dragon coalesced, and it seemed as if he approved.

  “Guide me.”

  With that, the smoke engulfed him, and Ty was lifted into the air.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Ty sat outside of the rock, the smoke swirling around him. The burning from Ishantil—or the Flame, if Father and Albion were to be believed—had stayed more active ever since he had escaped from the cavern, reacting to his need to defend something. He looked up at the sky, staring at the sun, and wondered if he should wait, or if he should get going.

  It was long past time for him to get moving. They had come here for a specific purpose, but now that he was here, he no longer knew if that purpose was what he had believed, or if perhaps Albion and Zara had guided him here for another reason. Had known that their father was here? If so, Ty had been used again.

  Still, he had felt the presence of Lothinal. He had stopped an attack. They were after places that were filled with the power of the Flame and had destroyed those that were. Ty felt as if he had to do more.

  But he wasn’t sure what else he had to do and wasn’t sure what else he could do.

  All he knew was that he still didn’t have answers. Instead, all he had were more questions.

  He felt a distant sort of pressure. Lothinal. He suspected they were still out there.

  If the Protectors of the Flame were there, they wouldn’t fear Lothinal. There would be no reason for them to. They were skilled at dealing with the Lothinal threat. At least, that was what his father had claimed, and Ty felt like that was what he wanted them to believe.

  It still irritated him.

  He started moving, climbing up the rocks.

  He hadn’t gone very long when he heard a voice behind him.

  Ty spun, reaching for the dragon-bone dagger.

  Zara was there. “How did you get out?”

  Ty glared at her. “That’s your first question?”

  “I’m sorry,” Zara said. “All of this…” She looked behind her, and then up the slope. “Your brother has gone with your father and the others. They went to investigate the temple. Your father came here following Lothinal, and they had feared that they were already too late, that Lothinal had already made their move on the temple, much like what they did in the steam fields. They’re worried that if they don’t react in time, that they will continue to target other temples.”

  “We have no evidence Lothinal is still here,” he said.

  Ty had already defeated three of the Order and didn’t think that there were any others that were still here, still active, though perhaps he was wrong.

  “Other than what we have felt from them,” she said. “We know they are still out there, and that they have not finished with whatever they intend.”

  “And we still haven’t seen Roson James,” he said.

  That was how this all had begun. Roson James had headed out, targeting the Tecal, targeting dragons, and they had followed him. Perhaps what he needed to do was to find a way to draw Roson James in, rather than to run from him.

  “You have every right to be angry with him,” Zara said. “I haven’t said that to you yet, but it’s true. He was speaking to Albion after they left you there, and your brother… Well, he’s so fixated on the Manifestation of the Flame that he thinks that the ends justify the means of what your father is doing.”

  “And you don’t?”

  Zara looked over to him, holding his gaze. “I don’t know if you are the Manifestation of the Flame. What I know is that you have done things I have not seen others be able to do. Not other dragons. Not other Dragon Touched. Not other Tecal. So I don’t know. Perhaps it is as simple as what you said, and that you have connected to both the smoke dragon and the dragon within Ishantil—”

  “He says there is no dragon in Ishantil.”

  “And you believe him?”

  “Given everything that I’ve gone through, I’m finding it a little bit hard to trust anybody these days. It doesn’t matter that it’s my father, or my brother, or anyone. It’s just difficult.”

  “If it’s not a dragon in Ishantil, then what do you think it is?”

  Ty sighed. “There was no doubt in my mind that there was a dragon there. I saw the face. The other Tecal that were there saw the face. They saw the dragon. And the dragons that were with me, with us, protected that.”

  “Is it possible that what you saw was the Flame?” She asked. “Or something along that line?”

  Ty didn’t know. And he hated the hope in her eyes. If he was not this manifestation of the Flame, and if he was not what she hoped him to be, she would not survive.

  He was all too aware of that.

  And he had come to like Zara. She claimed she wasn’t a fighter, but he had seen her fight. She was kind, warm, and a little scared when it came to her fate, but that was understandable. It was all too easy for him to understand why Albion was drawn to her. If Ty had seen her, met her, and come to know her the way that Albion had, it was possible that he would have been drawn to somebody like her as well.

  “I suppose it’s possible. When I feel what I call Ishantil, it’s a burning deep within me.”

  “I feel that as well,” she said.

  “But I don’t know.” He looked up, holding her gaze. “I want to know. I would love it if that was all this was. If I could latch onto this power, and I could save you. If I could save my mother.” Ty thought of all of the other dragon sculptures, all of them hoping for a connection to the Flame so that they could be restored. “I could save all of them,” he added. “Your people.”

  “They would be your people, as well,” she said. “This is your mother, after all.”

  Ty sighed. “I suppose you’re right. What does that mean for me?”

  “It means whatever it means,” Zara said. She held her hand out, and Ty took it. “I’m sure they could use your help in the temple.”

  “I’m not so sure they want my help,” he said.

  “You might be surprised. I don’t think your father knows what to make of you and your brother. He tried to protect both of you, partly because I think he wasn’t ready to lose her.” She smiled sadly. How would Albion handle that? “They need you. Whatever potential you have, they need it. Use your dragons or be the Manifestation of the Flame. Whatever it is, they need it.”

  He followed her, heading up the rocky mountainside. There was a comfortable silence between the two of them. She was glowing more brightly than she had been throughout their entire trip. Ty found it quite amazing.

  “Will it hurt when you leave your essence behind?”

  Zara shook her head. “My family always spoke of it as returning to the Flame. It’s a natural part of a dragon’s life, but it’s not part that we pursue. We are forced.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then…” She shrugged. “I don’t think anybody knows. We talk about it. We can feel the heat and warmth of the Flame, and we know that it wants to welcome us, but if there’s anything beyond that, if there’s anything more than that, we don’t really know what it is.”

  “Like death.”

  She nodded. “Like death. I’m sure the priests have their own belief about what happens after you leave this world, but none can know.”

  “I wish I would’ve been there when my mother left,” he said. “All I can think about is that she was alone. That no one had been there for her.”

  “If she was chasing the Flame, chasing a way to her own safety, then she may have wanted to be alone. Some dragons are like that.”

  “But she was collecting dragon relics. That’s what she always had done. I don’t know why, but it was important to her.”

  “Perhaps because she wanted to protect them.”

  “The king protects them as well,” Ty said. “He collects them.”

  Maybe the king knew the truth about the obsidian sculptures, or perhaps he simply valued them. Whatever it was, if he ever had a chance to meet the king, it was a question he would ask of him.

  She nodded. “We know. It’s possible that he sees them as just valuable, or perhaps it’s that he can feel the heat from them. The Dragon Touched recognize the power of those relics.”

  Maybe that was all it was. And if so, he couldn’t help but wonder if that was what he had detected.

  They reached the peak of the mountain, and from there, Ty caught the first glimpse of the temple. It was built into the side of the mountain, carved out of the mountain itself, and there was a faint glowing from two of the arched windows set into the stone. A door was open. But he saw no sign of his father or his brother.

  “Where would they have gone?”

  “Inside,” Zara said. “This is where we were trying to reach when we were captured.”

  “You’re far kinder about it than I would’ve been,” he said.

  She glanced over, and she smiled tightly. “Should I be upset about something that I cannot control any longer?”

  “I don’t know, what would happen if they would force you to use off the rest of your power?”

  “Then I would burn out,” she said. “I would be no longer. I would have no essence to leave behind.”

  “And what if they forced you to leave your essence?”

  “Then I would take on my true shape. And I would be left behind.”

  Ty moved with her, hurrying toward the temple. As he approached, he detected something else. At first, Ty saw that it was a strange trembling that came from the stone dragon that was connected to the dragon bonded with his father, or perhaps one of the other dragons. That sensation passed, and it left him with nothing more.

  He looked over to Zara, and her wings flared more brightly, spreading out and around her, as if she were aware of what had happened. Could she feel it the way that he did?

  “You know what’s here, don’t you?”

  “I can feel something,” she agreed.

  “We need to be careful. I don’t know if this is Lothinal or if it’s something else. And if it is Lothinal, then it might be Roson James.”

  If it were, Ty wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Stop him, somehow. But how was he going to stop him fully? It seemed almost impossible. There were so many of the Order chasing them. Ty didn’t know how many of the Order came from the Dragon Touched that had been corrupted by Roson James, and how many had come from Lothinal, brought with Roson James as he had begun his betrayal of the kingdom. Regardless of either answer, the energy that he felt was considerable.

  “You can do this.”

  “Is it me, or is it the dragons?”

  Zara smiled. “Are they any different?”

  “You don’t have to stay here,” he said. “I know that you don’t like to fight.”

  “Albion is in there,” she said.

  It wasn’t just Albion. It was his father. It was the others of the Protectors of the Flame. Ty had no allegiance to them, but that didn’t matter. At this point, all that mattered was that he needed to stop Lothinal.

  He had no idea if he was the Manifestation, or if he could ever even become that. But what he did know was that he wanted to help stop those that had harmed the kingdom. He would do whatever it took to protect the dragons.

  And then he could get the answers he wanted.

  They reached the path leading up to the temple. Ty could feel the strange dark energy that was typical for Lothinal magic. His father had said that they didn’t understand Lothinal magic, and they didn’t know how they were able to use that power, but whatever it was, it was some twisted and unnatural.

  It resembled that of shadow dragons, but it also carried with it a cold, almost painful sensation. It was almost as if it were the antithesis to the Flame.

  Zara stayed behind him.

  Ty focused on smoke dragon, letting that power flow through him, readying his own defenses. He wasn’t sure if he could get the smoke dragon to fight again, but at least he could rely on it trying to protect him from harm.

  But Ishantil—whether the dragon or simply the Flame—was there. There was a burning. He focused on that energy, and it flared to life within him. It burned as it rose up and filled him with power.

  He strode forward. Zara stayed with him.

  “Do you know when you use it like that?” she asked him.

  “I am using it intentionally now,” he said. “I have begun to understand the connection a little bit better.” He glanced over, and she was glowing. Was he adding something to her, as well? He didn’t know. “This journey gave me that opportunity. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how to control it, and I’m still not entirely sure what I’m doing with it. The Tecal can use it, can control it, and can even command it in ways that I cannot.” He shrugged. “But maybe it doesn’t matter. I’ve been thinking about it, trying to determine if there is anything about that power that makes a difference, but I haven’t been able to tell. All I can do is push it out as heat and fire and try to control it as much as I can.”

  The hairs on the back of his neck rose. A chill tingle rippled under his skin. Lothinal. A dark haze crept around him. He exerted, letting the power of Ishantil flow out of him, burning away the dark mist around him. And as he burned through it, as Ishantil burned through it, Ty breathed out heavily, feeling that heat, that energy, and the power of the Flame. Some part of the temple seemed to reverberate with him, as if the temple itself were pleased with what he did.

  He could feel something deep beneath him. He strode forward, and he found that the smoke dragon was guiding him. It was slow, steadily leading him, but as he followed it, he recognized what the smoke dragon wanted for him to use that connection. The inside of the temple was simple. It was flat stone, all gray, with a faint glowing that shone in the distance. Ty still hadn’t found the source of Lothinal magic, and did not know where the Order had gone, but the smoke dragon would lead him.

  He followed the dragon to a set of stairs leading down. It got brighter the further that they went. As he traveled down the stairs, Zara behind him, her wings wrapped around them defensively, Ty made his way carefully, steadily, and he continued to look around him.

  Then they reached the lower level.

  From there, everything opened up. It was massive here. The temple opened around him. Heat built in the distance. It bubbled up, a small fountain of fire, a small collection of energy that radiated from the lava that he had found in the chamber below. And it was a connection to the Flame.

  But it was limited.

  Shadows moved near him, and Ty reacted instinctively. He called upon that power, Ishantil flowing within him, bubbling up like a volcano ready to erupt, and power burst through him, washing outward, filling the area with hot radiance.

  Too late, he realized that he didn’t know whether Zara could withstand that. But the heat washed over her, not harming her in the slightest. Her wings had shifted, and he angled back, realizing that she was leading them toward a collection of people near one edge of the temple.

  The heat exploded around, fire bubbling, flames burning, and then he heard a streak. A scream. And then he felt the pressure.

  There was Lothinal near him. There was power. But Ishantil burned through it.

  The presence of the smoke dragon still pressed out from him. Ty focused on it, and as he did, he could feel the way that smoke dragon’s energy continued to drift away from him, guiding him toward the small collection of flames at the end of the chamber.

  Ty sensed through their connection. In doing so, he could feel the presence of Ishantil meeting the Flame there, and then it built, pressing inward, until he felt something deep below the earth.

  The smoke dragon guided his energy, and he let that power flow down, much like it had before. As he let his power flow from him, it swept down, deeper and deeper, the presence of Ishantil and the smoke dragon guiding him, and the power of the Flame calling him. It pushed, and there was heat and energy and then the small pool of flame erupted, shooting upward in a geyser. It shot straight up, into the stone, into the rest of the temple, and everything erupted in bright red and orange light.

  There was a gasp behind him. He looked back to see his father, his brother, and the others. But one other figure caught his attention more than any others.

  Roson James.

  He was here.

  What was he doing? What did he think that he would accomplish?

  Whatever it was, Ty would stop it.

  He was Tecal.

  He might be poorly trained, but he would fight.

  Roson James glowered at Ty. Ty charged.

  Albion started toward Ty. “I saw what you did. How can you deny—”

  “I need to stop Roson now,” Ty said.

  “He’s here?”

  How had they not seen him?

  Ty pointed at the stairs. Roson James was there and had gone up the stairs. Ty sprinted after him, nearly tripping up the stairs, but when he reached the top, Roson James was nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t have escaped. He didn’t have a connection to a dragon. He didn’t have anything but his own Lothinal magic.

  Ty focused on the smoke dragon, willing it outward. The dragon flowed out from him. Ty could feel it, and now he knew what he needed to do.

  “Guide me. I know that you don’t want to fight him, but you don’t have to. Ishantil will fight him. I will fight him. I just need you to guide me.”

  It wasn’t just protection. The dragon offered that, but the dragon offered so much more as well. Ty had come to learn that he could follow the guidance of the dragon, and he could use that guidance to help lead him where he needed to go. Where he was needed.

  The smoke swirled, and a face formed around him. Ty looked over to the dragon face, having seen it so many times now that it had begun to feel familiar.

  As that energy enveloped him, he focused on it. Then the smoke shifted, swirling around him, reminding him of how Gayal’s dragon swirled, and then it began to squeeze.

 

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