Rainbow Magic (Dragon Rider #1) {EDITING}

Oz's Wrath

There were no tricks or traps waiting for them in the small corridor, so they made their way through it rather easily, the seven of them climbing up the final set of rocky steps leading to the exit. Darkness met them, the slight sheen of the golden barrier casting light on the group as they stumbled back out into the fresh air, breathing heavily.

"It's... late..." Eisa mumbled, staring up at the night sky. "How long were we even down there for?!"

"Too long." Sora grumbled, remembering what Ethan had told her the day before. "Dammit, he's gonna be annoyed..."

"Yeah." Raelynn whispered, thinking of their annoyed leader who was no doubt scouring the forest for them. "Oz is gonna kill us..."

"Oz?" Her heart dropped to her toes.

"Wait, what?" She stared over at her friend. "Who were you on about?"

"Ethan."

"Oh."

Sora's shoulders slumped. "I'm gonna get double the trouble now..."

"But we got the cloak—huh?!" Silver made a noise of indignation, staring around frantically at all of them–or, more specifically, at what they were wearing. "What the hell?!"

Their cloaks were gone.

Instead, each of them wore a long black coat with no sort of decoration on it whatsoever. "Our cloaks..."

"They turned into boring coats?" Eir tilted her head. "How... unexciting..."

"They changed shape." Beatrice said, admiring the way her coat fitted as she continued carrying the semiconscious boy pas the filmy golden barrier. They had no trouble leaving—the barrier simply letting them slip through like ghosts. "Interesting..."

Raelynn laughed. "Almost as if they're alive..."

Sora paused, watching as the rest of them laughed, silently remembering what her so-called cloak had told her. "They are."

Six pairs of eyes locked on her, fear shining in their gaze as they took in the severity of her expression. She wasn't joking.

"Each of our cloaks contains the spirit the cloak represents—in my case, a monster." Sora smiled, feeling the tension in the air. "Didn't you meet them in your mind-thingy when you picked it up?"

"Mindscape?" Silver provided, arching an eyebrow at the brunette who was standing there rather calmly.

"Yeah, that."

"Honestly, peasant, learn your vocabulary." She rolled her eyes. "Learning about your mindscape is one of the first steps in learning how to wield your magic... Didn't your parents teach you anything?"

"Umm... Sil," Sora interjected, "me and Rae aren't from a mage or a rider family."

Silver blinked. "Oh."

"Seems like you're the one with all the knowledge about our cloaks, though, aren't you, Sora?" Eisa said, ignoring the odd sparkle in her sister's eyes as they stared at the girl who'd been appointed as their temporary leader. "Anything else we should know?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "if you happen to see an old white-haired crone hanging about anywhere near here, feel free to sock her one."

"Umm..."

Eir elbowed her sister in the ribs. "Just roll with it, twin."

"What, might I ask, are you all rolling with?" A strained smile met their shocked gazes as they spun around to greet the newcomer. Dread settled into the pits of their stomach, Oz's perfectly calm voice only adding to their worry.

They were in trouble.

Big trouble.

"Oh, hey Oz!" Raelynn grinned whilst Sora and Silver fought their urges to sigh.

She was far too predictable, as was Oz's reaction.

One punch later, and they were down to six—Raelynn having taken an unplanned nap at their instructor's expense.

"Do you need me to ask again?" Oz smiled. "Or are you going to tell me why the hell you vanished off the face of the earth for several hours, forcing the proctors to organise a search and retrieval team for the sole purpose of finding you and dragging you back to civilisation...?"

"Twin, that was one hell of a long question..." Eir mumbled.

"Idiot." Eisa muttered, feeling a rush of air behind them as their undisputed leader appeared behind them, a hand closed over each of their heads.

Six became four.

"Sora." Oz turned his serene gaze on her. "You want to answer me, or do you want to be the next one on their way to the hospital?"

"We got lost?"

Magic washed towards her, sweeping over her skin as their instructor scowled, knocking the sense out in an instant. Her body was all too happy to comply with his wishes, desperately needing sleep, if only so she could try and comprehend what the hell was going on, so the crumpling of her body came as no surprise when she almost collided face-first with the ground.

Almost.

A hand had caught her by the collar of her new coat, hauling her limb form off the ground as Oz and whoever else was part of the search and retrieval team dragged them back to the city—and the hospital that was no doubt waiting on their arrival.

Dimly, she was aware of being carried, half-lidded eyes briefly cracking open to meet Oz's as he carried her out of the forest with surprising gentleness. Deep red scales met her sleepy gaze, warmth seeping from below her, before a rhythmic beating of wings slowly lulled her to sleep.