Wylde Magic | Book 3

Two: A City on Alert

The warm sun stirred me

The rays blanketed the sand in it's fiery heat. Even with the shade we constructed with poles and tarps to sleep under, it was a warm day. I yawned, rolling over to see if I was the first one awake.

I was not.

Schula sat on her mat, knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around them as she watched something to the north of us. I turned to see Spaulder standing on a dune, overlooking Sulls.

Schula's head turned to me as I moved and she gave me a smile. She pointed toward Spaulder. I nodded, yes. Let's go see him.

I got up as quietly as I could. Even Puko managed to remain asleep, perched on a pack next to Nassir's head. The two of us tiptoed over to where Spaulder was standing a good distance away.

"How are you doing, Spaulder?" Schula asked. "Couldn't you sleep?"

Our great dragon turned, his arms crossed over his chest as he had been standing and observing the distant city. He gave us a smile, and turned back to his view of Sulls.

"It would seem I need little sleep in this form. I anticipate my strength will return to me much more quickly if I can stay in such a small shape for a few weeks."

"It sounds like two solutions from one spell," Schula beamed over at me. "Let him remain hidden as long as he wants, and he also reserves much of his energy while he recovers from a long..."

Schula's face fell. She didn't want to say the word 'imprisonment' but we all understood.

"You are right, snowy one," Spaulder said. "It is a most efficient way to adjust to the changes of the world around me in my absence."

I heaved an inward sigh of relief. Spaulder was taking to his newfound freedom easier than Nassir had. Then again, a dragon is a different sort of being entirely, and it's hard to say if he's just hiding it better than Nassir.

GLancing over my shoulder to the camp, I briefly pondered the fact that Nassir hadn't really spend much time bonding with Spaulder.

"It is because I remind him of a dark time," Spaulder said out loud. "As he will likely remind me of the same."

I turned my eyes back to Spaulder again. "How did you know what I was thinking?"

He shrugged. "Intuition, I suppose. Do not fret, I sense no ill feelings from Nassir to me, and I harbor none to him. It will simply take a little more time to see each other beyond our respective pasts."

I nodded. That made sense.

"So, I guess we go through Sulls today," Schula said. "Are you ready to be among so many people?"

"I will have to be, won't I?" Spaulder mused, a glint of mischief in his eye. "You young ones assume I have forgotten what it is to be among a brood."

"Tell us about them," I said. "The other dragons."

Spaulder sighed. He gave me a weary but warm smile. "Another time, little witch."

"When do you think we should wake the others?" Schula asked, looking toward our camp. "I hate to say goodbye to Kai again so soon, but I'm eager to return."

"I just hope we can return," I said. "I know Thain and Eberon were going to stay and help King Baeleon understand what happened, but what if he doesn't want me in the Autumn lands because of what I am?"

Schula rached over a hand and put it around my waist. "If you can't return, I won't return either. Maybe we can stay in the Summer or Spring lands. I know Caldon would help us, if we went to Dwellonmar."