“They let the dragon in.”
My heart stopped.
“There is a real dragon in this forest?” I asked, scared of the answer. Her eyes widened as she began choking again.
“They want you dead.”
Then the air stopped entering her lungs altogether.
Camelia choked once. Twice. And then went still in front of me. I screamed. I didn’t know what else to do. I screamed and cried, my forehead dropping to hers, my hand still wrapped around her fingers.
I had never seen someone die. Camelia wasn’t my friend but she didn’t need to be for this to hurt this much. Someone had done this to her. Someone had coerced her into silence and left her bleeding in the forest. Let her chest be ripped open, and her truth strangled out of her.
I stayed there for a moment too long. Fear prickled along my skin, sharp and sudden. There was something else in the forest.
The marks were too deep, too wide, and everything became clear. Claws clearly made the injury. The injury was fresh. That only meant one thing. A dragon was roaming the forest nearby.
And if anyone heard its roar, they would think it was part of the Dragontail Trials. That was why no alarm had been raised. That was why no one had come.
However, nothing made sense. Why go through the efforts of mind-bending and silencing her, and not kill her outright? I swallowed hard. My mother herself had told me not to trust anyone, that she didn't trust anyone herself.
Then, I heard a roar. A roar from a creature I already could recognize. A roar like those beyond the veil. It could easily be mistaken for the third trial, but the marked spot in the map was still a two-hour walk from here.
But right now, I needed to trust my senses and facts. Dragon claws injured Camelia Aric, and it was nearby.
Chapter 37: The wildweaver
Iran toward the roar, panic mingling with each desperate scream. The sound was close; adrenaline hammered through my chest. Dread threatened to choke me. I was scared and painfully unready to face an actual dragon alone. Even though my skills had sharpened, real fear made it clear: I was just beginning, and I felt it in every trembling step.
And yet, I didn’t stop.
My heart, not my brain, hurled me forward. Panic clawed at my chest, but the enemy was on our island. Someone had let it in. The dragon had blood on its claws and now threatened those I loved. Despite the trembling in my bones, I had to act.
As I got closer, heat rolled through the trees in violent waves. Smoke and ash clung to the air, sharp enough to sting my lungs.
Then I saw it.
The clearing opened abruptly, scorched earth replacing moss and leaves. Split and burning trees lay scattered, their trunks blackened and smoking. At the center, a massive reddragon stood, its wings unfurled. Its wildweaver rider sat atop the beast, clearly controlling it.
I pressed myself against a tree, its bark burning hot, sweat slick on my palms. I was close enough to feel the dragon’s heat pulse into my bones, close enough that the terror stilled my breath. Hiding behind that scorched trunk, I recognized the black-horned mask, just like the one he wore beyond the veil. And those eyes: the dragon’s deep green gaze, those blood-red scales I’d seen again and again in nightmares. Every awful memory clawed to the surface. I knew them both. And they knew me.
My heart lurched so hard it almost stopped. Right there, Shakari and Rowan were fighting desperately at the clearing’s edge. From my hiding place, I watched Shakari fling ice, her face tight with terror, freezing the dragon’s trailing magma. Rowan’s wind magic whipped violently, panic in every movement as he tried to unseat the wildweaver. The rider only laughed, chilling at me. Suddenly, the dragon slashed at Shakari, sending her tumbling through the air, screaming as she crashed near me and hit the charred ground. The sound of her pain sliced through me.
Rowan kept fighting as I reached for my friend. I pulled her into my arms and hid her behind the trunk of a sequoia tree.
"Thea," she murmured as I quickly checked her for injuries.
"You may have cracked a rib, but you'll survive," I said, noting the golden ring on her finger. She passed the Dragontail Trials. At least someone had.
I shoved the thought away. Deep down, I knew I wouldn’t pass the trials. Not after this. Saving my friends, avenging Camelia, and protecting the island came first.
"Run," Shakari whispered, wincing in pain. "Don’t let it have you or kill you."
Shakari was protecting Rionis and me, but I had already silently resolved to fight. Protecting my friends was my priority, even though it meant putting myself at risk.
"Camelia’s dead. The dragon wants me," I said, voice steady.
"I know," she whispered, eyes shut. "That's why you must leave. You're too important." "Stay here," I said as I stood up, ready to confront the threat directly. My friend tried to