The Crystal Mines

77 Nik

"Why?" I demanded the male in front of me as I stood and slammed my hands on the table sending violet sparks flying.

Tarrent's smile fell as he took in my angry stance.

"Why did you leave me with the human man to butcher me? To beat and rape my mother every night. To starve us."

Tarrent shook his head in sadness. Callion hadn't spoken that part of my story, knowing it was mine to tell.

Nik? Came Ameer's worried voice.

I couldn't pull air into my lungs fast enough; panic was coming on quickly at the secrets begin revealed. My grandfather, my father. What was next?

"Is it the same reason that Lambert didn't tell me that he was my grandfather?"

I was shouting now. Years of anger coming to the surface. My hands grew hot with rage and the magic under my skin built. Alden caught my eye and took a breath. He knew where I was at mentally after seeing so many panic attacks. I mimicked him, easing some of the magic in the air.

"Nik." Faolan said in warning. He never spoke to me like that, with a slight fear to his tone.

I looked down at my clawed hands and withdrew them from the table, leaving holes where my claws once were. Guilt ate at me as I wrestled with control.

"Let's go somewhere more private," Atiweh voiced calmly while she eyed the mass amounts of people that went about their daily lives around us. I was a danger to them and needed to be removed. Safiya looked at me with no small amount of fear. So much for fast friends. I nearly laughed.

"Fine."

I marched away, walking in a random direction as if I knew where I was going. My storm followed like a shinning violet mist. After a few minutes Atiweh said, "This way," from behind me and I turned to follow. All my friends, except Taury and Garren, had come. She would probably find a way to make her exclusion my fault later somehow.

Atiweh led us to an isolated group of trees in a small clearing. Once we arrived, Tarrent grew some chairs and tables around us, but I remained standing.

"Explain, or I leave right now," I grit out and my dragon claw threatened to come out again.

Tarrent walked forward with his eyes twinkling just as I had seen earlier.

"Who you are, had to remain a secret for as long as possible," Tarrent began. "Your grandfather, grandmother, mother, and aunt and uncle, even Atiweh and I, promised to keep your identity hidden for your own safety."

I shook my head, and my anger had my dragon rolling under the surface of my skin. Tarrent ignored my partial shifting and continued.

"Your mother took a human man, the worst of them, to mask your identity. His constant sexual encounters and drinking habits, as well as living in a small town, helped mask your scent from Erix's hounds. He used to send them out every year, searching for you, my daughter. His hounds know my scent well, as I used to lead them myself a very long time ago." Tarrent looked to sky as if to gain strength.

"Syrena stayed with him for you. I know it sounds like she didn't care, but she gave everything she had to protecting you. Don't you think that a woman of her magical ability could leave at any moment, from a magicless human? When Erix posted he was opening up the university to all of Tarsen, not just those of noble blood, Lambert contacted us with a plan already half made with Ameer. The plan was adjusted to keep his eyes open and asked Volar to as well. By then, Lambert had already taken the position as the Auramancy Master, so the plan had to be delicate.