The Shores of Rethan (The Kingdom of Dragons Book 5)

V - Dragon Magic

Elaya was fuming. She supposed she should be glad that she hadn't gotten arrested herself, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment. Corill had given her some talk about what was right and wrong and destiny, about her arriving here had been ordained by the gods so she could replace him when he died, and the only reason she hadn't done the same thing as Rhenor and tried to punch him was that Kaz needed her to not end up in a dungeon. And Rhenor did as well, though Elaya didn't think the people of Rethan would harm him.

No, they didn't seem to want to hurt either of them. Unfortunately, that courtesy didn't extend to Kaz, which was the entire problem.

Elaya pulled at her hair as she sat down in the grass just outside of the town, the backpack filled with silver she'd been carrying around right next to her. She'd tried to find the place where they'd been shot down, or even just some marks on the ground that would show the path Kaz had been dragged, but the island was much larger than she'd thought at first and she'd not been able to find anything so far.

If she could just find where Kaz was being kept, then she would.... Well, she wasn't sure what she would do, but it would be better than pointlessly wandering around here.

This did bring up a major concern. She knew how to fight and defend herself, but not against an entire town. She would need magic to free Kaz­—it was practically inevitable. And she knew that the amulet Corill wore had to be the thing allowing him to use it. She had felt its aura from the moment she'd noticed it.

But how was she supposed to take it away from him? Corill had access to magic, he was clearly very powerful, and he always seemed to have a guard or two with him. Even if she waited for Rhenor to be released, it seemed hopeless to assume they could gain the upper hand in a fight like that.

Elaya shook her head. She knew thinking like this wasn't helping, that she should be focusing on finding Kaz first, but she couldn't help it. She hadn't been this worried about Kaz since he'd broken her out of jail back in Reighir. And then when he'd gotten captured to save them in Sigallah.

She had a knack for getting Kaz into mortal peril, didn't she?

Elaya ran a hand over her face. The former hadn't been her fault—in fact, she'd used magic to save both of them—but she still couldn't help but feel guilty over it. She hadn't even had a chance to have a proper heart to heart about everything with Kaz. They'd been so focused on that heist and then trying to escape Istamid that there just hadn't been time for anything.

Her previous guilt burned away into anger as she realized this. She would free Kaz if it was the last thing she did. That she swore. But first, she needed an idea of where to go looking for him. Even just seeing him would be a huge relief to her, just to know that he was okay, even though the sight of him in chains might set off her fury just as much as it might help her think more clearly.

Elaya rubbed her eyes as she got up again. Based on what they'd found out so far, the only logical place for Kaz to be kept was outside the town somewhere, which meant she would have to search the entire island. She could feel her aching legs protesting at the thought, but she easily pushed that aside. As long as she could move, she would do everything she could to search for her friend.

Throwing the backpack onto her back again, she was about to start walking, choosing a random direction away from town, when she suddenly got the feeling like someone was watching her. She looked around, her eyes scanning over the walls of houses and nearby trees until she spotted a woman with short, graying hair watching her from the distance, at the edge of the nearby forest.

As the woman noticed Elaya looking, though, she immediately hid behind the trees, disappearing from sight. Elaya frowned. This was certainly not the first time someone had stared at her in this place, but for some reason, this felt different.