Whispers of Dragons

Chapter 10

For a moment, Jake and I stood staring at each other in shock. Then as if pulled out of a trance, Jake started pushing through the crowd from his spot near the platform. In the back of my mind, it registered to me that he must be important if he was sitting near the platform but I shoved that thought aside. Mostly, I was just relieved I wouldn't have to worry about him getting caught by Conor or anyone else on the council.

As he moved towards me, a huge grin broke out on Jake's face. I couldn't help but smile in return as he finally broke through the crowd and stood in front of me. I could see he was about to come in for a hug but then he stopped abruptly. I followed his gaze to my hand, still locked in Will's.

Cursing in my head, I yanked my hand out of Will's and without looking at his face, stepped forward to give Jake a hug. I pulled away slightly to look up at his face only to see his stormy eyes locked on Will, who was staring right back at him. I touched Jake's face to bring his attention to me. His expression immediately softened.

"Hey," I started, "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Jake said, brow furrowing in confusion. At this, Will tapped my shoulder and pointed over to Sam standing by the door.

"I think this conversation would be best continued privately." Will murmured in a low voice. I nodded my head in agreement and followed him out the door with Jake trailing behind.

The door shut behind us as Sam led us back down the corridor. After a minute of walking, Sam finally stopped and opened a door on the right side of the corridor, grabbing the torch hanging outside on the wall before going in. We all entered the room and the door slammed shut behind us, making me flinch as darkness fell.

As quickly as it fell, light illuminated the room in the form of a trough of coals being lit to make fire. The trough circled the entire room, giving a glow to the room. Sam brought the torch he held away from the trough and set it on the wall beside it. As I observed the room, the stone walls made sense; with wooden walls, the room would catch fire.

The room was about the size of a living room in a commoner's home, so a decent size. A rectangular table took up the majority of space in the room. Sam gestured for us to take a seat at the table so I moved forward to claim a seat by the head.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Will start to take the seat next to me but Jake put a hand on his chest before Will could sit. WIll raised his hands in surrender and went to claim the seat directly opposite from me, leaving the seat beside me to Jake. I held back a scrowl at the childish display and waited for Sam to take his position at the head of the table.

As soon as everyone was sitting, I spoke. "Who are these people and why am I here?" I asked cooly. "Also, why are you here?" I turned towards Jake. Jake looked at Sam, who shook his head.

"I think this first part at least would be best coming from you." Sam stated. Jake glanced at the door as if this were the last place he wanted to be before turning back to me.

"Remember how I told you I went to the mages' meetings?" Jake started. I nodded my head, confused at where this was going. "Well, that's where I was when you showed up." I stared blankly at him before my mind comprehended what he was saying.

"Damn it Jake!" I swore, slamming my hand down on the table. "I told you I wanted no part in this!" I yelled.

"I'm not the one who brought you here!" Jake yelled back. My sharp gaze flicked back to Will. For a split second, Will's composed face broke and it seemed as if he was worried, like bringing me here might have been the wrong choice. However, before I could be certain, Will's face hardened again into a stoic expression.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked Will deathly calm, not even taking the time to apologize to Jake for snapping at him. "You're not even a mage." I reasoned.

"You don't have to be a mage to come to the meetings," Will explained. "Anyone is free to come after getting checked out." I raised one brow at him. "That just means that we make sure they aren't a spy for the council." I slumped back in my chair.

"Ok, so we're at the mages' meeting. What does that have to do with me?" I asked forcefully.

"Well first of all," Sam chimed in, "that's not our name." I looked at him questioningly. "You called this the mages' meeting and yes, we are a group of mostly mages meeting, but that's not our official name. We like to be known as the Rational. We're the ones who are going to work to protect the dragons and overthrow the council." Will stated bluntly.

I sat in silence for a minute, trying to let that information sink in. "So this is your source?" I said, meeting Will's concerned gaze. He nodded.

"So this is the place you meant when you said you couldn't tell me where Jake was?" I nodded back. I felt more than saw Jake swell at the fact that I kept his secret but I ignored him.

"Ok, so I'm going to ask this one more time before I get really pissed. What does this have to do with me?"

My gaze went from Jake, to Will, and finally to Sam when none of the two boys responded to me. As I met Sam's eyes, he stared back at me. "Everything."