The Blood's Flame (The Dragons of Flareia Book 1)

Chapter 25 - Kylan

The Palace of Sand

26th Year of the Ocean

3rd Moon

Kylan knew he had to return to Umbrassé. The attack on him, Olivier and Flae at the Annual Ocean Festival was the last straw. He wished he could stay, wished he could help Olivier from beside her, but he knew Flae would easily step up to the challenge once he was gone. Nequami or Tommél had sent the soldiers, and he wanted to know why. He refused to be their spy any longer. He would return, he would denounce Nequami as Emperor, and more importantly, he would give that bastard Tommél everything he deserved and more.

As he paced back and forth in his room, Kylan wished he had the courage to go to Flae and Olivier and say goodbye. But he knew they would either convince him to stay – well, Olivier more than Flae – or that the mere sight of them would change his mind. But he knew. Tommél and Nequami couldn't be defeated from afar. They had tried to use him to destroy Avalona from within. He would prove he could do the same to them.

He paced one more time then stuck his head into the bathroom, his brows furrowed, then checking the closet. He sighed. Seraphi had disappeared again. Ten's words cycled through his head; Seraphi is a cat. All cats disappear frequently. And Seraphi is worse for it than a normal cat due to her ability to Shadow Travel. Kylan shook his head. Surely Ten would let her know he was home, should she return to the Palace of Sand and find him gone.

He closed the closet door softly and crossed his room once more to stand in the shadow made by the panels of the balcony doors, straightening his jacket, his hair. Then he closed his eyes and, taking a deep breath, pictured the Hall of Constellations.

When he opened them, he was still in his room in the Palace of Sand.

His brows furrowed, but he wandered over to the balcony doors, pulling the canvas curtains closed. He did the same to both the windows. Perhaps he needed more shadows? But when he tried again, all that changed was a sharp pain that appeared in his head. His heart thudded in his chest, and he tried to pull shadows towards him, to make them dance around the room. But stars appeared in his vision and he felt his knees give way, dropping him into the darkness.

Kylan didn't know how much time had passed when he next opened his eyes – had it been seconds? Hours? – but the sharp pain in his temple had been replaced with a dull ache in the back of his skull where it had hit the floor as he fell. He groaned and sat up, closing his eyes as the world spun. Then he dragged himself to his feet and – after checking for Seraphi once more – rushed from the room to find Olivier and Flae. Any other day he could have easily Shadow Travelled to them in an instant, but this time he ran. He didn't know why he couldn't use Ten's power, but he knew it meant trouble. One thought kept swimming through his head; Nequami hurt Ten. Nequami hurt Ten. Nequami hurt Ten. But he pushed the thought away, focusing on finding the others before he panicked much more.

He sighed in relief when, after checking six other rooms, he found them in a parlour on the ground floor, but his heart still thudded in his chest, his breath coming in gasps from running. The girls looked up in surprise as he stumbled through the door.

"Shadow Boy finally decides to show his face!" Flae announced. "It's only... what, midday?" She rolled her eyes. "Been catching up on your beauty sleep?"

"Something's wrong." He gasped, letting the door fall closed behind him. "I can't... I can't use Ten's power. At all."

"At all?"