*Book 1 in the DragonKin series*
Vada and her siblings spend their days carving out a living in the Rystwith Mountain village of Riska. Together they live as outcasts in a small two-story hut just outside the lowland village centre, cast out due to...
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The night passed uneventfully and Vada arose with the sun.
Though she wasn't fully recovered Vada felt strong enough to support herself and her blood boiled once again with the warmth of her inner dragon. As she rolled out her shoulders and stretched, something shifted beneath her and she froze.
'Sleep well?' Bram asked, sitting up and shifting away awkwardly, wincing at the numerous aches that screamed to life at the slightest movement, 'I'm a little stiff myself.' he added with a long drawn out yawn.
Vada cringing at how awkward she felt as she turned to face him, 'thanks, for letting me sleep-'
'On me?' He laughed, immediately regretting it as his shoulders rebelled against the movement. 'What's the plan now?'
'I don't have one,' Vada replied, grinning in response to his deadpan expression.
'Then you better come up with one, we gave you all of our hidden food hoping you'd get us out of this,' he growled, massaging his shoulders. 'I hope you're not just going to wait for this brother of yours.'
'No, I want out before he finds me like this.'
The Grasslander's still slept as did most of the Kin. They were growing weaker by the day under the combined effects of starvation and the power of the black vials.
'What element are you?' Vada asked.
'No idea. They made me drink the potion, I passed out, and when I woke up I had this thing on,' Bram explained. 'I'm not even sure we are Dragonkin, I don't really feel very powerful.'
'Then I guess we'll have to take that necklace off and find out for sure,' as Vada spoke she poked her hand through the bars of the cage, holding it aloft with her palm facing the earth.
Beads of sweat formed on the back of her neck as she concentrated on her connection to the earth. Evidently, it was still much weaker than she was used to.
On the ground directly beneath her palm, the earth split slightly, breaking up and becoming loose until a length of sharpened rock was spat from the soil.
The Grasslander's were beginning to stir, their tents shook and they began to appear, talking amongst themselves as they gathered to have a basic breakfast of bread and cheese.
'We really need to hurry,' Bram advised her, keeping a keen eye on the Grasslander's. A small group had broken off to feed their newly acquired slaves.
Amongst the cowering slaves, Bram noticed a set of walnut brown eyes, he remembered those eyes as soft and kind but now they were red-rimmed, glassy and frantic. All of the slaves had that same fearful expression.
The Grasslander's circled them throwing scraps of bread at them like they were little more than birds.
'Stay still, I can't touch it with my hands,' Vada whispered.
