Sovereign - The Dark Sorcerers: Book 2

Chapter 15: Track and Trace

Kenna

I had been staring at the paintings in the Dragon's Nest for so long that my eyes had shrunk to the size of dried grapes. My fingers traced the lines of the Dragons' gleaming, multicolored scales and the Khuriannwa's pointed ears. "Magic always leaves a trail back to its source, no matter how long ago it was cast. These mountains are drained in magic, so there must be a way for us to locate its source."

"That may be true," Dominic said, scratching his chin with one hand while he patted Jaeger's head with the other. I felt an odd kind of friendship developing between the Sorcerer and the Dragon, and I wasn't sure whether I liked that. "Still, the magic in this place is not just old; it's ancient. It will take more than a few seconds of concentration to discover who cast it in the first place."

Exasperated, I threw my arms up. "Then what are we supposed to do? Sit around and wait for the Khuriannwa to come knocking at the door?"

He shook his head, his face creasing into something between a scowl and an amused grin. "I never said it's not possible to do it. Next time, don't speak before your turn."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Are you going to enlighten me about the plan I can clearly see forming inside your head, or do I have to coax it out of you?" I made sure that my eyes lit up with orange flames at the last words, so that he would catch the double meaning.

"We could share our magic with each other."

My eyes bulged; my mind short-circuited, confused about whether I had heard him correctly. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me."

"You can't possibly be serious." I pulled my lips up into a snarl, although my anger was only met by an indifferent shrug. "You expect me to give you access to my magic?"

"It's not like I could abuse it," he snapped. "I'm granting you access to my own powers just as much, which does leave me entirely at your mercy. I'm offering you this willingly because I don't feel much like cleaning up the disoriented, weakened mess you'll be if you try to do this alone."

Fair point.

"And even then, it's not a guarantee the tracking spell will work," he warned me. "But together, we'll stand a better chance."

I crossed my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes as I studied his face. He was right about the spell; the Dragons had gone extinct over eight thousand years ago, and magic had already protected their home long before that. Locating its source equaled returning to a past beyond the birth of the human race, so it would require powerful magic, wielded by even more powerful Sorcerers.

"Are you sure that you're up for the task, then?" I asked him, cocking my head to the side. "After all, you only have a sergeant's rank."

He scowled. "That may be my official rank, but it doesn't say much about my skills as a Sorcerer. I was demoted to sergeant for disagreeing with the mainstream ideology." My brow quirked, but he cut me off before I could ask further questions. "Now stop wasting my time with your endless whining. Are we going to do this or not?"

I suppressed a chill and took a step forward, reaching for the dagger hanging by my hip. "Fine. You first." The rubies and sapphires in the dagger's hilt reflected a thousand sparkles of light on the cave's walls when I handed him the elaborate weapon.

Without even glimpsing at the dagger, he pushed my hand down. "Our blood already binds us, remember? I think it should be possible to make the connection without cutting in our flesh."

I gave him a skeptical look. "Do you think so, or are you certain?"

"I'm certain. Put that dagger away, Kenna."