Page 34 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume Two

Jaeggi.

“She’s a Jaeggi,” he exhaled in horror.

“What?” North cried out, his head snapping up and his mouth falling open as he looked at Ravi. The person before him was completely forgotten for the moment.

“Jaeggi. She smells of Jaeggi,” Ravi repeated, his voice growing deeper as his dragon pushed for him to attack. His mind raced forward, planning carefully, while his dragon fought for freedom. They needed to protect the mages. Protect the castle.

“Should I⁠—”

“You stay here, get everyone out, clear the area immediately. Call Baldewin,” Ravi ordered.

He turned away from North, eyes searching the immediate area until he spotted the person he was looking for. With a sharp whistle, he waved over two other dragons. After a few quick orders to guard North, Ravi was sprinting as fast as he could across the courtyard toward the castle.

He could have called for more dragons to assist him, but he was the fastest of all the Burkhard dragons. He was the one with the best shot of reaching her before she could cause any mischief within the castle.

Was it possible she was just a spy? The Jaeggi could have seen the circus that had popped up outside the castle and hoped to sneak someone inside to assess their defenses, get a count of how many dragons and mages were actually inside the clan.

Didn’t matter. Regardless of what her plans might be, he needed to capture her and lock her away where she couldn’t harm anyone.

And if they were lucky—if they could keep her alive—maybe they would finally be able to get some useful information on the Jaeggi.

Ravi burst through the side entrance to the castle where they had been directing the few mages they’d discovered that day and looked around. It was a small antechamber with pleasant pale yellow walls and a mural of a green field at springtime. At one side of the room, Gisa was shouting after the Jaeggi woman, who had darted down a different hallway that led to the main foyer of the castle as well as all of Alric’s offices and private chambers.

Ravi didn’t stop to explain anything. He chased after the Jaeggi mage while shouting over his shoulder for Gisa to call for the rest of the guards. This woman needed to be captured immediately.

Whether it was the sound of his shouting or his pounding footsteps, the woman clearly knew she had been found out. She put on a burst of new speed, but Ravi was quickly closing in on her. No one was faster than a wind dragon. She was not going to escape him.

The hallway cut left, and someone shouted, jumping out of the woman’s way while Ravi followed on her heels.

“Jaeggi! Protect the mages! Protect the royal family!” Ravi shouted, gaining on her by a couple more feet. He was getting close, but not enough to grab her yet.

She looked back over her shoulder again as she reached the main foyer. The room soared nearly three stories up, showing off exquisite murals, a broad main staircase, and soaring windows. The woman’s dark eyes narrowed on him, and he thought he could hear her swear at him.

As she turned her attention ahead of her again, Ravi could feel a new tingle of magic, but it felt off, wrong. It was like stinging nettles being drawn across his flesh. She was casting a spell, and there was no hope that it was going to be anything good.

He didn’t think. There wasn’t time. The communication between himself and his dragon was instantaneous. With one step he was Ravi the human, and the next he was Ravi the wind dragon. Great blue wings stretched out and up toward the ceiling. His long tail slithered down the hall behind him.

Shit, the spell had just been a deflection against him. Strapped to her chest was a bomb, and even as he watched, she was fumbling with the ignition switch.

With no clear plan in mind, he reared back and blasted her with wind, pushing her hard toward the windows, the only outlet to be had in these walls of stone. All he knew was he had to get her out of the castle, away from his family. He had to keep his family safe. There was no room for doubt or guilt or even fear.

The second the wind hit her, lifting her entirely off her feet, there was an all consuming explosion. Bright light seared his eyes and scorched the front of him. The concussive force slammed into his chest and threw him backward. It was a fight to keep his wings extended, but he didn’t know who might be behind him in the foyer. If his wings took the brunt of the blast, other people might not get hurt.

He didn’t know what had happened to the Jaeggi mage, didn’t know if anyone else was in danger. He was flying backward through the air, pain streaking through his body. A moment later, he crashed hard into something, and the world blinked to nothing.

Sora felt the entire castle rock, the shudder of a massive shockwave rumbling through the stone and wood. He staggered a little under the unexpected blow of it, then stayed perfectly still, ears searching for the source. What was that? It had to have been an extraordinary force. Not even a dragon landing on the castle would have this effect, and it would have sounded different.

On instinct, he gathered up his work bag and dove out of his bedroom, running toward the front of the castle, as the noise and shockwave had come from somewhere in that direction. As he ran, he could hear people crying out in alarm, their voices echoing through the hallways. He could smell the distinct sulfuric scent of something burning. And his gut clenched in anxiety. Had the castle suffered an attack?

He doubled his speed, racing down the stairs now, running for all he was worth. The damage became more apparent as he reached the main foyer of the castle, the pictures hanging cock-eyed or on the ground entirely, windows shattered, and the smell—he could smell it clearly now, the scent of gunpowder.

And the moans of pain.

The healer in him snapped to attention as he skidded through the door, taking stock. The front windows of the foyer were completely blown out, leaving a gaping hole where a wall of them had once stood. Glass and debris were sprayed in every direction.

Three people lay on the floor, limbs askew like discarded puppets. Two of them were out cold, and then there was Ravi—it could only be Ravi. The slate blue dragon was lying on his side, his legs splayed, one wing at an odd angle, resting up against the staircase balustrade. He looked completely unconscious, unnaturally still.

Ravi was life, movement, spontaneity. To see him so still and bleeding shook Sora’s heart in a way that he hadn’t expected. Oh Kami-sama, please do not let him be badly hurt. Sora’s heart couldn’t take it if he was.