Burning Embers (book 3)

Chapter 9

Casian sat down next to Leita on the edge of the fountain and almost immediately Argento trotted over to him. The baby dragon affectionately leaned against Casian, almost knocking him into the water. He steadied himself with a laugh and Leita regarded him with a funny look. She must not be used to seeing easy laughter. From anyone. What sad a life like that must be.

Roxi joined Casian, giving Argento's head a quick rub as the sorcerers all gathered around each other. Andreas looked like a statue, all stoic and cold. His arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes so dark they appeared black. He didn't say a word as the sorcerers walked to him.

Izzy bounced into Casian's view and sat down on the grass next to Argento. She lifted her hands and Argento placed his claws against them. The dragon lunged forward and tackled her to the ground, eliciting a round of laughter from the nonmagical people at the fountain. The sorcerers turned their heads toward the commotion and Casian looked at them sheepishly. "Baby dragons are very full of life," he provided as explanation.

Andreas closed his eyes, gathering his patience Casian noted. When the sorcerer open his eyes again, they were burning a bright gold. Lighting cracked across the sky in quick succession and Casian folded his arms and glared in jest at Andreas. With a tsk tsk he said, "Not going to wait for the others to join you, old friend?"

Andreas grinned. "They can join in at any time."

James shrugged and his eyes flashed green, the lightning becoming more rapid in the sky. The sounds of thunder trembled the earth and both Izzy and Argento moved until they were pressed against Casian's legs.

Raphael touched a kiss to Mallory's cheek and his eyes started glowing red. Mallory's eyes sparkled, but didn't change color. Beside them, Eric's eyes turned a very soft red, pink, indicating he had some extra power that Mallory apparent lacked. Natalia had her arms crossed, and her eyes turned from blue to a barely noticeable sea green. Casian's eyes traveled over to where Lana was standing with her brother Zane, and noticed the latter's eyes had turned green as well, just like his father. But Lana's eyes were still the same brown. Casian noticed, however, that she was getting visibly upset with herself and Zane was trying to reassure her. The evening sky was lit up like a field of fire. Not a single trace of night remained in the sky. The light from the flashing lightning was almost blinding.

Lana walked away from Zane, and plopped down on the grass away from everyone. Her eyes drifted to Andreas and that spark of anger caught fire. Casian watched as her eyes slowly began to burn with a blue fire. Dull at first, but igniting quickly. AS if the sky was already lit up enough, the light became even brighter, the thunder even louder and Casian had to close his eyes for fear of going blind. He found them very lucky that the lightning seemed to strike everywhere but in their small perimeter.

If this performance was not enough to catch the attention of a lightning faerie, Casian really didn't known what would. He wished Nona could've given him an easier way to contact him, but he guessed that she perhaps felt it was better if they didn't see each other again. Could Leita and Roxi's warning perhaps have some merit behind then? Was he being a fool for believing they could trust the small, energetic girl who had taken care of Argento until he hatched?

All of a sudden the lightning stopped, but the sorcerer's still seemed to be in casting mode. A bright yellow light exploded across the sky, and a small figure with tiny fluttering wings appeared. The sorcerers seemed to notice that their plan had worked, and their eyes all returned to normal. They all seemed fine. All except for Lana who fell to the ground. Luckily she was already sitting. Zane rushed to her side, and she sat up in a start as if nothing happened, waving her arms reassuringly to convince everyone who had noticed that she was okay. No one believed her. Casian noticed to flash of concern that lit over Andreas' face.