Read Online Breath of Dragons (A Pandoran Novel) by Barbara Kloss - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barbara Kloss
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his gaze sweeping over my cloak, calculating. He reached out and touched my sleeve. Energy flowed from his body and slipped over me like a light breeze. I felt a slight tingling and then it was gone. My cloak had suddenly gone from black to dirty brown with stains and patches all over it. Alex scrutinized me for a moment, then, satisfied, motioned for Vera to come nearer.
"How did you do that?" I asked.
Vera's cloak soon looked like mine, and then he performed the same spell on his own cloak. "It's an illusion spell," Alex said. "It won't last forever, but it should last long enough to get us to Myez Rader. I learned it from…someone," he added quietly. He didn't meet my gaze when he said this.
I knew who that someone was. It was the same someone who had given me the decorative rook now embedded on my scabbard. "We should probably get moving," I said. "Vera…?"
The three of us adjusted our now dirtied cloaks for maximum concealment and continued on our way. Vera led us to another door on the opposite wall of the anti-chamber and opened it with a soft creak. There was a tunnel beyond lined with more torchlight and carefully laid bricks, but this time a blend of muffled sounds and wood smoke laced through the air. The tunnel descended, switchbacking deeper inside the mountain. The noise grew louder and louder the farther we walked, and the smell of burning wood became so thick and so strong it was a little difficult to breathe.
Alex lightly touched my shoulder. "Was that Cian up above?" he whispered.
Cian: the wind elemental.
My father had suspected Cian had taken a liking to me ever since I'd stepped foot in this world, but I'd never been sure what that had meant. My father had had a tie to the earth—a tie that allowed him to elicit its help and power. With it, he could summon rock and dirt and mold it to his need. I'd seen him use it before, when I'd been trapped in the dungeons with Lord Tiernan, and I'd seen him use it again that night with Eris.
But up until recently, all the wind had done for me was follow or whirl around me like it was my own personal cyclone, and sometimes it would speak to me in my head. I didn't find this so much a gift as a nuisance. And it made me constantly question my sanity.
Until moments like today when it would decide to step in and help.
"Daria?" Alex squeezed my shoulder, and I remembered he'd asked me a question.
"I think so," I answered. "I've felt him following me all along, but this time he said that he'd help."
Alex pulled his hand back. "He certainly chose a critical moment."
"I know," I said. "Every time Cian has stepped in to help has been a very critical moment. Maybe he responds to desperation. Or maybe he just wants to make an entrance."
Alex was quiet a thoughtful second. "Do you think he's here to stay?"
"I have no idea," I admitted. "I wish he'd make up his mind, though."
"I still can't believe you came up with the story about the Mistress of the Vale," he said, and I heard the wonder in his voice. "Those are the kind of stories the people of Gaia tell their children about to scare them."
"Well, I did spend a lot of time reading with Fleck in the castle library," I said.
"Of course you did," he said.
I felt his pride then, and it was like basking in the light of the summer sun.
Vera's sudden irritation was like a cumulonimbus clouding my sunlight, and her next words fell like cold rain. "Maybe next time we encounter danger, the princess can frighten them away with a haiku."
"Wow, I am surprised that you know about haikus. Smarter than I thought."
Alex chuckled behind me. It took Vera a second to understand what I had done, but once she did, she glared at me over her shoulder with an expression that was bordering murderous. I beamed innocently at her.
After that, we stopped talking—not because of Vera but because the sounds were much louder now, and right as we rounded a corner, we almost bumped into a couple of men headed in the direction we'd
"How did you do that?" I asked.
Vera's cloak soon looked like mine, and then he performed the same spell on his own cloak. "It's an illusion spell," Alex said. "It won't last forever, but it should last long enough to get us to Myez Rader. I learned it from…someone," he added quietly. He didn't meet my gaze when he said this.
I knew who that someone was. It was the same someone who had given me the decorative rook now embedded on my scabbard. "We should probably get moving," I said. "Vera…?"
The three of us adjusted our now dirtied cloaks for maximum concealment and continued on our way. Vera led us to another door on the opposite wall of the anti-chamber and opened it with a soft creak. There was a tunnel beyond lined with more torchlight and carefully laid bricks, but this time a blend of muffled sounds and wood smoke laced through the air. The tunnel descended, switchbacking deeper inside the mountain. The noise grew louder and louder the farther we walked, and the smell of burning wood became so thick and so strong it was a little difficult to breathe.
Alex lightly touched my shoulder. "Was that Cian up above?" he whispered.
Cian: the wind elemental.
My father had suspected Cian had taken a liking to me ever since I'd stepped foot in this world, but I'd never been sure what that had meant. My father had had a tie to the earth—a tie that allowed him to elicit its help and power. With it, he could summon rock and dirt and mold it to his need. I'd seen him use it before, when I'd been trapped in the dungeons with Lord Tiernan, and I'd seen him use it again that night with Eris.
But up until recently, all the wind had done for me was follow or whirl around me like it was my own personal cyclone, and sometimes it would speak to me in my head. I didn't find this so much a gift as a nuisance. And it made me constantly question my sanity.
Until moments like today when it would decide to step in and help.
"Daria?" Alex squeezed my shoulder, and I remembered he'd asked me a question.
"I think so," I answered. "I've felt him following me all along, but this time he said that he'd help."
Alex pulled his hand back. "He certainly chose a critical moment."
"I know," I said. "Every time Cian has stepped in to help has been a very critical moment. Maybe he responds to desperation. Or maybe he just wants to make an entrance."
Alex was quiet a thoughtful second. "Do you think he's here to stay?"
"I have no idea," I admitted. "I wish he'd make up his mind, though."
"I still can't believe you came up with the story about the Mistress of the Vale," he said, and I heard the wonder in his voice. "Those are the kind of stories the people of Gaia tell their children about to scare them."
"Well, I did spend a lot of time reading with Fleck in the castle library," I said.
"Of course you did," he said.
I felt his pride then, and it was like basking in the light of the summer sun.
Vera's sudden irritation was like a cumulonimbus clouding my sunlight, and her next words fell like cold rain. "Maybe next time we encounter danger, the princess can frighten them away with a haiku."
"Wow, I am surprised that you know about haikus. Smarter than I thought."
Alex chuckled behind me. It took Vera a second to understand what I had done, but once she did, she glared at me over her shoulder with an expression that was bordering murderous. I beamed innocently at her.
After that, we stopped talking—not because of Vera but because the sounds were much louder now, and right as we rounded a corner, we almost bumped into a couple of men headed in the direction we'd
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