“Please,” she whispered. “Talk to me.”
The faintest beat sounded. She held her breath, waiting to see if the ancients would deem her worthy to talk to her now. She felt something wet drop onto her hand, but she ignored the tears and kept silently calling to the ancients through what was left of her magic.
There was a rush of air that blew her hair back and made her brace against the force of it. As soon as the wind brushed past her, the drums began to beat and the chanting filled her head.
“Thank you,” Darcy said.
“Why should we talk to you?” the thousand voices asked in unison.
Darcy licked her lips. “I don’t know what happened. Why is my magic leaving me?”
“It’s been gone for many years.”
What? “That’s impossible. I used my magic yesterday.”
“That wasn’t your magic,” the ancients said.
Darcy squeezed her eyes closed. This couldn’t be happening. “When did I lose my magic?” But she already knew.
“The moment you unbound Ulrik’s magic. He has done evil. As a Skye Druid, you know the consequences of such an act.”
“I didn’t know he was evil.”
The ancients let out a sound that reminded Darcy of a snort. “You were too interested in the money he offered and discovering if you could help him.”
“Druids take money for their magic all the time. I’ve been doing it for years by reading palms and tarot. Never when I touched him or the dragon magic did I feel evil. I would’ve stopped.”
The ancients sighed loudly. “What’s done is done, Darcy. It cannot be undone.”
“Whose magic has been supplementing mine? That’s the only explanation of why I still had magic.”
“An old Druid. She died a few hours ago. With her life force gone, her spell no longer worked. The little magic you feel now is all that’s left within you.”
It wasn’t even enough to light a candle. Darcy opened her eyes as the drums and chanting faded away. The ancients hadn’t had to talk to her. She was thankful they had, but that didn’t make things any easier.
Darcy jumped up and ran through the cottage to the front door. She threw it open and ran out. She didn’t know where she was going, and it didn’t matter.
She was a Druid without magic.
The rain mixed with her tears. She stumbled over rocks but kept running. It didn’t matter that it was raining and cold. She had to do … something, anything to stop the pain that was threatening to burst from her chest.
Something swooped over Darcy low enough to ruffle her hair. She looked up and saw the jade dragon a moment before he dipped down into nothing. She slid to a halt a few feet from going over the side of a cliff.
Darcy fell to her knees as she blinked the rain and tears from her vision. She watched the dragon dip a wing and circle back around to her. It was her first good look at Warrick, and she was awed. He was massive, his scales gleaming even in the rain.
A crest of membranes ran from the base of his skull to his shoulders, while two large frilled membranes shot from either side of his head, framing his face. It was the sheer size of the dragon, as well as the long spike at the end of the tail that kept her riveted.
As he drew closer, she looked into his large eyes the color of the sun. He was the dragon of her dreams, the one she kept seeing over and over again.
Darcy dropped her face into her hands and sobbed. The ground trembled as Warrick landed. Suddenly the rain stopped. Darcy looked up and saw Warrick holding his wing out to keep the rain off her.
She stood and walked to him. With a hiccup, she leaned against his front leg and wrapped an arm around him. His scales were slick from the rain, but warm. To her surprise, he shifted and opened his other hand. Darcy eyed the talons that were a shade darker than his jade scales. She looked up at him, and he nodded.
It wasn’t like she had anything else to lose.
CHAPTER
FORTY-THREE
Con sat in the cavern with the Silvers and sharpened the blade of his sword. When Ulrik came, he would have his Silvers. Con would only have himself.
It wasn’t the first time Con wished he had kept one of his Golds, but he couldn’t choose one over any of the others. So he’d let them all go.
Besides, if he kept one, every King would’ve wanted to keep one. That would’ve defeated the purpose of sending the dragons away.
Things were coming to a head quickly. It wasn’t just that Ulrik could come onto Dreagan without any of them being alerted, but there was the fact Warrick and Thorn had conspired with him.