The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

heart was healing, but not enough to support the great magic that had ripped through it.
    Yaakke’s aura splashed around him in every bright hue the human eye could fathom. The untamed blobs of color shifted and changed with each breath until they filled whatever space surrounded the boy.
    Brevelan had no idea what colors she emitted. The gift of seeing one’s own aura was very rare.
    The glass in her hand thrummed with life. Light flashed from the fire through the glass. Baamin’s face, old and wrinkled, aging almost before her eyes, followed the burst of green and yellow. The rope of entwined colors, so similar to the Senior Magician’s aura, looped around Brevelan and Yaakke, binding them into the spell. Then it circled the room, armoring it against eavesdroppers. Yet it avoided the recumbent form on the bed and a dark corner near the roof tree.
    Was Jaylor setting up unconscious armor against involvement in Baamin’s magic?
    Brevelan hadn’t time to consider.
    “Has Shayla made contact with you, Brevelan?” Baamin asked without preamble.
    “Nothing specific, just a general awareness of her life.” Brevelan sighed with regret. The loss of her dragon friend had left her lonelier than she had expected.
    “Darville has been trying to contact me for three days. Every time the Council and their magicians have stopped him. I fear his message has something to do with the dragon.” Baamin shook his head in dismay. “Jaylor must return to assist me. The master magicians have diverted their loyalty from the Commune and Coronnan to their individual lords. The Council of Provinces ended yesterday’s session fragmented. Krej’s faction has forbidden all contact between palace and University. The Council, as a whole, can decide nothing.”
    “My husband is not well enough to travel.” Brevelan couldn’t take Jaylor out of the protective clearing. Not yet. Not while his spirit ailed and his body still mended.
    “I could send him to the capital,” Yaakke announced brightly.
    “How, son?” Baamin’s face looked puzzled.
    “With a blink of the eye, sir. Same way I bring meat from the University kitchens.” His adolescent face colored. “Ooops, sorry, Brevelan.”
    She frowned at the boy. He knew very well she never allowed meat within the boundary of her clearing. She felt the death of all living creatures. Sometimes the physical pain was so great her magic closed down for several hours, or even days.
    “No, no, ’tis too dangerous to transport a living person, Boy . . . I mean Yaakke. No one has ever accomplished such a feat and had his charge live through it,” Baamin intervened.
    Brevelan sensed his alarm and nearly rejoiced in it. As long as Baamin was hesitant, Yaakke would not risk such a transport.
    She hoped.
    “If I sent a litter and steeds, could Jaylor travel?” Baamin seemed desperate.
    The ripple in Brevelan’s concentration returned. She had the acute sensation that someone was listening, someone who had no right.
    “Jaylor can barely walk the length and breadth of the clearing. He could not survive the journey,” she protested fiercely. Yaakke looked at her strangely. They both knew that Jaylor was stronger than she indicated. She returned the boy’s look with a glare, praying he would not reveal her prevarication.
    “What do you need Jaylor for?” Yaakke asked instead.
    Brevelan breathed a sigh of relief. “Perhaps Yaakke could return to you.”
    “I need Jaylor. Only he knows enough of this rogue magic to ferret out the true loyalties of both the Council and the Commune. Without the controls of dragon magic, every member of the Commune is a law unto himself. I have no power or authority over them anymore,” Baamin’s voice faded into a mere whisper. “Twice this week I have intervened in magic duels. Last week a lord was severely wounded by the magician of a rival lord. This must stop. I need help.”
    Brevelan grieved with him for the loss of a unified Commune and Council. Without Shayla—or any dragon—Darville could not be consecrated king. A unanimous Council could authorize a coronation. That was an unlikely event, considering Lord Krej’s rival ambitions.
    Brevelan again searched the place in her heart where Shayla should be, as she fruitlessly did, many times each day. The invisible dragon lived. The faintest of glimmers brightened Brevelan’s being. But she didn’t know where Shayla laired and she couldn’t discover if the eleven dragonets had whelped