The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

a glass dragon sat a harpy, Rhomerra, the bringer of nightmares, plague and ill fortune. Whatever substance comprised the hideous form, it was amazingly lifelike. Filthy, oily feathers and scales covered a grossly fat bird’s body. Long, knock-kneed legs ended in grasping talons, coated in dried blood and gore. Naked, pendulous breasts dangled from the chest. Set within the beak and beady eyes of a raptor was the face of Janataea. Her face wore the sensuously arrogant sneer so typical of the royal governess.
    Was the creature real? Mikka dared a quick probe. No life resided in the carved stone. This was not one of Krej’s prizes. It was an idol, with an altar in front of it. The offering was a miniature Tambootie tree in a priceless glass pot and a dead cat.
    She couldn’t look to see if the sacrifice was Rosse, the other half of herself.
     
    “May we observe your spell of seeking, Master Jaylor?” Zolltarn asked.
    He was more polite than Jaylor expected. Rovers were arrogant and suspicious and boastful, but rarely polite. What did this man really want? He’d passed the truth spell. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have secrets.
    Jaylor unlocked the round meeting room reserved for the Commune with a pass of his hand and an image in his mind. The new spell gave him a chance to reinforce his status to the rest of the Commune, trailing up the long staircase. Only the Senior Magician could open the door alone. Any other master magician needed a second spell from another master to accomplish the same feat.
    “I’m not sure I can work with an audience.” Jaylor looked to Yaakke for confirmation. The boy lifted one shoulder, barely attentive. His mind was two floors below with Baamin.
    “This isn’t going to work at all if you don’t pay attention, Yaakke,” Jaylor hissed to the boy as he thrust the heavy door open. “I know you are concerned for your Master. We all wish Baamin well. But there are times when the welfare of the kingdom is more important than our individual concerns,” he added more gently.
    Jaylor needed to traverse the void in search of Mikka. Before he ventured into the realm of dragons again, he needed an anchor. Yaakke, his most familiar companion in magic, must serve that purpose.
    “Entering the void is dangerous, Jaylor. We never had to do it with dragon magic. We’re inexperienced. Is a foreign princess worth the risk, even if she is married to our new king?” Slippy argued.
    “Rossemikka was kidnapped by magic. If we, the magicians, refuse to rescue her, then we only deepen the Council’s conviction that all magicians are untrustworthy.”
    “Fat chance of convincing any of them that we are as loyal as they—maybe more so. They want power, not cooperation,” Yaakke grumbled.
    “Why is this apprentice here?” One of the younger masters tried to grab the boy’s collar and usher him out of the private enclave. He had to jerk his hand away from Yaakke’s shimmering armor.
    “Because I need him to help me find the queen.” Jaylor suppressed a smile. Skepticism glowered from a dozen faces.
    “We can’t join our magic to make the task any easier. Not like the old days, when dragons gave us power we could gather and amplify,” Slippy groused.
    “We can’t join, but you can act as my staff, focus the spell, and feed my energy while Yaakke anchors me to this reality.”
    “It can’t work!” Zolltarn looked as aghast as any of them.
    “I did it once with Krej—before my magic was fully returned. I couldn’t break Brevelan’s link to the dragons, and it was killing her. I knew Krej couldn’t be trusted, but he had the power and the link to Brevelan to help. The warp in my magic occurred because I defied him, mid-spell. He was too hasty. I would have killed both Shayla and my wife if I’d followed his orders. I realized then that I didn’t have to blackmail him with the knowledge of his antidote to witchbane. He wanted a way to destroy the dragons once and for all.”
    “You violated your oath as a master to the Commune by assisting an enemy of the crown and the nimbus!”
    “I saved my wife and son!”
    “Gentlemen, gentlemen, we accomplish nothing if we bicker,” Zolltarn soothed. “I am interested in this process. Maybe we can profit from it.”
    After a moment of grumbling, they all settled in their accustomed places at the round table. Black glass, solid and clear. The most precious object in the kingdom.
    Yaakke shuffled beside Jaylor. There was no chair