The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume II

candle flame on the other side of Powwell’s apprentice glass, held proudly by its owner. Magic energy pulsed around them in unison with their heartbeat. A visible aura of power blended around both their forms, binding them together. They watched through the glass the vision of the flame skipping across the meadow behind them. Without turning to watch with physical eyes, they monitored the progress of the flame until it burst into the still pool at the edge of the stream.
    Through the glass they watched Myri and Kalen from the perspective of the bottom of the pool. Their features took on focus with the slight distortion of looking upward through water. Kalen reared back her head, startled. Myri peered closer, puzzled and curious.
    Nimbulan mouthed “I love you.” She smiled and returned the silent greeting.
    The vision faltered, then cleared. All he could see was a burned-out candle wick standing behind the small scrap of precious glass he held in his hand.
    “We shouldn’t have been able to do that, Powwell. Myri wasn’t using any of her magic senses to channel the flame. And she looked into water, not glass. The spell couldn’t have worked with one magician alone using the old magic.”
    “Let’s try it again. I’ll work with Myri. You combine with Kalen.” The boy dashed across the full length of the meadow to join the women.
    A brief conversation ensued that Nimbulan couldn’t hear. But Kalen’s exhausted posture told him volumes. The new procedure drained her of energy. He didn’t understand why. Magic was merely fuel for an inborn talent. Weren’t Kalen and Myri gathering the dragon magic at all? He’d already checked that there were no ley lines near this meadow to interfere with the new procedures.
    They’d quit soon and have some dinner. He needed to try the spell one more time, to make certain he had the formula memorized. Maybe after Kalen and Myri ate, they’d be more receptive to gathering dragon magic.
    The dragon nodded agreement. Nimbulan clutched Kalen’s hand as he lit the candle once more with a snap of his fingers. The new magic flared easily from his fingers.
    His belly growled with hunger. Dragon magic also demanded more bodily fuel to hone an inborn talent than the old forms. One more time with the summons spell, then he’d eat.
    “You’ve memorized the words, Kalen?” Nimbulan asked.
    She nodded, breathing deeply as she’d been taught. They spoke the words together.
    The magic remained inert. The flame stayed firmly rooted to the candle.
    “Let’s switch again, Powwell. Kalen’s too tired. Send Myri over here.” Nimbulan called across the meadow toward the streambed where they crouched.
    A few moments later, with Myri’s hand clutch lovingly in his own, they recited the words again. Nothing happened.
    “What’s the matter, Shayla? What are we doing wrong?”
    The dragon shrugged her massive shoulders in a curiously human gesture. The dragon’s long, spiked tail swished impatiently, back and forth in the grass. She had already swept a clear circle around her with the wicked spines. No part of the dragon came close to touching, or harming any of the humans.
    “I’m the problem. I can’t do it.” Myri turned her back on Nimbulan and Shayla.
    Nimbulan wrapped his arm around Myri’s waist and pulled her head onto his shoulder. “We’ll rest a while and try again.” He dismissed Kalen and Powwell from their perches at the edge of the brook.
    Kalen visibly drooped with fatigue and disappointment as she curled up in the forearms of the now-reclining dragon. Shayla’s wings fluttered and stretched into a protective posture—as if Kalen was one of her own offspring. Kalen drifted off to sleep almost immediately, curling into the dragon’s warmth. But Powwell looked as bright and alert as ever. He dove into the pack of provisions, pulling out a fistful of jerked meat. He made a face at the dry journey food but bit deeply into the tough fare.
    (Fresh meat will replenish your body better than that. The little ones will hunt for you.) Shayla dipped her head as her telepathic speech fell to a whisper so as not to awaken Kalen.
    “You are all so beautiful,” Myri said as she watched the smaller dragons launch into the air. “Why didn’t I know before that you were the voices who guided me through life?”
    “How long have they been urging you to come to them?” Nimbulan asked, spreading a blanket on the grass near their packs, just outside the circle of