Infected: Aralot, #3

By Amanda Heit

All of Tia's worst fears are coming true. She knew that she could one day turn crazy and seek to destroy the very dragon she has fought so hard to keep alive, but she didn't expect the mental infection to hit her so soon. There isn't time to fight with her dragon. She needs to help Jack find a way to put the prince on the throne when they have limited magic, unlike the evil spellcaster. There's also the matter with her complicated love life. If only she could focus! Her new teacher thinks she's hopeless, but Tia has to try even if her trusted sources all have secret agendas of their own. If Tia can't find the cure, her soul is going to be torn in two.  

Jack tries to help Tia with her struggles, but he can't escape the feeling that he's part of the cause. Even with the setbacks, Jack is determined to follow his heart toward magic, a crown, and guarded information so he can stop the fake king who has secretly cursed and silenced more than they knew. However, some evils are too strong to fight, and it might already be too late to save everyone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amanda Heit
• Release date: Apr 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781949858075

Amanda Heit

Finding meaning in life—feeling like you’re contributing to all of humanity in a good way—is a large undertaking. When I write, it’s the task I take on. Sometimes, that task is daunting. Sometimes, it’s full of laughter, joy, and fear. Reaching the end of a book can put me on top of the world or cause me endless frustration. But I can’t stop myself from trying. I can’t stop the inner clock that ticks and tells me that writing is something I enjoy the heck out of and there is nothing that will stop me from writing for long. As one of the quiet people in the universe, my best joy and flow in life comes when I’m creating new worlds and exploring characters. For me, each book I create finds new friends that share with me the intimate tangles of their lives. They cheer and I cheer. They succeed and I rejoice. They fall and I’m there hoping for that happy ending right along with them. I hope that you can find something in the stories I create that will bring you the same type of thrill. Thanks for sticking to the end!- Amanda Heit

Book preview

An Excerpt from King Gladius’s Journal

There’s a force that laughs at all of us while it plays with our lives like we’re puppets on a string. Some call the force fate and they claim they have no power to change it. What happens, happens. These people are idiots. Destiny is not real. That power that runs under the ground, reaching silent fingers into everything is ME. No one knows fate more than I. No one grants life or death as I do. They call it a blessing when things happen to work out, but I call it magic and it’s mine. It can be clear and odorless or blue and flashy. It can be strong and smarting or docile and cozy. Shapes flow through my hands, masterful and firm.

No Cluster can wield such power. Their imitation at using magic is pathetic. The force doesn’t obey them. What do they think they can accomplish with their frail mutterings? They make a rainstorm; I make a tycoon. They try to hide an object; I conceal it so well that even I can’t remember where it’s gone. They put magic into a ring, and it’s gone in an hour. I put magic in a ring and it lasts for five years. When will they see it? Magic does not honor them. They are nothing and I am everything.

So why is it that these dragons tend to disagree? It’s not like they can do better. They can’t cast any spells. I’ve tried and tried to find the solution to harnessing all magic. I think I have it now. I’ve discovered a set of spells that will keep the strongest dragons, the most magic, and the power of the universe at my fingertips in Aralot. I’ve cast that spell. No other dragon or human shall be as well-versed at pulling the magical essence of life around them. The force nudges and hammers. It sings my name. When dragon and man fail me, there is always magic that heeds my will.  And my will shall be obeyed.

Search Warrant

Anvil

A nvil!

Eric skid to a halt before Anvil. No doubt the green and tan tents around them had looked like a silent blur with the speed that Eric was picking up to reach him. The sounds of the dragon riding warriors would have blended into a gentle buzz. The voices of chatting dragons would have felt like a melody sweet against the bitter taste of battle that had ended two days ago.

Several quick-fire instincts flashed past Anvil in an instant. He checked the man’s uniform first. Eric had his dragon riding gear on properly. His light leather shirt was laced all the way up, and his leather pants were secured. His weapon belt was at his waist, and his backpack was fastened tightly around his shoulders. His shoulder-length black hair was braided in rows across his head making his hair look stylish. Proper uniform? Check. Reason for the alarm on his face? Anvil rolled his eyes already guessing and went to the next item on his list. His name.

Anvil had been made the ware leader. All the riders that used to work for Hilton now looked to him for guidance. Anvil didn’t feel he was the most capable for the job that Prince Klavian had given him since George, Roman, and Octavian were all older than him and had been section leaders for longer as well. However, Anvil had taken the job, and he was ready to be the face that everyone needed around here. Eric should have been calling him sir instead of Anvil, but Anvil let it slide. He’d never felt keen on how Hilton distanced himself from the riders around him and earned their loyalty from fear instead of trust.

You said that Tia wasn’t an infection.  

Anvil pulled his mouth into a tight line. Yup. He was guessing that Eric was coming to complain about this again. This had to be the man’s twentieth time. No his fiftieth time. Hundredth time? Maybe Anvil should have started counting earlier. Then he could keep a record of the times that Eric became most worried to avoid him the next time around. As the man’s past section leader, Anvil had seen Eric a lot. Anvil was looking forward to getting a new section leader for the east side of the dragon ware so that he didn’t have to listen to the snivel.

She was controlling a group of wild dragons, the very ones that killed our level one rider’s this year. Didn’t you see? She’s an infection. She’s going to steal away my dragon!

How many times must I tell you, Eric? Anvil used his most patient voice even if he was more than annoyed. Part of him wanted to take Eric’s dragon and stand it before Tia just to give Eric a real reason to squirm. "Your dragon isn’t anything special that Tia would ever want. You have nothing to worry about. Besides, you just said yourself that she infected wild dragons. She’s done nothing to ours."

You were wrong last time. You said that she’s not an infection, and she is. That makes her a real Felding. That means that her father lied about his heritage. He’s a real Felding too. It’s a conspiracy that is going to steal our dragons away and destroy us all!

Anvil shook his head. Tia got this wherever she went. Her name was slandered across the entire kingdom because people feared that she was an infection. She was a person who could link more than just her bonded dragon into her thoughts. It was said that such people stole the loyalty of other dragons and turned the dragon against their own rider. An infection ate away at a man’s soul from the inside out. They could kill their own dragons. They could kill off the riders. The deepest fears known to man ran behind this ability because the old King Gladius Felding had done just that. But Tia was nothing like her grandfather. Anvil couldn’t see her killing anything. She was sweet and hardworking. She was kind and encouraging. Tia was a fantastic rider, nearly flawless in her skills, even if she had a long way to go to reach mastery. Anvil quite liked her.

"Listen. I can’t deny that I saw her with the wild dragons. We all saw that, but look at it this way. Hilton almost murdered her as he stole her dragon. She escaped into the woods, and what was in the woods but the wild dragons? Tia saw an opportunity to get her dragon back, and she took it. She used cunning devilish creatures and turned their brilliance around to aid in a rescue mission.

"I have never seen Tia use a dragon to control or harm. She tamed our hatchlings this year. She took that ferocious ice dragon and tamed it too. Scary dragons in the hands of Tia turn into a blessing. Stop freaking out. Her motives are to preserve and help. The first thing she did when she reached this broken ware, was run around helping all the injured riders. You have nothing to be scared about.

Tia does not want to create an army to kill us off. Besides, she doesn’t even know your name. She has no idea that you exist. You’ll remain anonymous to her as long you keep your mouth shut so that she doesn’t hear how insecure you are. If she hears that there’s this guy that keeps talking about her, she might actually decide to look at you.

Eric turned white right as Anvil heard two men chuckle behind him. Great. He was already resorting to scare tactics as Hilton had done. But really, this was Eric’s millionth time complaining! Anvil was tired of explaining to him that Tia was never going to look his direction.

Anvil’s own dragon, Clawson, had been trying to get Tia to talk with him since they first met, and she hadn’t pulled the animal into her thoughts. Unlike everyone else, Clawson saw being part of a close-knit infected group as the next greatest thing he could achieve in this life. Infections created the strongest plans and the most flawless formations. They could change up the direction of their entire group with one single thought instead of wasting time with multiple verbal commands or hand signals. They were the strongest driving force that existed and Clawson had to make himself the best. Clawson was by far closer to Tia and Misty than Eric would ever be. Despite that, Tia ignored Clawson. This guy needed to stop already. Tia really was never going to infect his dragon.

Tia’s not going to look at you. The voice of Larson said from behind Anvil as they stood among the temporary war camp.

Anvil turned around to give Larson the salute for ware leader only to stop himself and rub the back of his neck instead. It was a habit to salute ware leaders. Larson was the ware leader of the farthest ware from the castle right beneath the Northern Farms were Tia grew up. He marked his men by wearing all black leather branded with a letter L.

Beside him was another ware leader, Vladimir. His men were marked with mahogany leather and a V. Vladimir kept his red hair tied back by a black bandana at all times, and he was still laughing at Eric as if he couldn’t help himself. Maybe Vladimir was asking his dragon Giselle for intel about this man. Anvil had not seen Vladimir or Giselle in flight yet. Vladimir had a broken leg and arm, gifts from the battle he had lost against Hilton. Giselle had a broken wing. It was Vladimir’s destroyed ware that everyone was standing on now. There was hardly a building left. Hilton had left Vladimir with rubble. Anvil had woken up twice last night to move more rocks from underneath his back so he could sleep.

Honestly kid, Tia is far too busy looking at Prince Klavian to pay attention to riders or their dragons. He won’t let the girl out of his sight. Larson added his input to the childlike fears.

That’s because Prince Klavian is smart, Vladimir spoke up leaning against his crutch. And I’m pleased to hear that you’ve got your own set of brains, Anvil. That is exactly what you do with infections. You compliment them and make them feel good about themselves. Make them like you. Make them need you. If they need you, you’ve got nothing to fear.

I’m not scared of Tia. She’d never hurt anything. She loves dragons, and she only encourages other riders, Anvil answered.

People wasted their time being scared of a person that was only going to come around and save them. If anything, the thing they needed to be scared of was the concealed king that was ruling their kingdom of Aralot. He had been hiding his face for the last fifteen years after murdering the rightful king. This unknown man had been using magic to make it look like King Virgil Cluster IV was still alive. The worst renegade group in existence, known as the Colts, had just uncovered the castle’s dark secret. As the king’s personal army, the dragon riders were going to put the king’s son Prince Klavian Cluster on the throne. No one knew where to find the acting king at the moment, but once they did, he was going to vanish—quickly.

Ah. Vladimir grinned. "But all Feldings start out sweet and encouraging. It’s when they start to go mad that you need to worry. However, I currently agree with you. Tia is determined to not repeat the legacy of her family and refuses to fight with her dragon even if Misty has given her adequate cause to do so. They will be an interesting addition to my ware."

Rogan will never give her up, Larson replied.

Anvil gave Eric the rider hand signal for his dismissal and then crossed his arms. Rogan was Tia’s current ware leader, true, but the man couldn’t keep her. Larson and Rogan led training wares. When their riders reached level five, they transferred them out into Vladimir’s, Anvil’s, or the King’s Ware. Anvil was determined to get Tia back in his own ware where she had been training for the last two weeks. She was currently a level four rider, but she was the rider on everyone’s minds.

Vladimir laughed again. How much of our meeting is going to be us badgering Rogan about Tia?

Mostly all of it, Larson shook his head, and I don’t hold high hopes for winning.

Anvil looked between the two of them with a sigh. It was commonly known that Vladimir and Larson held secret meetings together and operated upon a signed alliance. Recently Rogan had gone to see Larson himself to enter into an alliance against Hilton. Rogan had led Larson and Anvil down to the mountains that were situated behind Vladimir’s Ware. From there they had stopped Hilton from using Misty—their only ice dragon—from hunting down and retrieving the celestial crown to make Hilton the king.

Now that Larson was beside Vladimir again, Anvil wondered how much sympathy Larson held for Rogan. Rogan usually operated by himself, and he was more than happy to do so given that he could train his riders anyway he wanted. He trained excellent riders. They were always knowledgeable and kind. Anvil loved getting Rogan’s transfers, although he knew that Vladimir didn’t. Rogan’s men tended to hold to their old roots, supporting Rogan and any other people he sent over. Anvil was fine with that. To him, it was extra support with the ware closest to his own.

We’d better get to it. Vladimir smiled. I’m told that Prince Klavian is already waiting for us.

Vladimir and Larson turned around and started walking over to where Rogan had set up his tent. Larson turned back around to tilt his head at Anvil. Why was Larson looking at him expectantly? Oh! They had come to fetch him. He was supposed to go to a ware leader meeting because he was a ware leader. Anvil laughed at his own oversight and stepped in beside Larson.

Still throwing you off kilter that you’re in charge? Larson asked him. I would have appointed Roman as ware leader myself. After him, I would have picked George. I would have even voted for Octavian even if he’s not here.

Those were the other section leaders at Hilton’s Ware that should have gotten Anvil’s job. He was the youngest of them all. Octavian had stayed behind at the ware instead of joining the fight against Hilton because someone needed to watch after all the married rider’s kids.

I like Anvil, Vladimir said again surprisingly. Then again, Vladimir had just told Anvil to spit out undue compliments in order to keep in the good graces of people who could be a real threat to you. Did Vladimir see him as a threat?

Everyone is a threat to him right now. He can hardly move. Clawson, Anvil’s gorgeous green dragon, spoke into his thoughts. Anvil loved dragon speech. Clawson’s voice was always soothing and while he didn’t always provide the best of comments, there had been many times that Clawson had anticipated questions Anvil would ask and had given him the answers before Anvil even knew the question would come up. Clawson was intuitive and brilliant.

Of course, you like Anvil. You see him as young and controllable.

Anvil rolled his eyes at Larson and then looked away toward the meandering riders who waited for more orders from him. Why were Vladimir and Larson talking about him when he was right there? Anvil wished he could refute their claims that he was gullible. He was young, but he wasn’t going to let anyone pick on him or his ware. Wait a minute! He was a ware leader! He could stand up to these guys now. He didn’t need to stand here in silence to show them any respect. He was allowed to speak his own mind, but he missed the opportunity.

That’s not why I like Anvil, Vladimir answered his friend. I like him because Misty likes his dragon, Clawson. Ice dragons are extremely picky about who they like and listen to. They are excellent judges of character. You have to have a very strong, stalwart, and amiable personality for an ice dragon to care what you think. Whenever I meet people like that, I push them to advance as fast as I can, because it’s those people that make really good ice dragon trainers.

Anvil glanced over at Vladimir. Personally, Anvil had limited knowledge of what white-scaled dragons could do, but he did find everything about them fascinating. Hilton had never shared much about ice dragons with him. Anvil had to sneak behind his former ware leader’s back to learn anything at all, and he had no idea that Misty was an ice dragon when he first saw her. None of them knew anything about her. Anvil had called the creature an albino for her unusual coloring not knowing any better. If he trained Misty, that would put the dragon’s gorgeous rider right next to him all day long. The idea had a lot of benefits.

They reached Rogan’s side of the camp all at the same time. For a broken man, Vladimir didn’t walk slow. Around these tents, the riders supported Rogan as their ware leader by wearing dark-brown leather gear. The last time Anvil had seen Tia, she had adopted Rogan’s garb again taking off the lighter tan of Anvil’s own colors. How was Anvil going to convince Rogan to move her back over?

And here I thought that Clawson liked Misty only because he likes Tia, Larson said. Hinting at more. Anvil looked over at the two men to get one thing straight.

We are not infected by Tia.

Although Clawson wanted to be, and Anvil wouldn’t mind in the least. Anvil quite liked the girl himself. She was impressive, and he saw the potential she could bring for a support system behind him as he took on the role of leading a full ware. He didn’t expect everyone underneath him to support him in his role when there were three other men that should have gotten the job.

I know you’re not, Vladimir assured Anvil earning a scoff from Larson. "Hey. I’ve been through this before. Anvil is not infected. That team that Tia was training with at Hilton’s... beg your pardon... Anvil’s Ware? All of them are infected. I’d stake my life on it. They know it too. Good strong team. Good strong dragons. Hilton knew how to pick the best. He requested Paulette and Achilles from me personally. I expect they’d have been a little startled to be put in a keeper group, but they’re the kind of people that will rise to the occasion and defend their friends without a flaw."

He took Albus, Ruthfort, and Malia from me, Larson nodded. "I could see them being okay with Tia even if she does turn against them. Then there’s Clark Cluster. We all know where he came from."

Anvil frowned as he looked between the two older ware leaders. Clark Cluster came from the King’s Ware, but that didn’t mean that he knew anything about who the king actually was. As a Cluster, Clark was eligible to be the next king, but only if about seven other people died first. Why were Vladimir and Larson holding a discussion like this in the wide open? Sure they were currently surrounded by Rogan’s men who would keep their mouths shut, Rogan trained them all like that, but this was still not the type of thing they should be talking about right here.

What do you think? Anvil asked Clawson. Are they right? Tia is connected with the dragons on her team?

How else do you think they helped her escape from Hilton’s murder attempt? Midnight dashed in right as Tia was about to die. She was flamed right in the chest, nearly hit straight through the head and back all at the same time, and he saved her. He’d need a good connection for charging into something like that when it’s not his own rider.

Good point. Anvil knew that Tia was linked to Rogan’s dragon Blare, Riker’s dragon Fern, and Jack’s unbonded dragon Pyro, but he hadn’t considered her team before. Anvil had thought that Tia played with the dragons on the team because she was friendly and no one else seemed to like her at all. Anvil had resorted to bribing people to talk to Tia trying to silence the constant fears of everyone around him. Once they realized how nice she was, they wouldn’t be scared of her.

Anvil stopped walking causing Vladimir and Larson to do the same thing. Prince Klavian was standing next to Tia outside of Rogan’s tent. They were almost at the meeting, and Anvil wasn’t ready to start it yet. Just looking at Rogan’s men and the way they looked at Tia standing before the tent told Anvil that Rogan had succeeded in silencing the fear. These people were not scared of her. They saw her for who she was, not who her great grandfather had been.

Vladimir, Anvil interrupted them. Two questions. You called this a keeper group, and you’ve been through this before?

Vladimir smiled back at him, a large humored grin that he shared with Larson.

See? Vladimir nudged Larson. "What did I tell you? Anvil’s got a great backbone. He’s going to be so much easier to work with than Hilton and his liver-belly. Hilton would be standing there trembling, probably scheming about how he can kill off an entire team of riders and Tia again. Anvil is asking questions because he can see the future."

No one can see the future, Larson retorted scanning Anvil over.

Anvil crossed his arms. They were having this discussion on purpose. They were testing him, trying him for what he would do if they told him he had an infected group at his ware. What would they do? Anvil wasn’t about to hurt the riders or the dragons. They were an excellent team regardless of what ware they had transferred in from.

I did say keeper group, Vladimir acknowledged. People who can link dragon thought like this are really called keepers. That’s what dragons call them. These people typically keep dragons safe. They have magic in their blood that makes it hard for them to ignore dragons. Wounded dragons crying for their help compel keepers forward even if they are injured themselves. Take Tia for example. She’s flamed down the front and instead of sitting around nursing her own wounds, she’s been nonstop nursing everyone else. We only use the word ‘infection’ when a keeper turns mad.

Which is something we’ve never figured out. Larson sighed. What snaps to make them go mad? Before that happens, they’re quite charming.

Ah. Vladimir raised a finger to Larson. I was talking with Tia just the other day. She told me something that may be the answer to that question. I asked her if she could kill her bonded dragon and her answer was priceless. She told me that she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she ever killed Misty. Boom! Vladimir snapped a finger for emphasis while Larson shrugged not understanding why this was such a big deal.

Anvil watched both of them keenly. He was enjoying being able to listen to ware leader discussions. They were fascinating. Infections were really called keepers. He was going to look that up later.

Their blood demands they protect dragons. If they push against the magic in their blood, they turn mad. As long as we keep Tia from killing Misty, we’ve got ourselves a keeper.

You mean Rogan has himself a keeper.

Not for long, Anvil heard himself retort as he looked away from the discussion at Tia. She was laughing at Prince Klavian who was crossing his arms at her. Word through the tents indicated that she was responsible for the man’s haircut and new clothes. The prince no longer looked like he had spent the last five years rotting in secret underneath a carrot patch. Anvil wasn’t too clear on the details, but that was where the prince had been found. Now he looked presentable with his black hair trimmed short, his beard gone, and his high cheekbones prominent. Tia’s blond hair was pulled into a bun at the back of her head. Her blue eyes were shining like they usually did and her smile was full and happy. It was a sight that would make Anvil’s dragon hum.

You hum about it, Clawson commented on his thoughts. I’m busy standing beside Roman’s dragon to remind the guy that you are in charge and that he shouldn’t be telling everyone to expect you to be docile about your role.

Indeed? Anvil was going to have some words with Roman about that. He wasn’t going to be pushed around. He was in charge. When Anvil looked back at Vladimir and Larson, they were both nearly laughing at him.

You’re not going to get Tia past me, Vladimir said, drawing him back to the last thing Anvil had just said about Rogan not keeping Tia at his ware. Anvil detected the hint of a threat behind Vladimir’s challenge. Larson shook his head at Anvil as if he shouldn’t want the girl at all. Vladimir took off right toward Tia ending their group discussion. So it was going to start. They were all going to be bashing against Rogan soon. Anvil could feel it already churning through his veins.

He didn’t finish answering you, Anvil, Larson said. You’re too young to know this, but Vladimir trained Tia’s father, Herb, before the man learned who he was, gave up dragons, and turned to farming. Herb had a messenger find him one night, prove to him that Gladius was his father, and it scared Herb silly.

What happened to Herb’s bonded dragon? Anvil asked surprised with this news. Larson was right that he had never heard of it before, and Anvil thought that he had heard every piece of gossip relating to the Felding family that there was. Ware leaders shared their own gossip it seemed. It was ever so lovely to get behind the real facts instead of riders’ horrible interpretations. He was enjoying this a little too much. George was never going to make him step down from this position.

What do you think? Larson asked, leaning in so that no one else could hear them. "Herb killed her. Don’t ask me if that made him turn mad. He’s not touched another dragon since, and he seems to be living fine without a bond. I have people spying on him all the time. Maybe it’s the killing of several bonded dragons that turns a keeper into an infection."

Spooky. Anvil couldn’t contemplate any rider ever killing off their bonded dragon. The whole thing sounded beyond criminal. How could anyone push aside the thoughts of their crying dragon screaming in their head in order to kill them? It made the hairs on Anvil’s arms stand right up. Larson noticed. He gave Anvil a nod and left him with the disturbing images as he too went closer to Tia. Anvil watched them from afar. How could Tia ever hurt Misty? Sure the dragon had just revealed that she could bond multiple humans and Tia had been angry over that, but they got along so well otherwise. Right? Tia understood that they didn’t know everything there was to know about ice dragons. They were all still learning.

Vladimir reached Tia accepting the way she gave him a perfect salute along with a charming smile that indicated she was pleased to see him. Anvil heard their words drift his direction without even trying.

Anyone ever tell you that you make a broken leg look easy? Tia asked him. Not that I want to experience it, but you glide through the trifle like a fork. Tia giggled, looked into the air to the south and shook her head. Okaaay. Sorry. She told Vladimir. Apparently, I am bad at analogies.

Misty picking on you? Vladimir asked with far too much interest in the answer. Larson sauntered up behind the mahogany-clad man with his head tilted to the side as if trying to guess what Vladimir might be really thinking about.

Not at all. Tia smiled back. I would need to be a stringed instrument to require a pick. Tia laughed again at whatever thought Misty sent to her. So maybe Tia wasn’t laughing at the prince earlier when Anvil first spotted them. She was ignoring him in favor of passing off puns to her dragon.

I personally like harps. Prince Klavian spoke up.

Tia rubbed her hands together as if he had said something amusing instead of common place.

I can play the harp! I can also play the fiddle, grand piano, drums, and lute. Lutes are my favorite. I was just telling Misty how I wish that I’d packed an ocarina in my bag... Tia trailed off as Rogan stepped out of his tent.

The man was the wildest looking ware leader of them all. Anvil was blond, tall, and with earrings. Vladimir was a redhead with a black bandana. Larson was short with black hair, and Rogan looked like a rope pile had been dumped on his head. His long black hair was always braided into tiny sections. He kept the beard away, and his leather uniform was always clean of spots and cracks even after a recent tumble. Rogan usually adopted a commanding look when talking with other ware leaders probably to counterbalance how religious he was.

Rogan handed an ocarina to Tia, told her to make herself a pest someplace else, and grinned when she enthusiastically saluted him and jumped to the task with the instrument in her hand. Anvil could only guess what song she was going to start up. Yesterday she had everyone humming the Aralot anthem. No one had told him this, but since Tia looked in the mood to spread uplifting messages across a battlefield, Anvil suspected that it was her that had spread the previous joy. Anvil needed that. What ware leader wouldn’t want a person that saw despair and flipped the cards back around to hope? Even when Tia’s old trainer Ty had illegally put Tia into the dragon races, Tia and Misty danced their way off the field not letting anything hold them down. Anvil grinned at something Tia had told him once. Her home was in the sky.

Anvil.

Rogan called to him so that Anvil turned his head away from Tia and back to his meeting. With Tia gone, Prince Klavian was now a tick on Rogan’s side. The man was sure clingy. Rogan hardly had any room to raise his arms with how close Klavian had stepped over. Anvil joined the four men and entered the tent. Inside the tent was nothing special. Rogan had his bedroll tucked to the side of his backpack so that the tent floor was clear. The bag was resting along one edge of the tent wall and looked to be the only thing in here. Rogan sat down beside it as if it was the head of a table or something. Larson gave Vladimir a short smile before he sat down too. Vladimir decided to stand with his busted leg instead of figure out how to get back up. Prince Klavian sat and then stood back up. He looked around for a chair before he looked at the tent entrance. Anvil decided to stay standing as well. What did this say for Rogan if he was purposely being unaccommodating to Vladimir? Prince Klavian started them off.

First matter of business. If any of you know who is being the king right now, I’d like to hear it.

None of them had anything to say and Anvil could only shrug when the prince looked at him.

I will need to be crowned. I expect to clash with the monks on this. It is the abbot that needs to crown me. The monks will not want to crown me with the item my father used, because he lost the thing, and the monks and I don’t get along. Is there a possibility that Misty would be willing to find me the celestial crown when she wouldn’t find it for Hilton?

Rogan opened his mouth to answer, but it was Vladimir who cut them off. Misty is too young for treasure hunts. She won’t be able to find the crown. Hilton should have known better than to take a baby to do an adult’s job. Misty’s not even making glowing ice yet. You can’t count on her to handle your problems with the monks.

I agree that Misty would not be willing to look for the crown, Rogan answered. Although from my understanding magical dragons tend to mature at a faster rate. They reach their one-year mark long before their first year. Then they age normally after that. If you look at her closely, Misty is physically nearly one already even if her other milestones have not caught up.

Wow! Anvil had vaguely noticed that the dragon was shooting up faster than her peers, but he hadn’t had the time to really pay attention to that. Rogan was right though. Her size would indicate that she was nearly an adult even if her mentality didn’t match that. Mentally, Misty should be a six-week-old dragon. She was doubling her weeks and months if she felt like she was 12 months old already.

He was getting so much rare information in one day! Misty was going to surprise them by how fast she reached her magical achievements. Everything hit at that dragon all at the same time. Did Tia know this yet? That should be something that they should tell her because wherever Misty ended up, it was Tia who was going to be training her.

What is Prince Klavian’s problem with the monks? Anvil asked.

Vladimir smirked. Larson gave Anvil a sorry smile like he knew but wasn’t going to say anything. Klavian cleared his throat against the question. Even Rogan, who normally might have told Anvil the answer, didn’t say a word. Dang. Was this something that Hilton would know? Being the youngest and newest ware leader had disadvantages. Anvil had not paid much attention to the rumors when Prince Klavian disappeared five years ago.

On that note, the prince continued, we are all here because Hilton destroyed Vladimir’s Ware. Vladimir had a large loss of men. It’s not the normal season for transfers, but they are in order. He will need people helping him rebuild.

Transfers. Anvil perked up at the topic. When he looked at Larson, the man was nearly laughing again as if Prince Klavian had no idea what he had just gotten himself into. Already Vladimir and Rogan were staring each other down.

You do not know how to train an ice dragon, Vladimir said to Rogan.

Your ice dragon trainers died. I’ll do just as good as anyone else.

Misty should have been born at my ware. I don’t care if Tia is your favorite rider, that dragon of hers needs to be here. You can’t hold on to her forever, Rogan, Vladimir insisted.

Tia is not transferring anywhere.

Anvil got himself into the fray. Misty is a social creature. What she needs is her team beside her. That team is at my ware. Anvil rose to Vladimir’s challenge to pester Rogan and claim the rider. Vladimir had a point that he knew more about ice dragons than the rest of them, but he didn’t have a ware to support him.

Don’t you dare! Rogan shot at Anvil. He opened up his bag and pulled out a piece of paper as if he had planned for this exact conversation. Rogan handed Anvil the document in his hand as he rose to his feet.

In case Tia ends up at your ware for any reason, Rogan said.

Anvil took the piece of paper and felt his frustration race around his head. Then he felt his mouth betray him by pulling out a smile. The gall of some people! The things they would do to get what they wanted was never going to cease to amuse him. However, laughing at Rogan’s choice of papers wasn’t going to help him get Tia at his ware either.

This is a search warrant, Anvil revealed. He held the paper out so that Larson and Vladimir could verify Rogan’s documentation.

In case she gets lost again, I gave myself permission to stomp through your grounds, Rogan said.

You do not have my cooperation, Anvil replied. I’m not signing this.

Transfers will be taking place silently. Prince Klavian interrupted. I am also opening back up the abandoned ware in the north.

At that, Vladimir stopped glaring at Rogan to gawk. Anvil shook his head. He could see where this was going. The ware in the north was abandoned for a reason. It was the place where Gladius was a ware leader. Since he became king a full generation ago, nothing had been at the ware.

We used to have three strong wares in the middle of the kingdom. Larson protects the western edge, and the King’s Ware protects the east. We have nothing defending the northern shores without that ware. We need it back. I understand this will be hard on all of you especially on Anvil. We’ll need enough men to move out to expand two other wares.

Anvil blinked at Prince Klavian as he felt all the eyes in the tent turn to him. Difficult indeed. He currently had the largest ware, and Prince Klavian was asking him to split it all up. People were going to resent him for that. How was he going to decide who to move?

Keep the eastern side and the northern side and get rid of the rest of riff-raff, Clawson voted.

If only it was that easy. George, Roman, and Octavian—his section leaders—were all going to have opinions about this.

I will comply when you are crowned king. Anvil told the prince. This earned him a glare that he wasn’t expecting, but he should have anticipated the way that sounded like he wasn’t supporting the