Page 435 of Kingdoms of Night

“I am interested,” he replied with a soft smile on his face. “I’d love to learn more if you’d let me.”

She lifted her head and coughed, suddenly aware that she had given him more time than she’d given anyone in recent years. “I find it most comfortable to sit before the crystal you’ll be working with. Choose whichever one calls to you.”

His brows furrowed. “How will I know which one calls to me?”

“It’s not very important,” she chuckled. “A figure of speech, if you will. They’re all distinct memories, different times, different dragons. You’ll find something new in all of them, and if you are capable of doing the work, then you’ll be able to connect with any of them.”

“Ah.” He sat down in front of the largest crystal. “This one will do, then.”

“Close your eyes.” She watched him do as she ordered and butterflies fluttered to life in her belly. “If you say you can use magic, then how do elves connect with other beings or things?”

“I usually touch it. I’ve talked with trees before. Coaxed plants to grow out of season. That sort of thing.”

It was better than she expected.

Tanis started again, pitching her voice low and quiet. “Touch the crystal, then. You won’t hurt it. Let your hand feel the strength within it, and the weight of all the souls that gave it power.”

He did as she told him to do. Both hands pressed to the purple crystal that glowed brighter at his touch. Just like it did when she reached out to it.

Maybe this would work after all.

“Let your mind wander. The memories will reach out to you. At first, it will feel as though you have entered a dream, or a memory that was once yours, which you had forgotten years ago. Take your time. Dragon memories are powerful things, and you might not notice it at first. They will guide you.”

Tanis settled to watch him, humming deep in her throat in an enchanting call of dragon meditation. Rowan swayed side to side with the sound.

She didn’t know how long it took him to connect with the crystal, but she knew it was faster than she had expected. One moment, he was swaying and then the next, he’d frozen with a soft sound of shock.

“It smells like heat and lemongrass,” he whispered. “I can feel warm sand under my toes, but that’s not quite right. I’ve never felt sand so hot.”

“Those are the outer reaches,” she said with a smile. “Few dragons ever go out there because the sands and the sun are so punishing. The gold dragons love it, though.”

“I taste....” He smacked his lips. “Lemon.”

“There is a grove of lemon trees out there. You’re likely viewing the very first dragon who planted them and waited for a very long time to harvest them. Gold dragons use the lemons to shine their scales so that the sun makes them even paler. Some of them are so light that they almost look white when they fly overhead.”

She hadn’t seen a gold dragon in a very long time. They rarely came to this part of her home, and only when they had memories to leave. She only knew they had arrived because there would be new, exciting memories for her to watch.

“What do I do now?” Rowan asked.

“Nothing. For now, you continue to connect with the memories. Feel them. Don’t get bogged down by the memories themselves, but move through them as though you are swimming through the currents. Let them pass you from one to the other. Enjoy the memories first, Rowan. Then I will teach you how to guard them.”

Tanis stood, her legs creaking as she straightened. Apparently, she had been teaching him for too long.

When she turned her head, she saw there was a familiar face waiting for her in the entrance to her cave. The crimson dragon had seen battle in his lifetime. There were scars all over his face and patches of scales missing where curses had blasted them off. But he had survived, because he was one of the most powerful fighters they had.

“Attor,” she said quietly, not wanting to interrupt the work Rowan was doing. “What are you doing here?”

He waited until she joined him before he spoke. “A group of dragons came from Umbra. They were of the clan who journeyed to see if there could be a life for us there.”

She’d expect them to deposit memories soon, then. “Why do you look so angry?”

“They were attacked.” He bared his fangs in a terrifying grimace. His expression was one a dragon only used before battle. Even his spines were raised high with anger. “Three of our kind were killed. Those who attacked claimed they would destroy every last dragon who was on Umbral soil. They wish to murder all who linger there.”

Her own spines flared involuntarily. “What? How? The dragons that stayed had plenty of crimsons with them. And there were only a few sapphires and greens. They should have been impossible to kill.”

“We don’t know how, but I will not let it stand.” Attor had always been hungry for battle, though.

Tanis remembered a time before she was born. A time when the dragons had carved out this part of the realm for themselves and Dracomaquia had first been born. There was much bloodshed here as dragons tore apart all who stood between them and a potential home. But in doing so, there had been much fighting.

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