Page 47 of Guardian's Dilemma

That had been the wrong thing to think. Itwasskin.

“Why would you do that?” asked Douglas.

“Because I found out what it was.”

To my surprise, Douglas heaved a sigh and went back behind his desk. He settled into his chair and looked up at me, shaking this head.

“I thought you already knew what it was.”

“You knew?”

“Of course I knew. It took weeks for the reek of dragon magic to fade from it when it was made.”

Damn. I hadn’t realised until that moment that I’d been holding out hope that Douglas, at least, hadn’t known about the armour.

“I never sensed the dragon magic in it.”

“Your armour was old. The dragon magic had long since faded. The scales retain it longer than anything else, but it can’t hold it forever; it’s exceptionally good armour and it absorbs our defensive spells well.”

“It doesn’t bother you that we were wearing dragon skin?”

Douglas studied me as he replied. He measured his words carefully. “We killed the dragon, and we can use everything we possibly can to protect ourselves from dangerous dragons.”

I was about to reply but the words died in my throat. I was sure that Douglas’ eyes had flickered across to Glimmer then.

Apparently, Glimmer also saw the look, brief as it was, because he moved silently around behind me, from my right to my left. He left a block of magic behind him, though, where he had been standing.

“Douglas, I have something I need to tell you about Leonard.”

“Where is he? He hasn’t reported back.”

“That’s because he’s dead.”

Like allridire, Douglas paled a tiny bit at the thought. He knew that dragons were deadly, and he knew that fighting them was a risk. It was just that Leonard had always been one of the best fighters and he’d been sure he would make it out alive.

“And the others?”

“Also dead.”

“Did they kill the dragon?”

I didn’t want to lie to Douglas. On the other hand, I couldn’t say anything that might endanger Glimmer, either.

In the end, I settled on, “No, they didn’t kill the dragon.”

Douglas said, “Then we can send another team.”

Beside me, I saw Glimmer’s head twitch. It was only a slight movement as he tensed up, and I felt the magic change, too. It was protective, doesn’t-want-his-clan-hurt kind of magic. Inside, I felt a thrill that I was familiar enough with his magic already to identify it like that. Normally, it would take me days of studying someone’s magic before I could come close to that.

The change was a warning, though.

“The dragon left.”

I said it as confidently as I could, projecting all of my certainty. It was technically true, after all. Glimmer had left. He wouldn’t be found there any longer.

Douglas slumped back in his chair. “It’s going to take weeks to track it down again now.”

Glimmer moved so slightly that it was barely more than a shiver, but I saw it. I wanted to comfort him. He was standing inside aridire’s training grounds, which was the bravest thing a dragon could do. I wanted him to know how much I admired that courage.

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