Page 54 of Lightningborn

“No!” roared Jhaeros, throwing out an arm. As Remy scrambled onto the railing, a streak of lightning smashed into the wood where he’d been standing moments before. Storm let out a shriek as the balcony and railing beneath Remy crumbled, and they both plummeted toward the Maelstrom.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

“Remy! Storm!”

Gem gave a gasp of horror, watching Remy and his dragon fall away into the Vortex. Behind her, Bart let out a strangled cry, thin fingers reaching out to the figures tumbling into the great beyond. “Cloud!” she cried. “Go after them!”

The white dragon bellowed and started to dive, but Jhaeros let out a howl of rage, and a blast of wind shot up from below, catching the dragon in midair. It shot them upward, and another gust slammed into them from the side. Unable to fight the winds, they were flung through the air, the world careening around them. Cloud struck the deck of the ship, and Gem was flung from the saddle, rolling across the planks until she came to a dizzying stop near the mast.

Gasping, she looked up, the world still swaying around her. A few feet away, Sir Bartello was being hauled to his feet by a pair of pirates. Farther on, Cloud lay in a heap against the side of the ship, one wing crumpled beneath him. Pirates swarmed him, throwing lines over his body, looping ropes around his jaw, tying him down. Gem’s stomach clenched, and she staggered to her feet.

“Get away from my dragon!” she cried, but something grabbed her from behind, lifting her off her feet. She kicked and struggled, feeling her heel strike the pirate in the leg. He grunted, grabbed her arm, and twisted it painfully behind her back, making her gasp in pain.

“Enough!”

Jhaeros strode across the deck, white hair streaming behind him, his coat snapping in the wind. His eyes glowed feverishly bright as he stopped in the middle of the deck, observing the situation.

The pirate holding Gem dragged her forward and pushed her at Jhaeros. Panting, Gem raised her head and glared at the pirate mage, her hood thrown back and her own hair blowing loose in the wind. Jhaeros regarded her silently for a moment, then smiled a cold, cruel smile.

“Well, well. Fate does work in strange ways, doesn’t it?”

Gem looked around desperately. The pirates had Cloud pinned down near the railings. Two more stood over a kneeling Sir Bartello, their swords drawn and pointed at his back. Overhead, theQueen’s Bladedrifted past, trailing smoke from its hull, one of its wing sails torn and hanging limply. No one was left to help her; Gem was on her own.

“You’ve cost me the power of a True Dragon,” Jhaeros said, taking a step forward. “But it seems I haven’t lost everything quite yet.” His smile widened, eyes glittering with malice. “Isn’t that right…Princess?”

Her heart sank even further. Kneeling between two pirates, Sir Bartello raised his head, his face slack with amazement and disbelief. “Princess,” he repeated. “Princess Gemillia. Why would you come here? You’ve given Jhaeros all the power he needs to use against the king.”

Ignoring him, Gem glared up at Jhaeros. “Whatever you’re planning, it won’t work,” she warned him. “If you do anything to me, my father won’t stop until he’s hunted you down.”

“I don’t fear the king,” Jhaeros said with a shrug. “Gallus is many miles away in the capital. He won’t be able to help you now.” He raised an arm, flickering strands crawling up his clenched fist. “Once I gain the power of a True Dragon, your father’s kingdom will fall before me, and I will be the one to rule it all. And now that I have his precious daughter, Gallus will do nothing as I march into his capital and seize it from the inside.” The pirate mage gave a ghastly smile, looking like a grinning skull in the flickering light. “I’ve lost a dragon but gained a princess. I suppose that’s a fair enough trade.”

Gem thought of Remy, falling away into the Maelstrom, and her eyes burned. Anger, grief, and desperation flared, and magic rose up like a whirlwind. She could feel it, swirling within her like a storm, and clenched her fists at her sides.

You don’t need a college education to use magic, Lysander had sneered.The college teaches structure and control, but magic is wild, untamed, unpredictable. Anyone with the talent can use it. You just have to be careful it doesn’t tear you apart.

“Captain.” One of the pirates next to Cloud gave a grunt as the dragon tried to get up, fighting the men and the ropes holding him down. “What do we do with the beast?” he asked, clenching his jaw as the dragon growled and struggled. His tail lashed, hitting a pirate in the stomach and doubling him over before another grabbed the swinging tail and pinned it down.

Jhaeros curled a lip. “I don’t need a normal dragon,” he said contemptuously. “Get rid of it. Throw the old man overboard, too. His usefulness has ended.”

“No!” Gem shrieked, and threw out an arm. A flare of power lanced through her, like electricity beneath her skin, and lightning streaked from her fingers. Jhaeros instinctively raised a hand, and the lightning slammed into his palm. Grimacing, he took a step back, teeth clenched in concentration as the lightning crackled around him. The ring of pirates let out cries of alarm, staring at their leader in shock. Gem watched in stunned silence, eyes wide, her thoughts racing frantically.

I…I did it! I called down lightning from the Maelstrom. Lysander was right; you don’t have to be an elder mage to use storm magic.

With a shout, Jhaeros flung both arms out to the side, and the strands sizzling around him dispersed. Panting, he straightened, his hair floating wildly around him, and gazed at Gem in both surprise and grudging respect.

“Well, Princess. I believe I’ve underestimated you.” He smiled, and his eyes flashed an ominous blue-white. “Congratulations. It won’t happen again.”

He raised an arm. Gem braced herself, but what hit her wasn’t lightning. It was wind, lifting her off her feet and hurling her back across the deck. She hit the planks hard, the breath driven from her lungs in a painful expulsion. Trying to gasp in air, she scrambled back on her elbows, watching as Jhaeros strode forward, smiling lazily.

“You have raw talent, I’ll give you that,” he said, gesturing with one hand. A surge of wind lifted Gem a few feet in the air, then dropped her to the deck. She landed with a gasp of pain. “But it still takes power. Power and control, to fully manipulate the elements. Without power, you are weak. Without control, the magic itself will flare out of hand. The True Dragons were the only ones who could fully integrate and control the magic, because they were magical creatures themselves. Once I have the power of a True Dragon, nothing in the world will be able to stop me. I will rule this land as the strongest creature alive. And you are going to help me get there.”

Gem scooted back until she hit the railing of the ship. Her head hurt, and she couldn’t seem to draw in enough air. But she glared at Jhaeros and defiantly raised her chin. “I’ll never help you,” she spat.

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, Princess.” Jhaeros smiled. “Your ship is crippled, your knight is a pathetic old man, and your luck has run out. There are no dragons around to save you.”

He raised his arm, and a shadow fell over them both. Gasping, Gem looked back as, with the sound of beating wings, a blue-and-silver dragon rose over the side of theWindshark, glaring down with blazing purple eyes.

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