Page 70 of The Dragon Warlord
“Probably not. What’s the damage then?”
“The little fools didn’t tell anyone, and it spread to most of the clan. I’ve called for the healers and quarantined the infected.”
Dragon ivy isn’t deadly, but it’s a sticky kind of itchy and it burns. Once it gets on you, you can do little else, and it spreads rapidly.
Tristan huffs a sigh. “I’ll be right there. Give the rest of the day off until we have this sorted. Where are the culprits?”
She laughs. “I reamed them out pretty good, but they’re in the healing tent fearing for their lives at the thought of the Warlord coming to speak with them.”
“Good. Let them stew for a bit and get me a dragon whip.”
I bite back a laugh. He only seems to pull that out for my idiot brothers.
“On it, Warlord.”
She leaves and Tristan stands up. “Have the Kanes siblings hatched a plot to ruin me? The dragon lord is going to be furious and then my arse is going to be on the chopping block.”
Without thinking I go to him as I usually would, it’s only when I get within a foot that I freeze. I was going to scent him for comfort, but that’s just a bad idea with how horny he’s been making me, especially now that the knows about the dream. Maybe I’ll restrict myself to once a day. At night before I leave him to go to bed.
Yeah. That’s a good plan. I’m notnotgoing to touch him. Just a little less.
He lifts his neck naturally, in anticipation of me, and frowns when I don’t nuzzle in to scent him. His fingers flex and extend as if they want to reach out to me, but he’s yelling at them to stand down.
There’s a physical tug in my chest. The sign of angry dragon magic, which I dutifully ignore.
“Well then, let’s get going. After we deal with this, I have my session with Brock in the dragon fields and then I’m sure your sister will be back to tell us the bad news. At least one good thing has come from your brothers’ nonsense. Now, I wouldn’t have an army big enough to march into the Wastelands to retrieve a bloody ice dragon if such a thing even exists. Your sister’s quest will have to wait.”
* * *
Brock is a large wizard with long white hair and gray eyes. Like Rayne, he has dragon magic, but since he is not a dragon, he doesn’t have dragon’s blood. The dragon-taming wizards are still considered dragonkin. He’s able to help Tristan expand his dragon magic by forming a temporary bond with his mind.
“Here,” he says to Tristan after another failed attempt, tapping on his chest with a meaty fist. “Your heart.”
Tristan is frustrated and not just because he’s not latching onto this concept as immediately as he has with other ones. It took the better part of the afternoon to deal with the ivy incident, which meant a wasted training day. That must be reported to the dragon lord, and it’s set Tristan’s nerves a flare. Plus, even though we’re no longer contagious, we’re still experiencing bouts of horrible itchiness from the mini-dragon ivy plague we were forced to endure.
We were warned to stay out of the tent, but we wanted to help the healers help his warriors. Tristan has Elven magic and was sure that it could be of some use—it was since he was able to use it for soothing the itch—and I know the healing spell for dragon ivy. We knew we’d get it and would have to be treated once we had it, but our assistance was a significant contribution.
It drained us and Tristan thought that once he explained the situation to Brock that he’d simply release Tristan for the day. Ha! Right. Has he learned nothing? This will only be seen as an opportunity. The dragon lord wants Tristan pushed beyond his limits. It’s the only way to grow. I’ve heard the lecture from Father many times.
“Do you think the enemy is going to allow you a break when you’re exhausted? No. If you don’t have the mental fortitude when you’re tired—and you will get tired—then you’re done and so will be dragons.”
He’s said it to all of his children many times. He says it to Tristan the most because he’s the Warlord.
Of course, there are some limits to this. The dragon lord doesn’t deny the importance of a good night’s sleep, but he’s all for conditioning past your limits before you get that good night’s sleep. I’ve worked with Brock many times. He’s an excellent trainer. He’ll know how hard he can push before Tristan snaps.
So yeah, he’s struggling as the dragon lord thinks that he should. I get to kick back on the grass and watch. I can already do what the Warlord is learning. He should give himself a little credit. He’s learned things in weeks that it took me months to master.
He’s hard on himself.
“My heart is tired,” Tristan insists. “I’ll be better at this tomorrow.”
“If you push yourself just a bit more today, you’ll master this by tomorrow. You’re a natural, Warlord. C’mon. Try again.”
Tristan spares me a glance,missingme, which is weird because I’m right here and have been by his side all day. The emotion of “missing” is unmistakable though.
A flare of itchiness arises suddenly on my arse, and I can think of nothing else but scratching it. Rolling to my side, I scratch as hard as I can. “Fucking dragon ivy. Gods dammit.”
Tristan laughs while I roll around in the grass until the pulsating itch dies down. The exhaustion settles into my bones, and I collapse on my back, wishing for the dragon Goddess’s mercy.
