Page 33 of Ruling in Flames (Reborn 5)
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MAYA
It wasn’tuntil hours later, sitting in my temporary bedroom surrounded by my mates, that something occurred to me. My hand was poised over a sketchpad as I sat in Ledger’s lap, trying to ignore the nervous energy running through me. After an afternoon nap, I was starting to feel more alert, but with that came the heavy responsibility of ‘what next.’
I was supposed to lead dragons and phoenixes on Earth…but which ones? All of them? Or was there a specific community he was talking about? I nervously bit down on my lip as Anani made a concerned noise.
“What’s wrong, firefly?” Ledger asked, drawing everyone’s attention except Az’s. He was currently sitting on the floor and serving as a cat tree, Bella jumping from his head down to his shoulders, then climbing up to do it again. He didn’t seem bothered by it in the least.
“Who exactly am I supposed to lead? The people who were trapped here? A lot of them left. People like Larry and Anna? I’m just confused on what he meant.”
“I assumed he meant offering people from the Dreki realm a permanent place here,” Marco said. “A lot of them want to—not that your parents aren’t fair and just rulers, but the culture is militaristic, and the hierarchy is pretty damn strict.”
“So what stops them?” I asked.
“It’s a big change, moving to Earth realm. More so, it’s never been actively encouraged, and there has been no system of support,” Henry pointed out.
“So if they had a place to come, a kingdom or compound or something like that, it would encourage them?”
“Absolutely,” Ledger said.
“We would’ve left before joining our flight if that had been an option,” Anani agreed.
Atlas’s gaze was on the family sigil ring I wore as he spoke openly. “Dreki realm technically moves faster than Earth, but because the realms are based on Earth and surround it, we biologically age at the speed of Earth despite mentally being more advanced. It’s how your brothers appear to be similar in age to you despite having lived through far more.”
“That must get confusing.”
“With changing realms it does,” Sai admitted, “but because of that, you get kids who are thirteen and fourteen who feel much older than that, and the adults in their lives expect them to be combat ready and to put their life on the line for their realm.”
“That’s messed up,” I muttered.
“Which is good motivation to change,” Croy encouraged. “You could make it a lot different, without having to upset the balance of the Dreki realm. You would just give them more options.”
I nodded slowly, making a note to explain my thoughts to my mom. I wasn’t sure how I would convince others to follow us, and I didn’t want to make it seem like I was saying the Dreki realm was bad… Crap, this was going to be complicated.
“Hey Az?” I looked towards the angel, who opened his eyes as Bella sat purring on his chest. “Where was Ry getting all the dragons and phoenixes?”
His eyes sharpened as he sat up. “Your mission was the first he sent me on. The others weren’t deemed important enough—I think he had a feeling of how powerful you were after hearing Malcolm talk about you”—I shivered, hating that the dangerous man was still out there—“but he hunted them higher up in the mountains. I didn’t have an exact location. Some of the guards heard rumors of an entire community there.”
“We should go looking for them,” I said softly. “Let them know there’s no reason to fear anymore… How did they even get there? Why was there such a mass exodus from the Dreki realm, and when?”
Croy spoke up. “My understanding is that because there weren’t many of them, they were fought over, and eventually a group decided to leave. Once they arrived on Earth they were rumored to be killed, but obviously because of their regenerative qualities, I’m not positive how that’s possible unless all of the witches had Ry’s level of magic.”
“Magic that he drained.” I shook my head, thinking about the strange man’s words. “Hesaid he’s one of the worst—that he has drained so much magic.”
Henry made a concerned noise. “Where did it go when he died?”
I frowned. I understood his point. Magic like that didn’t simply disappear.
Az sat up further, drawing my attention. “I would’ve assumed it would be transferred to me, but it was clear before he died that we were no longer connected. He only connected himself to those he wanted to keep an eye on, which consisted of me and a few others, though he killed all of those except me…” Az’s eyes widened. “And one other.”
My stomach tightened uncomfortably, wondering if my brain was on the right track for what he was about to say—I really hoped it wasn’t.
“Who?” Anani demanded.
“Malcolm,” he hissed.
“There’s no way,” I murmured, feeling panicked. “He couldn’t have absorbed all that power, right?”
