Elaya was fuming. She supposed she should be glad that she hadn't gotten arrested herself, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment. Corill had given her some talk about what was right and wrong and destiny, about her arriving here had been ordained by the gods so she could replace him when he died, and the only reason she hadn't done the same thing as Rhenor and tried to punch him was that Kaz needed her to not end up in a dungeon. And Rhenor did as well, though Elaya didn't think the people of Rethan would harm him.

No, they didn't seem to want to hurt either of them. Unfortunately, that courtesy didn't extend to Kaz, which was the entire problem.

Elaya pulled at her hair as she sat down in the grass just outside of the town, the backpack filled with silver she'd been carrying around right next to her. She'd tried to find the place where they'd been shot down, or even just some marks on the ground that would show the path Kaz had been dragged, but the island was much larger than she'd thought at first and she'd not been able to find anything so far.

If she could just find where Kaz was being kept, then she would.... Well, she wasn't sure what she would do, but it would be better than pointlessly wandering around here.

This did bring up a major concern. She knew how to fight and defend herself, but not against an entire town. She would need magic to free Kaz­—it was practically inevitable. And she knew that the amulet Corill wore had to be the thing allowing him to use it. She had felt its aura from the moment she'd noticed it.

But how was she supposed to take it away from him? Corill had access to magic, he was clearly very powerful, and he always seemed to have a guard or two with him. Even if she waited for Rhenor to be released, it seemed hopeless to assume they could gain the upper hand in a fight like that.

Elaya shook her head. She knew thinking like this wasn't helping, that she should be focusing on finding Kaz first, but she couldn't help it. She hadn't been this worried about Kaz since he'd broken her out of jail back in Reighir. And then when he'd gotten captured to save them in Sigallah.

She had a knack for getting Kaz into mortal peril, didn't she?

Elaya ran a hand over her face. The former hadn't been her fault—in fact, she'd used magic to save both of them—but she still couldn't help but feel guilty over it. She hadn't even had a chance to have a proper heart to heart about everything with Kaz. They'd been so focused on that heist and then trying to escape Istamid that there just hadn't been time for anything.

Her previous guilt burned away into anger as she realized this. She would free Kaz if it was the last thing she did. That she swore. But first, she needed an idea of where to go looking for him. Even just seeing him would be a huge relief to her, just to know that he was okay, even though the sight of him in chains might set off her fury just as much as it might help her think more clearly.

Elaya rubbed her eyes as she got up again. Based on what they'd found out so far, the only logical place for Kaz to be kept was outside the town somewhere, which meant she would have to search the entire island. She could feel her aching legs protesting at the thought, but she easily pushed that aside. As long as she could move, she would do everything she could to search for her friend.

Throwing the backpack onto her back again, she was about to start walking, choosing a random direction away from town, when she suddenly got the feeling like someone was watching her. She looked around, her eyes scanning over the walls of houses and nearby trees until she spotted a woman with short, graying hair watching her from the distance, at the edge of the nearby forest.

As the woman noticed Elaya looking, though, she immediately hid behind the trees, disappearing from sight. Elaya frowned. This was certainly not the first time someone had stared at her in this place, but for some reason, this felt different.

She found herself walking toward the forest before she even properly thought about it, but she saw no reason to stop. She had no clue as to where to go looking for Kaz, anyway, and while it was obvious he couldn't be in the forest since he wouldn't fit between the trees, he might be on the other side of the woods.

That was wishful thinking, Elaya knew, but at this point, that was all she had left.

As she reached the forest her boots touched a layer of dry leaves, and she looked around, trying to determine where the other woman had gone. But she wasn't a tracker, and so she gave up on that idea very quickly. Elaya really needed to ask Rhenor to teach her some basics after this mess was over and done with.

As she ventured deeper, she tried to keep walking in one direction in an effort not to get lost. But she didn't worry about that too much because she had seen the island from above, and so she knew the forest wasn't that large. Which made her fruitless searching for Kaz all the more frustrating, but at least it also meant that it would be difficult to not find her way back to town if she lost her way.

As the forest got thicker, with tall bushes in her way and shrubbery that seemed to catch onto her feet making traversing the place difficult, Elaya almost started considering turning around and trying to find a better way when she heard a hiss from behind her.

She whirled around, immediately spotting the woman she'd seen before who was standing a few feet away. Her brows were drawn together in what looked like apprehension. She looked around quickly before leaning towards Elaya and whispering. "You are looking for the dragon, aren't you?"

Elaya nodded quickly, taking a step forward as she fought to keep her blossoming hope back. This person might not know anything useful—she might just be curious. "Do you know where he is?"

The woman leaned in even closer, taking another sweeping glance of their surroundings before giving a nod. "Yes." She sighed and shook her head. "This dragon. It's...he's different, isn't he?"

Elaya was almost shocked to hear a person from Rethan referring to Kaz as a he, but she was certainly pleasantly surprised. Could Corill's opinions not be as universal as Elaya had thought?

"I've always heard of dragons trying to kill us or threatening us. I have seen it once. But the first thing he said was asking if his friends—if you—were okay."

A small, sad smile tugged on her lips. She wasn't at all surprised that had been Kaz's first concern, even though it shouldn't have been in his position. But she couldn't blame him—by now she knew that what Kaz worried the most about was his family and friends, especially given that he'd recently lost the former.

"Kaz is different," Elaya finally said when the woman paused for long enough. "He's good. And he doesn't deserve to be treated like a slave."

The older woman grimaced. Elaya was about to continue, immediately annoyed at the possibility of the other woman not agreeing with this, but she spoke before Elaya could say anything.

"If that were all, I might not be here," she said, once again her eyes scanning the trees. Elaya felt herself tense up as worry spread through her. What was that supposed to mean? What more was there to this?

"You must promise never to tell anyone here that I told you this."

Elaya didn't like where this was going. But she was also getting impatient. The sooner she freed Kaz the better, and if this person knew where he was, Elaya needed to know. "I promise. Now, what is it?"

The woman sighed again. "The spell preventing anyone but our Wizard from using magic. I don't know how it works, but every few decades, it needs something new to fuel it." The woman paused, looking Elaya directly in the eye. "It needs a dragon's soul."

Elaya almost stumbled back as the words hit her with full force. For an instant, she felt like she couldn't breathe. A dragon's soul? These people were planning on taking Kaz's soul and using it to power whatever spell was blocking everyone from using magic?

For a moment, Elaya couldn't even bring herself to feel furious. She was just too horrified to manage it. Having one's soul consumed had to be one of the worst things that could happen to a person. Even if Elaya agreed with the dragons' belief that there was no life after death, which she didn't, it still sounded like an unimaginably terrible fate.

"That's what happened to all those other dragons," Elaya said out loud as she put the pieces together. She had been angry when Corill had implied they'd killed the dragons because they'd turned out to be too much trouble, even if a lot of dragons were awful individuals, but this? This was too much. No one should be subjected to having their soul, the thing that made them who they were, used in some kind of spell.

"Yes," the woman replied grimly. "And it will happen to your dragon eventually as well."

"How does the spell work?"

The woman shook her head. "I don't know. Only the Wizard does."

Elaya cursed under her breath. She supposed it didn't matter as much as freeing Kaz did at the moment, but maybe if she knew how the spell worked, she could put an end to it somehow so she could use magic, which would certainly help her free him.

But there was nothing to be done about it, she supposed.

"Take me to him," Elaya said, almost wincing at how angry and desperate her voice sounded. She took a breath, schooling her expression into a calmer one. "Please."

The woman's frown deepened. It was clear she didn't like the idea very much, but then she gave a curt but firm nod. "I will show you where the dragon is, but that is all. After this, it's as if we've never met."

She didn't need to spell it out further than that. Elaya wasn't exactly pleased by this, but she understood. The people of Rethan would not be very happy about this woman helping a stranger free a dragon. That was also probably why she hadn't introduced herself yet, either.

It didn't matter, though. Elaya hadn't assumed this person would actively help her free Kaz, anyway. Showing her where he was would be more than she'd been expecting. Assuming this wasn't some kind of trick.

"Okay. Then follow me," the woman said, her voice even softer now but her gaze as steely as before. "But keep a distance."

Elaya did as she'd been told without an argument, giving the woman a head start of a few seconds before following her through the forest, heading deeper and deeper. Even with the woman clearly knowing which way to go to avoid all the shrubbery and bushes, it still got difficult to follow her. Thankfully, though, Elaya ended up losing sight of her only just before exiting the woods, and so it was easy to spot the woman again once she was walking along the path cutting through a field of wheat that grew right next to the forest.

Elaya didn't bother catching up after that, giving herself a considerable distance between herself and the woman just in case there really was something going on since Elaya was still suspicious of this. But she was also desperate to find Kaz, and so she wasn't nearly as cautious as she would have been otherwise as she followed where the woman was going, only looking around to make a mental map of the island so she knew how to get back.

They passed small fields of more wheat, potatoes, corn, and what looked like various root vegetables before reaching a meadow, which they also walked across, taking a turn through the long grass.

Elaya kept looking around as she went, checking back on the forest as if someone would walk out of there any second now, but she couldn't help it, even though she knew it was ridiculous. There was nowhere to hide here, not even a single tree, and it made her cautious. Even though Corill had said nothing about her not being allowed to explore the island, and she could easily lie about her intentions as long as she didn't make it obvious she was following the woman, it still put her on edge. She knew what to expect from the people in Istamid, not in Rethan.

The sun slowly reached the horizon, dipping under the surface of the ocean in the distance as the woman walked up the hill in front of them and disappeared over it. Elaya increased her pace to catch up then, worried that she might lose sight of her if she took too long, but as soon as she reached the top of the hill, she put those worries aside.

In front of her, right at the edge of the beach, was a bulbous, stone structure with a large door on the side, partly hidden by the foot of the hill. There was no mistaking the perfectly smooth walls for anything other than another building made with magic, just like the temple back in town.

This must have been the place. It certainly wasn't very hidden, and Elaya was certain that she would have found it on her own eventually if she'd looked around more, but given how long it had taken to just walk here, it would have taken her a long time. Certainly long enough for Corill to get suspicious.

The woman gave her one last nod as she looked back at Elaya when she reached the door to the building before pushing it open and walking in. Elaya huffed when the door was immediately shut again, but before she could try to figure out how to open it without alerting anyone who might be inside, her eyes came across something dark and circular in the wall high above the door.

As she approached it cautiously, she realized it was a grate, likely to provide the space inside with light. And there were several. Realizing that, Elaya sped up, running a bit up the hill and away from the door to find a grate she could look through without giving herself away.

Since there were no trees, it would have been difficult to find one that she wouldn't blot out simply by looking down through it, but with the sun setting, half of the structure was covered in shadow, and so Elaya quickly picked a grate on that side, getting down into a crouch and leaning against the smooth stone to peer down.

For a moment all she had to focus on was her rapidly beating heart and her clammy hands, her fingers pressed against the cold rock as her eyes struggled to make out things in the darkness of the room below her.

And when they did, for a moment Elaya forgot how to breathe. All she could do was watch with horror as Kaz, his strong, fearsome form bound up by chains, was being dragged out of a massive cage by a chain attached to a collar around his neck by six or so people, while another three, including the woman who had lead Elaya here, were wrapping leather straps around Kaz's wings before he had a chance to even stretch them out.

Kaz for the most part was keeping his head down, both literally and figuratively, as he was led to the center of the room, where a large bowl with what looked like water was located, occasionally stumbling over the chains binding his legs.

"Follow my orders, dragon, and you'll get to drink," one of the humans said, his voice distant and quiet, but Elaya could hear every word like he was yelling, "Don't, and we'll put you back in that cage and try again tomorrow. You'll find that thirst tends to convince even the most stubborn of creatures."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

That was when Elaya noticed the metal band around Kaz's snout, preventing him from opening his mouth. Her vision went red as she gritted her teeth. It took all of her self-control then not to yell at them to let Kaz go as she clenched her fists around the metal grating. All Elaya wanted to do was barge in through the door, but she knew she couldn't do anything. All of her instincts were yelling at her to protect her best friend, but she couldn't.

She didn't think she'd ever wanted to use magic as badly as she wanted to use it now. If she could, she would so easily break Kaz's chains and free him right here and now. But then, if she could use magic here, she wouldn't have let these people capture Kaz in the first place. She wouldn't have let them treat him like this, and she certainly wouldn't have let them even consider using his soul to fuel a spell.

Gritting her teeth, Elaya forced herself to look away when she saw Kaz nod at the man who had just threatened to not give him water if he didn't cooperate. Elaya breathed in and out, trying to ignore the way her heart clenched, and her stomach turned at the thought of leaving Kaz here like this.

She wanted nothing more than to at least hug him, to tell him that she would get him out of here soon and that it would all be okay, but she couldn't do any of that. No, she needed a plan. And fast.

With a sigh, she turned away, taking a few steps back to make sure she couldn't hear the people anymore in an effort to think more clearly. It wasn't very helpful, though. All she could think about was what they might be doing to Kaz, and not rushing over to check was incredibly difficult.

Still, Elaya somehow managed to push all these thoughts away and try to come up with what to do next. She would need Rhenor's help with this. She hated that it would mean waiting until tomorrow for him to be freed, but not only would they have to leave immediately once they rescued Kaz to avoid getting captured again, there were also too many people for Elaya to take on herself.

She doubted these people were fighters, but there were still too many of them, even for the two of them. They would have to hope that there weren't this many of them at all times. Elaya thought so, though she had no way to confirm that, but she certainly doubted that even if the majority left at some point, she could fight the rest on her own, anyway.

With a heavy heart, she took a few more steps up the hill, forcing herself not to look back. Kaz needed her, which unfortunately meant leaving him here for a while longer.

The best she could do for him at the moment was to go back to Rethan, wait for Rhenor to be let go, tell him what she'd found out, and then together decide on what to do next. Maybe Rhenor would get a better idea of how to go about this than Elaya could think of right now.

Still, even as she tried to walk up the hill and back to town, she couldn't help but stop and rush back to the grate to check on Kaz at least one more time. She knew what she'd see would just upset her more, but she couldn't leave without it.

She got there just in time to see the metal binding Kaz's snout being removed.

"No talking," someone said as the contraption was taken off, prompting Kaz to dip his head even lower. Elaya could see the misery in his eyes, even from so far away, but Kaz soon closed them as he put his head to the bowl of water and began to drink.

Elaya gritted her teeth. Of course, they weren't letting him speak, though she was surprised Kaz was listening to them in this case. He couldn't go long without chattering about something. If these people had hurt him to make him silent....

Clenching her fists, she took in a deep breath and got up. At least they didn't seem to want to hurt him. As long as Kaz didn't protest too much, he would probably be fine for a few more hours.

"Good. That's enough for today," she heard the man say and couldn't help but look down at the scene again. "Keep this up and tomorrow you'll get something to eat, too."

Seeing them lead Kaz back into the cage, which barely fit him, did make Elaya want to hit someone, but at least it looked like they were going to leave him alone for the night. At least Elaya hoped so.

Finally feeling like she could leave, Elaya turned around and ran, hoping that quickly putting distance between her and Kaz would prevent her from wanting to rush right back to him.

The sun had already set by this point, and clouds began to form in the sky, casting the entire island into darkness. Only the moon occasionally peeked through to light her way, but finding her way back to the town was easy for the most part since she just kept heading toward the thick woods on the horizon.

Blindly stumbling through the forest might have been at the very least frustrating if Elaya could even focus on that. Instead, she kept thinking and worrying about Kaz to such an extent that she could barely take in where she was going at all.

Even after she managed to leave the woods and find the town, she could still barely pay attention to whatever street she was walking through. But she supposed it didn't matter. She had nowhere to be right now, and she was too restless to even bother trying to sleep, so finding a place to do that would be a waste of time.

Usually, she would go drown her sorrows at a pub in a situation like this, but not in a strange place like this and certainly not in a situation like this. She liked being distracted by people, by the hustle and bustle of a city, but right now she just wanted to be alone.

Elaya came to a halt when she noticed she was just about to reach the large temple Corill had led her and Rhenor to. Where Rhen had almost punched him. Elaya felt her mouth quirk up in a spiteful, angry sort of smile. She wished Corill hadn't been so quick to defend himself.

She couldn't help but feel annoyed with herself for thinking this way, though. She understood why these people had the mentality they did. Dragons treated humans as tools, too, and usually, they didn't care about their subjects if there was nothing to be gained from helping them. If Elaya was to be honest with herself, she probably wouldn't have cared that much if this was any other dragon. But this was Kaz.

Sighing, Elaya studied the dark, silent building for a moment. There was a slight glow coming from within the temple's windows and half-open door, but the absolute stillness told her well-enough that there was likely no one inside.

She couldn't help but think about that story about the dragons and druids that Corill had told them. With what had happened right after, it had completely slipped Elaya's mind, but now that she was standing here, she couldn't help but wonder if even half of it was true.

She hadn't even properly studied the mural when Corill had talked about it with how irritated she had been in that moment, how angry. She still was that, but the fire of her fury was a small flame for now, and her curiosity about the druids was putting some of it out. That was another thing she needed to ask Rhenor about if he'd truly met a druid in person. Elaya had never thought they were anything but a legend.

As much as she felt guilty for thinking about this instead of Kaz, she did need to wait until the morning to do anything, and so she ended up wandering inside of the temple.

Elaya paid no mind to the large statues of their gods or the tall candelabra that bathed them with warm light and instead looked up at the fresco, squinting as she tried to make out the figures painted onto the ceiling.

Even with the flames of the candles blotting out most of the details, Elaya could remember the fresco from when she'd seen it earlier to make out the important parts. The illustrations of druids and dragons, the druid making deals with the dragons, the resulting fighting between the two groups....

But what caught her attention was the dark blue dragon in the middle of the circular mural, bigger than the others, roaring and clutching a golden crown in their front claws.

Surely that couldn't be who it looked like. She frowned, quickly running her eyes over all the details she could see, only to gasp, the sound loud in the silent room. One of the golden membranes stretched between the dragon's wing bones was torn, a part of it missing, though not in a way that would prevent the dragon from flying.

Karrisem, the Dragon King. It had to be. Between the color and the injury, there was no doubt in Elaya's mind that that was who that dragon was. Elaya had never seen the King, barely anyone had, in fact, but all of the pictures of him in the Capital included the torn wing. It wouldn't have been that significant if dragons couldn't heal almost any injury. The King was keeping his wing as it was as a reminder of defeating a rival what must have been centuries ago, or so the story went.

But that either meant that the Dragon King was much, much older than she'd thought, or that the people here somehow knew who the current leader of Istamid was and had painted this mural accordingly. And the latter option seemed very doubtful.

"Terrible, isn't it?" a deep voice said from behind her, making Elaya flinch and turn around, only to come face to face with Corill. Of course, it was him. She scowled at him, folding her arms over her chest. "How a small group's decision can lead an entire people to ruin."

It didn't matter what he said. Short of telling her that they were letting Kaz go after all, anything that came out of Corill's mouth was bound to make Elaya angry. And philosophical pondering was certainly a way to do it quickly.

"So your story says."

Something like irritation flashed in Corill's eyes before he managed to hide it. "It's not a story, it's a reminder of what we're capable of if we let our hunger for power win."

Elaya truly didn't feel like having a conversation about anything with Corill, and yet she was too frustrated to keep any of her thoughts concerning the subject to herself. "So your solution for this is to take everyone's magic away?"

Corill sighed, taking a step closer. Elaya very nearly backed away, but she stood her ground. Corill's magic negated any safety gained from keeping her distance, anyway.

"It has worked for hundreds of years."

Elaya shook her head, preferring to look up at the large statue of Hermea instead. She didn't know what she might do if she had to keep looking at the way Corill smiled at her. "The gods gave us magic. Who are you to decide who gets to use it?"

"I don't decide it. My role will be merely suggesting who a good candidate would be. Everyone here votes on who they think is the best option."

Elaya huffed when she saw Corill join her side. She didn't bother looking at him though, preferring to look at quite literally anything else. She wasn't sure why she hadn't just walked out of here yet, but for some reason she was rooted to her spot. Maybe deep down she wanted to fight someone, let out her frustration somehow, and Corill was simply a convenient target.

"That's actually what I would like to talk to you about."

For a split second, Elaya's eyes did find Corill's then. She wasn't surprised that he'd said it, but it was a little jarring that he was being so direct about it. They'd gotten shot down today—or yesterday, she supposed, it might have been past midnight now—and Corill was already trying to get Elaya to take over his position in Rethan.

"You might be the most powerful magic user I have ever met. I suspect even more powerful than me."

Elaya clenched her fists. She would love to show him how powerful she was, but that damned spell wouldn't let her. She could feel the magical energy radiating from Corill's amulet when he was standing this close. It must have been the reason he could use magic, she was sure of it. But the amulet hung from his neck by a thick, sturdy-looking chain that wouldn't break if she yanked it. And if she failed at taking the amulet away, she would end up in the dungeons right next to Rhenor. Or even if she managed to steal it, for all she knew it wouldn't work for her anyway. There might be some kind of spell binding it to Corill only. What did she know?

Though it was very odd that these people had somehow managed to get magic to do that. Elaya hadn't thought to consider that since it hadn't been a priority.

And now that she was thinking about it, she couldn't help but be disturbed by the implications. Normal magic couldn't do things like this. But the dragons had found a way. Those collars....

Elaya's eyes widened in realization, but she kept staring at the statue in front of her. Was that why they needed a dragon's soul for the spell? Was that how the dragons' magic worked?

"You would be our best chance," Corill continued, bringing Elaya from her thoughts. "I am not certain how much you already know, but I'm sure there are things I could teach you, still."

"Will that be before or after you take my friend's soul?" Elaya snapped at him, turning to face him with a glare.

Corill drew himself back, shock in his eyes for a second before he schooled his face into neutrality. At least his smile was gone. "So you know."

"I do," Elaya confirmed coldly, taking a step toward him. "And I guarantee I will never help you."

Corill sighed. "You must understand—"

"No, I don't," Elaya forced out through gritted teeth, advancing further, to which Corill responded by taking a step back. The fact that he was the one intimidated by her would be amusing, if not for the situation they were in. "All you did was attack us and make Kaz a prisoner. I don't see why I should even be listening to you."

"Don't you see?" Corill gestured to the statue of Hermea. "The gods must have sent you to us. We needed a powerful magic user and a dragon, and we got both on the same day."

Elaya wanted to yell at him then. Maybe follow through on her earlier urges and punch him. But all of these thoughts disappeared as she advanced at him further, only to stop and stare at the sight on her left.

Behind the statue of Hermea was a metal stand with a glowing yellow crystal perched on top. She had thought there had been a candle there, lighting that part of the temple, but it had been a crystal all this time. And now that Elaya could see it, she could sense the power it was giving off, similar to Corill's amulet, but much more potent. It was startling how strong it was now that Elaya was looking at it. Maybe if she hadn't been so preoccupied with everything she would have noticed the crystal earlier, but now that she had, there was no escaping it.

Even as she looked back at Corill, she could feel it humming. There was no sound, and yet she could hear it. She'd never experienced something like this before, and it was almost disturbing.

But there was no mistaking what this was—the dragons' artificial magic, the fehrok. It was too similar not to be.

"You use dragon magic?" Elaya asked, sounding as outraged as she felt. Did they not see the irony in all of this? These people were using the dragons' magic to control who could use magic, the same way the dragons did.

Elaya had always thought that the way dragons used magic was wrong and unnatural, and she hadn't even known how it worked. But if it truly needed souls to fuel it, then it was so much worse than she could have ever thought.

"The first dragon we captured helped us build it. It is a necessary evil," Corill replied, even in the dark very visibly avoiding Elaya's gaze. "Their perversion of magic is, unfortunately, the only way to—"

"And you don't think that's proof enough that you shouldn't be doing this?" Elaya cut him off, her voice too loud in the silent, echoey room. But her anger fizzled out somewhat when she realized what this meant. The crystals the dragons used—the physical manifestations of magic—were very breakable, which was why they usually put metal around them to protect them. But this one wasn't protected by anything. Smashing it against the wall should do the trick.

"You just arrived here," Corill said, his tone now a little angry as well. "I don't expect you to understand our ways right away, but don't presume to understand them better than we do."

"I think I do understand," Elaya said, moving ever so slightly to the crystal, not enough for Corill to stop her, but enough that she could get a better look. "You would rather your people didn't have access to magic than to risk some of those people using that power for evil."

Corill shook his head in what looked like disappointment. As if her not being on his side in this was not what he had been expecting. "You have never experienced what it's like to live in a world where everyone can use magic freely."

"You're right," Elaya said, letting out a humorless laugh as she pointed at the crystal and took another step towards it. "And even after leaving Istamid, I still haven't experienced that."

"Stop," Corill ordered. Elaya wasn't sure if he was telling her not to go any closer to the crystal or if he wanted her to shut up, but she wasn't interested in doing either. She was almost close enough to sprint to the crystal before Corill could stop her. Just a little bit more....

"You don't understand our ways. And that is okay," Corill said, putting on a smile again. He almost looked fatherly like this, as if he was talking to an unruly child, and it was absolutely infuriating. Elaya knew Corill didn't mean to upset her, but he was managing it oh so well.

"Rethan is very different to Istamid. It takes time to get used to change this extreme."

Elaya watched Corill silently. He was about to give her a speech about how she would get used to Rethan and understand their insistence on using dragons as a resource, she could tell. But even as he continued talking, she didn't pay attention to him. She just focused on very slightly moving the few final inches she needed to be sure she could get to the crystal before Corill could stop her.

"We can talk about this calmly over tea," Elaya heard Corill say when she once again started paying attention to him. "Or something stronger, if you prefer."

Elaya smiled, though she was sure it looked more grim than anything. "I have a better idea."

She lunged for the crystal, moving as fast as she was able, trying to get as far as she could before Corill had the chance to react. She could hear Corill yelling a spell just as her fingers touched the crystal. A split second later there was an unstoppable force dragging her away, pulling her back, but Elaya could resist just long enough to closer her hand around the piece of raw magic.

She clenched her fist around the warm crystal as she was flung through the air, somehow miraculously not breaking her back on any of the statues or a wall as she fell to the hard, cold ground. She gasped as her breath was knocked out of her on impact, but it only stopped her for a second.

Without even getting up, she raised the crystal, her fingers clutched around it so tight the sharp edges were practically cutting into her skin. She could hear Corill yelling for her to stop as she brought the crystal to the stone floor with all her might. As soon as it made impact, the crystal shattered into a thousand pieces, spraying over the floor before dissolving into nothing, as if it had never existed at all.

And as soon as it was gone, Elaya felt like she could breathe a bit more freely as if there had been a weight dragging her down this entire time. But now it was gone as her ability to use magic returned, filling her with new strength and determination.

"What...what have you done?" Corill exclaimed, looking shocked as he stared down to where the crystal had shattered. As if he hadn't thought this could ever happen. "How did you do this? The dragon who made it said it couldn't be broken." Then he turned his eyes to her, angry and glazed over. "You doomed us!"

Elaya swallowed down the discomfort those words brought her. She hadn't thought to consider how this might affect Rethan. But she also couldn't bring herself to care right now. "You shouldn't have tried to enslave my best friend."

For a second, she thought Corill would try to fight her. The fury in his eyes was so intense that it was hard to look into them, but Elaya managed, glaring back just as fiercely. She was getting ready to make a wall from the stone beneath her feet, to shield herself from whatever Corill might throw her way, but he didn't attack.

He barely even reacted when Elaya moved, heading out of the temple, and just kept staring at the empty stand left behind by the crystal. A pang of guilt attempted to invade Elaya's heart, but she pushed it away angrily. This wasn't the time to regret things—it was time to act.

It was time to rescue Kaz and Rhenor.