“Those druids will be back.” Was all Keegan said.
Logan groaned as he sat up fully, never taking his eyes from Keegan’s.
“Coop.” Logan finally said ignoring Keegan’s warning and tears sprung from my eyes at the misery in his tone. It was a goodbye.
“Alright. Everyone on the bus!” Isaac broke apart our mourning and pointed to the yellow school bus in the parking lot. That was his bus? Keegan looked at Eva, who nodded.
“This is my friend I told you about. He has land where we can go to heal and recover,” Eva told them.
How the hell did Eva know so much about this man? Who in the hell was this man? I didn’t care right now. I only cared that Logan was alive and that Cooper was dead. I couldn’t process it yet, that we had lost one of ours. Keegan started barking orders for everyone to get on the bus, and handed Coopers lifeless fox off to a grieving Sophie who took him to the bus. Then Keegan pulled the trusty tweezers out of his pocket and waved it before Logan. Logan sighed, and I helped him stand fully as he thrust out his hand to Keegan; black scales formed on his arms while the rest of him stayed human. Keegan plucked three scales and handed one to Eva. “Gear first,” he told her, and she nodded, running off to find Nadine and the injured falcon.
I looked around, surveying the carnage. Blood, dead bodies, and scorch marks littered the ground.
“I’m gonna get Mittens from the limo. I’ll meet you on the bus,” Logan told me in a scratchy voice, emotions still raw from the loss of Cooper. He reached down to place a soft kiss on my lips, holding my gaze.
‘You saved my life with that weird purple magic,’ he mused.
I gave a sad smile. ‘Guess you can’t call it weird anymore.’
‘It’s purple. It will always be weird,’ he replied, and I relished having him so close, breathing in his scent. It was like a balm to my saddened soul.
“Are you sure about Mittens? I can get her.” I didn’t want him overextending himself.
He nodded. “I’m fine.” Then he walked off, and that left me and this weird druid, alone. Isaac was just standing there waiting for me to acknowledge him. I turned to look at him and he nodded.
“You’re a dream walker. I know most dragons have the capability, but I saw you. You visited me in my meditation.”
My face went red, because that sounded all kinds of weird. “Yeah. Sorry.”
He shrugged. “I’m sure you can’t control it. Just like you couldn’t control that purple blast of magic that made me feel like I’d been kicked in the balls.”
My eyes went wide as I winced. “Ouch, really?” Oopsie.
He grabbed his junk and nodded. “It was very effective, but I need to teach you to control it better. Hone it. Give it a purpose. Harness your druid power.”
I swallowed hard. “No offense, but I don’t really want to learn the ways of the druid. I’m a skyborn and that’s enough for now.” I’d had enough weirdness to last me a lifetime and I hadn’t even begun my training with Logan yet.
Isaac nodded. “Understandable. But you will. I’m not like those monsters. I don’t use dragon magic to gain power. I borrow from Mother Earth, and so will you.”
The way he was speaking, with such finality, it was annoying and scary. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
He grinned, his straight white teeth and dimpled cheeks making him look ten years younger. “Because I’ve been waiting a century for one of your kind. Together we can kill Ardan and take out the druid line forever.”
My pulse skyrocketed. “How?” To be honest, that’s all I had wanted to do since I heard of these crazy monsters, but Ardan seemed way too powerful for only two druids to take on. Hell, he’d just commanded red lightening from the sky and could disappear and reappear at will!
Isaac stepped closer and pulled his sleeve up to show me an intricate tattoo on his upper arm. “Because our powers are bound now. I am a master druid, and you are now my apprentice.”
Druid say what? I stared at the tattoo, confused, until he tapped my shoulder. Looking down over my left shoulder, Eva’s coat had slipped down leaving a bit of the flesh there exposed. I gasped at what I saw. An intricate Celtic tattoo covered my entire left shoulder cap. The ink was slightly green and it looked like it had been there forever.
“The hell is that?” I shrieked, trying to wipe it off; the marks looked identical to his.
Isaac smiled. “Initiation marks. The Earth has chosen you, as it chose me. Together we will end this war.”
Oh shit.
“But …I…” I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want it. I didn’t choose it. But it was there, right on my shoulder. Did I want to deny something that could bring an end to Ardan? An end to having to live on the run and fighting for our lives all the time? I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t deny Logan and I the freedom we so desperately deserved. This man was powerful. He’d held his own with Ardan. Maybe if we teamed up, we could take him out.
“Teach me,” I said, and Isaac grinned.
He nodded. “Together we will make the Earth safe for all skyborn, and in turn all of the humans they are bound to.”
My brow furrowed. “You mean just Logan and I?” The way he said all the skyborn sounded weird.
Isaac stepped closer, bringing a scent of earth and tree sap, and lowered his voice. “No, I mean all of the skyborn. There are dozens in hiding all over the world. The Earth shelters them from being found, but not for long.”
My stomach dropped, my body went numb as shock ripped through me. We weren’t alone.