Chapter Eleven

Winter whooped and threw his fists in the air when Marlow hit the ground of the courtyard. Marlow glared at him, but Winter didn’t care.

“I told you I was good at fighting,” he crowed.

“Yeah, you did,” Marlow said, sounding resigned but also amused.

He held out a hand, and Winter cautiously took it. He half expected Marlow to try to pull him to the ground, but he didn’t. Instead, the other dragon allowed Winter to haul him to his feet, then brushed the dirt off his ass.

Winter told himself it was fine to look. He and Marlow were friends, and Winter had no interest in the man, but he had eyes, and Marlow was sexy.

Marlow’s lips twitched. “I’m not sure Keylon would appreciate seeing you watching me like that.”

“I’m pretty sure Keylon would watch with me.”

Marlow’s cheeks flushed. “Can we not do this?”

“You’re the one who started it.”

Penley, who was sitting on a bench close by, snickered. When Marlow looked at him and arched a brow, he turned red.

Winter loved this. These dragons and mages felt like a family, and while he was still very much an outsider, they’d opened up to him. They’d welcomed him in, even when things had been rocky between him and Keylon, and now that they could see that Winter was making an effort, they’d relaxed a lot around him.

Keylon had, too. They’d gone flying again, and Winter had loved it as much as the first time. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun. Keylon had used his magic to raise water from the lake. He’d told Winter that he wasn’t as good at that as Penley, but it didn’t matter. Winter had rushed between the columns of water, zigzagging and flying this way and that as Keylon tried to get them both wet.

He’d failed. Winter had been too fast, and by the time they’d landed, they were still dry. Winter had to resist the urge to kiss Keylon once they both had human feet on the ground, and he’d told himself to be patient.

He did so now, too. Keylon had already given him a lot in a very short time. Over the past week, they’d started eating breakfast together every day. They’d gone flying twice, and they were planning to do it again soon. It wasn’t the relationship Winter wanted yet, but he felt they were getting there, and that was all he cared about.

“Is that smoke?” Penley asked, distracting Winter from his thoughts of Keylon.

Winter squinted and looked in the direction Penley was pointing at. His stomach dropped when he realized that, yes, it was smoke.

A loud alarm went off. Winter pressed his hands over his ears, looking around as he tried to understand what was happening. If he had to guess, the alarm had something to do with the smoke coming from the forest. It hadn’t been raining a lot, which was a problem. If there was a fire in the forest, the mages would want to step in to protect the castle.

A door slammed, and Jarvis appeared, almost falling down the stairs as he rushed down. He looked around frantically, relaxing when he saw Marlow standing there with Winter and Penley. Unfortunately, his relief didn’t last long. He looked up, noticed the smoke, and swore.

“There’s a fire in the forest,” he explained as he ran toward a door at the back of the courtyard.

It was locked because it led out of the castle, but the mages had placed protective spells all over the area so Carlyle wouldn’t be able to sneak in even through this kind of secondary door. It was still dangerous but necessary.

Jarvis threw his hand up, and the door flew open. Winter glanced around, relieved to see that Keylon was rushing toward him. All the dragons and the mages who hadn’t been in the courtyard had arrived, along with most of the humans who lived at the castle.

“Go back inside,” Tyne said as he turned them. “The castle is protected from fire, so you won’t have to worry. Besides, it looks like, for now, the fire is restricted to the forest.”

Matthias looked like he wanted to argue, but Thorne grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

Winter turned his attention to the mages, who were filing out the door Jarvis had opened earlier. He quickly followed Keylon, even though he had no idea what he could do in this kind of situation. Whatever the mages needed, he’d provide it.

Winter grimaced as soon as he was out of the castle and had a good view of the forest. He could see the flames from here, and he could tell it wouldn’t be an easy job to extinguish them. “I guess we’re not calling the firefighters, right?” he asked no one in particular.

“We can’t afford to have humans so close to the castle,” Jarvis explained. “But we have contingency plans. It’s not the first time there’s been a fire in the forest.”

“I’ve never seen one this bad, though,” Penley whispered. He sounded frightened, and he wasn’t the only one.

Winter was terrified. It would be easy for one of them to get hurt in the fire, but they couldn’t avoid it. They needed to protect the castle and the people who lived there.

“All right,” Jarvis said. “We need to stop this.”

“It won’t be easy,” Dallin said as he pointed toward a specific spot.

Winter squinted and cocked his head. Why was the fire purple?

Only parts of it were. The rest was red, like any other fire. All of it was burning quickly, and even though Winter had no experience with fire, he could tell that eventually the flames would reach the castle if they didn’t do anything.

Keylon swore. “That’s magical fire,” he said. “It has to be Carlyle. What if he’s waiting for us in the forest?”

“We’re going to have to take that risk,” Jarvis said. He looked around. “Since this is a magical fire, we need to find the object that started it. Knowing Carlyle, it’s going to be something unassuming, which means it’ll be hard to locate.”

It might as well be impossible in such a big forest, but if this was what needed to happen, Winter would do his best.

“Mages, stick with your dragons. Dragons, I suggest you shift when you get close to the fire. Your dragon form will protect you. Samuel, Dallin, choose a dragon to stay close to, and don’t put yourself into stupid situations.”

Dallin stepped closer to Marlow, who smiled at him. Winter expected Samuel to move toward him, but instead, he went straight to Meyer. Winter blinked, wondering what was happening there. Maybe Samuel felt sorry about the way Tyne had treated Meyer. Maybe he wanted to make Meyer feel better. Whatever he had in mind, Winter grinned when he saw Tyne glare at him as if he wanted to kill him.

Maybe he did care about Meyer, after all.

“Be careful,” Jarvis continued. “If this is Carlyle, he might still be around. If he is, he won’t hesitate to attack anyone he sees, and I don’t want any of you to get hurt. He’s trying to lure us to the forest since he can’t enter the castle, and I don’t want him to succeed.”

Winter looked at the people gathered around him. He wanted to protect them, even though the thought of what Carlyle could do was petrifying.

But Winter was here to stay and to protect Keylon, and that was what he’d do.

* * * *

“We’re going to have to separate,” Jarvis said.

They’d been trying to control the fire for the past ten minutes, but it felt like they weren’t making any progress. It was fairly easy for the mages to extinguish the natural fire, but the purple flames would continue burning everything down until they reached the object from which they’d originated.

That was the genius of this kind of spell. It created flames that burned down everything in their path, but those flames also created natural fires. It could spread quickly and easily, which was what was happening.

“We have to find the object at the origin of this,” Tyne yelled over the roar of the fire. “We need to split up.”

Keylon noticed Tyne started walking away, so he quickly rushed over to grab him. “Wait!” he yelled, getting everyone’s attention. “Before you go into the fire, I want to cast protective spells over all of you. They won’t work miracles, but they’ll keep you safe until you can get to the lake, if need be.”

“You can’t cast those spells on so many mages and dragons,” Tyne said as he tried pulling his arm away.

Keylon tightened his hold on him. “It wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order, and you’re going to take the spell whether you like it or not.”

For a moment, Tyne looked amused. The situation was dire, though, and he quickly nodded and allowed Keylon to cast the spell on him. Keylon wished Tyne would stick around until he was done with Meyer and Samuel, too, but Tyne almost ran away once he was finished. Meyer went after him, while Samuel moved toward Keylon. “Can I be the next one?” he asked as he looked back in the direction Tyne and Meyer had disappeared in.

Keylon obliged him. Samuel nodded in thanks as he rushed away, and Keylon turned to the others.

“Don’t do the dragons,” Marlow said as he pushed Jarvis forward. “If it becomes too much for us, we’ll shift and protect ourselves that way.”

As dragons, they were immune to fire. It would be best if they could all shift now, but it would be harder for them to find a small object hidden away in that form. Keylon wished he could put protective spells on everyone, but it would take too much magic and energy out of him, and he needed it.

They all did.

He did what he could and watched as the mages and dragons disappeared into the forest. Once he and Winter were alone, he turned to him. Winter was beside him right away, gently trying to guide him toward the castle, but Keylon shook his head. “I’m fine. I made sure not to use too much magic. They’ll be protected, but I can still fight the fire.”

Winter turned toward the forest. “I don’t like this.”

Keylon doubted any of them did. He could already see parts of the fire vanishing, a sure sign that one of his brothers had extinguished it. The purple flames weren’t going anywhere, though, not until the mages found the object from which they’d been born.

“Let’s go,” he said as he walked toward the fire.

Winter was so close to him that he could feel him brush against him. Before, he would’ve told Winter to put some space between them, but he didn’t want that anymore. No, Keylon wanted to be as close to Winter as possible, and not only because he was afraid one of them would get hurt.

Things had gotten so much better between them these past few days. Keylon had let down his walls, and Winter had slipped underneath them the way he always had when he was Alvin. Keylon was giving him a chance, and so far, Winter hadn’t given him any hints that he didn’t deserve his trust.

It would be just Keylon’s luck to lose Winter so soon after deciding he wanted to be with him.

Keylon stayed close to Winter. He desperately wanted to cast a protective spell on him, but he knew Winter would say no. He could get hurt when he was in his human form, though.

“What kind of spell is this?” Winter asked as they walked.

Keylon was focused on the flames. He wasn’t as good as Penley at manipulating water, but he was good enough to pull the water from the air and use it on the fire. He alternated between that and controlling the fire itself, but it wasn’t easy when the fire was fueled by a spell.

Winter stuck close to Keylon, keeping him from stepping into a hole or getting burned. He pulled Keylon away from the flames several times when Keylon was distracted.

Keylon was glad to have him here.

“It’s not a spell many mages use,” he explained. “It’s almost impossible to control once it starts, which isn’t something most mages want. It makes sense that Carlyle decided to use this on us, though. He can’t get to the castle, and maybe he thought he could burn it down.”

“I just hope he’s not using this as a distraction,” Winter murmured.

That was one of Keylon’s fears, but he knew Carlyle wasn’t getting anywhere near the castle. It had taken Keylon years to perfect the spell he’d put on the castle and the area around it. It had taken him almost as long to put the spells into place. He was only one man, so he’d had to rely on objects to help hold the spells in place, but Carlyle wouldn’t get to those, either.

That had to be why Carlyle was doing this. He was infuriated that he couldn’t get to the castle, and he was getting his revenge. Keylon didn’t think he was somewhere in the forest hiding and waiting for the mages, although he wouldn’t have put it past him. Carlyle cared too much about his safety to put himself in danger that way, though.

“The purple fires will vanish as soon as we destroy the object the spell is in,” Keylon explained. “We’ll still have to deal with the natural fire, but that should be fairly easy to extinguish once it’s not fed by magic.”

Winter nodded. He was scrutinizing the ground, trying to find the object. It felt like looking for a needle in a haystack—the needle was tiny, and the haystack was as big as a forest.

* * * *

There was only one explanation for what was happening, and it was that Carlyle was trying to kill them all. Keylon wasn’t surprised. It made sense that Carlyle would want to get rid of them like this instead of facing them like he had last time. That hadn’t gone well for him, and he’d want to avoid the possibility of getting stuck in a gemstone for decades again.

He wouldn’t be this time. None of the mages was willing to compromise. One way or another, they would get rid of Carlyle this time. It was the only way to ensure he wouldn’t return a second time, the only way to keep their families and loved ones safe permanently.

Keylon wasn’t looking forward to killing someone. He’d never done anything like that, and he didn’t know if he could. But when he remembered what Winter and the other dragons had gone through, he got angry, and he thought that maybe he could make Carlyle pay.

First, he had to take care of this fire. They couldn’t afford to let it reach the castle. The castle was protected, but as long as the purple fire burned, it wouldn’t be safe. The humans who worked and lived there were also family, and Keylon and everyone else would do everything they could to protect them.

“What do you think Carlyle was trying to do?” Winter asked as he walked behind Keylon.

Keylon was using his magic to extinguish the normal fire. It helped create a path in the forest, but it wasn’t enough. Keylon was already sweating and feeling like he needed to drink his weight in water. The purple flames were everywhere around them, hopefully leading to the object that had created them.

“Get us to leave the castle, probably.”

“What would he gain by doing that?”

“Well, he could ambush us, or maybe he’s hoping the fire will kill us. If we can’t find the object in which he placed the spell, there’s a good chance at least some of us will die.”

“I don’t like that,” Winter grumbled.

Even though the situation was dire, Keylon found himself smiling. “None of us like that. Unfortunately, we still have to deal with it.”

“I hate Carlyle,” Winter added.

Keylon agreed with that sentiment. He was pretty sure they all hated him.

Keylon had been satisfied when they’d managed to trap Carlyle in the gemstone. Now he was out, and they needed to destroy him for good. Carlyle had to know they’d do that. Why couldn’t he have just disappeared and tried living a peaceful life? Why had he taken one of their dragons, and why was he trying to burn them down?

Keylon couldn’t say if Jarvis would have let it go if Carlyle had just vanished, but it certainly would have been easier than dealing with this. Maybe Jarvis would have pitied Carlyle enough to decide to let him live.

There was no way they would do so now.

“He’s probably hoping to kill all of you in one go,” Winter added.

Keylon didn’t answer. He was focused on the flames, and he didn’t think Winter wanted him to answer. What could he say? Agree with Winter? Of course he did. Carlyle wasn’t strong enough yet, and this was the easiest way for him to fight them without actually fighting them.

Keylon wished they could better protect the castle and the forest, but he didn’t think there was anything else they could have done. Maybe ask the humans to move out of the castle? For at least a few of them, it would have been impossible. There was no way anyone would convince Matthias and Thorne to leave.

It was getting harder to continue moving, and Keylon had a new respect for firefighters. He’d never thought much about them. He’d never needed to call firefighters, so beyond watching them on the news or on that TV series Penley insisted he watched for the story and not for the hot actors, they hadn’t mattered to him. Now, he couldn’t imagine people doing this every day.

He was sweaty, and his legs hurt. His magic was quickly depleting because he had to extinguish so much fire. He wished he could say that the fire was almost out by now, but it wasn’t. He’d managed to clear a path for him and Winter, but the purple fire was still burning bright and creating new flames.

If they weren’t faster, someone would notice the fire and send firefighters. The last thing they needed was to have humans involved. If Carlyle was around waiting for the mages to reach him, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill any human who tried to help.

Keylon continued forging ahead. He thought he saw something on the ground beneath a tree that was on fire. He hesitated, not wanting to get too close to the flames, but they really needed to find this object. “There,” he said as he rushed forward.

An ominous creaking made him look up. Winter cried out just as Keylon saw one of the burning trees starting to come down. He tried to turn back, but the tree was faster, and Keylon was too close. It was coming down, and it looked like it would be coming down on Keylon’s head.