The Consumption of Magic (Tales From Verania 3)

I grinned at him. “Love you too, dude.”

And then I pulled myself up until I was standing on Kevin’s back, the wind whipping around me.

“No,” Kevin said, shaking his head furiously. “Don’t you do it. You hear me? Don’t you—”

I ignored him as I turned away, facing his tail, my arms behind me as I held on to the spike on his back.

“Sam! You sit your ass back down right now!”

I took in a deep breath and let it out slow.

“Who the fuck do you think you are!”

I glanced over my shoulder, winking at him. “I’m Sam of Wilds. See you soon.”

And then I turned and started running.

Kevin’s back was wide enough that I was able to move left or right to dodge the spikes. The muscles beneath my feet shifted as he tensed. The wind at my back pushed me along, my strides swift and sure. My eyes watered. I heard him shout my name as I reached his midback. I heard him scream for me as I neared his tail, but it was muted now. The blood was roaring in my ears, the scars on my chest felt as if they were electrified, and I saw green and gold darting around the edges of my vision. There was magic here. It carried me past the moment of no return, my mind whiting out at the last possible second.

I took a breath.

I balled my hands into fists.

And then I leaped from Kevin’s back into nothing, narrowly avoiding his tail as it whipped by me.

It wasn’t like jumping from the cliff.

I wasn’t suspended in midair.

I saw the sun, and then I saw the dragon and the clouds below as I began to fall.

Kevin roared above me.

I folded my hands against my sides as I fell face-first toward the Great White.

BAD IDEA, my brain supplied helpfully. THIS WAS A VERY BAD IDEA.

It took only seconds, but they passed by in an age.

I didn’t even have the wherewithal to scream as I plummeted toward the Great White.

I narrowed my eyes against the wind.

There was the green-black of the forest, but then all I could see was white, white, white, and the moment before I landed, the moment before I crashed into it, I thought, no, and the green and gold were as bright as I’d ever seen them. The air around me liquefied, the moisture being sucked out of the sky and gathering below me, water swirling in a swift eddy until it was bigger than I was. I hit the surface of the water, feeling it close up and over my head, slowing my descent, bubbles trailing from my nose and mouth. I slid through the depths of it, burst through the other side in a shower of droplets that caught the sunlight around me, glittering brightly.

I landed on the back of the Great White’s neck, water raining down around me, in the shadow of the dragon’s crown.

“That,” I wheezed, rolling onto my back, “was so fucking awesome. Stupid, but fucking awesome.”

And the dragon known as the Great White said, “Wizard.”

Chapter 19: The Choice

I PUSHED myself up slowly, the skin beneath my hands wrinkled and tough. It was thrumming, like it was roiling with magic just underneath the surface. It was warm and v

ital and alive in a way I’d never felt before. The way it emanated from the dragon was overwhelming, and the green and gold felt out of control, like if I were to just let it go, my magic would take over and everything could be consumed.

It was a seductive thought.