Dragon Realm by Dan Michaelson

Author:Dan Michaelson [Michaelson, Dan & Holmberg, D.K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-16T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Serena

“Something isn’t quite right,” Griffin said.

They finished their conversation with the others and returned to the palace. Serena had taken time to wander through the festival, focusing on the surrounding essence and diminishing her own to test whether anyone was aware of her. It was probably foolish, as there really wasn’t a need to hide any longer, but it was a curiosity, as she wanted to know if there was a means for her to control her essence. She could tamp it down, but she could also do something she had never attempted. She deflected essence and kept others from being aware of what she was doing.

“You mean the fact that we’ve started handing out essence to people we’re allying to our cause, and—”

“I mean the palace,” Griffin said.

Serena immediately jerked her attention around and stared. She’d been paying attention as they wandered back toward the palace, as she was more intrigued by the surrounding senses and if there was anything she could determine from the people gathered within the city. So far, nothing was overwhelming nor surprising, as everyone in the city gathered for the festival and continued remarking on Serena’s sudden and her mother’s progression. From what she could tell, neither was as surprising as Serena expected.

When she looked up at the palace, she saw the street outside lined with soldiers.

They’d left through the hidden gate, opening the door, sliding through, and moving between some of the tall residences occupying the walled-in space outside the palace. Though she was distracted, she hadn’t been paying attention as she maneuvered through. Since she controlled her essence in a new way, she didn’t worry as much about anyone realizing she was stepping through the gate. Before, it was a dare, and a dangerous one at that. Stepping out could reveal the entrance. Not that just anyone could access the entrance as it involved having the right essence, but it was also a danger in that it gave others a chance to know there were other means of getting into the palace.

Or getting out.

Just like the soldiers inside the palace, a line of soldiers created an image of danger.

“Are they real?” Serena asked.

It felt foolish to raise such a question, as inside the palace, they were certainly manifestations of the essence, but outside… But wasn’t it still part of the palace?

The entire compound was palace grounds, which meant the entire compound could be protected in how others couldn’t. She looked at the soldiers. They were spaced evenly, with nearly a dozen on either side of the road, all simply standing and looking toward the wall, hands resting near the hilts of strangely glowing swords—like they’d wield those blades—and empty eyes looking toward nothingness.

“I think they’re no more real than what’s happening inside the palace, but that begs the question of what’s happening in there.”

“We were going to gather more essence,” Serena said.

“You don’t think we should still?”

She glanced back at the wall. “We started the process,” she said. “At least with those we can trust.

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