Free The Dark Shadow of Spring by G. L. Breedon Page A

anyway.”
    “Same thing if you ask me,” Rafael said.
    “Yeah, well, they nearly got us killed today,” Clark groused in a deep rumble.
    “Oh,” Victoria said, her eyes lighting up, as she brought back a statement made long ago. “When you were waking the dragon.” Alex made mental note that not much escaped Victoria’s notice and that she was much smarter than her effervescent personality seemed to imply.
    “You never know when to keep your mouth shut, Rafa,” Daphne snapped.
    “Sorry,” Rafael replied. “It slipped out.”
    “Daddy said there was a dragon living in the Black Bone Mountains,” Victoria continued, “but I just assumed he was pulling my hind leg. I’d love to see a dragon. It’s not very much like a snake, is it?”
    “It’s nothing at all like a snake,” Alex said, remembering the flames chasing them through the rocky tunnel.
    “It must have been fabulously annoyed at being woken up,” Victoria said.
    “It wasn’t gorping happy about it,” Daphne said, with a slight shake of her head.
    “We hadn’t been planning on waking it up all the way,” Alex added a bit defensively.
    “Yeah, the Mad Mages followed us and woke it up to see the flame,” Clark said, grinding his teeth.
    “Fire,” Ben added. “Lots of fire.”
    “Well, why do you call it ‘waking the dragon’ if you weren’t trying to wake the dragon?” Victoria asked.
    “We were waking it just a little bit so it would tell us our destinies,” Daphne said.
    “That’s brilliant,” Victoria said, her voice nearly squeaking. “I’d love to know my destiny. What did it say your destiny was?”
    “Only Alex got to ask before the Mad Mages showed up,” Nina said, looking at her brother, concern in her voice.
    “And what did it say?” Victoria asked, barely containing her enthusiasm. “It must be ever so exciting to know your destiny.”
    Alex remembered it all too well. “It said ‘ You have fought the Dark Beast in all your lives. The Dark Beast marks you again. Always and forever. ’”
    Everyone fell into silence again as they walked. Alex hoped for more silence. Silence all the way home. Hoping no one would say anything. That no one would voice the thought rattling loudly in his head ever since Victoria had pulled him from the cave. If he possessed any powers of Spirit Magic, they clearly weren’t strong enough for Victoria to sense his desires, no matter how hard he willed them.
    “Do you think the destiny the dragon gave you has anything to do with the voice you heard in the cave?” Victoria asked aloud.
     

Chapter 7: Late for Dinner
     
    Once again, everyone burst out with questions and statements all at the same time. The only one Alex paid attention to was the one his sister had uttered.
    “Are you crazy?” Alex said. “No way.”
    “You have to,” Nina said, the tone of her voice emphatic. “You have to tell Dad. He’s the town warlock. He needs to know if something evil is loose on the mountain.”
    “I can’t tell him how I found the cave,” Alex said, frowning over his shoulder at his sister. They had reached the edge of the mountain forest and were walking along a path that headed toward the North Road and back to the town of Runewood. Alex could see the lights of two farms off to either side of the road and the dim glow of the town up ahead. They recovered their bikes from where they had stashed them and headed toward town.
    “No one said you need to be stupid,” Daphne said. “But we should tell someone.”
    “Yeah,” Clark said. “You know, in case it’s not all in your head.”
    “It’d have to be a very small evil if it were,” Rafael quipped.
    “Thanks, Rafa,” Alex said.
    “Crazy,” Ben said. “You’re crazy, but you’re not that crazy. I believe you. But you should tell your dad.”
    “Maybe you’re right,” Alex said, thinking it through. Whatever the voice was, it felt like it was far too powerful for him and the Guild to deal with alone. And his