Page 64 of Dragon Charmed

Something she said made Tessa’s spidey senses tingle. “Megs, when did you say the dragon sentries disappeared?”

“A thousand years ago.”

The supernatural puzzle pieces started to fit together. “Don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence that the dragon sentries disappeared around the same time as the Templars were in power? If the Templars were bent on destroying dragons, wouldn’t the sentries have been the ones to stand up to them?”

Megan sat up straighter. “Right! If the sentries were the guardians or soldiers of the magical world, they would have been the first line of defense against them.”

“And once they were destroyed, the peace between the witches and dragons dissolved, culminating in the curse centuries later,” Tessa said.

“That makes sense, but that means we’re in trouble. If you take the second paragraph literally, the oracle birth triggers the Templars to unite. So a thousand-year-old mysterious group bent on destroying us might be back in business,” Sienna said.

“And what does Mia White have to do with any of this?” Tessa said, frustration bubbling under her skin. “She obviously knows that dragons exist, as do oracles. She told Evelyn that Lily was special and to listen to her.”

“Everyone thought she disappeared years ago because she was in mourning for her husband. What if she was on the run?” Ben said.

“From dragons or Templars?” Eric said.

Megan piped up. “Don’t forget about witches.”

“For all we know, it could be all of them.” Tessa’s heart sped up. “And the same could be said of Lily.”

Ben frowned. “No one is touching that girl.”

“Agreed,” Eric said. “Which is why we’re trying to ask around about her parents without telling the other clans about Lily for the time being. No one outside this house, besides Ian, knows about her.” He nodded at Ben. “Or you. We aren’t letting anyone know about you being alive either.”

“So what do we do next?” Marcus said. “Mia’s trail is cold. There are obviously other people involved in this that want Mia and Lily. And we don’t know why. Do they want to break the curse or not?”

Ben clenched his fists. “I wish I could remember what happened before I was attacked. What convinced me to believe the curse was real?”

Megan stood up and walked over to the bookshelf next to the desk. She pulled out a leather-bound book and flipped through it. “We found this in your room. It’s a story your mom used to tell you kids.”

Ben shook his head. “How does a children’s story play into this?”

Megan sat next to him. “The story was written down over a hundred years ago, but it’s about three children, two boys and a girl, who go on a pilgrimage to save their dragon village. And much of the story matches what you, Eric, and Sienna have been through.” She held the book out to Ben. “This is a drawing of a shield that Samuel, the oldest in the story, carries with him. It matches the symbol on the necklace your mom gave you. It’s the symbol of the dragon sentries. But John also remembers it as a symbol that was in the witch village as well.”

“Do you think the story is some sort of prophesy?” Ben asked.

Megan nodded. “We think it might have been written by an oracle, your great-great-grandmother on your mother’s side. After the witches cursed dragons, the oracles in the clans seemed to have died off.”

“Except this book makes us think that isn’t true,” Tessa said. “It’s more likely some of the oracle powers continued, which is why this book exists. It was written in a way to let you know what was going to happen without outing the oracles at that time.”

Ben closed the book and clenched it so hard his knuckles turned white. “So how does the book end? Does it tell us how to break the curse?”

Megan shook her head. “I’ve read it. It appears to be the first volume of the story. It doesn’t tell us how the story should end. Maybe if you read it, something will trigger your memories?”

Ben ran his hand over the book. “I can do that.”

Marcus crossed his arms. “Jonas is trying to find anything he can online about Mia that we might have missed. He’s also trying to quietly dig into Lily’s background to see if he can find anything regarding her parents, which would hopefully lead us to her clan.”

Hopefully was right. Although overwhelming was the word that kept coming to mind. She couldn’t imagine what it was doing to Ben. Especially when she saw how much pain Ben had already suffered. How much blood he had already shed.

Chapter 25

Ben gripped the small leather book in his hands as he stood by the window. His bedroom had a wonderful view and he should be enjoying it, but the only thing that surfaced was frustration. Even though he knew his name and who his family was, he still didn’t know who he was. And he couldn’t shake the added fear that he had somehow brought all of this on himself, his family, and his clan.

Could this children’s story he held somehow be the reason this all began?

A knock at the door had him turning away from the scenery. “Come in.”