Sora scrubbed a hand over his face. This was so much worse than he’d expected. He couldn’t begin to guess at how he would relay this information back to his parents, to the rest of the clan.
“Trust me, I know. We’re trying to guard people as they come in, but of course not everyone has a way of notifying us. My sister’s put together a welcome website, but we’re constantly tweaking it to add more information. She barely had the site up in time for the interview. Like I said, we didn’t expect this much enthusiasm so quickly. Anyway, how long will you stay with us? Are you interested in joining any projects?”
Sora had half-expected the first question, but not the second. “I thought a week or so, if that’s alright. I wouldn’t want to be in the way.”
“That’s perfect, and you can stay longer if you wish.” Cameron got an impish twinkle in his eye. “I think our dragons are hoping for longer.”
“Yes, so Ravi warned me. But what projects are you referring to?”
“Oh, we do a whole line of beauty products and holistic treatments here. It’s one of our main sources of income. If you’d like to join in and do some brewing, we’d love to have you. We also have a good number of new mages—myself included—who always appreciate some help learning magic from someone with more experience.”
That would give him a better way of evaluating their magical skills. “Of course. Just let me know when and where.”
“Perfect. I’ll speak with—” Cameron cut himself off at a knock at the door. “Enter!”
Someone Sora didn’t recognize poked his head around the door. The man had warm amber skin and black hair shorn very short, with thick black glasses on his nose.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt. Can I borrow you for a few minutes?”
“Will it literally be a few minutes? Or more like an hour?”
“More like an hour, knowing our luck.”
Cameron sighed. “Yeah, had a feeling. I’m sorry, Sora, can we continue this conversation later?”
“Of course. I know your time is valuable.”
“More like I’m trying to be in six places at once.” Cameron shrugged and left the chair. “But I’ll touch base with you again after dinner.”
“As you wish.” Sora followed him out, then continued down the hallway and up two flights of stairs to his own room. He greeted people as he went, everyone friendly and smiling.
But too few. Far too few.
Ravi had said there had been a little over fifty people in the clan, before Cameron came. And only five new mages to add in the past several months, not counting any mages who were trickling through the gates now. A dragon clan with not even sixty people in it. It was absurd. Had the war so decimated them that, even after five hundred years, this was the growth they’d managed? It sat extremely ill with him. Especially since his own family flourished as if the war had never touched them.
He entered the room that he’d been given, a very nicely appointed room that wouldn’t have been inappropriate for a visiting dignitary. It was a silent testament to how this clan viewed mages. How preciously they regarded them. Sora had not once felt unwelcome here—quite the opposite. He’d been enthusiastically greeted, even with the clan being overwhelmed by the crowd at the gates.
Sora was not a man who made emotional decisions. He had clear, concise reasons for everything he did. But just this once, logic deserted him. He was too appalled by the state of this clan not to react emotionally. Reason flew out the window as he pulled his phone free and called his mother.
She answered on the second ring. “Son, how are you?”
“I’m well. I’ve arrived at Burkhard Castle and been shown around.”
“Already? I thought you were just going to drive up.”
“Yes, well, I bumped into one of their dragons in town.” Sora smirked a little, remembering the panicked command in his ear as Ravi had fled from reporters. “He guided me up and introduced me to his clan. Kaa-san—I do not like what I’m seeing here.”
“Oh. Well, you can come home—”
“No, I don’t mean it in that sense. These are good people. Kind, welcoming people. I have never been so welcomed in my life. They have shown me great hospitality. The consort himself spoke with me and promised to arrange a time so I could speak with the king directly.”
Her intake of breath was clear. “Well. That does speak very well of them, that they would take the time to greet you.”
“It does, but I think it’s partially out of desperation, and that’s what I don’t like. There aren’t even sixty people in this clan.”
“NANI?!”
“You heard me. Not even sixty. The fire dragons have been reduced to these numbers, even though the Dragon Wars have ended. They have six senior mages. Six. The rest are new and, I’m given to understand, wholly novice in magic.”
For the first time in recorded history, his mother was speechless.
“It gets worse.” Sora’s tone fell to a grim, dark growl. “The Jaeggi are still here.”
She uttered a blasphemy foul enough to scorch paint off a wall. “No, they were destroyed in the war, surely!”
“I think you all assumed as much. But you should not have. They’re here, they’re actively hunting mages down, and they’re trying to finish what they started five hundred years ago. The consort himself told me that he was kidnapped by them. That two other mages were almost kidnapped. That they are trying to safeguard any new mage coming here to avoid the Jaeggi laying hands on them. The consort nearly begged me not to leave the castle without a dragon escort.”
His mother did not sound happy. Volcanoes on the verge of erupting sounded mild in comparison. “Did anyone tell you why they’re still hunting mages?”
“Yes. A theory, at least, is that their magic was damaged because of the spell they enacted in the war and now they siphon mages in order to work magic. I don’t know how accurate that theory is. But Kaa-san, does their motivation matter? These people have already done enough damage.”
“This is true. And the Burkhards have certainly suffered enough. They took the brunt of the war, I fear. If they’re still this small and struggling even five hundred years later, they’ve definitely shouldered too much.”
“I don’t think you understand how much until you’ve walked through this place. They’re all living in one castle. And it’s a large, beautiful castle, don’t mistake me, but—they all live in this castle. With protections and wards embedded into the very walls. And very little magic elsewhere. I don’t see any cleaning spells in use. Not even that.”
She sighed. “That is a sign in and of itself, that they can’t even afford basic magic when all their energy is directed toward security. But still, they welcomed you.”
“They welcomed me with a smile and open arms. As if nothing was wrong. As if I’m already family to them. Well, they did warn me about the Jaeggi, but still. They’re a happy people. I do not like the idea that they’ve been forced to fend for themselves for so many years. I know I’ve only been here a day, but it’s my opinion that they need help. They need allies.”
“Hearing what you’ve said, I’m inclined to agree. Alright, come home and report—”