“And what does it mean?” I asked.
“That Divines can be more powerful than dragons,” a man said, disgust in his voice. “That while the dragons control us, there are Divines who can be stronger than dragons and take control. She had the power to survive two dragons. She was strong.”
“And you are stronger than she was,” Aylia said. “With three dragon mates, you are definitely more powerful.”
A few gasps broke out. “Mates? Has she already mated?” a girl asked softly, her face white.
I narrowed my eyes at her, as I readied to defend myself. “Is that a problem?”
Ice filled my question. She blinked and huddled away from me. I almost felt guilty—almost—but I saw a few more wary expressions and knew they hated the idea that I had mates. I had to stand firm. They were my dragons as much as I was theirs. Nothing was going to break our bonds.
“No problem,” Aylia said, glaring at everyone around me as she shifted closer to me. She lifted my hair. “Look, guys. She’s okay. She hasn’t been consumed by them. Look at her hair.”
“Consumed?” But no one listened to me as they pushed closer in, and some touched my hair. I tried to pull away, but there was nowhere to move.
“It’s so faint!” someone exclaimed. “The colors are barely there.”
“Enough!” I yelled, practically wheeling around to give me more breathing room. They all practically jumped away from me, giving me the space I sought.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I turned to Kilven since he seemed to be the one who gave the most straightforward answers.
“This is amazing. Three dragons, and you were able to escape them. Aylia was able to rescue you before you had all your magic sucked dry. And that alone proves you are exactly who we were searching for,” he responded, not really telling me much.
“Sucked dry?”
“It hasn’t been explained to her yet,” Aylia said. “I wanted to give her more time to adjust.”
“Putting it off like this doesn’t help,” Kilven admonished her.
“Explain what?” My patience was running thin, and my skin was beginning to prickle with my frustration.
“We mentioned that the dragons take our magic, and it’s exactly how it sounds,” Kilven said. “They steal it from us, and we get nothing in return. They take and take, and eventually, we’re left with nothing. Until we’re completely useless. Then, we’re tossed to the side, forgotten and weak. We’re consumed.”
“There are others here who have gone through such a thing.”
“But what about people like Tanja and Captain Corniz?” I couldn’t see that man doing anything to harm Tanja. He was a stern man, but he always seemed softer around his mate, protective.
Kilven seemed confused about what I was asking so Aylia spoke up. “Not every mate is like that. Only some. But it’s enough. Some dragons, the king included, know how to utilize their mates, take their magic, and run them dry. We as Divines can recharge, but once we run out, we’re out. There are Divines who aren’t given the chance to recharge. So they lose their magic.”
Fear coursed through me. Not for me but for the others. I didn’t want them losing the very essence of what made them special. I couldn’t imagine Tanja not being a rider. It matched her so well. She was powerful, confident, and she actually cared. While I was at the academy, I knew she’d stuck her neck out for me multiple times. While she was rough about it, Tanja always told me how it was and about the dangers that lurked around me. I didn’t want something like that happening to her.
“Neyil tries to rescue who he can, but his reach isn’t the best. He can’t get to them all,” another man said, voice scratchy as he spoke.
Sadness swept through everyone, and there was a moment of silence, as if they were doing it to respect those who had lost their magic. Sadness even crept into me. Now that I was a rider, I could never imagine losing my abilities. Especially now that I understood what I could really do with my powers.
“My friend lost her magic,” a different man said, a scar running along his cheek, his blue eyes so sad that it made my chest ache. “Her mate forced her to keep riding him for too long, all while he kept blowing fire.”
“Forced?” I frowned. “But we can stop it. When we ride, we have to send them that magic. She could have stopped. Or gotten off.”
“Gotten off?” someone asked.
“Yeah.” I looked at the older woman. She looked to almost be twice my age. “I can switch dragons in a fight, from one back to another.” My cheeks reddened as I remembered what had to keep happening each time I switched mates. “Once I consciously made the decision to get off them, I was released.”
They glanced at each other, and some whispers broke out.
“And why didn’t she stop? If she didn’t want to send him magic, she should have been able to not do it. I have to send them my magic each time they want to blow fire. Like I’m the fuel to their flame.”
None of this made sense. If she was pushed that far, she could have stopped. So why didn’t she? She knew her body best, and she should have known what he was doing was bad for it. Even as a mate, she should have been able to prevent it from going too far.