Cameron rode with Baldewin, who flew beside Rodrigo with the same determined expression. The young mage had already faced the Jaeggi and looked ready to tear them apart.
When word had spread that Ravi had been kidnapped by the Jaeggi, nearly the entire castle volunteered to charge into danger to rescue their stolen clanmate. Tears sprang to Sora’s eyes at the thought of the love and devotion Ravi’s family felt for him, but the wind quickly whipped them away.
All the kings and their mage mates were in the air now, along with half the dragons of Burkhard. A full thunder of dragons filled the sky, making no attempts to mask their presence.
If the humans didn’t already believe dragons were real, there was no room for doubt now. Dragon roars trumpeted, and angry flames bellowed out, scorching the sky. The kings of the Earth and Metal Dragons had once talked about the fiery tempers of the fire dragons compared to the slow, methodical logic of the earth and metal dragons. Flashes of that temper were on full display, and Sora had to agree with them.
Ravi was theirs, and they would have him back.
Much to Sora’s displeasure, their progress was slow. It had taken close to an hour to get the dragons in the sky. Spell ingredients had to be safely packed while other spells were prepared in advance, in anticipation of the fight they would have on their hands.
Even after they took to the air, King Chalo demanded they make two separate stops prior to reaching Prague in case the Jaeggi had traveled west, back toward Germany. Sora couldn’t fault his logic. There was no reason to risk flying right over Ravi and then having to turn back.
The sun was rising over the horizon when Sahan finally reached the Charles Bridge. There weren’t many pedestrians at this hour, but a steady trickle of commuters were headed in to work.
He circled once, sending people running away and shouting, before he landed delicately on the bridge. He allowed Sora to slide to the stones before he shifted back to human form. Other dragons landed carefully on the bridge or on the closest bank, allowing their passengers to hit solid ground before shifting, while most of the dragon host stayed in the air, circling the city.
Humans scattered, but all of them had their phones raised as they snapped pictures and captured videos of their arrival. Sora paid them little attention as the other mages ran forward to the last spot Ravi had been seen to try their seeking spells.
But within seconds, Sora’s hopes were crushed again.
Lisette shook her head. “I’m sorry, but we’re still getting nothing.”
“He can’t still be wearing all the masking charms,” Sora snapped.
“Even if he was, we’d be able to track the signature of our own magic,” Lisette said.
“This is likely the result of Jaeggi spells protecting the place where they’re keeping him,” Queen Diya replied.
From the corner of his eye, Sora saw King Rodrigo walk over to the railing of the bridge and hold his hand out over the water. The dragon’s eyes narrowed, and the lines in his handsome face deepened as he concentrated. Sora moved to stand beside him and looked over the railing. The water swirled under his hands and leapt upward like a puppy seeking affection.
“The water has memories of a brief fight here last night. A dragon and magic.”
“Did it see where the mages took Ravi?”
King Rodrigo closed his eyes completely and tilted his head. Sora’s heart stammered in his chest, waiting for them to locate his mate.
“No, but he’s not in the city. There are whispers of magic crossing the river farther to the north and heading away from the city.” King Rodrigo opened his eyes and dropped his hand back to his side. “It looks like Ravi was loaded into a car and taken north.”
“King Chalo—”
“Already on it.” The king of the Earth Dragons walked briskly over to the end of the bridge and knelt down, placing his hand on the ground.
Sora chewed on his lower lip. There was so much concrete and so many people walking on this ground. Would the earth be able to carry back the secret movements of a group of Jaeggi and one wind dragon?
It took only a second before King Chalo gasped and jerked his head up a little. “He’s underground. Those bastards have got him underground. I don’t have an exact location, but northeast of here. Outside the city.”