Mishtali woke with a gasp. He hated when his captors forced him to use that trance. It was excruciating and nauseating. He resisted vomiting. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. “What took you so long?” “Somehow she recognized me. I had to explain who I was.” “You used human form?” “Yes.” “No matter. It will only help her trust you. Did she agree to bring them?” “Thailyn is missing. I told her to bring another healer.” He was relieved that Thailyn was missing. Yes, it concerned him, but if his son couldn’t be found, they couldn’t force him to work for them as they had Mishtali. Thailyn was frail. He’d never survive. “What else did you tell her?” “She’s deeper in the trance than you realized. I told her how to get out.” “Is she that strong?” “Your daughter wouldn’t have wanted her if she wasn’t.” Nor’than nodded. “And she’ll be here soon?” Mishtali shook his head. “It’ll be a while before she’s recovered enough.” “She doesn’t have to be at full strength.” “Her family will insist on it.” “And the Augmenter?” “She said she’d bring him. But he was trained well. You won’t be able to control him.” “Who does he care about? Does he have a mate?” “There’s no one. I’ve told you that. No one trusts him. No one wants anything to do with him.” The man yanked on the chain leading to the collar that controlled Mishtali and kept him from using his magic, so they were eye to eye. “What are you not telling me, dragon?” “Nothing.” “Don’t lie to me, dragon.” He sent a wave of magic through the chain, shocking Mishtali but after all these centuries of abuse, his resistance to the pain was heightened. “I’m not,” Mishtali lied again. “You were in there too long. What was said?” More pain was sent. “Nothing important.” It was clear he’d have to tell the man something. “What?” “She asked where I’d been.” “And you said?” “The truth, or part of it. That I’m trapped here. She didn’t ask for details. I didn’t offer any.” “That’s it?” “She talks a lot, almost as much as you.” That earned him another jolt of pain. He didn’t care. The more jolts, the more scar tissue built up under the collar, the more he could resist. He’d be taken back to Torthoc to be healed again. He could try again to send a warning. Then he was left alone. He eased himself into a laying position, careful of his almost useless wings. They’d been clipped ages ago, the muscles controlling them cut. They hadn’t done it completely. That would have paralyzed the wings, and then they would be in the way. He couldn’t fly anymore, and that was the goal. A strong healer, like Thailyn, might be able to fix them. But he doubted it. And he’d given up hope of escape long ago. His goal was to protect the others, those on Torthoc. Five hundred years ago, he’d left his home, the island of Tricon, to hunt for his missing mate, Shawtila. He and his children had come to a kingdom on one of the continents called Menthanla. He’d been appalled by what he’d found there. He’d found the Baj-tisk, the hidden refugees, those his mate had gone looking for. Most didn’t even remember they were from Tricon originally. They only reason anyone remembered anything at all was one young man’s father had been born on Tricon just before they’d left. But even that young man didn’t know the reason they’d left, who they were supposed to be hiding from, or even that they were supposed to be in hiding. The man was something else that shocked him. He was an Augmenter, nephew to the great Augmenter that had worked with Mishtali’s grandparents to rid Tricon of the immortals that were trying to enslave them, people like Mishtali’s captors. Mishtali didn’t know, but it was possible his captors had been involved. He hadn’t seen most of his captors, and the events on Tricon were before he was born. The man, Nimitinas, had been trained by an immortal. She knew of his abilities. The very people they were supposed to be hiding from had been living among them. And Mishtali was sure that woman was the one to start all the trouble on Tricon millennia earlier. He’d also found another young man whose family was an abomination in Mishtali’s mind. After his mother and one brother had died from a horrible illness, Tomin Mishtan’s father and other brother had practically abandoned him, leaving him to be raised by humans and neglecting his education. He knew nothing of dragon ways or how to control his magic. After the father had died, his magic was so out of control their ruling council told his brother if he didn’t train him, they’d have to kill him. But Tomin Mishtan was too strong for his brother and was quite bitter for being neglected, so he was less than cooperative. Mishtali had agreed to help. Then the war broke out. Even if they didn’t remember it, they were his people too. He stayed to help. Nim and some others were supposed to help him fight Nor’than, but they had gone to the council to get more help and hadn’t returned. That was when Nor’than had attacked. Mishtali faced him alone. It was a brutal battle. He was losing strength. Nor’than was too. They were in the air, Mishtali in true form and Nor’than was using a spell to fly to keep his opponent from gaining the upper hand. Nor’than pulled magic from Dragon Castle. The building had been reinforced with magic to keep it from crumbling. Removing that magic caused part of it to collapse. Using forbidden magic, Mishtali found a pinhole passage to another world. He opened it and tried to force Nor’than through. His magic reacted with the immortal’s, and there was an explosion pulling them both through the breach. When he woke, he was on this world, a place the inhabitants called Earth. And he was a prisoner of Nor’than. For five hundred years, he’d been tortured, abused, and experimented on while Nor’than pretended to do his own master’s bidding and plotted against the man. Then about two years ago, something had changed. A source of magic could be felt. On Torthoc, it wouldn’t have been noticed. There was plenty of magic there. But here, the only magic was Nor’than, Mishtali, and whatever leaked through the gate from Torthoc. Someone had cast a tremendous spell. That someone turned out to be Annlonna, apparently his granddaughter. Nor’than, of course, started looking for this mage, but she’d stopped casting. Likely she’d needed to figure out how to cast magic here on this strange world. Nor’than found her a few months ago when she started casting again. Fortunately, she didn’t stay long nor did she use the gate to get back as Nor’than had expected. She transported back. Doing so had put her in a trance. Nor’than had wanted Mishtali to try to contact her then, but Mishtali had resisted. When he finally gave in, she was protected in her trance by both a dark shadow figure and a knight. He was pretty sure the knight was her chosen, but he had no idea what the darkness was. She was aroused before Mishtali was able to reach her. Now, during this new trance, he’d accomplished that and lured her, Nim, and the healer to their own captivity, unless her chosen and Tomin Mishtan were able to help.