Chapter 27 The Heart Scale

• The scale was warm even after hours by the fire.
• I sat at the kitchen table long after the others had gone to bed, studying it under the flickering light of a single candle. It was about the size of my palm, smooth and iridescent, shifting colors as I turned it: pale blue, silver, deep violet. The glow pulsed gently, like a slow heartbeat.
• Isabelle said it was the strongest piece of the Wyrm, the scale that had grown directly over its heart. The magic in it was old, she explained, and it would take time to understand. I didn't tell her that I could feel the magic already, pressing against my skin like a question.