“You would hate being left down here,” Florian said, still shaking his head in disbelief. The last time Kade had been left behind, he had been on his own for three days outside Elodie’s home. After, he had begged Florian never to do something like that again. To then suggest staying behind on his own was mind-boggling, and not at all like him—but he would have to pick apart their interaction later.
“So all three of us are going. It’s settled,” Florian continued firmly. “Kade can ride on Koji’s back, and I’ll hold the shroud. Hopefully, when we get up there, we’ll be able to shift back and walk without too much of a problem.”
“Hopefully,” Kade agreed, still frowning. “If we have to fly, I don’t know how much help I would be in a fight.”
All three of them were silent for a long moment. Florian was unsure as well, and there was no guarantee they wouldn’t find some sort of Blight monster on the way, or hostile half-Blighted shifters when they arrived.
“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” he sighed. This time, Koji was the one who frowned in confusion, his head tilting.
“What bridge?” he asked. “I didn’t see one on the map—”
“No, no, it’s an Earth saying,” Florian interjected. “It just means that we’ll deal with it if it happens. I didn’t mean an actual bridge.”
“Oh,” Koji replied, still sounding perplexed.
“I told you, Earth sayings are strange,” Kade said. A hint of a laugh had returned to his voice, the corners of his eyes crinkling with an amused, half-hidden smile. Florian chuckled.
“Alright, anything else we need to go over before we head up?” he asked.
The two other men were silent, but both seemed to be thinking, uncertain if they should speak. Florian waited, but neither offered whatever it was they were considering; after a beat of silence, he shrugged and continued,
“Then let’s shift and start heading up. Alright?”
Kade looked at Koji, who flashed him a nervous smile. “Ready?”
“Alright,” Koji said. “Ready.”
Koji shifted first, taking a step back from them as green light suffused his body. Florian could feel the shroud stretching with him, spreading his magic thinner. He winced, the sensation unpleasant, but the shroud held between the three of them.
“Okay,” he said, taking in a deep, steadying breath, then he, too, shifted into his dragon form. The transformation now was uncomfortable, but not painful the way the first shift had been yesterday—had that only been yesterday? He kept his focus on holding the shroud around his body as he morphed and elongated—the sensation of keeping his magic in place anchored him until his form settled and he felt like he could breathe again.
Okay, he thought again, Koji’s vivid yellow draconic eyes meeting his with understanding.Ready?
Ready,Koji agreed, lowering his head toward Kade. The wolf shifter walked toward them both apprehensively, as if still unsure whether their plan would work. Koji knelt so that Kade could climb onto his back. It was not very secure, Florian thought with a stab of worry—Kade would really only be able to hold on to Koji’s mane to keep himself atop the dragon. But staying on the ground would be even more dangerous, so it wasn’t truly an option.
“Wait,” Kade said as Koji stood. He pulled his backpack to his front and rummaged around until he found an extra length of rope. Quickly, he looped it around his waist, then gestured for Florian to help him loop the rest around Koji and back up so he could tie himself to the dragon’s long body. Florian helped guide the rope around Koji’s snakelike form, moving slowly—it still felt strange for there to only be three fingers on his hands, and the claws at the ends of each one were wickedly sharp.
The rope wasn’t ideal, and if it broke, or got damaged, they would have to be extra careful with their other ropes to make sure that they would still be able to securely set up their shelter. Still, it was better than nothing, and if it put Kade’s mind at ease, then it was worth it. Florian huffed in concern, which Kade seemed to understand. He patted Florian’s large forehead, giving him a small, quick smile.
“I’ll be alright,” he said. “Just don’t go too fast. And maybe don’t turn upside down. Otherwise, I think I can keep a good hold.”
Florian nodded, then stepped away to look at Koji once again. The other dragon seemed chagrined.
I’m happy to help. However, this is unbecoming of a dragon.The thought was clear, but obvious amusement echoed behind it. Florian couldn’t say with any certaintyhowhe understood Koji’s tone, but somehow he knew the dragon was only teasing.
I won’t tell,he answered, tossing his head with a huff that felt like a laugh.Let’s go.
Yes,Koji agreed, then he took a few experimental steps as if to test how Kade’s presence affected his movement. Seemingly satisfied, he pushed himself off the ground and lifted easily into the air, his body twining back and forth like a fish in water.
It was uncanny how much the air felt like water around him when he was shifted. Still, Florian thought as he followed, it was better than having to sprout wings and lift himself off the ground that way.
To avoid flying straight upward, which would be much more challenging for Kade, they flew in large spirals and ascended gradually. Florian alternated between keeping an eye on the sky above to watch for when the islands would come into view, and looking carefully back at Kade to make sure he was doing alright. The wolf shifter was huddled low against Koji’s serpentine form, his hands fisted tightly in the dragon’s mane. He didn’t look happy or comfortable at all, but he at least didn’t look like he was going to fall off.
For a long while, nothing came into sight. It was hard for Florian to focus on what was above them, as keeping the shroud secure over the three of them now was much more challenging: partly because he and Koji were bigger, and partly because there was just so much more fluctuation in the space between them and the way they moved. He tried to stick as close to Koji as he could, but it was not always feasible for them to float side-by-side, warping and stretching the shroud the further apart they drifted.
Soon, though, the air around them felt... different. The magic in the air didn’t feel quite the same as it had with the last arrows, but there was a hint of that static-like latent magic around them as they continued to rise through the air.
There was more to it than that, though. The air was a little cooler this high up, Florian realized; and as it occurred to him, the surrounding light seemed a little dimmer too… like they were in the shadow of something large up above. He looked again, and this time he could see a dark dot in the bright sky above.
