Solenne’s mind joined his, softer, but carrying the resonance of truth.“For those who wish it, the journey home begins soon. The first delegation is ready to depart within days. Let us remember the best of who we are and let us bring it with us.”
The effect on the hall was electric. Some dragons roared in approval, others sent waves of color, orange and gold, silver and blue, rippling through their scales. Even the ancient, jaded elders perched along the upper balconies inclined their heads with what looked like genuine, if grudging, respect.
Flint ran back to us, cheeks pink with excitement and some sort of sauce. I wished I could bottle the moment and take it back for Goldie to see.
“Mama,” he whispered, eyes wide, “did you hear? We can go home.”
I hugged him, so hard he squeaked. “Yeah, baby. We can.”
I caught Jax’s eye over the top of Flint’s head, and he smiled. For a few minutes, I let myself forget everything that had come before. We ate, and laughed, and watched the world go on turning.
But the feast couldn’t last forever. Eventually, the dragons began to peel away, some heading for the launch platforms, othersclustering in quiet corners for more serious talk. The crowd thinned, and the noise faded to a comfortable murmur. Jax and I stood, stretching out the kinks from hours of sitting on stone, and gathered Flint, now sticky and exhausted, but still glowing with happiness, between us.
We wandered down a quieter corridor, the walls lit by floating orbs of gentle light. It was almost easy to forget that we were in another dimension, on the edge of everything. Adalinda found us there. She moved with a quiet dignity that would have suited any human queen I’d ever met. Her voice was for us alone. “Hailey, Jax. I must speak with you, on behalf of the nest.”
She hesitated, and for the first time, a flicker of something showed almost like nerves. She continued,“Several families have expressed interest in raising Flint here in Ayrathys. He would not lack for guidance, or for love. He would grow among his kind, learn our ways, become strong and wise. We would see to it personally.”
The world contracted, a single dot of pain shooting right behind my breastbone. I looked at Flint, who was wiping his hands on his shirt and not really listening. I shifted to human, knelt in front of him, and made myself look into his face. “Flint, you’ve seen how wonderful it is here. There are others like you. You could stay if you wanted to. You could live here, all the time. It would be your choice, not mine.”
He looked up at me, then at Jax, then over my shoulder at Adalinda, regal and impossibly gentle. He thought about it for maybe two seconds.
“No,” he said, and took my hand. “Mama, I already have a family. I want to go to the Academy with Goldie.” He hesitated. “I mean, we can visit here, right?”
I pulled him into my arms, and this time the tears weren’t just from relief. They were the kind that emptied you out, made space for something new to grow. Jax wrapped his arms around us, and even Adalinda bowed her head, touching her snout to my hair.
We stood like that for a long time, the four of us, alone in the corridor, while the rest of the world moved on without us. “Yes, baby. We can visit.”
When we finally pulled apart, Flint grinned, wiped his nose on his sleeve, and said, “Can we have pizza when we get home?”
I laughed so hard it hurt. “Yeah, baby. We can have all the pizza you want.”
Adalinda raised her head, eyes bright.“You will always have a place here. All of you.”
As we walked back through the corridor, Flint dragging us forward by the hand, I looked back, just once, to where Adalinda stood, crowned and silent, watching over us with the patience of a mountain. I thought of everything we’d lost, and everything we’d risked, and the impossible luck of making it out alive. I was so glad I’d learned to fly.
17
HAILEY
As we landednear the portal, our formation broke, each dragon landing around the portal. We’d accumulated quite a crowd to say goodbye.
Flint’s friends, Shimmer, Pebble, and two others whose names I would never remember, darted out from the crowd, tackling him with a force that sent all four skidding across the glassy plain. There was a brief, violent tangle of limbs and wings, punctuated by shrieks and half-formed fireballs, then the pile untangled and resolved itself into a messy but unmistakable hug.
“Don’t forget me,”Flint said, loud enough for everyone in two realms to hear.
Pebble grunted and headbutted Flint’s shoulder.“You’re weird. But you’re our weird.”
Shimmer just rolled her eyes.“Don’t be gone too long. The grownups get boring when you’re not around.”
The four of them stood there, awkward and fierce, until Adalinda leaned in and said,“It is time.”
Flint nodded, then ran back to Jax and me, his wings still half-open.
On the far side of the portal was Earth, our Philadelphia backyard.
Solenne stepped forward, her scales a muted orange in the dawn light. “It is customary,”she said, her voice perfectly formal,“to send a vanguard.”
Corvus, ever the tactician, added,“We will secure the other side. In case Vaelog has left surprises.”
