Solenne’s telepathic voice was softer, almost maternal.“We had hoped you would return, Queen. It was a myth, a comfort for the dying, but it is true. You are here. You can unite us.”
There it was. The real reason for the parade-ground courtesy. They needed Adalinda to lead them, to finish what had started centuries ago. I glanced at Jax, who was now processing therequest with the same ruthless logic I’d always admired. His mind was a fortress, and if he had thoughts about Adalinda’s prospects as Queen, he kept them to himself.
Flint whispered, barely a thought at all,“Does this mean we have to fight him?”
“Maybe,” I said. “But we don’t have to do it alone.”
The dragons behind Corvus and Solenne crept closer, still at a respectful distance. Some had scales like old coins, dull and pitted. Others gleamed, unmarred by time or battle. A few bore wounds that never fully healed, great rips in their wings or scars along their flanks. Their faces were cautious, expectant. I wondered what they saw when they looked at us, at me, especially. Did I look like a Queen’s champion? Would they know that Jax and I were not born dragons? That Adalinda had gifted us our dragon forms?
Corvus bowed again, lower this time, and Solenne followed suit.“We ask you to be our Queen, Adalinda. Not for old times’ sake, but for this world. Ayrathys has never needed you more.”
Adalinda’s wings unfurled, and for a moment she looked both impossibly ancient and heartbreakingly young. She took a step forward, then hesitated. Her scales shifted, colors warring beneath the surface.“I accept the call,”she said, her voice ringing out like a bell over the valley.“But I will not rule by war alone. If I am to be Queen, it will be to bring peace.”
The telepathic tide surged through the assembled dragons, shock, hope, skepticism, all at once. Some bowed in response, others exchanged sidelong glances, their faces unreadable.
Jax moved closer to me, our scales brushing. Flint was quiet, pressed flat against my side, his thoughts a tangled skein of fear and longing and new understanding.
Solenne’s eyes were bright, reflecting both suns.“Then let us begin. There is much to do, and little time. Vaelog will not wait for us to organize.”
Adalinda nodded, then turned to Jax and me.“Are you with me?”
I looked at Flint, at Jax, at the ranks of dragons gathering on the slopes above. I thought of home, of the family we’d left behind, of the war waiting for us on the other side of the horizon.“Always,”I said.“Let’s show them how it’s done.”
And so, we stepped forward, into the center of a storm that had been centuries in the making, ready to make the new rules as we went.
5
HAILEY
It tookCorvus all of five seconds to assemble a dragon council on the ridge, and another three to set the rules of engagement. Apparently, there was an etiquette to sky-side meetings. The Queen and her chosen stood on the high ground, the regent and her general on level footing, and all other dragons at a distance respectful enough to avoid telepathic crowding. We stood in a triangular formation, our tails parallel to the wind, wings partially unfurled, and snouts angled so the light of both suns caught the lines of our faces.
From our side, the portal was a standing glass rectangle, perfectly upright and glinting with every color the mind could handle. On the earth side, however, the portal was a glowing disc, horizontal, maybe six feet off the ground. The effect. Our entire earth-side team was still standing under the portal with their heads cranked back.
Jax was already trying to establish a line of sight with the earth crew. He craned his neck and quickly realized we needed to be human to speak to them.
“Let’s see if we can shift back,” I said to Jax, flicking the thought to Adalinda as well. We hadn’t tried yet. For all we knew, this world was going to keep us in dragon form.
The change rippled through my body, skin crawling, bones compressing, tail and wings withdrawing. It was over in less than a breath, and then I was human again.
Jax cleared his throat, then addressed the portal. “We’re here. We’re okay. The locals are mostly friendly.”
Janice yelled back, “Brief us!”
Ransome nodded curtly. Jax told them what we learned so far about Vaelog’s soul coming here and being a menace of epic violent douchery. Well, those were my words; Jax kept things a little more professional than I would’ve.
“He’s stolen power from those he killed in that realm?” Ransom asked.
“Definitely,” I said. “He’s gathering power and hunting this realm. He’s angry.”
Luke leaned in from the edge of the frame. “Any way to bring us through?”
I shook my head. “Dragons only, at least for now. We have no idea how this portal even opened, not really.”
There was a pause as the earthside digested this. Then Janice, never one to waste time, began typing into her phone, probably updating half a dozen hunters simultaneously.
Izora stood from the lawn chair she sat in. “We’ll coordinate a watch on this side. Make sure nobody sneaks up on your exit hatch. Or comes out of it.” She bent, plucked Courage fromhis perch, and set him on her shoulder. “I’ll take the first shift,” said Izora. “I have centuries of experience doing nothing.” To everyone’s surprise, Izora began organizing, with actual efficiency, a “portal watch rotation,” complete with delegation of responsibilities. “Paige, you’re on the second shift.”
Zara, who hadn’t been there earlier but was now, popped her head into frame. “I want a shift! If the Queen can do it, so can I.” She shot a look of utter defiance at Izora, who responded with a lazy air kiss.
