Let him sit in the moss and figure it out for once.
Let him wonder what it feels like to be left behind.
The moment she cleared the tree canopy, she froze mid-air, her wings faltering. A tight gasp slipped past her lips.
The trees below weren’t just big. They were monstrous.
A dragon could have curled up in the knot on any of the branches and still have room for snacks. Flowers the size of starships swayed gently in the breeze. Leaves big enough to be used as ships dotted the forest.
The forest towered around her like a land built for giants.
Or are we… tiny?
Her heart began to race as realization dawned.
Something had happened during the portal’s fracture.
The size of the plants, the trees… the very shape of the bark she had brushed against in the clearing. They hadn't just landed in a strange place; the sheer scale of everything—the colossal trees, the massive flowers, the towering grass—left her breathless.
We must be on the Isle of the Giants.
Her thoughts whirled.
What else was out there?
Who else?
She continued flying, surveying the surrounding landscape for any signs of inhabitants. Several miles away, she thought she spied a spiral of smoke rising above the trees.
What do you think? she asked her dragon.
Smell wood burning. We see if safe.
She angled downward, focusing on the tendril of smoke. Entering the upper canopy, she was once again struck by how everything was disproportionately large compared to herself and her dragon. Even the distance she flew felt exaggerated, stretched like the rest of this outsized world.
Watch out!
The words ripped through her when a massive insect three times her size rose from a branch. Her dragon, startled by the creature that blended in with the brown and green bark, released a stream of blue dragon fire. The insect swerved to avoid the flame and disappeared back into the forest.
I no like this place, her dragon snarled.
Well, we’re here, whether we like it or not. We need to find the others so we can get out of here!
There! Big house.
I see it. Get as close as you can to it, she murmured.
Spring’s wings barely stirred the air as she glided through the thick, sun-dappled forest, weaving between branches the size of palace gates. Her white dragon scales shimmered with hints of pink where the sunlight caught them, casting dancing reflections on the mossy ground below. Everything around her dwarfed her dragon form.
Sapling branches were the size of a towering tree. Mushrooms, clustered near the roots of trees, were taller than she was. Even a rabbit’s den resembled a small cavern.
Wonder how far we are from Valdier, she thought, trying to distract herself from how her heart still ached from her fight with Roam. Adrenaline pushed her forward.
Then, just ahead, the forest thinned.
A golden light filtered through the trees, warm and beckoning.
Spring’s wings slowed, then tucked close to her body as she landed on a wide, winding path that unfurled beneath her claws like a silk ribbon. It hadn’t been there a moment ago.
