“Only one way to find out,” Amber said, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Next stop: Isle of the Monsters!”
The wind swept around them, rustling the trees like the whisper of a new beginning.
Somewhere out there, Jabir was waiting.
That meant their adventure wasn’t over yet.
Coming Next:
At Home with Monsters
* * *
On a world filled with wonders and nightmares, Jabir—smallest of the original Dragonlings—finally feels like he’s found home.
* * *
Separated from the others and drawn to the mysterious Isle of the Monsters, Jabir Reykill discovers a place unlike any he’s ever known. Strange, magical, and filled with misunderstood creatures, the island welcomes him with open arms. For the first time in his life, he is not ‘too small’ or ‘too different’. Here, he is enough.
* * *
Among the monsters, Jabir meets a gentle water siren with eyes like moonlight and a voice that calms the doubts within him. While others whisper warnings of sirens who lure the unwary to their doom, Jabir trusts his heart—and hers.
* * *
As his friends travel across the Seven Kingdoms to find him, Jabir will have to decide where he truly belongs. On a world where danger hides behind beauty and loyalty is tested by fear, a monster and a Dragonling will stand side by side to prove that the greatest strength lies not in size… but in the courage to love.
Part VIII
At Home with Monsters
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Valdier Palace
Early morning
* * *
Mandra Reykill stepped inside the conference room, his powerful frame filling the doorway. The air was still and heavy, thick with silence and shadows. The large viewing screen mounted on the wall remained blank, a cold, dark void reflecting nothing but his uncertainty. His boots thudded softly on the floor as he crossed the room, his shoulders slumped beneath the weight of worry he could no longer pretend wasn’t there.
Jabir smart. He be alright, his dragon whispered through his mind.
“I know he’s smart—but why haven’t we seen him? How do we know that he’s alright? He’s by himself,” he retorted in a low, harsh voice.
He rubbed a hand down his face, the rough scrape of his palm catching on a day’s worth of stubble. He hadn’t slept. Couldn’t. Not when his son—his tender hearted, naïve son—was missing in an unfamiliar world crawling with unknown dangers. Jabir might be a teenage dragonling, but he was still just a boy. His boy. His and Ariel’s.
He stopped in front of the wide window overlooking the palace gardens. Dew sparkled across the hedges like shattered starlight. Flowers stirred in the morning breeze, oblivious to the storm churning in his chest. His reflection in the glass stared back at him—haunted, tired, afraid. He opened his hand and stared at the callused palm, then slowly curled his fingers into a fist.
What good is strength if you can’t protect the ones you love? he thought.
The silence broke with a soft crackle. Mandra turned, frowning as the dark screen behind him flickered to life. The conference room was still empty. He hadn’t touched the console. Yet the image blooming on the screen froze him in place, his heart clenching painfully.
“Jabir?” The name rasped from his throat.
His son stood on the edge of a quiet lake, his dark hair tousled by a breeze that rippled across the silver-blue surface. Amber eyes stared out across the water, filled with thought instead of laughter. His hands were tucked into his front pockets, his shoulders slightly hunched—not from cold, but from something heavier. Sadness. Loneliness.
Mandra stepped closer, one hand reaching out instinctively, as if he could cross the distance between them. “What are you looking at, son?”
