Excited laughter pulled her from her thoughts.
“Look!” Breeze cried, pointing toward the sky.
Adaline followed her gaze—and her breath hitched.
Soaring overhead was a dragon, its vivid purple and gold scales glittering like precious gems in the sun. Wings wide and graceful, it circled once—twice—before beginning to descend.
“Bálint!” she cried, her heart leaping.
But then—another dragon dove after the first, smaller, sleeker—and riding its back was a girl with long silver-blonde hair whipping in the wind.
“Alice!” she shouted, barely able to believe her eyes.
Wind surged around them in a wild spiral. Adaline could feel the presence in it—alive, intelligent, guiding.
Both dragons landed in a burst of wind and shimmering light. Alice leapt from the smaller dragon’s back, laughing as tears filled her eyes.
Adaline didn’t hesitate. She sprinted across the clearing, a cry of joy tearing from her throat.
“Alice!”
They collided in a hug, arms wrapping tight around each other. Adaline laughed and cried all at once, burying her face in her cousin’s shoulder.
“I thought I lost you,” she whispered.
“You didn’t,” Alice said, hugging her tighter. “I’m here.”
A shimmer of light caught the corner of Adaline’s eye. She turned just in time to see Bálint shift from his dragon form, watching them with a huge grin on his face. He strode toward her and she threw her arms around him too, laughing as she hugged him close.
“I was just about to come looking for you,” she said against his chest.
“Yeah, well… I would’ve found you first,” he teased, his voice low and full of relief.
They pulled apart as two unfamiliar figures stepped forward—a girl with stormy eyes and long dark hair, and a boy whose guarded gaze lingered a little too long on Alice.
Mud growled softly under his breath, “What’s a Wind Spinner doing here?”
The girl smirked at him. “You have a problem with a little wind, mist boy?”
“Mud,” Dew said sternly, her tone sharp with warning.
He muttered and looked away, grumbling an uncomplimentary word about Wind Spinners being full of hot air.
“This is Leanna,” Bálint said, rubbing the back of his neck, “and… Geoff.”
“Geoff helped me,” Alice said quickly. “I ended up on the Isle of Magic. I lost my powers—but I found them again. I just have a new way to use them.”
Adaline’s eyes lit up. “I didn’t lose mine… but I learned something pretty cool.” She looked at Alice, then Bálint, then the others, and a small, confident smile curved her lips. “I don’t have to be like anyone else. I’m me. And that’s okay. I’m not broken. I’m just… me.”
“Of course you are,” Alice said, hugging Adaline again.
“Are you like Adaline?” Mud asked.
“Did you come from a far off world, too?” Droplet added.
Adaline laughed as the group stood in a ring around them, buzzing with questions. It felt good not to be alone anymore. She smiled at Bálint, about to ask him what happened when a sudden cry echoed through the village.
Everyone turned. She lifted her hand to shield her eyes and watched as a massive shadow glided into view.
