The first stranger landed first with a thundering crack of claws against earth.
A female.
Benedict realized it first and forced the unmated males down.
Smart, even if she was mated.
The female draken’s pale scales illuminated her silhouette like a ghost, purple eyes wide with excitement. She straightened to her full height and bared her teeth in what might have been a smile. Her wings flared, gold scales proudly showing off the colors of her mate.
Benedict went rigid beside me.
“Kaida,” Nerissa said, moving forward to embrace thestrange draken. Everything shifted after that, tension bleeding from Benedict’s shoulders.
“You know them?” he demanded.
“From the other island?” Kieran asked, curious.
The newcomer’s gaze flicked from Nerissa to Wren to Benedict to me and back. She didn’t look surprised, but instead thrilled.
A gold draken landed heavily next to her, eyeing us warily. Benedict and Kieran puffed out their chests. He wasn’t as large as Canavar, but looked like he could still give Kieran or Benedict a run for their money.
“Who are you?” Benedict demanded.
The female—Kaida—trilled and wrapped herself around the golden draken. “We went out searching, and here we are.”
Silence.
Benedict opened his mouth, wanting answers.
Canavar strode up beside her, chest puffed, wings stretched wide. “We vouch for them. If anyone tries to attack them, you answer to me.”
The gathering crowd mumbled nervously, backing away.
Nerissa jabbed a thumb at the strangers. “This one is Kaida,” she announced. “And this is her mate, Nasi. They stumbled across us on the southern currents and asked for parley. They are part of our enclave.”
Kaida dipped her head gracefully. “We mean no harm. In fact, I have been searching for you.”
Her eyes pinned Benedict, who froze at the female’s complete attention directed at him. Something in me heated at that, uncertainty and insecurity gnawing at me with sharp teeth.
Nasi nodded. “We were following Nerissa, trying to assist with finding Anar. We also felt a disturbance in thewards here. We came to see if someone needed aid. Since her ship was docked here, we figured you’d found him?”
The shift in the crowd was slow and wary.
“Anar is dead, his ashes scattered to the wind,” Nerissa muttered, bowing her head.
Kaida and Nasi glanced at each other, then put a fist across their chests and bowed their heads as well. A breath I didn’t know I’d been holding escaped me.
“Thank you,” I said shakily, stepping forward despite Kieran’s growl. Benedict was still doing his best impersonation of a statue, still as stone. “Now that you mention it, our island is under threat. A child has been taken, and as you see, our wards are weakened.”
Kaida’s eyes sharpened instantly. “Taken?”
“By a rogue draken,” Kieran answered. “Our mate is close to birth and reluctant to let us leave her side.”
I blushed.
Nasi’s wings bristled. “Then you will need trackers.”
“And fighters,” Kaida added.
