Page 74 of Maleen

Killian’s thoughts push through urgently, “Do not enter any caves until all of us are there. Ravina, you and Vasari will stay in the middle of us.”

Vasari rolls her eyes but doesn’t argue.

“I will stay by your side,” I tell him, knowing he is anxious about my safety.

His relief is almost instantaneous. “Thank you, Little Warrior.”

Vasari begins to slow before coming to a landing outside a massive cave entrance. The snow crunches beneath her feet and the ground shakes as the others land around us.

The realm is silent, nothing but the snow-chilled wind rattling the branches of the few nearby trees. Vasari takes a step forward and lets out a bone-shaking roar that has me crunched over and covering my ears.

Her call echoes over the mountaintops, then everything quiets.

Then a dragon answers back, the sound coming from the cave entrance.

“Vasari…” I start.

“All is well, Lost One. We found my home.”

I peer up at her massive frame as she stares steadily into the cave. “Your home? I thought your home was at Phixmery?”

“Home is wherever the Queen is. I sense her; my mother is here.” Awe laces her tone.

A massive white dragon, even larger than Evisdor, prowls regally out of the cave entrance, his scales nearly glistening against the snow and sunlight.

Vasari lets out a low, bone-rattling growl. The white beast’s eyes narrow slightly before he dips his long neck toward the ground and prowls back into the cave.

“What was that about?” I ask her.

She snorts with amusement. “He was testing me. Trying to see if our minds were warped. I would climb back on and keep your deformed chicken close; we wouldn’t want him to become a snack.”

Nero puffs up in annoyance. “Watch it, Lizard. Maybe I should add a dragon’s eyeball to my collection. It would be the jewel of my prized possessions."

My lips purse as I hold back my laughter and climb back into my saddle, my mates, Roz and Ember doing the same. Nero lands in my lap, still bickering with Vasari as we slowly enter the cave where the air is thick with the musky scent of earth and cool, damp stone.

It takes a moment, but soon my eyes adjust to the darkness. Talons click and scrape across the stone floor, and with every breath Vasari and I become one, leaning into each other for emotional strength for what’s to come.

I have so many questions, and she must, too. All we can hope is that we can get some answers, especially about why the dragons have fled north, and why Vasari’s mother never showed herself or tried to save my mother—her rider.

The tunnel opens up into an impossibly large space, filled with dragons much like the Keep at Phixmery—but here, there are more white dragons than I’ve ever seen before.

Vasari’s gaze is locked on the large stone dais in the center of the space. An enormous purple dragon lies curled up with its head snaked toward us, slowly blinking.

“Queen mother…” Vasari whispers, treading her way through the many dragons that stand between us.

“Do not get off Vasari,” Killian grumbles into my mind. “Voissor says the dragons are tense, but as long as we stay with our beasts, we should be fine.”

My heart warms at his protectiveness, and even though I have no plans to get off her back, I let him know I agree.

When we reach the dais, Vasari bows her neck so low it’s nearly scraping the ground. The purple dragon who must be my mother’s bonded beast raises her head, but it seems to sap her of energy.

Vasari rumbles beneath me, and then suddenly I can hear them both. “I’m letting my rider in on the conversation; she deserves her answers, too.”

My mouth drops open in a very unqueenly manner. “How is this possible? I thought I could only communicate with the ones I’ve bonded?”

“I’ve opened my mind so you can hear what she’s saying. Think of me as a bridge,” she states.

“My hatchlings,” my mother’s dragon sighs. “I see my rider’s plan didn’t go exactly as she envisioned it. You both were always so wild, never doing things as they are meant to be done, which I suppose is why the Fates have chosen you both for this…” She eyes me with such an intensity that I struggle not to shrink in her presence.