Page 117 of Dance of Stars and Ashes

“I don’t know,” Zarya whispered, fear for her friend swelling in her chest.

“I can take you,” Rabin said, his shoulders tight. “I can get there faster if I shift. I should be able to carry two more without it slowing me down too much.”

Row nodded. “Then Zarya, you go with Rabin. Koura and Kindle, you go, too. Apsara can fly as well, and I can take Suvanna. It will be a drain on my strength, but I’ll do the best I can.”

“Just get me to the shores of the Dakhani Sea,” Suvanna said. “I can swim to Daragaab, and you’ll travel faster alone.”

Everyone nodded, preparing to leave. Rabin gave Zarya a look that conveyed so many things he couldn’t say. She knew he hated changing with an audience, and she wondered if there was some way she could help him work through this thing that kept him from embracing all of himself. Even the most confident warrior needed someone in his corner.

With grim determination, Rabin stepped away as the air shimmered around him before he dissolved into a puff of black. Before their eyes, he transformed, and a towering, iridescent black dragon stood in the clearing, his scales radiant in the sunlight.

She stared up in awe. This was the first time she’d been able to truly appreciate the magnificence of his dragon form. He was rippling strength and sinuous elegance as his massive black head turned towards her. She saw him in the deep wells of his eyes, and a thousand questions ran through her head. She approached and reached out to touch him—his scales were slick and cool—like oiled steel.

He was larger than life. Larger than anything.

Lowering his head, Rabin gestured to his back. Zarya, Koura, and Kindle clambered on, using his leg for leverage.

Zarya took the front seat, gripping the scales that covered his neck, hoping she wouldn’t slide off while noting the mesmerizing shift of color from green to purple to blue against the black.

As his wings picked up, the air around them bent and buckled before he let out a roar to shake the sky.

Then, he took a few running steps and launched himself into the air.

THIRTY-THREE

Apparently, Zarya was afraid of heights. Terrified, in fact. As Rabin soared across the sky, wings flapping steadily, her stomach bottomed out, tinging the edges of her vision with green. Every beat crashed with the air in a resounding thump, like sails catching the wind. She clung to his neck, trying not to look down, willing this to be over as quickly as possible.

The winds ripped through her, chilling her skin as she did her best not to scream. She chanced a glance over her shoulder at Kindle and Koura. The former looked as uncertain as she felt, and the latter maintained his usual calm disposition true to form.

Zarya clung tighter to Rabin, her body flattened against him, her hands growing numb the longer they flew.

He wouldn’t let me fall.

She repeated the mantra to herself over and over. Of that, she was sure. But the thought still did little to quell the spinning pit in her stomach.

As night fell, they approached the northern coast of Ranpur Island. Rabin descended, landing on the earth with a gentle thump. A journey that had taken them days over land was crossed in mere hours on his back. Zarya, Koura, and Kindle slid off, shaking the icy tingling from their feet and hands.

Rabin remained in his dragon form as his giant head flopped to the ground and his eyes closed, his labored breaths kicking up clouds of dust.

As Rabin rested and the others rubbed feeling back into their limbs, Apsara appeared from the sky, followed by Row with Suvanna in tow, the pair materializing out of thin air.

The unrelenting day of travel had left everyone spent.

“We’ll rest for a few hours,” Row said. “Leave at the first signs of light.”

Zarya nodded and peered in the direction of Dharati, wishing they didn’t have to stop. But they would be no use to anyone if they arrived dead on their feet. No one spoke much as they passed out food and water before they prepared to spend another night sleeping under the stars.

The sound of rustling drew Zarya’s attention to where Rabin was dragging his massive body deeper into the trees. He dropped to the ground before his eyelids slid into sleep. Once Zarya had eaten, she wiped her hands and approached on gentle steps, trying not to disturb his rest.

She listened to the deep tumble of his breaths and then ran a hand down his neck. His scales were warmer now, like they’d been toasted under the sun. She kneeled on the ground and curled into the spot where his neck met his body, resting her cheek against his side. He shifted, and a magnificent wing stirred before it descended over her, enveloping her in the cocoon of his heat.

With a sigh, she fell asleep against him.

When her eyes peeled open to the sound of Apsara’s voice, it felt like it had been only minutes since she’d closed them. Rabin had returned to his rakshasa form, and he cradled her from behind, his arms wrapped around her and their legs tangled together.

“Morning, Spitfire,” Rabin mumbled into the back of her neck, his face buried in her hair. She shivered at the warmth of his breath down her back.

Zarya rolled over to face him, cupping his cheek with her hand, savoring the prickle of his stubble against her palm.