Page 51 of Sapphire Seas

I recalled the way Kes ice had filled the room when he’d rushed to Caspian’s aid.

Donovan had already fixed the doorway and the walls along the stairway that Kes had dented in his haste to reach our mate. With the bond between him and his dragon stronger now it was his own magic fueling our dragonets’ as they developed.

Snow and rain.

The twins had just displayed that they’d be able to wield both.

If this was what they could do while they were still in egg, they’d be freezing the stairs just to slide down them once they discovered how much fun it could be. Note to self, ask Donovan if he had any tips to keep wood from warping.

Only the occasional flake fell now, so I closed my eyes but kept my hand splayed across his belly, right over the egg as our dragonets fell back to sleep.

Bro! Bro! We’re all waiting on you and man is Ionus grumpy this morning. He said get dressed and get over here, no need to shift this morning.

Tell him to get laid.

Isn’t that supposed to be my line? Odem thought back. Get your ass to the pitch!

Fine, fine. Tell Ionus I’m coming. I’m shocked he isn’t the one bellowing at me.

He thought it would be more fun if I did it. You really should thank me. I could have been way more obnoxious about it when you didn’t wake up the first time I called out to you.

No shit.

Just get here. We get it. Leaving our mates in the morning sucks. Now you know what we’ve all been grumbling about.

Save it. I’m on my way.

When I landed beside them a full five minutes later, after taking time to kiss both of my mates and their bellies, as well as tuck the blankets back around them, Ionus just narrowed his eyes, huffed, and started pacing as he addressed us.

“We’re not engaging in training battles this morning,” he announced.

“Then why did you drag us out of bed?” Caro groaned. “It was so comfy and Emerson was telling stories in his sleep. I could have just laid there and listened to him all morning.”

“Because I wanted us to strategize and come up with ways that we could tailor some of our own offense to mimic that of the shadow dragons,” Ionus announced.

That grabbed my attention. Until now, we’d faced our opponents head on, only beginning to learn of ways that we could comingle our abilities when we’d needed to rescue Emerson from his non-kidnapping-kidnapping. I swear, that dragon was way too happy for one held in such a precarious predicament so far beneath the sea. Now he visited as often as we could arrange it, so he could learn more from our sea dragon brethren and visit his childhood friend.

Shit, better pay attention. Ionus kept eyeing me like he knew my mind was wandering, but it really was focused on what he was trying to explain to us.

“Had they been fully grown, the dragon they formed with their shadow would have been bigger than any one or even two of us,” Ionus announced. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what a marvelous technique it was.”

“That was pretty cool,” Odem said. “Especially when Noir told you to…”

He cut Odem off with a look and our brother began whistling as he looked everywhere but at Ionus.

“If we could be serious for once,” Ionus groaned. “We are at a distinct disadvantage and we shouldn’t be. Despite our training, we’ve lived here in peace for so long that we are not as battle tested as the dragons we will have to reckon with if we are going to put a stop to this war. We need to get our asses in gear and figure out how the hell we can make our abilities work in a similar fashion. Having the element of surprise could help shorten the battles and save every precious life we have on our side.”

“What were you thinking?” Caro asked.

“That a mudslide would be a beautiful diversion and make flying difficult for some of our adversaries, especially if we were able to disorient them by changing the landscape.”

“That would work great once we had them grounded, but more often than not, we’re stuck in the air with them,” Caro pointed out.

“And?” Ionus replied as he paced in front of us. “It’s time we start thinking outside of the box. You blast them with earth and Mattias….”

“Right there with you, brother,” I said. “I’ll soak them and the mud will make flying difficult.”

“Exactly,” Ionus said, expression morphing from irritated to pleased.