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He almost skipped across the tent and took Vasily’s extended hand. With their fingers entwined, he rose up on the tips of his toes to search for Luka.
Poop.
His other dragon was standing on the other side of the tent, looking pale and lonely even though he was completely surrounded by dragons. Why was that expression on his face? None of this made sense to Amaru, but he wanted to get to the bottom of it—whatever the problem was—and fix it promptly. He wanted to walk across the table to get to Luka’s side, but that was probably a bad thing in front of two dragon kings.
Fine. Later.
“Amaru, I would like to reintroduce you to King Chalo of the Earth Dragons,” King Rodrigo announced, motioning toward the large, boulder-shaped man standing beside him. He was at least head and shoulders above everyone else, his nose far too large for his narrow face. Were all earth dragons like this? They were like walking mountains. “I know you talked on a call earlier, but I also know you’re sleep deprived. He and several members of his clan have come to help get your clan safely out of the cave.”
“Okay! Thanks so much for the help!” Amaru lifted his hand and stuck up one finger.
Every dragon and mage in the tent gasped or choked. Not exactly the response he was expecting.
Vasily tore his hand free and lunged for Amaru’s raised hand, covering it with both of his. “Wrong finger! Wrong finger!” Very gently, Vasily lowered his middle finger to make a fist with the rest of his digits and lifted his thumb. “Like this. That works as the okay sign.” When Vasily turned to stare at him, his cheeks were bright red, and several of the other dragons were laughing behind their hands.
“Sorry about that.” Amaru grinned at King Chalo, holding up his fist with his extended thumb. “Everything is good now.”
Rodrigo’s face was still in his hand. “Amaru, who taught you that other hand gesture?”
“I think Ravi did.”
“Oops!” the short wind dragon said. He backed toward the door with a wide grin. “You know, I think I hear my husband calling me.” The dragon was out the door before he even finished speaking.
Chalo chuckled, a deep sound like rocks tumbling down the side of a mountain. “Rodrigo says you’ve been asleep for five hundred years. Lots to catch up on.”
“I know! I can’t wait!”
Dimitri cleared his throat and spread out a large sketch of the cave with markings for where the Sousa Clan and the dragons were still slumbering. “From this rough drawing, we can see the underwater entrance to the cave as well as what had been the other entrance via land on the opposite side.”
“When we arrived, we entered through the cave on land and walked down.” Amaru stepped up to the table and frowned at the paper as he searched his memory of that day. It was foggy now after so many years, clogged with the sounds of crying, frightened children. The elders had moved slower down the steep rocky path. Dragons had helped where they could, but for the most part they were keeping watch, protecting their backs.
The one thing that seemed to stick was the clawing darkness. Even with the help of light spells, the darkness couldn’t be pushed back far enough for his liking.
Or maybe it had been a sense of foreboding that this plan was going to fail so miserably. Yes, they were going to wake up. He was living proof of that. But had they lied to themselves even as they’d marched deep into the earth that this would all be done so easily? That the dragons and mages could defeat the Woodsfather with just a snap of their fingers if they didn’t have to worry about protecting the village?
Lies. So many lies…
“Amaru?” Vasily’s gentle voice pierced the fog and his firm hand squeezed his shoulder, pulling him free.
“Huh?” He jerked his head up and found everyone watching him with a mixture of concern and confusion. “Sorry. Lost in thought.” He flashed them all a smile, but something about the weight in Luka’s gaze from across the room made him think the dragon didn’t believe him. “The path we took in was narrow. Not bad for humans, but there was no way a full-grown dragon in wing form could get through. It seemed stable at the time.” He paused and shrugged. “But then, I guess a lot can happen in five hundred years. Something shifted and it caved in.”
“Do you know where the entrance to this cave is?” Dimitri asked.
Amaru shook his head. “Not a clue. The dragons flew us over several days. Most of the time, we were flying at night.”
“That won’t be a problem,” King Chalo said. “Once we get down into the cave and to where the rocks have fallen, we’ll be able to feel the path.”
