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Aepein blinked a few times before she stood up, stretching her legs out in front of herself and expanding her wings quickly.
Cyrus shrunk back at the sheer size of her, but seeing those wings in all their glory again made my heart soar.
~~~
We spent the next few hours getting both Hollis and Aepein ready for their flight home. Aepein would not even entertain Cyrus getting close enough to her to touch her again, snapping her teeth at him defensively and making him jump far enough back that he tripped over his own feet and landed on an unmade cot.
Hollis had enjoyed that entirely too much, her laugh pealing through the bunker. I had turned my head away, giggling into my hand as I helped Tarian fill a satchel bag with enough food to keep Hollis from being hungry on the flight. It was not long, eight hours at Aepein’s full speed, but the thought of his sister being without anything to snack on was enough to make Tarian panic.
He had decided to stay here. His reason being that Maeteo would be here unprotected and unsupported should anything go wrong. Hollis had nodded, but Cyrus’s brows had furrowed, and he had opened his mouth to start arguing before I had cut him off with a hand on his arm and a small shake of my head.
Now, as we stood at the entrance of the bunker tunnels, helping Hollis climb up the drop, my heart was beating in my chest. She was taking the egg home, finally. The joy of the occasion wore off quickly, though, as I thought about the implications of there being newborn dragons in the world.
A feeling of warmth started to build in the middle of my chest, and I rubbed my hand against it absentmindedly. It was not unlike when I had taken a drink of too hot tea.
Hollis slipped up onto the ledge above us, and as she turned around to wave goodbye to us, I made a snap decision.
“Help me up,” I said to Tarian, who blinked uncertainly, as though I had just asked him a question in another language. “Tarian, help me up!”
Tarian made a cradle with his hands, letting me slip my foot onto it and lifting me up far enough that, with a stretch, Hollis could reach down and grab my hand. Cyrus cursed, reaching up beside Tarian and wrapping his hand around my calf to steady me.
Hollis’s fingers caught my wrist, and she hoisted me up the last few feet onto the ledge beside her. Her eyes were wide as she stood us both up, her hand still gripping tightly to the skin of my arm.
“What are you doing?” She asked, searching my face with a look of complete incredulousness on her features.
“I need you to listen to me,” I kept my voice quiet, pulling her away from the lip of the tunnel and out of earshot of the men below.
“Are you okay?” Her face schooled into a mask of cool, controlled calm, and I knew, while she had not fully forgiven me, she was willing to fight for me still.
“I’m fine, but this is important. Do not bring Aepein back here when the eggs hatch. Please, I know this sounds ridiculous, but they will not be safe here.”
Hollis’s eyes flared, and her teeth clamped shut with an audible snap, but she nodded her head.
“I cannot tell you much more, but please, don’t let her come back. I will let you know when, if, it is safe again, but I need you to promise me, you won’t leave Earth until then.”
I searched Hollis’s face with, what I’m sure, was a look of pleading. She nodded her head again, her eyes serious as she took in the panic on my face.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” She said quietly, squeezing my hand again. I pulled her close, wrapping my arms around her shoulders tightly.
Thankfully, she hugged me back, patting my back reassuringly as she did so. Once I let her go, I turned on the spot, coming face to face with Aepein, who was waiting for her turn to enter the small tunnel, and looking less than pleased about it.
I stepped forward, reaching out and scratching the scales of her snout. The slight golden sheen on my fingers caught my eye, but it disappeared as soon as I noticed it, and I frowned, turning my hand this way and that to see if it would reappear. Aepein’s eyes closed, and she huffed out a warm breath, making me laugh as it blew both mine and Hollis’s hair around.
“You be good for Hollis,” I warned her, and Hollis laughed behind me.
“She never has been before,” She smirked, and Aepein narrowed her eyes at her over my shoulder. “Oh, enough, you know you’re a brat.”
I laughed loudly, patting Aepein again and quickly making my way back over the lip of the tunnel, dropping the ten or so feet to the ground and landing back on the dirty floor of the bunker.
Standing back beside Cyrus and Tarian, the three of us watched as Aepein trundled into the small tunnel, grumbling coming from her chest at the narrow space. Tarian had told me it had taken them days to make their way through the tunnels the first time, so I hoped that it would be faster for them this time now that they knew where they were going.
We watched as the two disappeared into the tunnel, only a lit torch in Hollis’s hand lighting the way for them, and the heavy uncertainty settled itself back into the center of my chest. Cyrus had his hand on the bottom of my back, the heat somewhat reassuring, but the warning that I had given Hollis still stood true.
It was not safe to bring the dragons back here until I knew what his intentions were.
I had a feeling they were not as wonderful as he had made them out to be.
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