Grim
“I think I know where we can get the energy,” Oro said from his throne. “But where do we get something living from the otherworld—from Skyshade?” The Sunling said the word like he was trying it out.
How it had nearly killed them all.
She had succeeded in capturing part of the tempest—but she had dropped the ring, in the fall. He told Oro about it now.
“How are we going to find it?” Oro asked.
“With help,” Grim said.
Wraith hadn’t opened his wings since Isla had left. The dragon knew she was gone and was mourning her loss just as much as Grim was. He had been refusing to fly, and so Grim had portaled him back to the stables, along with Isla’s panther.
When Grim portaled himself and Oro there, Lynx leapt and would have bitten Grim’s arm clean off if he hadn’t made himself matterless at the last minute. The cat bared its teeth at him, as if still blaming him for Isla’s disappearance.
He blamed himself too.
When Lynx saw Oro, though, the treacherous creature had the nerve to bend its head. Grim would have been more irritated if he wasn’t so consumed with worry for his wife.
While Oro spoke to Lynx in serious, soft tones, Grim turned to his dragon. It didn’t seem too long ago that he had been a tiny bundle of black scales with a penchant for shredding his pillow.
After Isla left them, after the Centennial, Wraith had cried for hours straight. They both loved Isla. They both missed her, and that shared grief created a bond between them. And that connection . . . it made the dragon grow exponentially.
Even though the creature was larger than a wing of his castle, in his eyes, he saw that same pain as when he was a baby.
“We’re working on it,” he said, pressing his hand to Wraith’s snout. The dragon bowed into his touch. “We need your help, though. We need . . . you to fly.”
Wraith tilted his head at Grim, as if questioning his request. “We need you to help us get her back.”
With that, Wraith’s wings began to slowly unfurl. They all followed him out of the stables—where his wings spread wide, nearly crashing into the surrounding buildings.
“There’s my Wraith,” Grim said, filled with pride. They were both willing to do whatever it took to reunite with Isla.
Grim spoke to both the dragon and Isla’s panther now. “We’re looking for a ring that Isla lost. It would have her scent on it.” Grim would search his lands from the skies, on Wraith. His dragon had excellent eyesight. Oro got on the panther’s back. Lynx had a superior sense of smell.
Both creatures dipped their heads in understanding.
Then they were off.