Chapter 2
Dropping to the ground, Skye took a second to gather herself before thanking Keres. From the sound of all the cussing coming from the men grasped in the dragon’s claws, her ride had been much more comfortable. It had definitely been gorgeous and exciting as they swooped through the air toward the city.
Her first aerial view of the city gave her a new perspective on its history. The old city center contrasted sharply to the new, modern buildings encircling it. Without traffic, she had to look close to detect the people.
Keres had landed on the outskirts of a large gathering. Skye scanned the area, trying to orient herself so she could walk home. She’d visited her folks a few months ago, but now everything seemed different without the bustle of delivery vans and cars.
Almost immediately, a large blue dragon landed. The vibration of his heavy form hitting the turf resonated under her feet.
Maybe?
Skye ignored Keres as the blue dragon approached and stretched his snout toward her. Tingles danced across her skin, prickling her. It was so different from the sense of wrongness she’d gotten from being close to Keres. When he shook his head and rocketed back into the air, she felt like he’d taken a part of her. Before she could mourn his loss, the process repeated with a bronze dragon, but this time, the new arrival shifted.
She suspected he communicated mentally with Keres as the bronze dragon focused on her. Skye wanted to pull Blunze from her bag so he could see the dragons as well. She’d have to draw him a picture.
“What is your name, Little one?” the bronze dragon asked Skye directly, startling her. “I am Ardon.”
“Skye,” she whispered, as she turned to face him. A crowd gathered in front of her. She ignored them, focusing on the dragon, who stared at her.
“Skye? Is that you? Please, let me through. That’s my daughter,” a woman called from the assembly as she pushed her way from behind the onlookers. Immediately, an aisle formed for her.
Skye watched the bronze dragon ease back as her worried mother ran forward to hug her. She bit her lip to keep from shouting a protest.
“I’m so glad to see you. A dragon visited the art college to collect you, but you’d already left,” her mother told her in a flurry of words.
“Hi, Mom.” Skye loved her family. Her mother was the embodiment of home.
“Let’s get you home. You need a bath and something to eat. And your hair. What happened?”
“There are dragons here, Mom. I need paper. I want to sketch them.” She’d learned long ago that her mother required lots of words. She didn’t waste any on addressing her hair.
“You can draw dragons later, Skye.”
“No, Mom. It’s important to capture them now,” Skye stressed. This was so critical that she spoke. “It’s important.”
“You don’t even have paper, Skye. Don’t be silly. Come to the house with me.”
A few seconds later, a woman with beautifully tanned skin walked forward with a spiral-bound book in her hands. “Hi. I’m Lalani. I couldn’t help overhearing. Would this work for you?” She held it out to Skye before adding, “I have pencils too.”
“Thank you.” Immediately, Skye folded her legs under her, sitting on the grass to open the pad. She studied Ardon who’d shifted back into dragon form. He stood as still as a statue as Skye put the tip of her pencil on the blank page.
Lost in capturing the raw power of the massive beast, Skye complimented the dragon. So handsome.
Thank you, Little one. When she looked up at him, Ardon sent a mental question. Can you hear me?
Of course. Can’t everyone?
No, Little one. Only very special humans can understand a dragon’s thoughts.
That’s sad. Could you turn your head to the right?
Laughter filled her mind at the request. Skye was confused. What had she said that was funny?
Even fewer humans would think of ordering a dragon around.
It wasn’t really an order. Just a request. I should have said please. My mother always tells me I have no manners.
Is she right?
Probably. Being polite adds extra words, and I don’t like to talk.
Really? We’re talking now.
No. We’re thinking at each other. That’s totally different.
Of course it is, Little one. Your mother is getting restless.
I know. Skye sighed.
Would you like to meet at the statue at the square tomorrow?
You’ll let me draw you?
If you’d like, Little one. I’ll be here when the sun is high.
That’s perfect. There won’t be too many shadows.
Skye closed the sketchbook and stood, much to her mother’s relief. Even when close to a dragon, her mother’s no-nonsense approach to life held true. Neither woman truly understood the other.
Skye walked forward to stand close to her dragon model. Thank you. Amusement filled her mind, and Skye suspected the dragon was pleased with her effort to use good manners.
Very polite, Little one. I will see you tomorrow. And you’re welcome.
Skye turned back to find several people clustered behind where she had been sketching. Spotting the woman who had given her the paper and pencil, she walked forward and reopened the pad to take out her drawing.
“No, please keep it,” Lalani urged. “I share your fascination with dragons. Fill it with your art.”
“Thank you,” Skye forced herself to say. Her mother hooked her arm around Skye’s, linking their elbows together, just as she’d done when Skye was a child who didn’t follow the directions.
“That was a dragon’s mate. You are very lucky she gave you a gift,” her mother whispered as she guided her back to Skye’s childhood home. “Now, how about a bath and something to eat? That school must not have fed you.”
Skye tuned out her mother’s voice. She loved her mother, but sometimes she was overwhelming. A gust of air made her check over her shoulder. The bronze dragon had launched himself into the air. She tripped over the cobblestones in the street as she focused on the magnificent sight of the creature in flight.
“Careful, Skye. You’re always so distracted….”
“I hoped you’d run into this before,” Ardon said to Oldrik. He’d flown straight to the elder dragon’s mountain and requested an audience.
With more life experience than most of the horde, Oldrik was a good resource for information. He’d responded quickly to Ardon’s request to talk. That alone told Ardon that Oldrik was intrigued. The two stood on neutral ground in the valley between them.
“I thought I’d found my mate, but something was missing. She’s unlike anyone I’ve met before.” Ardon studied the shifter’s facial expression, hoping for clues.
“I agree. I did not feel fear in her mind as I approached,” Oldrik said.
“My impression was that dragons are not a surprise to her. Could she be a rare human who sensed us while all others had gone dragon-blind?” Ardon asked.
Dragon-blind was the term their horde had adopted to describe how society had failed to notice them in the last three hundred-ish years. The dragons had never stopped flying or hunting from their herds. They’d continued to find mates and carry them back to their lairs. Especially in recent years before the tech failure had changed everything, people had paid more attention to their phones and less to the skies.
“There have always been a few who were aware of us. Perhaps that is the reason she attracted us,” Oldrik suggested.
“You picked up on something as well?” Ardon pounced on his statement.
“Yes. Perhaps she is a rare human, the likes of whom we’ve never met,” Oldrik suggested. “You are meeting her tomorrow?”
“Yes. At noon. Want to join me? She seems to have an affinity for sketching dragons,” Ardon told him.
“You want to see if you feel the same thing when there’s competition,” Oldrik guessed.
“Keres was there today. He transported them. The black dragon would never have let me get close if he’d detected any type of attraction to him,” Ardon said.
“Only if you were dead. Keres is hanging on by a thread.”
“No one’s talking about it, but I think the entire horde knows he’s in danger if his mate doesn’t show up soon,” Ardon said.
Oldrik nodded and changed the subject. “So tomorrow at noon. We chat with the young woman together?”
“Be ready to step back if the mate bond clicks into place,” Ardon warned.
“I may be the senior dragon, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Be sure to take your own advice if our bond emerges.”
The blue dragon put more force behind that statement than Ardon liked. Had he made a mistake in discussing this with Oldrik? Tomorrow would answer that question.