Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
Sunlight poured in through the palace windows, warming the carved wood walls and casting golden streaks across the breakfast table. The smell of citrus tarts and spiced fish lingered in the air, mingling with the soft rustle of linen and the gentle clink of utensils on delicate plates.
Nali sipped her morning tea slowly, savoring the rare moment of quiet.
Seated around the long, polished table were Asahi—ever steady and alert—Drago, whose sharp eyes gleamed with amusement even over toast, and Orion, his lean form draped casually in his chair, listening intently to the conversation as he enjoyed his drink.
“How are Ashure and Tonya?” Nali asked, placing her cup down with a soft chime. “I’m surprised they didn’t come with you. Ashure seldom passes up a chance to steal something so he can claim he is returning it.”
Orion let out a low chuckle. “I believe he and Tonya are contemplating their future. They were both very attached to the kids.”
Asahi raised an eyebrow. “It helps when said kids can take care of themselves. Ashure realizes they aren’t born that way I hope.”
Drago leaned back in his chair. “I’ll say this: I was impressed. Ashure’s fleet handled Blackheart’s attack with remarkable skill. The pirates have style, and they’ve still got teeth.”
“It helped they had chaos on their side,” Orion added with a wry smirk. “Courtesy of the Dragonlings.”
Asahi’s lips twitched.
Nali raised an eyebrow. “You mean to tell me children helped win the battle?”
Drago gave a laugh, his eyes twinkling. “Children who coordinated as well as any of my dragon forces. Some of the ‘toys’ Amber and Jade brought were terrifying.”
Orion grinned. “The Bubble Blaster 5000 was impressive.”
Drago chuckled. “I was thinking of the sneeze bombs. Still have no idea what was in them, but one bomb took out half-a-dozen of Blackheart’s crew in a single pop.”
Nali let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. “I hope they didn’t leave any of those with Ashure.”
“Knowing him, he probably has a ship full of them,” Drago warned.
Asahi chuckled before he turned to her, his expression gentler. “Have you heard how things have been going at the Manticore village the past few days?”
Nali exhaled slowly, the warmth of the moment dimming slightly. She looked down at her plate, her fingers idly brushing a stray crumb to the side.
“They are much better. The villagers are working with the sirens. I realized… I haven’t visited as often as I should,” she admitted. “I hadn’t even sent a representative. I should have known about the tension, the dam, the sirens. I should’ve been there.”
Asahi’s hand covered hers, firm and warm. He didn’t speak. He didn’t have to. The gesture said everything: ‘You’re doing your best’.
She gave a small smile, grateful.
“Still,” she said, drawing in a breath and shifting gears, “now that the children are back together… what do you think happens next?”
Drago leaned forward, a smile spreading across his face. “I think they’ll go home. Mischief managed. Lessons learned.”
“And our world a little less bright,” Orion added with a somber smile.
Nali nodded, her mind drifting briefly to Phoenix. To the determined gleam in the young girl’s eyes. To the swirl of emotions behind them. But it wasn’t just Phoenix she thought of.
She also thought of the boy with the kind heart.
Jabir.
The one who saw the world through gentler eyes and didn’t yet realize how important and powerful that was.
A flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.
She glanced toward the open archway just as something small and fast zipped past it.
Then another.
And another.
Asahi muttered a curse under his breath and shot to his feet.
“What is it?” Drago asked, already rising.
Orion’s brows narrowed. “Are we under attack?”
“No, worse, I think,” Nali said, setting her napkin aside and pushing back her chair with an elegant sweep. She rose, brushing invisible lint from her trousers, her lips twitching with amusement.
“It would appear,” she said dryly, “that Amber and Jade’s ‘gifts’ have escaped.”
Just then, nearly a dozen hexer-goblins darted past the door accompanied by a floating battalion of boxes, baskets, bags—anything they could find.
The Head Mistress paused in the doorway just long enough to curtsy—briefly—and gasp, “Apologies, Empress! The Sea Monkeys let your new pets out!” before vanishing after the others.
“We’re after them!” Amber called out breathlessly.
“We’ve got this,” Jade added, darting past with a brilliant grin.
Nali stood back as a white tiger with black stripes bounced past them followed by an assortment of different colored dragons, a young dark-haired girl made of mist, and another girl riding on a magic carpet.
“I’m glad my kids aren’t here. I’d never get Roo home,” Drago muttered.
Orion turned his head—and barked out a surprised laugh. “There’s a demented symbiot riding a sea monkey like a battle steed. Dolph and Juno would love this.”
Asahi grimaced. “I told you we should’ve put them in a containment cube instead of the storeroom.”
Nali raised a regal brow. “You saw the way they looked at me! How could I cage them?”
They stepped into the hallway just in time to witness a trail of chaos snaking down the corridor—overturned carts, goblin attendants dazed and tangled in curtain ropes, and one guard frantically trying to dislodge a symbiot from the top of his helmet.
A sea monkey zoomed by, dragging three demented symbiots on a streamer of bedsheets like a parade float.
“Is that one wearing one of Ashure’s hats?” Drago asked.
Orion sighed. “From the color and the spark of the attached feather, I’d say yes.”
Then—laughter.
It began low, a chuckle from Asahi.
Then Drago.
Then all of them, including Nali, who shook her head and let the warmth flood her chest. She leaned lightly against the wall, hand over her mouth as she gave in to the hilarity.
“Only the Dragonlings,” she said through laughter, “could turn breakfast into a full-blown parade of madness.”
“And we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Drago added.
Outside, the echo of goblin war cries and monkey hoots faded into the morning air, punctuated by the occasional clatter of falling dishes.
Chaos, yes.
But it was their chaos.
And for Nali… it was a reminder that even amid worry and responsibility, there was still room for joy.
And definitely room for better locks on the storeroom.
The palace loomed in the distance, gleaming like a polished jewel set into the cliffs. Jabir’s wings caught the updraft as he banked over the harbor, soaring in a slow arc. He’d missed this place—the scent of salt air, the colors of the rooftops, the laughter drifting up from the busy marketplace…
What that? his dragon asked, curious.
That wasn’t normal laughter.
That was screaming.
The hexer-goblins shrieking.
And… was that a sea monkey with a demented symbiot on its back?
“What in the—” Jabir murmured, squinting.
The moment he crested the final ridge and the full market came into view, he pulled up mid-air, hovering in stunned silence.
It was total, glorious, ridiculous chaos.
Hexer-goblins were launching themselves from the top of the tables, some with their fingers spread to gather demented symbiots with telekinesis, some with tablecloths flaring over their heads to capture the tiny mutated creatures, and some swinging the broad side of their wooden brooms like they were scoring a home run every time a symbiot was pinged into a container.
Merchants were shaking their fists in the air as their products were carelessly spilled on the ground.
Two sea monkeys with handkerchief capes were chasing a runaway pastry cart down the hill, shrieking like battle squirrels.
One symbiot rode proudly on the back of a giant goose, clutching a toothpick like a jousting lance.
And behind it all?
A stampede of exasperated heroes.
Drago was in the lead, trying to wrestle a sticky net off his head.
Nali trailed behind, dodging overturned carts and scattered debris as she yelled something unladylike and surprisingly creative at several sea monkeys who were laughing and pointing at her.
Asahi sprinted beside her, completely covered in rainbow-colored slime.
Orion jogged like he was out for a casual stroll, expertly dodging banana peels and flying fruit while he wended water in various useful ways.
Behind them came the Dragonlings—every one of them.
Phoenix skidded around a corner, her wings flaring with frustration as she shouted, “That one stole the basket of self-weaving yarn. Be careful!”
Amber and Jade were goggling in dismay as one of their Bubble Blaster 5000s shot a deluge of bubbles across half the road.
“Did you see that trajectory? You missed them by a mile!” Jade shouted.
“I told you the angle was off by two degrees!” Amber called back.
“And I told you that we had to calibrate for the—"
Spring emerged from the crowd, tangled in a fish net, and promptly tripped over a rogue basket of apples.
Alice ran past, yelling, “I’m trying to make a containment field, but THEY WON’T STOP MOVING!”
Jabir flinched when he noticed Roam chasing a sea monkey with a frying pan stuck to its tail, growling with fury, while Zohar rode on the back of a runaway fruit cart like it was a war chariot, swinging a net wildly overhead.
They need help, his dragon huffed in a slow breath. We gone five minutes and they make mess.
Land there, he instructed.
His dragon dropped like a stone, landing hard on the docks with a solid thud. He twisted when a fish vendor screamed out a warning and ducked as a symbiot catapulted over his head, trailing a streamer of sausage links like a victory banner.
Jabir shifted, his gaze scanning for the item he’d seen from above. He rushed over to the musician hiding behind a stack of crates.
“Excuse me, can I borrow your flute for a few minutes?” he asked, his gaze darting from the cyclops to the rampaging creatures destroying the dock area.