Epilogue
- Morgan -
The Red Rock is as it always was - high above the jungle, with fresh air and a fantastic view. But now, it’s not a view of the places I can’t go. It’s just the jungle, and I can go anywhere I want anytime.
I stand close to the edge, one hand shielding my eyes from the sun. “I can’t see them yet.”
“Should be easy enough to spot,” Cora says, standing beside me. “Those Plood tend to be visible against the dark jungle.”
I turn and walk over to the rickety chair the tribesman made for me. “They’re not expected yet. Clyde will take care of the girls. If any dinosaur comes along, those Plood will just paralyze it and the girls can walk right past.”
“I never knew they had those powers,” Riley says. “I would have been a little more careful with Myron if I’d known that he would basically petrify me with one glance.”
“There’s a lot we don’t know about the Plood,” I say as I grab my mug of frit. I’m still in my wedding dress, because I’ll never get the chance to wear it again. “And there’s still thousands of them all over the place.”
“I’m almost feeling bad about all the mushrooms I kicked over,” Theodora says. “We knew they were the proto-Plood and they might develop into real, live Plood.”
“We had no reason to love the Plood,” Cora reminds her. “For all we knew, they could have turned into some really mean little pests. And there’s still no guarantee they won’t.”
“We may have to stop them from finding masters to obey,” I ponder out loud. “With those powers of paralysis, they could be a real threat in the wrong hands. But I’ll think about that tomorrow.”
“Today is not the day for overthinking,” Bryar agrees. “We’re actually doing really well, considering where we came from and how we spent our first years here. Things will work out, I think.”
“Sure,” Piper says, her red hair glowing in the afternoon sun. “Now we even know a place where there’s gold. I mean, in case there’s another dragon.”
“Two places,” I remind them. “That tribe’s cave and the crater where you can just pick up a rock and it’ll be basically sixty percent gold. Sage and Rosa are the richest girls on Xren.”
“It’s kind of worthless,” Astrid says, lounging on a wooden bench that’s more stable than my chair. “Gold can’t take an edge and is useless as a hammer. I just hope nobody will start to use it as a currency.”
“Bringing Earth’s money problems here wouldn’t be a great idea,” I ponder. “Let’s not start a gold rush. But it’s worth thinking about bringing the gold here anyway. Piece by piece. Because maybe at one point in the future, gold will become important.”
“I hope not,” Cora says. “But I do hope that those two girls decide to join us here after all. That crater is still surrounded by tribes, and now they have the tools to knock down those rock obstacles in a couple of hours.
“I’ll go and check,” I promise. “Vyrathion still flies me wherever I want, so that’ll be our next stop. I wonder how long that will last.”
“So,” Astrid says, “Praxigor will do what I ask him to, if I’m serious about it. I mean, he went straight to find you, Morgan. And then he flew straight back here again. It’s more that I don’t want to nag him and make him feel like an airline.”
I take a sip of frit. “I’ll nag Vyrathion a bit still.
He doesn’t seem to mind yet. So three new girls in the tribe soon.
How are we going to handle that?” I’m careful not to look at Bryar.
Her husband is the chief, and if anyone’s going to stop his Caveman Bachelorette program for Abigail, Quinn and Beth, it’s probably going to be her.
“We’ll have to come up with something,” Bryar says. “I’ve been playing with the idea of not even letting anyone know they’re here. But that will be really hard. This is like a small town, and rumors travel fast.”
“That’s not viable,” Piper says. “Everyone will know right away. We just won’t put them under any pressure. We won’t let anyone parade viable bachelors in front of them.”
“Or,” I suggest carefully, “we can actually let them check if that works as well as we hope.” I nod to the flying saucer, still standing here on the plateau.
“At some point, we should,” Cora says. “Myron is still inside. And if the new girls want to take their chances, I think we should let them. I mean, I’m not going. But knowing we could leave this planet and go to Earth, if we really had to… it could be interesting.”
“I don’t think I’d ever go,” Theodora says. “Things would have to get seriously dire here if I’d want to bring Kenz’ox anywhere near Earth. Anyway, the Foundlings have a new game…”
I let them chitchat for a while, just relaxing and enjoying my wedding day.
Vyrathion took off to check on the three girls and the Plood and see that they’re safe.
I even got him to bring a sack of food and drink.
But when I suggested he carry them here on his back, he sent me a look so sharp I felt the blood draining from my face. He still has the capacity to scare me.
And I’m fine with him only even wanting to carry me on his back. It should be only the wife’s privilege.
Theodora stands up and stares into the distance. “Is that a dactyl?”
I look, and then the heart jumps in my chest. No dactyl has that golden glimmer in the sun. “I think it’s someone else.” I get out of the chair, and the girls do the same. They pull back a little.
I totally understand - I feel the same way about Praxigor, and I prefer to stay a good distance from him in his full dragon form. He sends out a sense of danger so strong it overrides any rational thought.
But from Vyrathion I only feel warmth and love, so overwhelming it nearly makes my knees wobble.
He comes in on wide wings, black and gold, magnificent and beautiful and perfect.
He lands on four massive legs.
They seem to be fine, he says into my mind. I think they’ll be here tomorrow. No dangers around them. Shall we go, wife?
I go over and embrace him. “Yes, husband. Let’s go.” I turn to the girls, who’re peeking out from inside Bryar’s cave. “We’re going on our honeymoon. Thanks for the wonderful wedding!”
They wave and smile, just wanting the dragon gone.
I grin and swing one leg over his neck until I’m sitting on his back.
He beats his wings and we take off, immediately soaring over the edge of the plateau and high above the jungle.
Anywhere in particular we’re going?
“I was thinking the same place as before. The peninsula with the soft ground. And the ocean all around it, except not quite.”
That was a nice place, he agrees. We shall see if it’s still there.
I lean forwards, getting out of the strong wind from our speed. “You think it might not be?”
No. It was just a figure of speech. The warmth of his amusement brushes against my thoughts.
You married a dragon, wife. That carries certain risks.
“I was assured the risks mostly involved arrogance.”
What an outrageous thing to say. I can’t imagine who’d utter such words.
“It was you,” I remind him. “When you proposed.”
There’s great wisdom in it. Truly words to take note of.
Beneath us the jungle stretches toward every horizon, endless green broken only by rivers that glitter in the afternoon sun. The wind tears at my hair and clothes, but I barely notice. Flying with Vyrathion has already become my favorite thing in the world.
Which is fortunate, he observes. I intend to do quite a lot of it.
“Ah. I thought maybe wading through mud was becoming a secret pleasure of yours.”
Morgan, I am a dragon. If I ever say I enjoy the mud, I expect you to grab a sword stab me until I recover from my severe illness.
“I'll do my duty.”
That is what wives are for.
I laugh and wrap my arms more tightly around his neck. Below us, a herd of massive grazing dinosaurs stampedes away from our shadow.
“Speaking of duties, I should probably warn you.” The caution in my voice makes him immediately suspicious.
Warn me about what?
“I snore sometimes.”
Barely, but I agree that’s technically true. Oh, I get it. You’re stating the obvious again. Very well, my turn. I sometimes breathe fire.
I frown. “But not… accidentally? Right?”
No. Well, not yet. Perhaps one day.
I bend close to his back. “It’s not something you should really try for. Who knows what or who you might incinerate with a sudden sneeze.”
None of those things are obvious. I’m in the lead. My turn. You’re remarkably light.
“Skinny, you mean? It’s actually really wise for a husband to always say that to his wife. Well done, my love– oh, you haven’t been married before, have you?”
His laughter resonates through me and makes me grin. I made a dragon laugh!
I really haven’t. Oh, you are the most delightful creature ever. I deem that you have won the game by leaning into the surreal and asking silly questions.
“You should be used to silly questions by now,” I tell him. “Hah. That was also obvious. Yes, I agree that I win.”
The peninsula appears ahead, surrounded by sparkling water and bathed in golden sunlight. Vyrathion banks toward it, his wings catching the light.
My husband. The words still feel strange. Wonderful. Perfect.
Mine.
The answering wave of affection from him is so powerful that it leaves me breathless.
Mine, he agrees.
Together we fly toward the slip of land with ocean of both sides, leaving the jungle, the danger, and every unfinished worry behind us.
The future stretches ahead like an open sky, and for the first time since arriving on Xren, I can't wait to see what comes next.
- - -
After a few days of bliss on the Eden-like peninsula, we fly to the crater and touch down.
Vyrathion lets me off and then takes off, so as not to scare Sage and Rosa.
I bang on their resonant log and then wait until they come out from their hiding places.
“Hi,” I greet them. “Sorry to disturb.”
“I thought you weren’t coming back here,” Sage says, a sharpened stick in her hand.
“I did say that,” I admit. “I just wanted to check on you.”
“That’s not really necessary. We’re fine here. There’s much more food for each now.”