Chapter 17
Alaric
I always forget how alive a dragon feels beneath me until we’re airborne, slicing through sun and ice and wind.
Even after years of training, flying Nythera never gets old.
Each flap of her wings vibrates through my bones, rumbling in my chest like a second heartbeat.
At this moment, we’re both more ourselves than we ever are on the ground.
The world falls away, the castle, court, politics, arguments with my brothers, until it’s just us and the blue, and the wild, whipping air.
Nythera angles her wings, bringing us level with Gareth and his brawny Sylvara. Gareth gives a lopsided grin, his long, black hair already a mess despite the oil he slicked through it this morning.
“What, you scared of a little altitude, Alaric?” he shouts across the void, like we’re not four thousand feet above the ground.
“Scared you’ll end up with a bird in your mouth?” I yell back, grinning.
A third shape streaks past in a blur of gold. Lucien, as always, has to one-up us. He’s hunched low, almost flush to Verdraxa’s back, hands dug deep in the golden dragon’s shimmering scales. “Maybe if you stopped talking,” Lucien calls, “you’d actually fly straight.”
I flip him the bird, and my brother laughs, the sound almost lost to the wind.
Beneath us, there’s nothing but water, just like there has been for nearly a day. Clouds streak the sky in strange, thin sheets, like strokes from an artist’s brush. Up ahead, a colorful shape rises out of the ocean: the Island of Dragons, our destination.
A jolt of anticipation runs through me. It’s been, what, five years since I was here last? Enough time that I’ve forgotten things about it, but not so long that I’ve forgotten how beautiful the fantastical place is.
“It’s just up ahead!” I shout, pointing to the island.
“Finally!” Gareth hollers, and Sylvara increases her speed, just a little bit.
A fourth dragon drops from the sky above us. Ebron, the massive, dusk-colored brute who looks like he was stitched together from the spare parts of nightmares. Harper is riding on his back, grinning like a madwoman.
She looks every bit a goddess, even in her riding leathers, taking my breath away as the sunlight turns her blonde hair into a halo.
She’s got Sevrin behind her, clinging like a barnacle.
I’d be more pissed about that if I didn’t know Sevrin would gladly throw himself into a volcano before hurting her.
Still. He’s got his arms wrapped tight around her waist, chin practically nuzzling her shoulder.
Maybe I can ride back with her.
I fight a little stab of jealousy, reminding myself that this is the deal. We’re in this together, even if sometimes together feels a lot like a competition. She cares for us all. She’s made that clear. That has to be enough for me.
Nythera draws even with Ebron. Ebron cocks his head, showing off a mouthful of knife-like teeth, and for a second I swear the dragon is grinning at me.
Harper’s eyes find mine, and something in my chest clenches.
I didn’t realize how much I missed her until just now.
The past week, ever since everything changed, since she picked me and then picked us all, and then we stood side by side in that quadruple wedding that feels half-dreamed, I’ve just wanted to be close to her.
I want to show her I’m the kind of man that she deserves. That I can be a good husband.
It should be complicated. Four men, one incredible woman, all bonded in a way that should mean forever. But when she smiles, it’s easy. I’d chase her to the edge of the world for that smile.
The island comes up faster, until it’s nearly beneath us.
Harper lifts one hand, the signal we practiced. The dragons draw into a tighter formation, wings overlapping, tails trailing like comet-streamers. She angles Ebron downward. The rest of us follow.
“Don’t let Gareth get too close,” Lucien calls, “he’ll crash into us again.”
Gareth glances back, lifting a brow.
The air gets warmer as we descend. Salt spray flings itself upward in gusts.
Below us, the ocean glitters like diamonds.
The island has colorful hills, ragged peaks, and waterfalls plummeting off of cliffs into frothing surf.
The sky above is stippled with hundreds of dragons all drifting about, safe from any imaginable predator.
People sometimes think dragon riders exaggerate about the beauty of this place, but if anything, we can’t quite capture how incredible it is.
There’s every color you can imagine, and plenty you can’t, all in a small space.
“It’s beautiful!” Harper laughs, a bright, open sound, and the tension in my shoulders drops away. “Ready for this?” she calls.
Sevrin actually smiles. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
We circle the island once, then head for the wide, grassy plateau at its heart.
Dragons scatter at our approach, some diving into the trees, others hovering with blatant curiosity.
Nythera huffs, offended by the attention, and flares her wings.
She’s always had a bit of an attitude with the other female dragons.
They better stay away from my mate, she hisses into my mind.
If they don’t know to stay away, I’m sure you’ll make your place in his life clear.
I will, she says, a threat in her voice.
It’s hard not to laugh. My dragon is funnier than I thought.
Ever since Harper has shown us there’s another way to interact with our dragons, all three of us have been really trying to connect with our dragons on a more personal level.
Just the fact that she shared her thoughts with me on this says what I’m doing is working.
We land with a bone-jarring thud. The plateau is littered with flowers the size of my head, weird blue things that look like they should be carnivorous, but I know they’re not.
I dismount, legs wobbly, and get out of Nythera’s way.
Lucien and Gareth do the same to their dragons, both of them grinning like idiots.
Harper slides down Ebron’s side with practiced ease as he uses his wing to help her dismount. Sevrin dismounts behind her.
As she’s being lowered to the ground, she glances over and sees me staring. I swear she can see the longing in my face, and knows just how desperately I’ve missed her.
The second Harper’s boots hit the ground, she’s in my arms. She laughs as I swing her in a circle, and for a moment, the whole world narrows to the sweet smell of her hair and the warmth of her body against mine.
“You missed me,” she says, a smile in her voice.
I pretend to think about it, although the truth is I’d been missing her every second of our long ride. “A little.”
She punches my arm, then turns and hugs Gareth, then Lucien. Sevrin hangs back, watching, a faint smile on his face.
“Group hug!” Lucien shouts, and somehow, despite every reason it shouldn’t work, the five of us all pile in, laughing and jostling, with dragons peering over our heads like we’ve lost our minds.
I break away first, because someone has to be the adult. “So,” I say, “what’s the plan?”
Harper flops onto the grass, spreading her arms wide. “I say we enjoy the view before real life gets in the way.”
She gestures at the island, which is honestly obscenely beautiful. The grass is greener than anything back home, and every tree has twisted trunks and wild, multi-colored leaves. There’s the sound of a waterfall tumbling from impossible heights, and the air smells like honey and salt.
Lucien sits beside her, cross-legged. The rest of us do the same, forming a rough circle. Ebron lays his massive head down nearby, one golden eye blinking slowly.
I glance at the dragons above. Some are still hovering, watching. “They seem to be pretty interested in us…”
Harper shrugs. “I think they’re just curious about Ebron. He’s something new.”
Stupid females, Nythera mutters in my mind.
“I heard that,” I whisper.
You were supposed to.
Harper looks at each of us in turn. “Okay. So, if we don’t convince at least some of the female dragons to come back to Volcaris, the whole species is in trouble. We need to get enough of them to really test if the lava lake is the answer to our problem.”
She’s right. We truly have no idea how many male dragons are still alive.
I think there’s anywhere between ten and three hundred.
All I know for sure is that no one ever sees them, and female dragons come back from long flights pregnant, so the males are definitely out there.
We just need to gather enough female dragons, have them go in these waters, and then have them go find male dragons to mate with and test our theory.
Gareth finally speaks. “The trick is getting them to listen.”
“Do you think you can get them to?” Sevrin asks, seeming truly curious.
“I’m sure they’ll listen to Ebron,” Harper says. “He’s… well, he’s persuasive.”
She turns to Ebron, and we can all tell they’re communicating, so we stay silent. They stare at each other for a long time before she finally blinks and smiles.
Harper pats Ebron’s scales. “He and his mates will do the convincing. Our job is to stay out of the way and not freak out the female dragons.”
“Works for me,” Gareth says, then awkwardly tries to sprawl on his back, like he really knows how to relax.
Sevrin stands, brushing invisible dust from his sleeves. “I’d like to explore, seeing that this might be my one and only chance to see the Island of Dragons.”
He’s right. It might not be our last time here, but we certainly won’t have a lot of chances to see this island in our lifetime. I’m already itching to get moving, to see the wild places I only half-remember from my last visit.
I catch Harper’s hand. “Want to come explore with us? There’s a beautiful waterfall just through those trees.”
She smiles, squeezing my fingers. “Race you.”