21. Isle Show You
ISLE SHOW YOU
"You have to let me on," Thea groaned at Starspark. The fearsome beast currently glared at her from behind Aaryn, who tittered helplessly.
"Look!" Thea motioned to Aaryn. "I brought her back to you! Doesn't that count for something?"
Starspark turned his head away, nose lifted, paws crossed. Wow. He is adorable.
"I slept on you last night!" Thea tried again. "We were practically friends!"
The dragon did not move.
"He learned this from you, you know," Thea complained, hands on her hips and trying not to let a smile crack her mask of indifferent annoyance as Aaryn wiped a tear away.
"What exactly is that?" Aaryn asked in an amused sigh.
"He doesn't listen," Thea complained. "How else are you going to navigate the circle without letting me guide you there?"
Starspark blinked his eyes open at that, but he still didn't turn to face her.
"I listen!" Aaryn argued, and Thea cut a glance at her.
"Do you?" Thea drawled.
Her cheeks flushed, and Thea felt like she'd won already.
"I was—It's not polite to say 'I told you so,' you know," she finally muttered. Now her arms were crossed too, and Starspark looked identical to her.
Thea’s heart fluttered with something she should probably have the healer look at.
She cleared her throat and took a long, mocking step away. "Alright, then. I guess since Starspark doesn't want to give me a ride, we'll have to use the transportation runes. Come on, Aaryn. We can come back for Starspark later."
Thea heard the grass shuffle, and something bumped her. When she turned, Starspark was planted in the grass, belly to the ground and head lowered as if waiting for her to climb on. His gaze was still narrowed, still suspicious, but his tail flicked in excitement.
"That's what I thought." Thea offered him an affectionate stroke on his side. "You go first," she said to Aaryn.
"But—can we just—do that? Ride him?" Aaryn asked, stepping closer. Starspark turned his head, eyes on Aaryn, and she was glancing around as if someone might pop out from behind a tree to halt them.
"This isn't Evergale. There's no one here to tell you what to do. Starspark is yours, no one else's."
"Starspark is his own," Aaryn corrected. "I'm just his favorite person. Right, Starspark?" He answered with a high-pitched hum. "It won't hurt him?"
"He's strong, don't worry," Thea told her.
Even laying down, even without feeding on magic, Starspark was so large that Aaryn would have to jump and grab onto his scales to hoist herself up. Starspark would be fine.
"Climb on like this. Foot here," Thea said, and tapped her hand against the hardest scales on Starspark's side, where he'd feel the least pressure.
"Then you see the scales up there, on the back of his neck?
" Extra-tough to protect the dragon himself.
"Grab the opposite side, and pull yourself. Up you go."
Aaryn drew in a deep breath, lip caught between her teeth to bite down on excitement, and Thea swallowed, standing back.
She was ready to catch her if it went awry, but Aaryn was a natural.
Foot on the scale, hands shaking, she stepped up, and— Starspark moved with her, tilting his head to make the scales easier to reach, shrugging his shoulder to get her into place.
Aaryn settled over his neck with a squeak, eyes wide.
"Holy scale," she breathed, hands stroking over the back of his head. "Starspark!"
Aaryn was practically glowing in delight, seeing the world from the back of Starspark's neck for the first time.
"Permission to come aboard?" Thea asked softly. She noticed Starspark did not help her into place, but Thea settled behind Aaryn all the same.
Thighs bracketing Aaryn's backside. Inspiring. Chest pressed to her back. Lovely.
She cleared her throat, horns burning, and tapped her shoe into the back of Aaryn's foot, slotting it behind a scale. "Brace here," she said. Polite. All business, Thea reached around Aaryn and caught her hand, leading it to the ridge of scales at Starspark's neck. "Hold on here."
Aaryn stilled against her, and Thea's gaze slid over, and she realized how close they were. How close their faces were, because Thea was wildly aware of Aaryn's body against her own.
Thea jerked back, not wanting to crowd her, and breathed out an awkward chuckle. "Uhm, let's—Slowly," she emphasized for Starspark's benefit. "He's gonna push off and—"
Aaryn's excited scream was lost to the air as Starspark leapt, wings flaring at his back to send them into the sky.
Trees whizzed past, and Thea grabbed onto Aaryn, crowding her and then some as she flattened herself to Aaryn's back, reaching around her to grab onto the scales herself for extra stability.
"Starspark!" Thea shouted—and her complaint was suddenly deafening as Starspark reached the barrier, which opened thanks to the chuckling druids on watch, and flattened his wings to silently glide in the direction of the next isle. "Sorry," she apologized to Aaryn.
Aaryn, who was… quiet. Speechless. Before them stretched a canvas of fluffy clouds, practically waiting for a foot to fall upon them, a delightful deceit.
Above those clouds was the circle. Floating islands that the druids, the dragons, the refugees all inhabited.
A community made from the earth, taken from the very ground miles below them, split apart, repurposed and given life where no life should be able to exist.
Magic.
"This is beautiful," Aaryn said, awed.
"I know." Thea grinned and pressed her left knee into Starspark's side. He banked right and as they drew closer to the Heart of Cloud Haven, Thea appreciated the little paradise they'd created for themselves. Dragons and people of all kinds, from all over, seeking refuge and finding a home.
The barrier guards made an opening for them, and Starspark zipped through so fast it left them dizzy.
"Why is he like this?" she muttered as he expanded his wings, slowing them dramatically. He flew over the trees and buildings, and Thea supposed now was as good a time as any to show Aaryn around.
Thea pointed out her favorite kitchens and taverns, the dedicated healers, and the best fields to catch a nap in. Everything was close, accessible, and yet there was enough space for the dragons who lounged around.
Eventually Starspark landed upon a walkway, and Thea slid off his back, offering Aaryn a hand. It was a reflex, simple manners, but then it was more suddenly as Aaryn accepted the help, her hand warm in Thea's own.
As her feet landed she immediately sank down, her legs giving out.
"Woah," Thea said, grabbing her arm to help her lower to the ground. Aaryn was grinning, and leaned back against Starspark, eyes catching Thea's.
"Wow," Aaryn said, and grabbed Thea's hand when she tried to pull away. "I just flew. On Starspark." Her smile cracked in a laugh, eyes wide and lit from within. "This is... magical."
Something soft and tangled in Thea’s chest ached. "Don't regret it yet?" she teased, trying to lighten the moment lest Aaryn see right through her.
"No," Aaryn said, so solemnly it made Thea pause. "In fact, I'm sorry I was so stubborn," she said.
And right there, between Starspark and under the protection of a tree canopy, Aaryn squeezed her hand, and she might as well have had her fingers wrapped around Thea's heart.
"I—Y-you had plenty of reason to be suspicious," Thea stammered, feeling the weight of Aaryn's hand around her own. "I mean, I… stole him," Thea said. Aaryn bowed forward as Starspark inhaled so he could release a huff. Aaryn's lips twitched even wider. "I'm sorry."
She leaned close, and Thea's breath caught before she realized Aaryn only wanted to whisper to her. Conspiratorially, she said, "He pretends he doesn't like you, but I think he has a soft spot."
Thea wildly hoped it wasn't only Starspark.
The seamstresses measured Aaryn and easily found clothes to fit her. They carried a small stack back to Thea's home, and when she changed, Thea missed seeing her in her own clothes. Which Thea shoved down deep.
Starspark glided along behind them, fully using his wings to flit between buildings and other people on the paths with the agility and elegance of a butterfly in spring.
One day he wouldn't be able to do that. But for now he was still smaller, and cute, and everyone giggled as he passed, and Aaryn looked mighty proud of their amusement.
What Thea had been able to show Aaryn in the sky, she now introduced in great, rambling detail.
"And this place—" she said as they passed a little alcove of trees and shrubs and flowers. Fairies nestled there now, but, "As a kid, I hid there for so long one time that Vaelen got Claw Hold involved. I was too scared to come out, once I heard them looking for me."
Aaryn covered her mouth. "Nuh-uh. What happened? I mean, I assume she found you," she said, waving a hand at Thea.
Thea laughed and directed them down another path toward a small building, savory scents filling the air the closer they walked. "She did. I thought she'd be mad, but she was too relieved. And she's never let me forget it."
"So you were a kid? How long have you been here?"
"Oh, since I was…" Thea squinted into the distance, racking her brain. "I was nine? Ten? So, like, seventeen years?"
"The circle has been here for that long?" Aaryn's eyes were wide.
"Almost twenty years." Thea frowned as she recalled those early days.
How big everything seemed. How nervous she was, in this new place.
But everyone had been so nice. Most of all…
"Vaelen found me. She gave me a home, and…
I think I gave her something, too." In the beginning, something heavy had weighed on Vaelen.
Something that'd make her stare off into space during morning tea, work herself ragged so she didn't have time to turn to her own thoughts.
"What did you give her?" Aaryn asked, voice soft.
"A distraction."