“Well that’s new.” Stone held out his arms. She reached out, running her finger along one of his scars. “Must be because I touched theastra.”
But it burned me,she thought. Maybe it could see how unworthy she was. Maybe it knew if there was anyone here that should be allowed to take the flower, it was Stone.
“What are we going to do about the dragon?” she asked as they made their way back to camp.
“Well, we have two choices,” Stone said. “We leave it, pretend it doesn’t exist.”
Her stomach sank. “Or?”
Stone stopped, adjusted his pack on his shoulder. “Or we let it go. Set it free, somehow.”
“Bee will hate that idea.”
“But it does feel wrong, doesn’t it?” He turned and glanced at the ruins. “The way it cried. Tried to break free.” He shook his head. “I can’t explain why but I could feel it in my chest.”
“Feel what?”
He sighed, pushed his glasses up. “Feel its despair.”
She wove her fingers with his and squeezed. “Then we set it free.”
His eyes locked with hers. “We set it free.”
“We’re going to dowhat?” Bee’s face scrunched, eyes bouncing between Stone and Aesira.
“It’s dying in there,” Stone said. “We can’t leave it.”
Birdie tapped her boot before kneeling and rummaging through her bag. “I’ve been waiting for this.” From her bag she pulled a weapon with a wide, double-edged blade, runes and words etched into the handle that Aesira couldn't decipher.
“All this time, Bird?” Bee shook her head. “What if you tripped and fell with that in your bag? You’d impale yourself.”
“It didn’t happen so it doesn't matter.” Birdie raised the sword, moonlight reflecting off its pointed edges. “Now this is special,” she said. “Forged in the Isles with the highest quality steel."
"And how did you afford that?" Bee crossed her arms then rolled her eyes at Birdie's silence. "You stole it?"
"Are you surprised?"
"Not in the least," Stone said.
"If you're all done judging me, you'll see how perfect this blade is." She held it higher. "It would have been a waste to leave it with those stuffy royals." She swiped it through the air then balanced the point of the blade on the tip of her finger. "Surely sharp enough to break through even the toughest of scales," Birdie said through a grin.
“We’re not going to hurt it, Birdie,” Aesira said. “We’re going to help it.”
“I know that,” Birdie snapped. “I’m saying it’s sharp enough to cut through the toughest of scalesorchains. It’ll work. We just have to get close enough.”
“And therein lies the real problem,” Stone said.
“It’s quiet now,” Bee said, “maybe it’s sleeping.”
“The issue is how do we get down.” Stone tapped his finger against his lips.
“We can go in through the hatch,” Birdie said, polishing the sword with the end of her shirt. “We can use rope to lower us into its den. Cut the tether from there.”
“And leave us nowhere to run?” Aesira shook her head. “We have to lure it out the top, the same way it cameout earlier.” She pointed to the top of the ruins where the dragon had emerged. “There,” she said. “That’ll get us close enough to strike and leave us plenty of room to escape.”
Stone wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. “A very tactical answer, Commander.”
She shrugged. “I’m good at some things,” she said.
