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 wholeworld 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 enoughof 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.
