“It won’t be dangerous for you, I promise.” Ailan led the way inside the cave opening. Darkness enveloped them at once, and Mareleau threw out her hands for guidance. One palm met a stony wall. She was about to call out for Ailan to wait when a spark of light blinked just ahead. Then another.
Mareleau took a few hesitant steps. Each one sparked more and more tiny pinpricks of blue-green light. After a few more steps, the walls and ceiling lit up like starlight, casting her, Noah, and Ailan in an aqua glow.
“Dragon flame reacts with the minerals in these caves and leaves these residuals. They get denser and denser the deeper we go.”
Ailan was right. As they wove deeper into the tunnels, more of the light painted the walls until she could see everything from the ground to the curving, rocky walls, to the towering ceilings dripping glowing stalactites. It was one of the most beautiful yet eerie sights she’d ever seen. If only Larylis were here. If only Noah was awake and old enough to appreciate such splendor.
If this were your home…
Longing and guilt clashed in her heart. What a traitorous thought that was, when she was already Queen of Vera.
But El’Ara is an entire world. A world likethis. A world with magic and miracles I’ve yet to see.
She shook the thoughts from her head.
“My bonding ritual with Uziel ended in danger,” Ailan said, “but that was only because of my brother. He disrespected my mother’s dragon, and Berolla meant to punish him, not me. Two of her talons raked through my chest, nearly puncturing my heart, but Uziel intervened just in time. Berolla was so distraught over what she’d been tricked into doing that she atoned by sacrificing the two very talons that had cut me.”
“What do you mean she sacrificed her talons?”
“She voluntarily severed two claws from her toes. That collar Cora had was made from those talons. It took us months to understand the magic Berolla had infused them with. No, that isn’t accurate. My mother knew, for Berolla had told her, but Satsara had hidden the talons’ true purpose from us. It wasn’t until we were close to losing the fight with my brother that Mother finally told us what we could do with the claws. That we could stop Darius from worldwalking by puncturing his flesh with them.”
“The war with Darius raged for multiplemonths?” Shame sank her stomach as soon as the naive words left her mouth. Of course they’d fought for months. War could last years. Decades, even. Some queen she was. She changed the subject. “You said Berolla infused the talons with magic. Do all dragon talons contain different kinds of magic?”
Ailan shook her head. “Talon magic is rare. Like unicorn horns, talons disappear into ash after the dragon dies. Only a talon gifted from a live dragon contains magic, and it is up to that dragon to decide how to infuse it. No Elvyn would ever ask of such a sacrifice from a dragon. We’re lucky Darius never learned of this ability, or he would have found a way to exploit this gift from them.”
Nausea turned her gut, along with another pang of guilt. She’d once ordered three princes to hunt unicorns and bring her a pelt, a pet, and a magical horn. Little had she known, the process for taking a horn was nothing short of torture. Yet another choice she regretted making.
The illumination painting the cave walls brightened, drawing Mareleau’s eyes to the view ahead. An enormous cavern spread before them, the ceiling twice as tall as it had been before. Tiny pools of flame flickered over the cavern floor in a multitude of colors—red, green, orange, purple. A hulking shape rested at the center of the floor, its silhouette rising and falling like a breathing mountain. Then, with a grumble that shook the ground beneath Mareleau’s feet, the shape moved, stretched, lengthened, until it unraveled as Uziel. His enormous dark head lifted from beside his body. His tail swished across the floor as he flicked his tongue toward Ailan.
Another shape stirred behind Uziel, which launched a swarm of tiny, winged creatures—baby dragons?—into the air. They flew off to perch on stalactites and stalagmites, circling the structures with wary looks at the intruders.
Mareleau shrank back. The baby dragons were only the size of a small dog, but they moved so quickly, stared so suspiciously.
Her eyes darted back to Uziel as the creature behind him fully awakened. The aqua glow of the walls glinted off opalescent scales and white feathered wings. After a stretch like Uziel had made, Ferrah bounded over the black dragon, as agile as a cat, and sat back on her haunches. Her sinuous back curved in an arch while her tail lazily coiled and uncoiled beside her. Long white whiskers draped from her maw—a rather toothy maw that was on full display as she yawned.
Uziel slithered over to Ailan, something like a purr rumbling in his throat. Ailan absently stroked his enormous snout as she spoke. “Uziel has agreed to listen to you. The others don’t seem interested in meeting you at this time, but Ferrah seems curious enough.”
“Others—” Just then, Mareleau noticed the other hulking shapes that she’d first taken for boulders. There were at least half a dozen other dragons asleep in the cave, though all were slightly smaller than Ferrah.
Mareleau’s gaze moved to the white dragon, who watched Mareleau like she was a fascinating jewel.
Or a snack.
She tightened her arms around Noah’s sleeping form.
“Would you like to introduce yourself to her?” Ailan’s expression was so hopeful, contrasting the churning in Mareleau’s gut.
She wanted to say no, to flee, to never look back, but beneath her anxiety, that bold thrill remained.
Not waiting for Mareleau’s answer, Ailan stepped closer to Ferrah, gesturing for Mareleau to follow.
Her legs trembled, but she found herself moving before she could think better of it.
Ferrah’s tongue flicked out but she didn’t startle, didn’t hiss, didn’t do any of the things Mareleau feared she’d do.
“Bow to her,” Ailan instructed. “Keep your moves slow and steady.”
Mareleau could barely hear her through the blood roaring in her ears. Her heart hammered so hard it felt as if it would climb from her throat. Yet bow she did, as smoothly as she dared. As she straightened, Ailan instructed her in what to do with her hands. She kept one loose and open at her side—which meant she had to fully turn Noah’s weight over to his sling—while she extended the other toward the dragon.
