“But where will we go?”
Jyn shakes her head. “I’m not sure. Sometimes I fear there’s no place left in the world for us to run.”
“We’ll think of something,” I say with conviction. “As long as we’re together, everything will be all right.”
She nods slowly. “We should find someplace to wash off. Who knows what might be tracking our scent?”
“Is that your way of telling me I need a bath?”
Jyn pinches her nose. “No, of course not.”
I laugh softly, relieved to see the warmth in her eyes once again as she kneels beside me. “Do you think there’s enough magic in my blood to heal you?”
She shakes her head. “I’d rather not risk it. We’re both too weak right now, and the amount we’d need to fully heal is not unsubstantial.”
“Back at the oasis… How much did you give me?”
“I let blood for nearly an hour.”
I grimace. Not only does the thought of draining myself of blood make me squeamish, but we don’t have that kind of time. Such methods should remain a last resort.
Instead, I gently grasp her wrist and hold her heated gaze as I kiss her. Her thumb brushes gently over my mouth, her own lips parted slightly as she breathes in. I hum contentedly, tracing a line of kisses from the corner of her mouth, to her jaw, to the crook of her neck, relishing the way she shivers with delight.
“We must go,” she says, though she doesn’t sound so convinced. “Save your hunger for later.”
“Oh, I will.”
We both rise to our feet, doing a cautious scan of the area. It’s true that we must make haste. If there’s one thing we’ve learned these past couple of weeks, it’s that staying in one place never bodes well for us.
“We’ll have to fly our way out,” Jyn says. “Hold on tight.”
“But it will be easier to spot us that way.”
“I’ll be quick. Once we’re out of this ravine, I’ll transform back and we can continue on foot.”
I nod slowly, contemplating our choices. It’s certainly an easier option than climbing out of this blasted place.
“Don’t worry,” she says. “I won’t drop you.”
“That’s the least of my worries.”
In the blink of an eye, her form shifts. There will never be amoment when I am not in awe of her grace and beauty in dragon form. Her shimmering scales catch what little light there is, glowing like gems. Jyn digs her claws into the earth, gently lowering her head to bump my cheek with her snout, nudging me toward her back. I climb on and cling to her mane, sucking in a sharp breath when she stands to full height.
The ground suddenly disappears from beneath us as she launches herself into the air, the wind screaming past us as she soars upward. I press my body flat against hers, screwing my eyes closed as we take to the skies, amazed by her speed and fluidity. One moment, we were surrounded by the darkness of the pit, and the next—
The next, we touch the clouds.
A childish excitement shoots through me. I spent many a day as a young boy dreaming about what the world looked like from on high, whether the clouds felt as soft as they appeared. I’m filled with an inexplicable ease, marveling at the endless blue that is the sky. It’s easy to forget about the rest of the world below us, everything—even our greatest problems—so distant and small that it’s hard to care about anything except this moment.
I’mflying.
For the first time in seven thousand years, I’m finally able to look upon the kingdom that was once mine. From the top of the tallest mountain to the Heavens above, this washome. I’m loath to think about how the emperor took it all away from me.
Jyn begins her gradual descent, landing carefully in the middle of the bamboo forest that covers the majority of the Moonstar Isles. We find ourselves fortuitously next to a hot spring, steam rising into the air with a thick line of trees on all sides. She must have spotted it from above. It’s the perfect hiding spot, tucked away from prying eyes.
My dragon goes to the water and steps in. The spring is justlarge enough to soak her long body. Jyn sinks below the water’s surface, coming back up for air a few moments later in her human form. She grins at me, undressing under the cover of the steam and throwing her soaked clothes past the water’s edge. I pick up her robes with a laugh, wring them out for her, and leave them to dry on a low branch.
“Laundryanda bath,” I muse. “I admire your efficiency.”
