I turned to Kailin. "I'll see you at Skywatcher's Point."
She nodded. "Go."
"May I?" I asked Onyx's permission to mount.
When Onyx inclined his massive head, I climbed using the hand and foot holds attached to his saddle and sat behind Ravel.
"You can store your backpack in the side compartment," the commander said as he handed me a pair of flight goggles.
I did as instructed and then strapped myself in.
As Onyx launched into the sky, the wind whipping past as we climbed higher, I sent up a prayer to Elurion to keep Kailin safe.
I'd played many dangerous games in my life, but never with stakes this high and this personal, and given that I had risked an international scandal by sneaking into the Elucian pilgrimage, it spoke volumes about my changing priorities. Kailin had moved to the very top spot, and not just because I loved her and couldn't fathom living without her. Instinctively, I knew that her fate was intertwined with that of Aurorys, and our world depended on her survival.
4
KAILIN
They say you can't go home again, that the person who returns is never the same as the one who left. I used to think that was just poetry, but now I understand. I'm flying home with a medal in my pocket that proclaims me a hero, with abilities I don't understand yet, and so full of secrets that I feel like I'm going to burst.
The girl who left Skywatcher's Point to embark on a sacred pilgrimage was terrified of heights and had dreams of leading a quiet life. The one returning home can speak to dragons and has prophetic dreams of demons attacking in the night.
How do I reconcile these two versions of myself?
How do I sit at my family's table and pretend nothing has changed when everything has?
Maybe that's what home is for—to remind us that beneath all our transformations, a part of us remains intact.
The part that loves and is loved in return.
—From the journal of Kailin Strom
The familiar sight of the town square of Skywatcher's Point rising up to meet us should have filled me with excitement. I was about to see my family for the first time since the start of my pilgrimage, to hug my grandmother, my parents, and Chicha, to share the news about the medal I had been awarded, and to tell them about my part in saving Podana.
Oddly, I didn't feel like I was coming home, though. I was visiting.
The Citadel was my home now, and unless I failed the course and was discharged from the Dragon Force, it always would be. Except that didn't feel right either.
Home wasn't a place; it was where my loved ones were, and right now, nearly all of them were here in Skywatcher's Point.
People had already cleared space for Onyx, and his obsidian bulk was taking up a large portion of the square, but many lingered at the edges to watch Jagura back wing for landing.
It wasn't every day that two dragons arrived in quick succession.
As we touched down, Ravel and Alar were dismounting, and I couldn't help but notice that they seemed much more comfortable around each other than they had been before this flight. Had they enjoyed a good bonding experience talking about me?
Had Ravel told Alar anything about the real reason for the vacation I had been awarded?
If I was supposed to be bait, he would know.
"Need help getting down?" Dylon took off his flight goggles and stored them in their dedicated compartment.
"I'm good." I handed him mine. "I've done it enough times from much greater height. Onyx is easily twice the size of Jagura."
Dylon glanced at the huge male dragon. "I know that Ravel has become your personal flight instructor. You're lucky."
I wondered how much my brother knew about the reason for the special attention I was getting from his commanding officer and the connection between my training and my so-called heroic actions that had saved Podana.
