I watch it for a moment, then turn away.It’stime to be moving on to our next quest.
“All right,”Isay, brushing my hands dry on my robe asIwalk back to him.“I’mready.Let’sgo.”
“Step back,” he tells me.“I’mgoing toShift.”
I do as he says, taking a few steps away as he straightens.Thechange comes quickly now—faster than before, smoother.Hisbody expands and reshapes, bones shifting, skin giving way to scales as hisDrakerises in his place.
Even knowing what to expect, it still takes my breath away.
He’s so beautiful.Tarnishedsilver scales catch the morning light, gleaming softly, and his golden eyes fix on me at once, bright and aware.
“Hi there,”Imurmur, stepping closer.
He lowers his head immediately, inviting.
I reach up, scratching gently behind his eye ridges, and he rumbles low in his chest, the sound vibrating through the air—and through me.
“Oh, you like that, don’t you?”Isay softly.
He nudges my hand, pressing into the touch in what is unmistakably a gesture of agreement.Hedoeslike getting scratches.
Then, with a graceful shift, he bends one massive foreleg, offering it soIcan climb up.
“Thank you,”Itell him.Igather my robe and step onto his leg, hauling myself up untilIcan settle between the long spines on his back.OnceI’msecure, he spreads his wings, and we take to the sky.
The world falls away beneath us.Theforest stretches out in every direction, a vast sea of green broken only by winding rivers and the occasional rocky rise.Theair is cool up here, rushing past my face, tugging at my hair and robes as we climb higher.
I hold on, leaning slightly forward, my heart lifting with the motion.
It’s…incredible.EverytimeIfly with theDrake,Ican’t contain my wonder.
The freedom of it…the vast, dizzying height…the way the land becomes a distant and beautiful patchwork beneath us.
I’m going to miss this.
The thought comes unbidden but even asIthink it,Iknow it’s true.
After theTimeWeaving,Iwon’t remember any of this.Notthe flight or the mountains…
NotTheron.
I swallow hard and push the thought away.
No,Ican’t think about that right now.Ineed to focus on the task ahead—on the third quest.
TheGrandfatherTreeis waiting but how amIsupposed to find the largest tree in an entire forest.TheWesternWildsstretch endlessly before us—thick and ancient and untouched.Everytree looks enormous from up here—towering, sprawling, and impossible to measure.
But even as the thought crosses my mind,Isee it.
At first,Ithink it’s a hill—a rise in the land, something unnatural among the trees.
But as we get closer,Irealize the truth—it’s a tree.Asingle tree that dwarfs everything around it.
“Goddess…”Iwhisper.“It’shuge!”
TheGrandfatherTreerises above the forest like a living tower, its trunk massive, its branches spreading wide enough to cast shadows over the surrounding land.Comparedto it, the other trees look like saplings.
There’s no question in my mind—that’s it, the tree we’re looking for.Ithasto be.
