“Just as you said, King Florian,” she said, bowing. “Prince Koji is here to see you.”
Koji appeared behind her, waving at them with a small smile. His hair, which had been shoulder length when it was down last night, was now tied back in a short ponytail, and he wore a plain navy-colored yukata. If it hadn’t been for his recognizable grin, and the rolled-up map encased in leather that he had slung over his shoulder, Florian thought he might not have recognized the dragon prince at all.
“Come on in,” he said, gesturing for Koji to join them at the table. He sat down beside Florian and set the rolled-up map on the table.
“I’ll bring a fresh pot of tea,” Miyuki said, then slipped back out of the room before Florian could respond.
“Just as promised,” Koji said, grinning. “This map is of the dragon kingdom’s full territory, made about two hundred and fifty years ago. Before the Blight, but not so long ago that anything would have changed too significantly, I think.”
“Perfect!” Florian said, shuffling through his own bag to find Jerah’s map to compare the two.
“When you’re ready, let’s head outside the city,” Koji said. “Then I can show you how to shift into a dragon, too, like you said.”
Florian hesitated, then nodded. “I want to look these over first, but sure. We can do that after.”
“You’re right, it might be better to go when it’s dark,” Koji agreed. Miyuki reappeared with a fresh pot of tea and a third cup, pouring some out for Koji, which he took without taking his eyes off Florian. “What else can you shift into? Have you flown before? I’m so curious to see what it’s like for you.”
“Thanks, Miyuki,” Florian said softly, as she took away the lukewarm tea and set the new pot a little to the side, where it wouldn’t prevent them from unrolling the map. She smiled at him and nodded, then slipped back out. “Um, well, as far as animals go, I’ve only tried shifting into a wolf. But I’ve made myself look different too—like taller and stuff. That sort of thing.” He flushed, remembering the sorts of things that he had changed when it was just him and Kade, but that was better left unsaid. “So I’ve never flown before, not really. That’ll be interesting.”
“What is the first shift usually like for dragons?” Kade asked, speaking for the first time since Koji had arrived. His face was as neutral as ever, but there was a slight edge to his voice that only Florian seemed to pick up. “The first shift for wolves can be hard to handle. The animal part of the brain tries to take over. It takes some training to control. Is it the same for dragons?”
“Hmm,” Koji said, pursing his lips thoughtfully. He did not seem to notice the coolness in Kade’s tone. “There’s a bit of that, yes. I wouldn’t say it’s an animal part of the brain, exactly, but there is some... instinct that you would need to learn to recognize. Dragons are very powerful, so it’s just learning to control that level of raw power.”
“I see,” Kade replied. He turned to look at Florian. “Be careful, then. Remember what the first shift was like when you became a wolf. Seems like it’ll be worse as a dragon.”
Florian flushed, glancing away. “I will,” he said, feeling embarrassed. Not that Kade was wrong, but it felt somehow like being chided by a teacher in front of a new friend.
But Koji was oblivious to the subtleties of their interaction, and he was already peering at the two maps side-by-side with obvious curiosity.
“You said your father made this map?” he asked, lightly touching the smaller one Florian had set out. “How did he know where the Arrows were?”
“He didn’t know for sure, I don’t think,” Florian said, returning his attention to the maps. He did not know exactly how Jerah had pieced together the approximate locations of the seven Golden Arrows, only what little information Jerah had told him before he died. “But he’d gone out into the Blight a few times, along with my mom, before she died. I think they either found places where the magic was... stronger, I guess. Or they had connections with people in other kingdoms who had felt it, too.”
“Where the magic was stronger,” Koji echoed, frowning. “Well, that makes sense for this first one, then. Look.” He tapped the map where Jerah had marked an X, then pointed to a corresponding spot on the map he had brought.
“It’s not exact, but close enough. This is the floating city of Kamimura,” he said. “They were held aloft with magic, but even now they stay afloat in the sky, at least to our knowledge. If there is an Arrow there, I bet it’s creating enough magic on its own to sustain the lodestones without anyone needing to power them.”
Florian’s head swam with the new information. A floating city, held in place by magic stones, that needed some kind of fuel to keep aloft—surely there must be an Arrow there, then, if they arrived and found it still floating after all this time. The Arrows were so magical that he could feel their power in the air when they approached. He could definitely see their latent energy feeding any reservoir of magic nearby.
“Did people live on them?” Florian asked, remembering the strange catlike creatures they had encountered when retrieving the last Arrow. He tried not to think of that often, as guilt and revulsion surged in his stomach whenever he dwelt on it too long, but they had to be prepared if something similar could happen.
“Yes,” Koji said. “They weren’t dragon shifters, though. They were some kind of bird shifter, it looks like.”
“That tracks,” Florian sighed. So there could be more blighted shifters there, a thought that filled him with dread. He could feel Kade’s eyes on him, surely just as concerned.
“So it’s good I’m here then,” Koji said brightly, grinning at Florian. “You’d need to fly to get there.”
Florian smiled weakly, pushing the intrusive thoughts out of his head. All he could do was keep moving forward. He would worry about the floating city and its potential inhabitants later. “Yeah, definitely. I’m glad you’re here. Do you know anything about this other spot?”
He pointed to the second X on Jerah’s map of the dragon kingdom. Koji looked at it for a longer moment, comparing the two, then finally shrugged.
“Looks like a mountain,” he said. “I don’t think there was anything there before the Blight, though. Should be easy to get to if that’s the case.”
It was never easy, but Florian couldn’t bring himself to say it. Instead, he smiled gratefully again, nodding.
“This has helped a lot,” he said. “Especially knowing about the floating city. We never would have found it otherwise, I bet.”
“I’m glad to help,” Koji said. “When will you leave to go find it?”
