Two gnomish peacekeepers coughing and wiping at their eyes came down the hallway from the dining room to follow her.
“What’s happening here?” one asked.
“A goblin started fires.” Rylana tried to wave smoke away as she entered the storeroom. “If you go outside, you might be able to find him before he gets away.”
Unlikely. The goblin had taken off at top speed when she’d released him, but she worried that the peacekeepers would find a way to blame Jildarin for this, so she wanted to get rid of them. What if he, enraged by the assault on his diner, changed into his dragon form?
Rylana almost ran into not one buttwosilver-scaled dragons crammed into the storeroom, smoldering crates and burlap sacksof grains knocked to the walls. The icy air she’d felt emanated from the one with darker scales. Was that Zilek?
The dragon beside him was familiar—she recognized Jildarin even before his head swung toward them, emerald eyes locking onto her and the peacekeepers. Magic emanated from the dragons, but she couldn’t tell what it was doing, only that the flames, already far fewer than she’d imagined, were winking out.
“They’ve changed!” one gnome blurted. “Get the golems. Get?—”
“They’re in their lair,” Rylana called over the peacekeepers.
“This isn’tbothof their lairs.”
“Yes, it is,” she said. “They’re, uhm, together.” Rylana grabbed one of the gnomes by the arm and pointed toward the carriage doors. They had indeed been thrown open. “Go find the goblin that started the fires. That’s therealcrime.”
Jildarin's eyes grew cool as he lowered his head closer to the gnome that had yelled. The peacekeeper may have realized he was in a dragon’s lair, possiblyirkingsaid dragon, and that the golems that might have helped him were still out in the street.
“It was a goblin, you say?” he asked, his voice squeaky as Jildarin's maw parted to reveal his fangs.
“In a cloak, yes.” Again, Rylana pointed at the doors.
This time, both gnomes darted around the dragons, finding room where taller beings couldn’t have, and fled into the street out back.
Sylin came up to stand beside Rylana, not appearing alarmed by the two hulking dragons. Another wave of icy air flowed from the darker silver dragon, and the last of the flames disappeared. Rylana stared glumly around at the damage. Crates and barrels had burned, leaving soot on everything, and a strange layer of frost had crystalized over the char. Only the gnomish ovens remained in good shape, though ash dulled even their magical gleam.
The lighter silver dragon’s form blurred, and Jildarin soon stood in front of Rylana in human form. He glowered at her, ignored Sylin, and also glowered at Zalani, Gniknik, and Rolf, who had gathered in the hallway, peering warily into the storeroom.
“What happened?” Jildarin demanded, his hands clenched into fists, frustration and anger roiling off him. “Who was responsible? I was only gone for a few hours.” He squinted at Rylana, then squinted harder at Rolf.
Rolf stepped behind Zalani.
When Jildarin's cold gaze swung back toward Rylana, she almost blurted that it had all been Rolf’s fault, but his shenanigans hadn’t had anything to do with the fire, other than it had caused the staff to be distracted. Even if he legitimatelycouldbe blamed, she had never been one to tattle.
The dark silver dragon shifted into the familiar form of Jildarin's brother, Zilek. He gazed about, appearing more bemused than angry. Of course, it wasn’thisdream that someone had tried to burn down.
“A goblin sneaked in and started a fire,” Rylana said when nobody else answered Jildarin, other than to look guiltily at each other. “Fires. There was one in the kitchen too. The goblin got away before I could get any information out of him, but I have a suspicion that whoever was behind the other assaults on the diner may have hired him.”
She debated whether to add that she had a suspect, but Jildarin blurted, “The kitchen?” with fresh alarm, his head snapping in that direction. “Why didn’t anyone stop a suspicious goblin from coming inside the diner? And into mykitchen?”
Without waiting for an answer, Jildarin raced into the hallway, the staff parting to get out of his way.
“It was a busy night,” Zalani called after him with a grimace.
Rylana started after Jildarin, but Sylin caught her shoulder.
“Maybe you should let him cool down before following after,”she suggested. “He looks as likely to kill friends as foes right now, and you’re… Well, that look he gave you says he’s more likely to put you in one of those categories than the other.”
A roar of fury came from the kitchen.
“He’s seen the pantry,” Rylana said, debating whether to go and try to explain or to obey Sylin’s suggestion. It seemed cowardly to hide, but…
A thunderous crash came from the kitchen.
“He would be in a less dour mood if he’d mated this evening,” Zilek said blandly.
