"None of us have," Gavon said. "Which is a mercy. The only time Elurians get to see dragons is if they need to be rescued from a place no regular vehicles can reach."
I stood up and turned toward the eastern sky.
They came over the peaks in a tight V formation, the five of them moving with a speed that made the distances deceptive. One moment they were specks against the mountain skyline, and the next they were close enough for me to make out the shapes of individual wings.
The photographs in newspapers and books hadn't prepared me for the sight, and neither had the television footage. Nothing could have prepared me for the reality of five dragons descending through the sky.
They were enormous.
I'd known that intellectually, but numbers on a page of a scientific book were abstractions. These were living, breathing creatures whose wingbeats generated a wind I could feel from a hundred meters away, whose scales caught and fractured the auroral light into spectrums I hadn't known existed, and whose presence made the air feel charged as if the magnetic fields bent around them.
The lead dragon was a deep rust-red, a female I assumed, given the colors and the slightly smaller size. She banked in a wide circle above our position, assessing the terrain and the situation from above, while the rest of the formation held their pattern behind her.
I couldn't breathe, but not from fear, and not from the effects of the altitude. It was awe, but also something more that I didn't understand.
Envy, whispered a small voice in the back of my head. I was envious of the riders. I wanted to be the one sitting on the back of that magnificent dragonia, but I never could. I didn't have any Elucian blood in me, and only Elucians could bond with dragons.
"Idrilia." Gavon's voice reached me as if he was speaking from a great distance. "You might want to close your mouth."
I hadn't realized I was gaping.
I closed it.
The lead dragonia circled once more, then descended toward a relatively flat section of the debris field about thirty meters from our position. The landing was precise, almost delicate despite her size, her clawed feet finding purchase on the ground among the scattered boulders.
I held my breath.
What if the ground collapsed under her? Despite being smaller than the males, she was still huge.
The other four remained in the sky, circling overhead.
The rust-red dragonia's rider dismounted and strode toward us, pulling off her flight goggles to reveal sharp eyes that swept our group. I had no doubt that she was cataloging injuries, counting heads, and evaluating terrain simultaneously.
I wondered if she would comment on our location being within Elucia's borders. We were not supposed to cross the boundary. Hopefully, my title would give her pause.
"Who's in charge?" she asked.
"I am." I stepped forward. "Princess Idrilia of Tarina. We're a research expedition. There were thirteen of us on the mountain when the avalanche hit. Two are presumed dead, most likely in the gorge. Three sustained serious injuries, and five minor ones."
If my title surprised her, she didn't show it.
"Commander Liora Pentell, Storm Wing, Tempest Squadron," she identified herself. "Did you trigger the avalanche?"
I hadn't expected the question. "No, we did not."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. We were on foot, and we didn't operate any equipment or make any noise. In fact, we had just stopped for a few minutes when it started."
"Were you taking a break?"
"I was collecting a botanical specimen," I admitted, hoping she wouldn't ask which one.
I had no idea whether a commander in the Elucian Dragon Force had ever heard about the Silver Princess, but if she had, she might claim that it was a protected Elucian flower and demand that I hand it over.
"I see," she said. "You got carried away and climbed where you were not supposed to. But we will sort out the details later. What's the status of the more seriously injured? Can they ride?"
Sorel stepped forward. "I'm the medic. One has a broken ankle and a sprained wrist, the second has a broken collarbone with possible rib fractures. The third has a broken arm and a probable concussion. The concussion concerns me most. He's been drifting in and out of consciousness."
