Before I could answer, the sky shook. Wings—huge ones. Two shadows dropped from above like descending storms.
Varun grinned.Ah yes, and that was the second bit. Backup is arriving.
I growled, but then recognized at least one of the drakens.
Canavar landed first, claws carving trenches in the ice. His red-braided hair whipped in the wind, eyes blazing with purpose. A strange golden draken touched down a breath later: silent, large, and watchful. I almost thought it was Vilhem before remembering he was long dead. Ghosts were falling from the sky at an alarming rate these days.
“Ronan,” Canavar rumbled. “You look like you’ve been chewing frost.”
“I feel like it,” I snapped back, too tired to mask it. “I lost Veskor’s trail in the fog. The cold?—”
“It weakens all southern drakens,” the strange draken said. His voice was the softest rumble, but it carried weight. “But not Canavar. He can track further. He is more accustomed to the cold than us. How big is Veskor?”
Canavar grunted. “That is Nasi, by the way.”
I nodded once in acknowledgement, trying to decide ifBenedict sending them was him helping me or telling me he didn’t trust me.
My heart lurched with hope, painful and sharp. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting Perri back, and making Lyoness safe again.
“You’ll help?” I asked.
“We didn’t fly all this way for the view,” Canavar grunted. “We hunt the rogue. We bring back the child.”
Nasi nodded once. “And we help you return with honor.”
My throat tightened.
Honor.
The word tasted foreign now like something I’d lost in the moment I left Wren on the beach. It was something I’d been clawing my way back toward with every beat of my wings.
“We go together,” I said.
“Yes,” Canavar agreed, “but first a fire to warm you up.”
I bristled. “I’m not leaving?—”
“You will,” Nasi interrupted quietly, “because you must be alive to carry her home.”
The words pierced straight through me. I closed my eyes, inhaling the icy air. He was right. I couldn’t fail again.
“Fine,” I said hoarsely. “And Veskor is bigger than me, but smaller than both of you. But he is so fast.”
Canavar’s fangs flashed. “Perfect.”
It has been a long time,Varun said, studying the newcomers.It's been too long since I’ve seen more than one draken in the same place, let alone three who aren’t trying to tear each other apart.
Canavar snorted. “Give us time.”
Nasi elbowed him sharply. “Being mated helps. The unmated ones tend to be the troublemakers.”
Varun smiled faintly. For the lykoses, that was practically joy.
When your kind vanished, it worried us,he said.Drakens were volatile, but stabilizing. The world’s magick feels different without you.He nodded toward me.Seeing more of you finding each other again is a good sign. Many hoped your race wasn’t truly dying.
Nasi bowed his head slightly, respectful. “We were scattered. For too long.”
Varun’s eyes softened.Then it is good to see the pieces finding their way home.
