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“You mean a dragon dragon? The kind that fly and have wings and breathe out fire?”

Lyric laughed. “Yes, silly, what other kind of dragons are there?”

Fourteen

“You’re off your rocker, Lyric,” Austri said. “It’s mid-morning. They’ll be grumpy and not in the mood for visitors. Of course, they’re never in the mood for visitors.”

Lyric waved off his warning. “Rafi has never seen a real dragon, so I say we go see them.” Lyric had blurted the idea just seconds after I’d come to grips with the notion that dragons were indeed real and not just book and movie characters.

“I would love to see them. Are they dangerous?”’ I asked.

The practice session below had finished, and the field was clearing. Madigan turned sideways and straddled the bench. “They can be if they’re irritated or decide they don’t like you. But mostly they’re just fat, lazy and so foxed on fisk fungus they can’t see straight. They do still have the ability to breathe fire if they decide they really hate you, but most don’t have the energy or strength to do that.”

“Uh, so Kya, the dragon who helped Revel win all those victory beads, is also a fat, lazy drug addict?” I asked. “I was picturing something a little sleeker, a little more lethal.”

“The Valian dragons are Z-drakes. They are the sleekest, fastest and most agile breed of dragon in the Shadowlands, but they must have lion’s bane to keep them fit. Otherwise, they’re just like us after we’ve eaten too many toad chips and drunk too much ale.” Austri held up his greasy bag of toad chips. “One of the few foods the Z-drakes will tolerate is fisk fungus, a slimy but fast-growing mushroom that grows at the base of the Avion Mountains, where they live. They’re like sweet treats for the dragons, and they come with a powerful dose of something that makes them fuddled.”

“Fuddled is a kind word for it.” Lyric looked at me. “As my dad says, they are fully baked. Now what do you say? Are you up for a walk? It’s about two miles to their lair at the base of the mountains.”

“Not sure this is such a good idea,” Madigan said.

“Oh, come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” Lyric nudged her. “We won’t stay long, and we won’t get too close. They’re so smelly, we’ll probably only stay a minute or two.”

“I would love to see a real dragon,” I said.

Austri blew an exasperated breath. “I know Lyric won’t stop until we say yes, and I’m not letting them go alone.” He pushed to standing, which made him about the same height as when he was sitting.

Madigan stood, too. “I’d like the record to show that I was against this.”

Madigan and Austri trudged behind us. While I was admittedly nervous about meeting a group of stoned dragons, I was also excited as hell about it.

“Where are the four of you off to?” Just hearing his voice sent a whirlwind of butterflies through my stomach. We turned around. Revel’s white shirt stuck to the sweat on his chest. It was slightly tinged with blood. His long coat was open, and its long tails flapped in the breeze. His face was streaked with dirt, and he’d pulled top strands of his hair back and tied them behind his head. He looked both ruggedly feral and heartbreakingly beautiful.

Lyric bit her lip, and Madigan and Austri seemed loathe to answer. I, on the other hand, had no problem letting him know. “We’re going to see the dragons,” I said bluntly and even added in a defiant chin lift, because the reactions of the others told me I was going to need it.

“And why the hell would you do that?”

My partners in crime still had their lips sealed. “I’ve never seen a dragon in real life. Until twenty minutes ago, I was sure they were strictly imaginary. You needn’t worry about us. We’re not going to stay long.”

“Austri,” Revel said in a scolding tone that made Austri flinch. Apparently, the tracker thought his complete silence on the matter would not make him complicit in our plan.

“What can the harm be?” Austri asked. “Rafi has never seen a dragon, and while ours, in their current state, are not exactly prime examples of dragons, they’re still a sight to see.”

“You know as well as me that they can get riled up by visitors. It’s not safe. Madi, back me up here.”

Madigan shrugged. “I tried to talk them out of it, but Rafi was persistent.” She lifted her bow. “I’ll keep an eye on them.”

Revel grunted something under his breath. “I’m coming, too.”

The five of us set off. As usual, Austri led the way with his trusty compass, and both Madigan and Revel brought up the rear. Lyric and I were in our coveted spot in the middle. A narrow wagon-wheel rutted trail led us in a long curve around the forest of hydra trees.

“So, it’s true,” I said, “that if you cut one of those down two more grow in its place?”

“Yep, as true as the nose on my face. You can see by all the double trunks how often we tried to get rid of those pesky trees. And they grow fast, too. Full grown in a year. On top of that, my dad says their underground roots sprout new trees as well. No way to ever be rid of them.”

“Fire?” I suggested.

“Tried that. You can see their leaves are thick and supple. They don’t burn easily, if at all. They multiply fast. Just like the Krakatow.”