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“I am not a dog,” Jima protested. Henry simply cackled, flicking his wrist as if he were cracking an imaginary whip.

We let Keir take the lead, our magically protective bubble shifting and stretching to accommodate our presence above ground. The closer we got, the better I could see the wyvern. Three were in their humanoid forms. Two more flanked the inner three, their wyvern forms standing sentinel. Gods, they were massive. They’d seemed huge to my wisp senses. Seeing them in my humanoid form made me feel minuscule.

Growls emanated from the area of the wyvern to my right. Looking closer, I could see that it sat upon something else—something equally large and squirmy. The wyvern on top let loose an earsplitting roar before slamming their foot down upon the creature below. Considering that creature was none other than Verona Perez, I couldn’t gather much sympathy.

Something crawled to our right, pulling itself along by digging heavy talons into the earth, leaving deep scars behind. I heard Keir harshly inhale before he whispered, “Lazarus.”

At the sound of Keir’s voice, Lazarus lifted his great wyvern head. He didn’t look much better than the last time I saw him, with the exception he was moving. Lazarus picked up the pace, dragging his body forward. Low keening grumbles mixed with high-pitched wheezes filled the air.

Keir ran toward him, the barrier dutifully following. I had no idea what the barrier would do when it encountered Lazarus. When it allowed him through, engulfing the injured wyvern as well, I had my answer. Lazarus well and truly meant us no harm. Even if the eggs claimed differently.

“Goddess above,” Keir moaned, his hands uselessly fluttering about Lazarus’s muzzle and horns. “What did she do to you?”

“That’s Lazarus?” Jima asked, voice shaky. “Did Verona do that to him?” Jima swallowed hard, his eyes wide and shimmering with tears. “His scales are still smoking in places.”

The humanoid wyvern female in the center took a step forward, halting a few feet from our party. She held a curved cane in one hand, the twisted material made of something sturdier than wood. The fingers wrapped around it were knobby with too little flesh and too much bone. Her silvery-white hair was plaited into two long braids that draped over her shoulders. Skin so pale it was nearly translucent, her ice-blue eyes shimmered like sapphires.

This wyvern was truly ancient, and yet her age had not diminished her intelligence. Those eyes were full of purpose, plans, and speculation. When she spoke, her voice was still strong and sang through the clearing. “Verona and Axios come from one of our most formidable lines. Their acid is deadly, even to one of us. It is to Lazarus’s credit that he remains alive after battling them both.”

Keir turned his attention from Lazarus but kept a hand on his forehead, right between his horns. “Thalia, I presume,” Keir said.

“You presume correctly, gryphon.” Her gaze sharpened to the cloth Keir had slung around his shoulder. “And am I to presume the reason for my journey lies within the cloth draped over your shoulder?”

Keir’s free hand fisted along said cloth. I couldn’t exactly peg his countenance, but something in the slant of his eyes spoke to a certain amount of reluctance.

“He’s grown attached to them,” Martin leaned down and whispered into my ear, evidently picking up on the same vibes I was.

“It’s understandable given how much time he’s spent protecting them.” I hadn’t really considered that Keir might not be as eager as the rest of us to see the eggs go.

Lazarus lifted his head, urging Keir to leave him and go to Thalia. Leaning over the eggs, Keir spoke to them, his voice too hushed for me to hear. “What do you think he said?” I asked Martin.

“No idea. Could be he’s asking them not to throw us all under the bus. He could also be telling them goodbye.” Sadness permeated Martin’s words toward the end.

Cradling the eggs in what appeared to be a hug, Keir squared his shoulders and strode toward Thalia. The ancient wyvern stayed where she was, both hands firmly on the cane planted in the ground before her. Those crystalline blue eyes watched Keir’s every move.

When Keir was just a couple of feet away, he pulled the cloth from around his neck, carefully extracting it and the eggs from his body. “I’m going to place them on the ground and then step back. The barrier should retreat with me.” Doing as he said, Keir gently laid the blanket and eggs on the ground and began walking backward. When he’d placed a good six feet between them, Keir stopped and deeply inhaled.

Thalia tried to take a step toward the eggs but was none too gently rebuffed. A dangerously low growl filled the air as Thalia’s breath turned into shimmering ice crystals. “Is this some sort of a joke? Or perhaps a poorly conceived power play?”

Keir’s eyes were as wide as mine. “I don’t understand,” Keir sincerely answered.

Thalia’s eyes narrowed and the transformed wyvern at her sides lashed their tails. “The barrier. It still surrounds the eggs. I can go no closer.”

Martin gasped as realization hit all of us at the same time. While I wasn’t certain how this situation would play out, I couldn’t help but grin. “It’s all about intention,” I repeated my earlier words. Giving Martin’s hand a final squeeze, I released his fingers and walked toward the eggs and Thalia. I wasn’t afraid. She couldn’t hurt me, even if she wanted to. As for the eggs, I doubted Thalia wanted to harm them, but they were part and parcel of us all now.

Going down on one knee, I allowed my fingertips to ghost across a jeweled shell. “It’s not a ploy,” I answered. “And I guarantee it’s unintentional. The short of it is that the protective barrier surrounding the compound views the eggs as part of the Magical Usage Council and as an extension of the group who survived Verona’s attack. If you mean one of us harm, you mean all of us harm. The barrier isn’t terribly selective regarding that concept.”

I expected more growling and posturing from the wyvern, and at first, that’s what we received, at least from the transformed wyvern. Thalia’s raised hand was all it took for them to settle. Head tilted to the side, Thalia first stared at the eggs and then to the air surrounding them. I had no idea if she could see the protective barrier or not. Regardless of visual conformation, Thalia could feel its boundaries the same as the rest of us.

“Interesting” slipped from Thalia’s weathered lips. “This is an unexpected development.”

Keir agreed, “On both our parts.”

After a few silent seconds, Thalia gave a barely perceptible nod. “I believe you, gryphon. The barrier may interfere with my ability to physically touch the eggs, but I believe I can still communicate with them. If the developing wyvern within speak kindly of you, then my intentions toward you and this council will be benign and should solve the problem. If, however, they do not speak well, then we shall have further issues. Do you understand?”

Keir spoke for all of us when he answered, “We understand.”

“Then we are of agreement.”