We parted on good terms, for we will see each other again, but it was still hard to say goodbye. The Ashwraiths intend to begin trade and maintain good relations with the people of the Ashlands. Kaden will serve as diplomatic representative of his people. And I, it was decided by others, will represent the people within the Wall of Light.
When we arrive at the gates, I see that they have been altered. No longer can they only be opened from the outside; Levers to unlock the passage have been built on the inside as well. We travel past the gate, and for a moment my body tenses, preparing itself for danger, but then I remember the danger is gone, and my body relaxes, and for the first time I enjoy the beauty of the Ashlands.
Vast plains spread beyond the horizon covered in patches of emerald grass, and long rivers stretch throughout the land, because water can and always has passed through the light of the Wall. Towering mountains loom in the distance, and I grow excited as I realize this land is yet to be discovered. Yet to be mapped.
So when we arrive at Na’Razim, I announce that I will lead an expedition to explore the Ashlands and locate regions suitable for new cities. Naoki argues with me to stay, because they believe a High Dragon should rule the people, and after much thought, I agree to a leadership position, if I can create a council to be elected by the populace who will manage daily affairs. Naoki, after much grumbling, agrees to my proposition, because what else can they do?
Raven offers to join me on my expeditions, but the rest of the squad remain in Na’Razim and begin a new School of Ash. Though the dragons are gone, Spirits remain, and there must always be Ashknights and Ashlords to find the Broken Ones of the world and guide them. The practice of Charred however, is dissolved, and slowly Naoki begins training as well, unlocking powers once forbidden to them.
At first it is whispered that the the Dragoneyes Squad are the last remaining Ashknights still alive after the Ascension. But that assumption is quickly proven false as Ashknights and Ashlords and Ashlings who survived the Sundering find their way to Na’Razim, Tara and Clive of Gray Squad among them. The Charred too, hundreds of them, find their way to the city, and are surprised when their wristbands are removed. Some of them weep. Some of them shout in joy.
Landon and Zev become the head teachers of the new school, their friendship growing even stronger as they argue over new policies and teaching methods. Enzo and Mabel help from time to time, but they seek out a more private life. One in which they can make a home together and perhaps one day even have children.
Raven and I begin our expeditions, traveling the vast Ashlands for months at a time. We map rivers and mountains and give them names. The first mountain we found we called Bix the Honorable.
And one day, as the sun begins to set, and we are tired from a day of traveling, I cross over a hill and see a familiar sight in the distance. A mountain crooked and weathered by time. And then I remember Adragasa’s dream.
The crooked mountain.
The crooked mountain.
The crooked mountain.
Save us.
I run all night until I reach my goal, finding the dark cavern I saw in my vision. Raven and I crawl deep into the bowels of the mountain. We discover old glyphs and words carved into the walls. Tales from the ancient days of Nir. And then, far below the surface, in the heart of the crooked mountain, we find a cavern with nine stone eggs.
Somehow, nine dragon eggs survived the Ascension. I suspect it is because of how deeply buried they were underground. Raven theorizes the glyphs carved into the walls may have given them protection. Adragasa knew of the eggs. Showed them to me. I suppose she must have prepared for the possible threat of extinction to her race. Why she decided to show me the location of her precious children, I will never know. Maybe because of the blood bond we shared.
We transport six of the eggs with us to Na’Razim, leaving three behind in case they are ever needed again. After the eggs are given proper warmth, they begin to hatch. Four are female. Two are male. They are not the intelligent dragons of old. They are the newer breed the Outcast told me of. But they are full of love and wonder and joy at being alive.
The people of Na’Razim consider them their greatest treasure. And it isn’t long before the babies grow into drakes. They develop personal bonds with certain individuals. One takes a special interest in Raven, and she names the dragon Bix.
One day, as I work on the design for a dragon saddle, I hear news of the Ashwraith emissary. He was not supposed to arrive for another month however, and I rush out to greet him and find out why he is here so early.
Kaden stands at the entrance to the city. When he sees me, his face lights up and he wraps me in a hug.
“Is something wrong?” I ask, pulling away to see his face.
His eyes are glossy. “No,” he says. “Things are just as they should be. I have renounced my position as Prince of the Ashwraiths, and now I come here, seeking a new life, if you will have me?”
I am overjoyed at the news. But… “Your people?”
“I have given my life to the Cliff,” he says. “I have given my life to the Ashwraiths and their freedom. And now, with the battles over, perhaps I can have some freedom of my own. To make my own life. With you.”
I smile and grab his face in my hands, leaning into him until our lips touch. We linger there at the entrance for quite sometime until we reluctantly pull away to find somewhere more private. It isn’t until many hours later that we head back into the city, holding hands.
In the coming days, Kaden takes a keen interest in the drakes. He helps find them the best food, the safest places to roam. He nurtures them and loves them as they grow. I think it is his way of atoning for the many dragons he killed as an Ashlord, and I see him happier than ever before.
And then, many months later, Raven comes to me with peace and determination in her eyes. And she says, “I’m ready to go back.”
Fifty-Three
Home
Fear. Trepidation. Excitement. It all builds in me as Raven and I stand by the fountain in a world that used to be home and now seems so very foreign. It smells different here. Worse. I scrunch up my nose and look at Raven, who is taking it all in without giving any hint as to what she's thinking.
"You don't remember any of this, I imagine," I say. "You were just a baby."
She looks over at me, her face softening. "I remember you. And I remember my brothers."
She never told me this, that she remembered us. She knew who I was when we met because of Pike. At least, that's what I always assumed.
But this. I had no idea. And my heart breaks again for the little girl I lost, but I can't help feeling proud of the woman she's become. With or without me.
I reach for her hand, and she slips hers into it. "Are you ready to see them?" I ask.
She nods.
I pull out a cell phone and American currency—retrieved from a local cache Kaden told me about—and schedule an Uber. When our car arrives, I give the address I have never forgotten, and then I stare out the window and try to imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn't gone with Kaden that day.
I look at Raven, and I know it's not a choice I could have made. She'd be dead right now if I hadn't gone. So much would be different.
The Uber driver drops us off at the curb, and I hand him some cash. Once he's gone, Raven and I look at the house. And then we approach the door and I knock.
It takes a moment, but we hear someone running to the door, and then it opens.
At first, I think we have the wrong house, or that they've moved, which is a possibility I'd considered but couldn't face. But then the tall man at the door cocks his head in a way so familiar I have to bite my tongue to stifle a cry.
"Kyle?"
"Yes. Do I know you?" He looks more closely at me and his face pales and then hardens.
He recognizes me. I see the moment it happens. The moment his hurt and pain turns to anger.
"What do you want?" he asks.
He's a young
man now, grown beyond what my memory can hold. He stands tall, shoulders broad, towering over me.
But within this man's body, I see the child I left so many years ago. And I hold out my pinky, tears filling my eyes. His face collapses and he holds out his. We link them together as I say, "I promised I'd come back and that I'd tell you everything once I understood it."
He nods, his eyes glossy now too. "Where have you been?" His voice cracks.
"It's a long story. You going to invite me in? I've brought someone who really wants to meet you."
Blake came home within ten minutes of getting the call, and he pulled me into a bear hug and cried into my shoulder. When he saw Raven, he went speechless. It took us long into the night to tell the story. To explain why Kara was older than them now, when she was the baby. To explain why I was gone for most of their lives. To explain what all of it had meant.
Caleb was quiet most of the night and only now raises his hand to speak.
"You don't have to raise your hand," I say. "You can just talk."
"Did you miss us?"
That's his only question. Did I miss them.
Tears stream down my face and I nod. "With all my heart, I did. With all my heart."
And then there are hugs, and more stories, and more hugs, and more tears, and this lasts many days. And then weeks. And then months.
And then.
Then.
It is time to go home.
Because this is no longer our home, mine and Raven's. This is where we are from, but no longer where we belong.
And in those goodbyes, there are hugs and stories and tears and more hugs and stories and tears.
No one makes any promises, because we can't be assured we can keep them.
Save one.
That we will hold each other in our hearts forever.
Before I leave, I give each of them a necklace I had carved before we left.
Kyle looks down at his. "A dragon." He looks up. "Is this real? Like, really real?"
I look at Raven, and she nods, and I connect to Spirit. When I hold out my palm, Umi appears.
Caleb screeches. Kyle gasps and Blake drops his jaw in awe.
"This is Umi. He's a part of me, and I of him. Umi, this is my family."
"Way to bury the lead," Blake says, as my baby dragon takes turn perching on everyone's hands.
We leave with happy tears and happier memories.
We leave knowing we kept our promise.
We came back.
One last time.
Epilogue
Twenty years later
SKY
A gentle breeze carries the scent of dragon's breath as the three moons shine brightly in the night sky. The stars are dazzling this early in the morning, and I wonder at the vastness of it all. I pull my robe more tightly around my body as Umi perches on my shoulder, purring gently in my ear. Wind pulls at my long loose hair, whipping it through the air, and the little dragon bats at it with his wings.
My thoughts buzz through my mind like angry bees, and I breathe in the cool air and try to let the stillness of the night seep into me.
When I hear his footsteps approach, I smile. Even after all these years, he makes my heart dance.
"Another dream?" Kaden's voice is deep and seductive, still laced with sleep.
"Yes," I say, my eyes still glued to the horizon. In the distance, moonbeams catch on a dragon's scales as it soars through the stars. "Nir is out there, somewhere. Not on this world, I think. But out there, waiting for me to find him. To free him. To bring him home."
Kaden's arm slip around my waist and I lean my head against his chest, snuggling into his warmth, into the comfort of him.
Umi, disrupted from his spot on my shoulder, flies off and lands on Ashpaw's back, who followed Kaden to the balcony. The two play with each other, and we watch for a moment, amused by their antics and kinship after all these years. As Ashpaw rolls to his back, I see the gentle red pulse in his chest that has kept him alive long past his mortal life expectancy. His reward for saving the lives of our twin children when they were babies.
"You'll find him," Kaden says, pulling me back to my swirling thoughts. "The diggers continue to excavate the underground caves. Each clue brings us closer."
He's not wrong, but it's been years. So many years.
I turn in his arms and look up at the chiseled face of the man I have loved most of my life. "Who would I even be without you?" I ask.
He leans down to kiss my forehead. "You would still be the most magnificent woman in all the Nine Worlds," he says.
His lips dip lower to find mine, when a crash and raised voices disrupt our moment. "What the… "
The door to our bedroom suite slams open and a fierce woman dressed in black storms in followed by two bedraggled guards—a man and woman—who look at us apologetically.
"We tried to keep her out," the man says.
The woman rolls her eyes. "Sky, who are these dragon-bait?"
I laugh and leave the embrace of my husband to join Raven and the guards. "They're new," I say. "From Lacrasha. Landon sent them. He wasn't impressed with our personal retinue last time he was here, so he insisted on sending his personally trained guards."
Raven smiles at that news, and her features soften instantly. She turns to them. "Apologies. I didn't recognize you and didn't know you were sent by Landon."
They grunt, but still look unhappy as they glance at me for instructions on what to do next. "We're okay here," I tell them. "Raven is family and welcome any time."
They both nod and return to their guard duties outside our suites.
I turn to the woman who was part daughter, part sister and is now my best friend. "What couldn't wait until the sun rose at least?" I ask, though my grin belies my gruff tone.
"I knew you'd be awake." She raises an eyebrow. "The dreams are getting stronger aren't they?"
I nod. There's a spark in her dark eyes, and though she's harder to read than most since her time with Pike, I can read her. I know she's got news. "Tell me."
Kaden stands by my side, and reaches for my hand.
"We've found something."
Umi perks up at this, and flies to land on Kaden's shoulder.
Those are the words Kaden and I have been waiting to hear for twenty years.
Twenty years since we took our people into the Ashlands after the Sundering.
Twenty years since we found that first cluster of dragon eggs and knew there was hope. That we hadn't destroyed them all. That we could rebuild. That we could start anew with a better vision for living in companionship with them.
We've nurtured them. Trained them. Integrated them into our communities.
These dragons aren't what they once were. They no longer feed on Spirit. They no longer hunt humans. They have become allies. Friends.
Nir's vision has been fulfilled, and now, I need to find Nir. To save him. To bring him home.
And so I continued to look. To search. To scour the earth for clues. He comes to me in my dreams, as he did so long ago. But his messages are harder and harder to decipher. We are running out of time. If the dreams stop, if that connection is lost, I may never find him and reunite him with his children, his world, his legacy.
"What did you find?" Kaden asks, his voice urgent, as my heart skips erratically in my chest.
"Come see for yourselves," Raven says, a sly grin on her face. "Sky's the only one who will know for sure. Nico and Nova are meeting us at the stables."
Raven leaves us to dress, and though there is much I wish to say to Kaden, I don't know the right words.
Because if this is what we've been looking for, it means everything will change.
"Are you ready for this?" he asks as we finish dressing.
"Can anyone ever be ready for what comes next?" I ask.
"Security is mostly a superstition," Kaden quotes. "It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run
than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." He raises and eyebrow and I laugh.
"I have no idea," I say. This has been a game of ours since we met. He quotes someone and waits to see if I can correctly identify who originated it.
He frowns melodramatically. "You have to at least guess, or it's no fun."
"At least tell me which world it's from," I say.
He sighs. "Gai."
I shrug. "Um, Benjamin Franklin?"
"Helen Keller," he says with a wink.
We stand by the door of our quarters and I look around at the comforts we've surrounded ourselves with. The opulence. The luxury. A huge four-poster bed with silk and satin sheets. Hand carved furniture made from the trees of Ash Forest. A blazing fire to keep the chill out. Books that line the walls, even though we have a fully stocked library in the east wing of the castle. A life we walk in and out of each day. How much longer will this be ours? I wonder.
Kaden tugs at my hand and we make haste through the castle that was built into the cliffs with the help of the dragons.
Horses are readied for us when we arrive at the stables. Nico and Nova are there, and our eyes meet.
"Do you think this could be it?" Nova asks, her long dark hair braided into twists on her head. She has her father's blue eyes, but my face.
Nico is the opposite, with my eyes and his father's features.
Our miracle twins, born into a world still recovering from the war and the Sundering. Born as powerful Twin Spirits, with High Dragon blood flowing through them. They now lead the Council of the Ashlands, with Kaden and I as advisors and figure heads. Handing them the royal crowns freed us up to pursue our quest of finding Nir and discovering if any other Elder Dragons remain.
Kaden and I each have our own motivations for this. For me, it's to reconnect with my blood. To find and free Nir—who is my grandfather. For Kaden… it's a bit more complicated. He feels guilt for how much dragon blood is on his hands. For living blindly in a world that used dragons as resources. Now, he wants to make amends. To set things right.
Of Dreams and Dragons Page 40