by Audrey Faye
“Your dragon has a strange sense of humor.”
Lily gulped and looked over at the queen, who had taken to speaking to her at odd moments. “She likes to play.”
“That would be why we’re here,” Elhen replied calmly, turning to look over her shoulder. “What say you, old man? Do we jump from here?”
Lily sprang to her feet, throwing herself between the elderly queen’s body and insanity. “No, don’t do that.” She gulped as a regal eye nearly melted her where she stood. “There’s a path down. On the other side. To the sand.” She could feel her knees banging together, but no queens were going to die on her watch if she could help it, or old warriors either. Kis and Elhen had both made the long four days of walking entirely without complaint, but every morning as they arose, their bodies had been stiffer. Kis hadn’t taken a single step without pain, and the queen, steadfast as her spirit might be, seemed even more translucent than when the journey had begun.
“Don’t worry about them,” said a new voice, full of humor. “They’re tough as mountains, both of them. It’s the rest of us you need to worry about.”
Lily gaped as Fendellen landed on the cliff beside her, light as a feather.
The queen-to-be bowed to Elhen, and then bowed almost equally deeply to Kis. “You called, old man. I have come.”
“Not alone, I imagine,” Elhen said crisply.
Fendellen merely turned and folded in her wings to reveal the vista behind her.
Lily looked this time—really looked. The bay was gorgeous, the sun glistening off of salt water which was almost the exact color of Oceana’s lightest scales, surrounded by cliffs of beautiful rocks, steep pitches of black and red with glints of gold and streaks of pure white. Forest crowded almost to the cliff tops, and from the depths of the trees, spring-fed water flowed, spilling over the cliffs in an uncountable number of waterfalls. Some were tiny, small arrows of falling mist gently raining on the sands and water below. Some fell as great heavy dumps, landing with foam and thunder.
On the top of the cliffs, ringing the bay and carefully keeping their feet on dry rocks, were more dragons than Lily had ever seen.
Elhen surveyed those she ruled. “You have brought more than I expected. Perhaps this is a day for the young to lead.”
Crisp smoke blew out Fendellen’s nostrils, but it was Kis she answered, not her queen. “This is your battle, old man. I only came to hold your sword while you fight it.”
Kis’s eyebrow ridges slid up. “I expect you to be the third one in.”
Lily gulped. That meant Kis was very sure he and Elhen were going swimming
Fendellen simply nodded. Challenge accepted.
“Well done.” Elhen’s words conveyed her approval—and her merriment as a blue-green streak darted around Fendellen’s head. “I see that she remembers you.”
The queen-to-be blew smoke at Oceana’s tail. “Are those any kind of manners to show in front of your queen?” She sighed as the small dragon took off, chittering, heading straight for the water. “I believe my job today will be making sure she doesn’t splash anyone before they’re ready.”
Lily winced and dared to speak. “That should probably be my job.”
“Probably.” Fendellen’s eyes sparkled. “But since you can’t fly, why don’t you lead the way down the path to the sand, and I’ll see if I can keep your menace out of trouble until you can put your fingers in the water and tell her to behave.”
After four days of dust, Lily intended to put a lot more of herself in the water than her fingers, but she recognized the honor she had just been given. She hurried to put herself in front of Elhen and Kis. “This way.” There was more than one path down, but many were a hard slide even for a nimble elf. The one that would be wide enough for dragons led down to the widest strip of beach and would let them stay far back from the water’s edge and Oceana’s foolish antics.
Or maybe not so foolish. Lily breathed in the immensity of what was about to happen. All of dragonkind had come to play with her dragon today. That was worth getting excited about.
Assuming any of them actually made it into the water.
Lily refused to think about what might happen if they balked.
Fendellen took off after the small dragon streaking headfirst toward the water. Lily peeled her eyes away—there would be plenty of time to watch Oceana’s antics later, and she had a queen and a warrior to guide. She tried to swallow, but four days of travel hadn’t left anything in her mouth but dust.
A canteen appeared under her nose. Irin fell in beside Lily, as he’d done several times on the journey. She cast him an unsure look. “If you know a better way down, you should lead.”
He chuckled. “Both of the old farts walking behind us are more than capable of using their wings and gliding down to the beach. They do this to make a point. Half of dragonkind is up on those cliffs. This is theater, nothing more.”
Lily managed a blessed swallow of water from the canteen and kept her eyes off the cliffs. The queen at her back was pressure enough. “Gliding would be pretty impressive.”
“Not to a bunch of thimble heads who can fly circles around both of them.” Irin took back his canteen. “Do your best to look like someone who enjoys pomp and circumstance so we can do the old farts proud.”
A blast of hot air hit her back. ::Our hearing is not as elderly as you seem to think.::
Lily gulped. Elhen didn’t sound mad, but it couldn’t be a good thing to insult the queen.
::And you misunderstand our intent. This is not a procession.::
Kis raised an eyebrow. “Fine. Dusty and tired it is, then.”
Lily was entirely lost. Dusty and tired was the exact opposite of pomp and circumstance. “I don’t understand—they want to look weak?”
Irin chuckled. “Only if the fools up on the cliffs ate their common sense for breakfast.”
She definitely didn’t understand.
It was Elhen who explained. ::A good warrior shows their strength. A great warrior waits to show it until exactly the right moment.::
Lily slipped on a rock covered in loose dirt and cursed. Even a hare-brained warrior didn’t pick a clumsy elf for an escort. She focused on finding the path down, guiding the dragons at her back into the scrubby bushes through the widest opening she could find. Irin made a sound that might be approval.
Carefully, no longer worried about anything other than getting them all down to the bay in one piece, Lily picked her way through the twists and turns of a path that was not human or elf made, but clearly not intended for dragon travel either. She slowed, knowing they neared the steepest part of the descent, and felt a hot puff of smoke on her back. She scurried forward, Irin casually hopping boulders and bush limbs beside her. She wondered if he was making a point to the onlookers too.
When she finally stepped onto warm, dry sand, Lily let out a breath that could probably be heard up on the cliffs. She turned, nodded once at Kis and Elhen, and stepped out of the way. This part was definitely not her show.
Four wings flared as one, queen and warrior standing wingtip to wingtip, their necks arching to catch the rays of the midday sun. A roar rose from the cliffs. Lily couldn’t her own quiet gasp. Even dust-covered and weary, Elhen and Kis were magnificent.
Great warriors know when to show their strength.
Oceana buzzed by in the air, scattering droplets of water everywhere. Lily hissed, trying to get her dragon’s attention. Elhen merely stood as water sprayed across her nose. The wildly excited blue-green dragon headed straight for the water and dove in, surfacing with her eyes full of invitation.
Elhen looked at Kis and nodded regally. “After you, old man.”
With no hesitation at all, Kis walked straight to the water’s edge and in. He didn’t stop until the waves lapped halfway up his forelegs.
Oceana abruptly calmed, swimming in quiet circles, eyes glued to whatever he was telling her through the water.
Lily’s heart filled.
Kis
raised his head, eyes still on Oceana, his voice ringing out over the bay and up the cliffs to waiting dragon ears. “Our weakness was believing that you needed to become more like us, small one. That you needed to learn to let go of your water and stand in our fire. In that, we have erred. Today, I ask to stand in your water.”
Lily could feel her stomach literally trying to rise up through her throat. She took the two steps to the water’s edge and dropped her fingers into the sea, overwhelmed by Kis’s honesty and bravery—and laughed out loud as she discovered that Oceana wasn’t overwhelmed at all.
The small dragon was entirely focused on her friend, chittered happily, calling him deeper into the water. Ignoring the hordes on the cliffs, almost as if they didn’t exist.
Lily frowned. That wasn’t good.
Kis met her eyes. ::That is not your worry for today, missy. It is ours.::
::Indeed.:: Elhen had stepped to the water’s edge. She hesitated the tiniest moment and delicately dipped her front claws in the bay. ::May I come swim in your waters, little one?::
From the loud, nervous rumbling on the cliffs, Lily surmised all in attendance had heard the queen’s request.
Elhen nodded at Oceana, who sent back only wordless, incandescent glee, and raised her own head high. “We do this for the dragons of old, for the dragons of now, and for all those who will come from our lines. And we do it because it is not right for any of us to stand alone.” She took two more steps into the water.
Lily gaped as the queen of all dragonkind lifted her tail slowly and solemnly—and slapped it down on the water, raining splatters all over the golden dragon beside her.
Kis roared, nearly jumping out of his skin—and dove, straight into the deep of the bay. Elhen blew out a stream of fire and followed him.
Lily stood on the shore, dumbfounded, as two of dragonkind’s oldest and most regal members cavorted in the water like children. Chasing each other. Splashing. Trapping Oceana between them and utterly soaking her, much to the small dragon’s delight.
Then Kis raised his head, looked straight at the stunned dragons assembled on the cliffs overhead, and roared his challenge again.
Chapter 17
Mass confusion broke out on the cliffs. Dragons squirmed and wriggled, and a brave few launched off the cliffs, circling high above the bay. One ungainly dragon tripped over a neighboring claw, nearly pitching into a waterfall and launching himself into the air instead with a panicked screech and enough fire to put the trees below him at serious risk.
::No fire.:: Fendellen’s words rang inside Lily’s head. ::Our queen and our greatest warrior have shown the way. Let’s see if we can manage to follow them without burning down half the forest, shall we?::
Dragon heads dipped, chagrined—but no more left the cliffs to take to the air. And none of those in the air had come any closer to the water.
Lily tried to take a breath. Two dragons had gone into the water. Oceana had been acknowledged as important and worthy. It was not a disaster, even if not a single other dragon managed to go for a swim. But she could feel her dragon’s yearning. Her desire for playmates. Her uncertain joy.
A dragon willing to come out of the emptiness permanently—if only the others would meet her there.
She walked into the water, needing to offer Oceana support. Solace.
Her dragon swam in enthusiastic, but increasingly confused circles, casting longing glances at the shore. Elhen and Kis lumbered into the shallows, flanking the beach, small waves lapping at their feet.
Warrior and queen. Waiting.
Just beyond Kis, Irin sat on the shore, eating a bread roll and looking entirely like a man doing nothing more than taking in a day of sun and sand. Lily took a breath and tried to match his casual composure and his clear, understated faith in his dragon and hers.
It was the rest of the dragons she wasn’t sure of.
A number were making their way down the path to the beach. Fendellen had led a few others down in graceful flight. Most hadn’t left their perches on the cliffs, and the nervous rumbles hadn’t stopped since their queen had entered the water.
Now it was the turn of their queen-to-be.
Lily met Fendellen’s gaze, and in it, she saw bravery—and something that looked awfully like Alonia right before she did something silly.
The ice-blue dragon turned to the reigning queen and bowed. She did the same to Kis, who snorted. “Get on with it, missy.”
::I will, but I intend to do this in a way that those gathered behind me can follow—and perhaps those cowering up on the cliffs as well.::
Lily wasn’t sure who was hearing Fendellen’s words, but she suspected it included very few dragons. Irin winked at her, still chewing on his bread roll and hid a grin behind his hand. Whatever was coming, he seemed to think it would be worth watching.
Fendellen spread her wings and arched, preening, letting her scales catch the sun. Then she trumpeted into the sky. ::Lotus, my daredevil friend, where are you? I require your assistance.::
A peach-pink body launched off a cliff, making startled chittering sounds as she flew, a very surprised Sapphire clinging to her back.
Fendellen took to the skies in a single flap of her wings. She came alongside Lotus, and together, they circled around fast and tight behind the dragons high up on the rocks. They fired over their heads in formation, an ice-blue streak and a peach-pink one, Sapphire flattened down on her dragon’s neck yelling something that might be a curse or a prayer.
Then Lotus moved into the lead and dove straight for the deepest part of the bay, wings pulled in tight to her body.
Lily gaped. Fendellen was supposed to be the next dragon in, but Lotus was on a collision course with the water, the queen-to-be hot on her tail. Two dragon cannonballs, incoming.
At the very last moment, Lotus snapped out her wings, hurtling out to sea with her belly barely a finger’s breadth away from the water. Fendellen’s wings stayed tucked in as she arrowed into the water—and sent up a splash that soaked everyone in the water and thoroughly splattered those waiting on the beach. Lily ducked as several streams of surprised fire shot over her head, along with bellows and screeches and general dragon cacophony.
::Be still.:: Elhen glared at the protesting dragons on the sand. ::The greatest warrior I have ever known has called us to the water. Do not embarrass your queen.::
Heads hung in shame.
::Better.:: Elhen turned and nodded at Fendellen, who had quietly surfaced in the middle of the bay. ::That’s one way to get in.::
Lily hid a grin of her own. Oceana thought it was an entirely splendid entry, which any dragon touching the water could surely feel.
Fendellen did a watery barrel roll and blew smoke at Lotus and Sapphire, circling in the sky. ::You two coming in?::
Lotus promptly executed a barrel roll of her own and dumped Sapphire into the drink. She came up, spluttering, and pointed a finger at her dragon. “No more milk curds for you, missy.”
Lily knew that was an entirely empty threat, but Lotus wasn’t so sure. She circled closer to the water, making concerned chittering sounds.
Oceana thumped her tail on the water and splashed a peach-pink face.
Fendellen, who had swum into the shallows, stood and extended her wings. ::Follow me, little friend. You can be the next one in.::
Lily wasn’t sure whether Lotus had been chosen for that high honor because of her bravery or her tendency to act before she engaged her brain, but whichever it was, Sapphire’s dragon shot off into the sky after the queen-to-be.
Fendellen climbed, spiraling over cliffs and beach, and sounded a loud, triumphant reply to Kis’s roar.
Dragons rose up, dozens of them responding, as if her call was attached to their wings.
Lily immediately saw what the ice-blue dragon intended and grasped the problem, even if the powerfully flying queen-to-be didn’t. That many dragon cannonballs all at once and there wouldn’t be a bay left for the last ones to land in. She cupped her ha
nds around her mouth and yelled. “Fendellen! Not all at once!”
There was no chance the dragon flying highest in the sky could hear her.
::Try again. She’ll hear you now.:: Elhen sounded like she was ready to fall over giggling.
Lily repeated her words in a more normal tone. If the queen was boosting her words into the sky, there was no need to yell.
Fendellen slowed, high overhead, circling, a dragon horde hot on her tail. ::Sorry—I wasn’t thinking. How many?::
Everyone in the water was a good swimmer—or big enough to fend for themselves. Lily held up one hand, thumb tucked in. Dragon hearing might not be all that good, but their vision was impeccable. “Four. No more.”
She watched, astonished, as the dragons promptly layered themselves into circling groups of four.
::An old fighting maneuver.:: Kis sounded almost as entertained as Elhen. ::Apparently, some of them have managed to hold on to their brains.::
One someone hadn’t. Lily threw herself after her dragon, who was making a sudden beeline straight for the middle of the bay. Oceana might be the best swimmer, but that didn’t mean it was a good idea to be the target for dragon cannonball practice.
::We won’t hurt her.:: Fendellen and Lotus, flying highest in the sky, suddenly angled inward and down, dropping through the interior of the circling layers of dragons. Right after them came two more dragons, four sets of wings tucked in tight, faces hurtling into the wind.
Lily screeched and tried to squish herself and Oceana into as small a space as possible, which ended up being on the top of the wave that formed when an ice-blue rock and a peach-pink one hit the water on either side of them. That wave still had them high in the air when two more dragons struck, one blowing fire and the other trying madly to stop and not succeeding.
Lily winced as she toppled off the wild wave. Belly flops hurt, even if you were covered in scales.
Then two more dragons landed, almost on top of the first, and she realized they had bigger problems than awkward landings. She cupped her hands over her mouth again, a whisper yelling into a maelstrom. “Move! Get out of the way!”