The lead dragon – a huge Gold Dragon, led the way. Behind him was the drummer riding a Green dragon with two other Greens on either side. Behind them, a pair of Black Dragons carried a wide, white lace litter hanging between them. I didn’t even look at the other dragons following. My eyes were glued to that litter, my breath hitching as I realized I was going to be riding in it.
I had not ridden high in the air since Vyvera strapped us in and Damokas winged his way into the sky. But we had been precious to them. And I had been precious to Ramariri when he carried my child self to safety. This would be different. Did these dragons care about whether we fell? Did anyone care?
And I was also worried that there was no sign of Heron. What had they done with him?
One dragon swept up from the back of the pack, a White Dragon bearing an Ilerioc with her hands full. She leapt gracefully from the back of the dragon onto the platform like she did that all the time. In her hands was a Dragon Staff and a strange headdress – wait. That was my Dragon Staff!
“That’s mine,” I said, severely.
“Indeed,” she agreed, her reptilian eyes narrowing from behind the veil. Other than the head wrap, her white clothing was looser and lighter than the guard’s was and I caught a glimpse of her skin – was it slightly green? How odd.
She handed me the staff and I took it with my eyes widening. They were giving me a weapon? But then again, was I going to try to fight twenty dragons with just this staff? Unlikely.
With care, she took the headdress and placed it on my head. It was shaped like an elaborate star made of stiff white lace, the points sticking out around my head and a tassel dangling down on each side of my face. It felt strange and bulky.
“You’ll ride to the place of judgment,” she said soberly, gesturing toward where the litter carried by Black dragons was hovering closer and closer to the platform.
It could only get so close. Even though it dangled on white ropes between the dragons, they couldn’t get much closer to the structure and still be flying. I’d have to take a solid leap from the platform to the lace litter.
Oh. I didn’t like this at all.
But what was the alternative? To be dragged like a child?
I liked that a lot less.
Gritting my teeth, I tossed the Dragon Staff onto the litter, stuck my tongue out in concentration, held onto Nasataa and took a running leap to the litter, landing awkwardly in the net. The heels of my boots caught on the lace and it was long moments until I caught my balance and settled in a cross-legged sit on the white lace. I was still shaking when I gathered up the Dragon Staff in one hand and reached up with the other hand to hold Nasataa tight against my shoulder and chest.
He’d slept through the whole thing, of course. Nothing bothered him.
I hoped he had a good reason to so relaxed. I hoped all my nerves would turn out to be over nothing.
“Seleska!” the Ilerioc guard called to me as I rose into the sky. “I think I will bet on you. You have a better sense of humor than Atura does.”
Chapter Five
Atura?
Atura was the other girl?
And suddenly my biggest concern wasn’t falling from this net. My biggest concern was protecting Nasataa from the one person who wanted him dead more than anything else. I gripped my Dragon Staff until my knuckles ached and my cheery smile turned into my mama whale face.
I’d seen a whale once from far away, out in the ocean and my father had told me a story about how whales only had one calf, and they protected that calf with their own lives, smacking their powerful tails to fight off any predators. If I had to smack someone with my tail today, I was going to smack as hard as I could. I’d practiced. I’d fought. I was ready.
Sort of.
It was hard – in all my determined stubbornness – to enjoy what should have been one of the most spectacular sights of my life. The dragon city lay all around me. None of it was built on the ground. Every structure was lofted into the sky, on pillars or bridges or long arms, suspended from wires or balanced nimbly on the edge of a cliff.
It was long minutes of silent brooding before I realized that the structures had a nest-like quality to them. Each structure was woven in white lace-like patterns. I still hadn’t figured out what they were woven off, but someone had taken care with the work. The patterns were not random. They were flowers or leaves or the silhouettes of dragons.
Water was everywhere – so strange for a mountain range marked by volcanoes. The water flowed blue and flashing white in falls from the heights, through woven nests, and even from one level to another. It followed the small walkways weaving between some of the structures in rivers and ended in brilliant blue pools. Rainbows formed in the bright clouds at the bottoms of the falls and glinted off the pools. They seemed to linger in the air everywhere.
If I had imagined paradise, it would look like this.
And everywhere, there were dragons.
Dragons lined the mountains peaks, sat in the nests, darted through the falls. They spun and dove and leapt and soared. They rippled in every color and shape and size.
Except for Blue.
There were no Blue Dragons anywhere except the precious sleeping dragon on my shoulders. My brow furrowed. I could feel the loss – like a missing friend. And the song of the sea was gone. I shivered as I suddenly realized I had been missing it all along. All this water and no song.
Where were the Blue Dragons? Why weren’t they here in this dragon city?
I gripped the Staff as we flew toward the highest peak in the range. It rose high above the others and at the top, where a waterfall fell from the peak, a rounded area had been carved, overlooking the city. It seemed important. The rock wall above the rounded area was shaped in a lacey star – like the hat they’d given me to wear. There must be some significance to that.
As we drew closer, I could make out shapes of dragons waiting in the rounded bowl. At their center, on a raised platform, a rainbow dragon sat, looking down over the rest like a mother. Like a queen.
Haz’drazen. I was going to see her. Maybe even meet her. My mouth felt dry and my tongue was swollen. What would I say? How could I plead Nasataa’s case to this glorious monarch?
I wished that Halana and Renny were with me. They were so wise about these things. They would know exactly what to do and what to say if they were here. My mother would be leaning over my shoulder saying, ‘Remember, Seleska, you must,’ and there were would be a thousand things for me to remember. I missed her. If only I hadn’t left the way I did before. They were probably worried sick about me.
If only I still had Heron with me, too. He was more level-headed than I was. He wouldn’t put his foot in his mouth or say something people could misinterpret. Losing his company left a hollow feeling. I knew he was my best friend and that I liked having him around, but I didn’t realize how much I depended on him to keep me steady.
I swallowed, forcing back tears. This was not the time for that. This was the time for steadiness and strength. With difficulty, I found my feet, standing in the lace net and keeping my feet under me. I would face them with dignity and strength.
No matter what.
Chapter Six
I was too small for this world.
I stroked Nasataa’s scales gently as our litter came to land at a platform reaching out from the rounded bowl at the top of the mountain. It was clear I was meant to step onto the outstretched rock to exit the litter, but I felt so small compared to everything else.
Around me, my escort was all watching, their dragon eyes glittering, their wings flapping almost idly. They were all huge. And foreign. Ramariri had felt huge, but he had never been anything but loving and kind. Damokas had been large, too, but he had clearly been close to Vyvera and I hadn’t felt concerned about him. Even the Blue Dragons had always been on my side, but here it felt different. I was surrounded by huge predators, all looking at me, and I felt small, vulnerable, and utterly alone.
Well – if I w
as the biggest one here, or the best one here, it wouldn’t be much of an adventure, would it?
“All we’re guaranteed in life is an adventure, Nasataa,” I said, thrusting my chin out determinedly. I wasn’t going to let them see me looking nervous. I gave him my most encouraging smile.
I leapt from the net to the platform and strode down it to where an Ilerioc was waiting at the end of the platform. Beyond her, dragons were arranged in ranks before their queen and a few humans in strange clothing dotted the landscape – as small and negligible as I was.
The Ilerioc turned before I reached her, leading the way through ranks of tall dragons, sitting on their haunches. Within moments, I lost sight of the queen’s platform or anything else. I was dwarfed in a forest of dragons. They towered over me in every color of dragon – Gold, Red, Black, Purple, Green, and White. From the crusty hard scales of the armored Reds to the ethereal smoothness of the Whites, each dragon gleamed in the sun, snapping occasionally or snorting thick clouds of steam. Every instinct in my body told me to run or hide, but I kept my head high, walking with wobbling knees as I followed the Ilerioc.
When Vyvera first told me the prophecy, and when Nasataa and I were first saved by Blue Dragons, I thought it made some sense that he was special and that they needed us. But right now, standing between these powerful beasts – creatures that did not deign to even speak to me – I couldn’t understand it at all. Why would they need us? What could they possibly need someone else to do?
And if Nasataa was so special, shouldn’t these massive creatures be his guardians and not a small, fragile human who didn’t even have any experience or power of her own?
I swallowed at the thought. I ached thinking about letting anyone else take my place with Nasataa. He was my little guy. He made me smile in the worst of circumstances. He filled my heart with joy. I’d give up any comfort to make him more comfortable. And yet ... wouldn’t it be better for him to be raised by his own?
Nasataa stays with Seleska.
He yawned dramatically on my shoulder and shifted so he could rest his jaw on the top of my head. I almost laughed at his thoughts. Maybe he was attached to me, too.
Seleska! Seleska!
Well, I’d do what I could.
It seemed to take ages to cross the rock bowl between the rows of the assembled dragons. I’d seen more tails – some barbed, some sharp, some clubbed – than I could count and more glittering eyes and sharp looks than I’d ever remember – except for maybe in my nightmares.
And then the way opened up, and the Ilerioc led me to a lacey platform, raised just a foot above the rock floor. It looked like a wide, shallow nest and it was positioned so that anyone standing in it could be easily viewed by the queen on her own perch above. The Ilerioc led me to a spot a little to the right from the center of the nest and pointed dramatically to it before stepping a pace ahead of me and sinking to one knee.
Should I be bowing, too? Probably.
And yet.
I was a little offended by how I’d been treated. They’d taken Heron. They said my fate and the fate of my small dragon rested on their decision. My eyes narrowed as I thought.
I was Nasataa’s protector and guardian. Guardians didn’t kneel to potential enemies. Guardians stood strong and firm. I spaced my legs shoulder-width apart and settled into a firm stance, Staff held out and braced firmly against the ground and my other hand made a fist on my hip. I was the guardian of this dragonlet and I was powerful and strong.
Sort of.
Okay. Whatever came next, I was ready.
I looked up at the queen on her throne. Rainbows flashed along her bright scales, making it hard to look at her directly. But I thought that perhaps I saw the glitter of her eye looking at me. Was that a wink? Of course not. It was simply a trick of the light.
Beneath her, standing right below her throne, a magnificent White Dragon paced back and forth, shaking his mane from time to time as if he found waiting difficult.
Long minutes passed in silence and then the click, click, click of boots on stone caught my attention and I turned to see a girl of my height and size dressed almost exactly like I was – except that where my clothing was blue and white, hers was red and black. She shook out her long black hair – hadn’t that been red before? How did she change it like that? – and her copper skin shone in the light. I wished I could show that kind of confidence. I wished I was that gloriously beautiful.
I swallowed down the disconcerting feeling that I was looking in a strange mirror. From her heeled boots to the Red Dragon baby on her shoulders, Atura was styled like my mirror image and the wicked smirk she shot me sent icy fear down my spine.
Chapter Seven
“I present myself and my charge to you, oh ancestor dragons!” Atura said boldly before her Ilerioc could even finish bowing and the bow Atura gave was elaborate. She held her Red Dragonlet before her like an offering. “I am the Guardian prophesied of old, and this is the Chosen One. As the prophecy says: One born on distant island far from home. One brought to keep him safe, if he roam. One given as a strength to face that day. One who with her life for them will pay. This dragonlet is the one born far from home in the Rock Regime under the Saaasallla’s rule. I am that one to keep him safe.” She shot me a nasty look. “This Blue Dragonlet is here to give his strength to Felroc so that Felroc may ascend and the woman carrying him will give her life to see this accomplished.”
Oh no, I would not.
Fury bubbled up inside me. She had a whole speech prepared based on the prophecy and why she and her dragonlet should be chosen! And why Nasataa and I should die!
I’d been worried about doing the right thing for Nasataa and worried about Heron and she’d been planning this big old speech! Where had she even found a dragonlet? You couldn’t just find one anywhere. And why was she fighting for this? I didn’t even want Nasataa to be their Chosen One. It put him at too much risk – but what other option was there if magic was being stolen by an enemy.
Wait. Maybe that was it. Maybe somehow those magic thieves had manufactured that little Red Dragon to manipulate the Dragons to do their bidding.
My eyes narrowed and my grip on the Dragon Staff grew firmer as I watched Atura. Little snake.
The Ilerioc in front of Atura spun and intoned, “Queen Haz’drazen welcomes you and receives your offering of honor. And yet, a question remains. Two have washed up on the shores of our mountains – two who have no right to carry a dragonlet or involve themselves in our affairs. And yet, one of you is the one prophesied.”
“Where is Heron,” I demanded quietly. I didn’t know any fancy words. I probably would have tried charm and smiles, but no one was greeting me or talking to me and I felt an edge of concern creeping over me and making me salty as the sea. No Blue Dragons to plead for us was bad enough, but they still held my ally and now they seemed inclined to be charmed by my adversary. I didn’t want to fight for a role I’d never asked for. I just wanted Heron free and we could be on our way. And if the Manticores and Ifrits and Dragons all decided to have a huge war between themselves, what was that to us?
My Ileroc spun. “Show respect to the Queen.”
“Respectfully,” I said, trying to keep the bite from my voice, “where is my companion? He is innocent of any wrongdoing.”
The Ilerioc’s eyes narrowed. “Your companion fought our guards, demanding with violence that we take you in and save your life. He is a criminal – a needlessly violent man. His judgment is separate from this affair.”
I gritted my teeth. Oh no. This was worse than I could have imagined. I looked around me and the situation I was in hammered itself into my brain. There would be no escaping this contest. I couldn’t fight my way out – I might not even be able to get down from this mountainside on my own. And my best friend was locked in a cell.
I tried what I did best. I smiled charmingly and made my prettiest face.
“Surely, you don’t really think he’s a criminal.”
Atur
a snorted loudly.
The Ileroc seemed unimpressed. “What I think matters not. What the queen thinks is the only thing that matters. Now, show some respect.”
I bowed, sinking to one knee like the rest, but I gritted my teeth as I did it. How did you show respect to someone who did not deserve it? I hadn’t asked for any of this and they were treating me and Heron like criminals. Meanwhile, they were treating Atura oh so nicely just because she had a pretty speech and the ability to lie through her teeth to get what she wanted. Fine lot of character judges they were!
Your objection is noted. The voice in my head was like a gentle whisper and I froze, looking up at the glittering eye of the Queen of Dragons. I could swear that was her. Beneath her throne, the White Dragon snarled something, punctuating it with a burst of flame.
The Ilerioc in front of Atura spoke to translate “We will ask our Elders, the honored Troglodytes to choose between these two.”
Silence filled the air, and it dawned on me that every dragon was still – not just here in the bowl, but everywhere. The dragons flying below had found perches. Those already perched were still as statues. Not an ear flicked or tail snapped. They were utterly still.
Only gusts of steam still spurted from nostrils and mouths, filling the bowl with wisps of hot mist.
Long moments passed before the White Dragon snarled loudly and around me, dragons turned their heads up and flamed into the sky.
Uh oh. This didn’t look good.
I looked to my Ilerioc translator. She was standing again, her knees shaking as she turned to me.
“The Troglodyte Elders,” she said with a shaking voice, “for the first time in our known history, are silent.”
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