Despite the wounds sustained from the fight with the bloodwyrms, Blythe and Eclair are the only ones still resting by the next day. Astralux, Lyssa, and the others are all eager to show Voxebellum around Adytol, Kalteratem gliding beside Voxebellum in the air while Giftigbun and Astralux trail just behind.
“As you can see, Adytol is a large city, but that is the entirety of Adytol,” Veremund says.
Voxebellum’s copper eyes peer down. “It’s a massive city though! There’s nothing this big on Serpens. It’s mostly tribal communities, and the few ‘cities’ there are would be like hamlets compared to this.”
I want to hear more about the continent of Serpens, but I’m also distracted by Astralux. Her bashfulness has remained, and she’s unusually quiet and subdued as we fly. I rub her scales at the base of her neck, and she glances back at me but doesn’t say anything.
“The people here seem at ease with dragons,” Voxebellum says.
“They are quite kind to us, in fact,” Kalteratem says.
“And you mentioned that there are other civilizations on Drakonia?”
“Yes, several other countries, most larger than Adytol.” Kalteratem glances southeast. “Two pairs of our own members went out to request aid from them, in fact, since Klevor has gone to war with Amenyl.”
Voxebellum glances at Kalteratem. “And the Vladykars, followers of Aneiros, have aligned themselves with Klevor, correct?”
Nodding, Kalteratem leads our group back to the Wards’ Palace, where the dragons land in the grassy area northeast of the glimmering white marble palace. “We don’t know the nature of their alliance. I don’t know if the Vladykars lead Klevor, or if it’s more of a mutual alliance. I can’t imagine that Klevor leads the Vladykars.”
“Unlikely,” Neil agrees.
Despite her shoulder and arm being bound tight with bandages, Lyssa drops to the ground from Giftigbun’s back without a problem. Voxebellum chuckles, watching her. “I know you said you aren’t a Ward, but you look completely at ease doing that one-handed.”
Lyssa grins. “I’ve been practicing for a while.”
“Speaking of.” Neil looks at me. “We should probably get back to training, Estelle.”
My joy at spending time with our newcomer sightseeing fades into the familiar fear.
Astralux, who’s been quiet up till now, leans over and nuzzles my arm. “It’ll be okay, Estelle.”
Voxebellum tilts his head, watching me. “You don’t like to fight, Ward Estelle?”
“I grew up as an assistant to my mom, who was our town’s only healer,” I say. Unable to give voice to the rest of why I’m so bothered, I instead look southwest.
“Then, you aren’t from Adytol,” Voxebellum notes.
I nod. “I’m from Inizion, a small town in the northwestern area of Adytol. Or, it was.” I flinch at my own correction, and Astralux puts her wing around me.
“I’m sorry,” Voxebellum says softly.
An Adytol guard comes jogging toward us. “Wards! Two dragons have been spotted to the southeast. We think it’s Ward Thorn and Ward Volkan and their bonded, but we can’t tell yet.”
We all turn and look up at the two dragon outlines. I can easily pick out the emerald green of Vitegadium, and the burnt orange of Tikokaftos, and my heart warms in gladness.
“It is our allies,” Veremund says, his voice full of relief.
The guard gives a whoop and jogs back to the outpost, shouting to his comrades to let them know all is well. We wait in the grassy area, waving as Vitegadium and Tikokaftos circle around to land.
“They don’t know….” Lyssa starts to say. And then she goes abruptly quiet.
My joy at our friends’ return collides with horror inside me, and I swallow at the lump in my throat. Astralux sends a warmth of relief through me—no doubt glad to see our four friends return home safely—and this helps me to breathe again.
“Volkan, Thorn!” Veremund says. “Tikokaftos, Vitegadium—it is good to see you all.”
“It’s good to be home,” Thorn says. His forest green eyes are on Voxebellum, but he glances at us, frowning when he takes in Lyssa with her bound arm. “Looks like you all had an eventful time while we were gone.”
Neil snorts. “That’s a story. But first, how did the negotiations go?”
“Boring.” Volkan swings his leg over the saddle and drops to the ground with ease, watching Voxebellum closely. “Delivered the letters with ease, left before there was much talking or decisions on whether they were going to join us or not. Only had one tribe that was too scared of us to even take the letter, so we had to leave it on a rock for them to get. Meanwhile, we come back home and there’s another dragon here!”
“I’m Voxebellum,” the bright silver dragon says. “I journeyed here from Serpens and came upon your other allies.”
Giftigbun chuckles. “What Voxebellum means to say is, he rescued a bunch of us from bloodwyrms.”
“Bloodwyrms?! Here?!” Tikokaftos says. “I didn’t know there were any known sightings near Adytol.”
“I take it that’s the abundance of injuries I see?” Thorn gestures to Lyssa’s arm.
Lyssa nods. “One of them got me pretty good.”
“Well, thank you!” Vitegadium says. “I’m glad you came to help!”
“Of course! I’ve been grateful to learn about the Wards, and your stand for Ariadna,” Voxebellum says.
Tikokaftos grins and looks at the other Wards. “I like him already.”
Chuckling, Thorn then looks at me. “How is Amon doing?”
I knew it was coming. Who of us wouldn’t have asked after being away for so long? But it still takes my breath away, and I swallow again at the lump in my throat, trying to find the right words. Any words.
Veremund puts a hand on my shoulder. “I think the four of you should come with me.”
Thorn stiffens, Volkan’s golden hazel eyes going wide. “Not Amon,” Vitegadium whimpers.
“This way.” Veremund and Kalteratem walk toward the far end of the field, the dragons on either side while Thorn and Volkan fall into step with Veremund.
Sharing in my sorrow, Astralux nuzzles my arm and then puts a wing over my shoulder. I turn and bury my face into her, holding her tight.
“Perhaps I should give you Wards space,” Voxebellum says quietly to Undabouclier and Giftigbun. “You’re all dealing with great sorrow.”
“There’s no need for you to leave.” Undabouclier glances at where the others have gone. “However, I think if you’re going to stay, you have a right to know more.”
The bad memories rise from the back of my mind, and I take a step away. I can’t listen to this yet.
Astralux, who still has a wing around me, nudges my arm. “Let’s go somewhere else. Maybe we can take a short flight.”
“That’s a good idea,” Mortimer says. “Maybe get yourselves some food.”
I nod and mount Astralux in a swing, her anxiousness to be moving spurring me on faster. She takes off at a running bound and rises in the air quickly. The cool, fresh wind blowing past us immediately calms us both, and we share a sigh as we glide above Adytol.
“I never thought flying would be like taking a walk for me,” I say. “But it’s so peaceful up here.”
We both jump at the sound of a dragon’s roar, and I look back to see Volkan and Tikokaftos rising into the air, their faces visibly twisted with anger and hurt.
“I think they heard the whole story,” Astralux says quietly.
Hurting for them—as their feelings of betrayal must run deeper than mine—I watch as the pair fly straight northwest. “They won’t do anything rash, will they?”
“I don’t think so, but my father and Veremund will know better than me. If I had to guess, they are just angry and need space. Maybe yell for a bit.”
“That does sound kind of nice,” I say.
Astralux laughs. “I can’t imagine you yelling in anger.” She suddenly goes quiet, although I’m not sure why.
Spotting a tiny little alcove above the waterfall, I gesture to it. “That might be a good place to stop for a bit.”
Astralux circles around before landing. “This is a favorite napping spot for Undabouclier.” I can smell the large dragon’s presence here, a faint briny metal, and the grass looks padded down. I look over the edge to see Adytol below us, the Ward’s Palace to our left.
“I can see why. A bit secluded, but still good visibility,” I say.
Astralux curls up, and I lay between her front paws, both of us staring out into Adytol. A peace and a calm fills me, listening to the waterfall. It’s loud enough that it drowns out the sounds of Adytol, soothing to my anxious mind, and I lean farther back into Astralux and close my eyes.
Over the rush of the waterfall I hear the flapping of dragon’s wings. I open one eye to see Vitegadium poke his head around the rock edge of the alcove, Thorn in the saddle and leaning forward to see us. “Hey there,” Vitegadium says, his voice trembling and weak. “Can we come in?”
Astralux chuckles a little as she and I stand and shift to the side. “It’s certainly not our alcove. If anything, we probably should have asked Undabouclier.”
Vitegadium half-glides in, half-crawls over the edge of the cliff, slipping into the grassy area beside us. I tense a little at the glistening of tears in the bonded pair’s eyes, trying to brace myself for any questions they might still have, or accusations.
Thorn drops to the ground with ease and strides over to where I’m still standing. His forest green eyes stare into my own, his throat visibly swallowing. Then he takes my hands gently. “I’m sorry, Estelle.”
His surprising, kind gesture hits me hard. The pain rushes through me afresh, and I bury my face into his shoulder as I sob. Thorn hugs me tightly and says nothing more.
The peace of this area fills me again—as does Astralux’s attempt to calm me—and at last I take a breath and step back. I rub my eyes with my sleeve. “Thanks,” I say. “I’m sorry too.”
Vitegadium gives a noisy, sad sigh that’s slightly muffled. I spot him with his face buried under Astralux’s wing, while she’s set her head over his neck, hugging him.
“So.” Thorn clears his throat multiple times and eventually glances out. “There’s another dragon here.”
“I like Voxebellum,” I say. “He’s been very welcoming.”
“I was shocked to see another dragon here, but he seems sincere,” Thorn says. “We can always use more allies.”
I smile a little. “Astralux likes him.”
Astralux growls loudly, startling Vitegadium, and I feel a rush of indignation and embarrassment flood into me.
Thorn shares a grin with me and then we both fall quiet, spotting Voxebellum sitting before Giftigbun and Undabouclier, perhaps as they recount recent events to him in more detail.
“So nothing interesting on your journey? At all?” I ask. “I would have thought seeing other countries and cultures would have been fascinating.”
Thorn shrugs. “I didn’t think it was too bad. But you have to remember, we didn’t stay long enough to make friends or enemies. Our goal was to hand off the letters. I’ve also heard tell of them in my training, so nothing I saw surprised me that much.”
I shake my head. “Training, training, training. I feel like sometimes that’s all some of you did.”
“What else do you do in a city tucked away in a mountain?” Astralux asks.
Sitting at the edge of the alcove, looking down, my heart fills with warmth. “I don’t know. But then again, I wasn’t bored in Inizion.”
Thorn sits beside me. “I think you’re more content than some of us.”
“Hey!” Astralux flaps her wings, and I can feel her indignation through our bond.
Chuckling, Thorn shakes his head. “I meant me.”
“Oh.” Astralux settles down, and I glance back to see her giving a rather sheepish look to Vitegadium, who’s grinning.
Smiling, I turn back around, Thorn and I simply looking down upon the Ward’s Palace and Adytol, watching the other Wards as they continue to talk to Voxebellum, glad to have someone new here, hoping the sharp pain of loss and betrayal will fade soon.
Tamara Rivers 
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