*****

Chapter Twenty Six

Plan

*****

Once we reached our begrudging understanding, it was time for the gryphons to uphold their end of the bargain. If I was going to allow them to stay in my home while their companions healed from our battle, then in return they were to escort Nesh and me to a human city. He needed to restock his medical supplies, and I had to do whatever I could to show his people I did not wish to be their enemy any longer.

The four of us returned to the map room. I knew little of the geography of human lands, and so I tasked the gryphons with choosing our destination. We settled in front of Melakar's notes and his grand atlas while Blue Jay and Sparrow debated a number of possible locations. I asked them to select one that was large enough to provide anything Nesh needed, but would also be unlikely to try and shoot me down. I gave them permission to use Melakar's notes and books to aid their decision.

While the gryphons conversed in their own language, and browsed Melakar's journals, I studied the map. It still struck me to see nearly an entire continent laid out that way. Just how much of it had Melakar visited? A decade was enough time for a dragon's wings to carry a distance beyond measure. But such expansive, crisscrossing travel was rare for our kind.

Usually, dragons only traveled a great distance to seek out a new home. The dragons who left the valley, including my own son, did so not to wander the world beyond, but to stake out a new part of it for themselves. If Melakar had truly been to so many places, then I could not even imagine the things he must have seen. He might well have been the first dragon in history to lay eyes on some parts of the world, or to bare witness to the strange and terrifying marvels dreamt up and constructed by the other thinking races.

For a moment, a brief moment, part of me was angry. If I'd known back then how often he left the southern valley unguarded, I would have accused him of shirking his duty to sate his wanderlust. But I knew better, now. There was nothing we could do to stop Nesh's people if they ever invaded our valley. Melakar saw no more use in guarding the southern valley on his lonesome. One dragon could not stop an invasion, but a peace treaty could.

Another part of me was happy for him. Melakar had always wanted to go and see the world. More than that, he wanted to experience it. To lay eyes upon other civilizations, to hear their languages and their music, to taste their foods and drinks, to see the golden sands of the deserts, and smell the salt of the great oceans at world's end. At least, in his last years, he was finally able to fulfill some of those wishes. I hoped that despite the hardships he surely endured, he had enjoyed his travels just the same.

“Tivos." Sparrow's raised voice cut through my thoughts like an unsheathed claw, drawing my attention. She turned her face towards Nesh, her ears perked. “We've agreed upon Tivos, if you concur."

Nesh stepped towards the map, stroking his chin. “Tivos, Tivos." He scowled, folding his arms. “The frontier trade hub? It's a little too big for our purposes, isn't it?"

Sparrow rustled her wings. “That hasn't stopped Melakar from visiting it." She clicked her beak for emphasis. “Repeatedly."

I arched my neck, flattening my frills. “Why would he visit a human city so often? Are there important people there to negotiate with?"

“We're not sure." Blue Jay swept his paw across Melakar's many notes and journals. “Most of this is in your language, Ella. Tivos is the largest city in the region, but it's right near the disputed border with Shevar. It's a strategic location, and if he was holding talks with both sides?" He held up his forepaws to quell any disagreement. “It might have been easier for him to fly from one country to the other, and back again. That's just a guess, mind you. All we can say for certain is he's visited Tivos quite a few times." Blue Jay patted one of the journals. “For example, he's got drawings of a rail station under construction. Then a few pages later, drawings of the same place, completed and with passengers lining up for locomotives."

Sparrow bumped my tail with hers. “We're hoping that means it's a safe place for you to visit, as well." 

“After all," Blue Jay said, shrugging his wings. “They weren't the ones who shot Melakar down, so…" He trailed off, glancing at his paws. “Sorry. Very poor choice of words."

I shook my head. “That's alright. What do you think, Nesh?" I turned my attention to him. “Do you think it's safe?"

“It's hard to say." Nesh frowned at the map, adjusting his sleeves. “It seems as good a place as any to start. If you had time to really study everything Melakar wrote about his visits, we might know better."

“Or I might spend months finding all the proper entries, and end up reading about nothing but custard factories." I sighed, scratching my neck with a wing-tip talon. “Where is this city?"

Nesh chuckled. “Custard isn't made in factories, Ella." He tapped a finger on the map. “Tivos is here, on the southwest border of Diandrios. Near the wilderness frontier, and the lands of our rival. This river here's the official border." He traced a finger along the snaking blue line dividing human territories. “But see all these villages, dotting the wilderness?" Nesh pointed to a few other little markings. “Those are all considered part of the disputed frontier. Some of them might be non-human." He glanced back at me. “Tivos is probably already used to trading with exotics, so I'd say that's a good sign."

I lifted my spines, cocking my head. “Exotics?" I had not heard that term from him before, and I could not tell if it was meant as a term of curiosity, or denigration.

Nesh blinked, then scrunched up his face. “Oh, now that I say it out loud, it sounds terribly offensive. It wasn't meant that way, though. It just means the non-human races, really. Your urd'thin, your gnolls, your lizards…oh, that's not the right term either, is it?" He rubbed his forehead, scowling.

“Va'chaak, they call themselves." I arched my neck a little bit, trying to keep my corrections gentle. I doubted the humans in his army spent much time studying the cultures of the species who lived in wild lands beyond their own frontiers. “We have all those people in the valley, too. The gnolls in particular are rarely fond of humans, in my experience."

Nesh's scowl deepened, and he folded his arms. “Admittedly, we don't have the greatest history with treating other species very well. Hell, we can't even treat our own species right. Anyway, hopefully those villages mean the people of Tivos are already used to trading with other races."

“So, if gnolls are exotic, but we're demons…" I glanced at Sparrow, pinning my spines and flicking my tail tip. “What's the difference? Extra limbs?" I snorted, tossing my head. “Or is it our fire?"

“I…uhm…" Nesh rubbed the back of his neck. “Well…that is…"

I reached out with a paw to tussle his head fur. I knew he meant no harm, but that didn't mean I was going to stop teasing him. “Relax, Nesh, I'm only toying with you."

“That does bring up an interesting question, though." Sparrow clicked her beak. “If humans think of the other bipedal races as exotic, then what are we?" She stretched one of her wings as if to show it off. “We must be especially fascinating and mysterious."

“Oh, I'm sure you once were!" Nesh blinked when Sparrow flattened her ears. “Erm…still are, I mean. You're certainly fascinating and mysterious to me! Since I've never really worked with the gryphon legion, or…spent much time with your people, and…"

“I think what Nesh is trying to say is…" I curled a foreleg around his middle, rumbling. “Once you live in their cities and adopt their religions, you're hardly exotic anymore." I pulled Nesh back and hugged him against myself before he wedge his foot any further into his own mouth. “Returning to the matter at hand, you're right. If the city of Tivos has hosted a dragon before, that bodes well for our odds. Will they have all the medical supplies Nesh will require, and in high number?"

Blue Jay flourished a forepaw. “A city that size should have everything you need."

“Agreed." Sparrow chirruped, glancing at the map. “It's likely the largest city we can visit with some degree of safety."

I set my jaw, my stomach twisting. The idea of visiting so large a human settlement already sat cold and hard in my guts. “Why would Melakar go somewhere so populous? Could he negotiate an alliance or peace treaty with your people there, Nesh?"

“Not directly, no." Nesh leaned over my foreleg to examine the map again. “But he could have been trying for a local trade agreement to begin with. Cities and regions have autonomy for that sort of thing." He shrugged and leaned back against me. “Hell, maybe he just he wanted to see how we build rail stations, or witness locomotives up close."

There were those words again. Rail stations, locomotives. I did not know what they were, but I decided against asking, for the time being. The way the gryphons and Nesh used the terms made them seem like common knowledge. I did not want to appear a fool in front of the birds. Later, I could have Nesh explain it.

“Let me see those pictures you mentioned." I released Nesh from my gentle grasp, then curled my tail around my paws. “If they have associated notes, that may provide some clues about his motives."

“Good idea." Nesh went to the pile of tomes the gryphons had set aside during their debates. “Which one was it?"

Sparrow passed him a book. “The pictures Kraas mentioned are in here, entry number seventeen. But there's another half dozen journals with notes in draconic that correspond to the other map numbers labeled all around Tivos."

Blue Jay gave an irritable chirp. “Your former mate really needed a better system."

I chuckled and shook my head. “If only. I'm sure it all made perfect sense to him. He was always like that. He could have found any book, at any time, in his entire collection." I drummed claw tips against the cavern floor. “Yet never could he explain to me exactly how."

“We'll start with entry seventeen, then." Nesh flipped through the book until he found it. “Here we are. I can't read your language, Ella, but there's lots of drawings of a city." Nesh paged through the long entry, inspecting images. “There's a big outdoor market. Here's a mansion. Ah! There's the rail station Blue Jay mentioned."

I peered down at the drawings. They depicted several long, brick buildings with metal arches in various stages of construction. In the last of the series, they were completed. In the background, lines of humans stood alongside some kind of elongated, wheeled machine that belched smoke. “They do appear to be documenting something's construction, yes."

Blue Jay chirped his agreement. “Do you suppose your mate just returned to this book to add a new drawing every few months? That seems awfully inconvenient, even for him."

“Not likely." I looked around the room, from the map, to the books, and the larger pictures, and everything else he'd assembled. “The most haphazardly written notes are probably his old travel journals. He probably documented his trips while he was gone, then tried to transcribe them into his numbering system once back home."

Sparrow flexed her wings. “So you're saying these are hard to follow even when you can read his language? Wonderful." She waved at the book. “There's also a woman who keeps appearing in all his Tivos entries. Our best guess is she's his local contact."

Nesh turned a few more pages, then smiled. “Ah, yes, here she is."

I lifted my frills, patting the ground. “Let me see, Nesh."

Nesh turned the book towards me. A woman's portrait was drawn across the full page. My jaw dropped, and my spines shot up. I knew this woman. The sight of her stunned me. My heart shivered, flooded with confusing emotions and uncertainty.

“I…" I was so surprised to find her staring back at me that I could not even find words.

“Ella?" Nesh set a hand upon my neck. “Ella, are you alright?"

I forced myself to swallow, to try and speak. But when I opened my maw again, incredulous laughter tumbled from me in place of words. I laughed and laughed until the others must have thought something in my brain had finally ruptured. I waved off Nesh's concern, and finally gave a happy sigh.

Sparrow clacked her beak noisily when my laughter faded. “Alright, dragon, who is she?"

“Her name is Ayrah." I reverently traced my pads across the image. The artist had captured her perfectly. She looked much older than I remembered, with more lines in her face, but the mischievous smile, the glint in her eye, the curls in her hair, they were all familiar. “She was a vassal of ours, years ago." I offered Nesh a playful purr. “Ayrah is one of the humans who taught us all your language's dirtiest words."

“Oh, Lord." Nesh put his face in his hand.

“That was a long time ago, mind you. She was a thief, on the run from your lawmen. Younger than you, Nesh." In the image, she looked at least double that age, now. “Melakar and I took her in, and she stayed with us for years." I glanced at the gryphons. “This was after my son had left home, but before he'd left the valley for good, and before Melakar and I…" I sighed, shaking my head. “Well, she was always more his vassal than mine. Even after she left his service, it seems they kept in touch. Perhaps when our lives fell apart, he went to her for solace."

“So that's why kept visiting Tivos?" Blue Jay stretched his neck, staring down at the image. “To see some old human friend?"

I shrugged my wings. “I've no idea. I wouldn't put it past him. If he had a chance to safely see a human city, he'd have taken it. But given his goals, I suspect it was more than just a friendly visit. In any case, if Ayrah still lives in Tivos, then our destination is set." My heart sank when another realization struck me. “I should…" I licked my nose, sighing. “I should tell her about Melakar."

Nesh offered me a smile, gently rubbing my shoulder. “If they were that close, that'd be the right thing to do. And I'll be there to support you."

I lowered my head to nuzzle at his head-fur in gratitude. “Thank you, Nesh." I lifted my head again, sighing. That would not be easy, but it was a worry for the future. For now, I had other concerns. “Sparrow, how do you plan to get us into this city safely?"

“That depends on how much you're willing to trust me." Sparrow warbled, lifting her crown feathers. “The safest is probably for you and Nesh to wait somewhere safe outside the city. I'll leave Kraas with you in case there's any other trouble. I'll fly into the city, explain the situation, and return to fetch you when it's safe for you to enter. Given their size, and proximity to Shevar, they're likely to have air defenses. That frontier's seen more than a few incursions over the years."

Blue Jay clicked his beak three times. “Which is why you should let me go in first and-"

“If anyone's going in first, it's me!" Sparrow slapped her forepaw down.

Sensing a new argument brewing between the two of them, I thumped my tail against the stone floor, loudly enough to draw their shared attention. “We'll find out when we get there, won't we? As for how much I trust you…" I rumbled, tilting my head. “I have not yet decided. You'll forgive me if Nesh remains the only person from your empire I truly trust, for the time being. I do agree it's wise for one of you to ensure our safety ahead of time, however. Then I should like to fly in formation with you, let the people see us together. Perhaps the Empress will hear of our cooperation."

“And then order Kraas and me court martialed immediately, with our luck." Sparrow rose to her paws. “Let me show you the route I suggest." She ushered Blue Jay aside with a few nips. He squawked a protest, but backed out of her way. She unsheathed a single claw, and traced a line across the map from the southern portion of the valley, far to the southwest. “It could take up to a week's flight to reach Tivos, considering we're all still recovering from…"

I picked up where she trailed off. “Beating the shit out of each other."

“Yes." She bowed her head, chirruping laughter. “That." She glanced at Nesh. “You should bring clothes for long, cold flights, and supplies for yourself. Pack something warm to sleep in. Blankets, a bedroll, something like that." Then she returned her attention to me. “If you know places along the route we can shelter, that would help. You know this land better than I do."

I scanned the route the gryphon indicated. Though a portion of it crossed through the southern reaches of the valley, they were not sections of my realm I had traveled extensively in some time. “I recall a series of small caverns here." I circled a swath of rocky hills, then tapped an immense expanse of water. “We call this the Lake of Stars. It is dotted with islands, one of which still holds a large fortress that Melakar and I used to visit. After that…" I traced a claw tip towards where the various borders and frontiers all clashed. “I'm afraid I don't know. Worst comes to worst, I can tuck Nesh under my foreleg to keep him warm." I glanced at Blue Jay and Sparrow in turn. “Then I'll use you as a pillow, and you as a blanket. I'll be comfortable, at least."

“Wouldn't it make more sense to use the smaller one as the pillow, and the bigger one as the blanket?" From the way Nesh turned and studied the two gryphons, I couldn't tell if he was joining in my joke, or seriously considering the question.

“We shall be neither!" Sparrow beat her wings once for emphasis, her feathers bumping and brushing my scales.

I ignored her completely, and answered Nesh instead. “It might make more sense, but I've already used Blue Jay as a pillow before."

“Only for your ass!" Blue Jay snarled his retort, but the sound ended in a frustrated whimper. “That didn't come out quite right."

Nesh turned towards him, his brows knitted. When Blue Jay just grunted and looked away, I let Nesh wallow in confusion for a moment before I explained.

“I sat on him." I lowered my head to rest my muzzle on Nesh's chin, my ears splayed in smug display. “After I bested him and Sparrow, for the second time."

“Yes, yes, Dragon, you've beaten us twice." Sparrow waggled her wing dismissively. “Everyone's very impressed that a creature twice our size proves a formidable opponent."

“I'm not twice his size." I flicked my tail towards Blue Jay, then smirked at Sparrow. “Just twice your size." I lifted my head, licking my muzzle. “Is there anything else we need to go over, before we leave?"

Sparrow tucked her wings against her body. “I'm sure you already understand you'll have to be on your absolute best behavior while you're in our lands."

“For two reasons." Nesh poked me right between my nostrils. “For one, to make a good impression for yourself. Maybe word will reach the Empress that you're not a…" He waved his hand. “Dangerous monster, ravaging the countryside, or whatever else she may have been told about you after the attack. And two…" Nesh cupped the end of my muzzle in his hands, softening his voice. “Because I don't want you to get hurt." He traced a few fingers near the stitches and scars across my face. “Worse, I mean. So don't do anything to make anyone feel defensive."

“Nesh, I-"

“I mean it, Ella!" Nesh held my chin in his palm, his eyes boring into mine. “Promise me. Even if you're insulted, or belittled, or…or furious, you'll keep your claws sheathed and your flames to yourself. Be the Queen, Ella, not the warrior. Promise me you won't hurt anyone. And promise me that no matter what happens, you won't get yourself hurt, either. You've been through enough."

I sighed, and tilted my head to nuzzle at his hand. “Very well, Nesh. I promise you, I will…" I had to force myself to spit out the distasteful word. “Behave."

“Good!" Nesh wrapped his arms around my head, just under my horns, and hugged it to his chest. “Thank you."

“Awwww." Blue Jay gave a low, warbling coo. “Concubine wubs his big dwagun misstwess."

Nesh released me and whirled around to glare at the gryphon. If his gaze were any more fiery, Blue Jay's feathers would ignite. “Oh, nibble me somewhere indecent, gryphon!"

Blue Jay cocked his head, his ears half-perked in confusion “Nibble you…?"

I nudged Nesh's lower back with my muzzle, proud and yet greatly amused. “You're very bad at insults, Nesh. But good effort."

“Yes, well." Nesh folded his arms, sighing. “Not exactly a skill I've practiced."

“Would you like me to insult him for you?" I flashed the gryphon my fangs. “Name a body part, and I'll tell him something foul to do to it."

“No, Ella, that's alright." Nesh held up his hands, chuckling. “I think he got the point, anyway."

Blue Jay clicked his beak a few times. He glanced at Sparrow, who shrugged her wings, then looked back at Nesh. He splayed his ears, a sign of gryphon uncertainty. “I'm not sure I did, actually."

“And that's your damn problem." Nesh jabbed a finger towards the gryphon.

“Nesh," I said, gently rubbing his back. “That's not helping." I turned my attention back to Sparrow, speaking up before Nesh and Blue Jay could continue their amusingly inept spat. “Do you require anything to travel with? I'll be bringing all my cargo pouches and carrier bags to fill with the supplies Nesh needs to buy."

Sparrow ruffled her feathers up. “I should like for Kraas and I to get our harnesses back. Mine will have to be repaired, but the humans should be able to patch it up. I can get it better fixed in Tivos." She held up a forepaw, her mottled pinkish pads towards me. “Before you ask, no, I don't plan to fill it with anything dangerous. But it does have symbols of my rank emblazoned upon it, and that will help earn you safe entry into the city." She set her paw down, preening a wing tip. “I may have to throw my weight around to some of the local military."

Blue Jay flashed her a gaping-beak grin. “You haven't any weight to throw around in the first place. You scarcely weigh more than a human."

Sparrow hissed at him. “I'll feel a whole lot heavier after I take you down, and step on your skull!"

“I doubt you could step up that high." Blue Jay drew himself up, still smiling.

“Must you always act like a damn fledgling?" Sparrow flared her wings. “You could at least try to act professional."

Nesh folded his arms. “They must have been lovers an awfully long time to be so good at getting under one another's feathers."

I nudged him with my muzzle, chuckling. “Agreed. Do you know where their harnesses have gotten to?"

“Yes, I can dig them out. I'll supervise the repairs, as well." He patted my chest. Though he didn't say it, I knew what he really meant. He'd watch the other humans closely to make sure they didn't slip anything dangerous in for Sparrow to use. Nesh turned back towards her. “Speaking of your harness, do you think you and I could have a chat sometime, about all substances you carried? Some were quite rare, and a few I wasn't even familiar with. Also, did you bring them specifically for dragons? Is that knowledge you've personally gained from battle with dragons, or is that something gryphons learned in the past? Or do-"

“Nesh." I touched his arm with my forepaw. “You're rambling."

“Right, sorry." Nesh wrung his hands. “Point is, can we talk about the things you were carrying, sometime?"

Sparrow ground her beak, ruffled her feathers, and finally sighed. “I suppose I can only be court martialed once, so spilling more secrets isn't going to hurt. But not tonight."

“No, that's fine, and thank you in advance." Nesh gave her a little bow. “I promise not to tell anyone. It's just that I want to learn as much about Ella's species, as I can." He ticked off a few fingers. “Their anatomy, biology, physiology, and that includes things like…" Nesh switched to the fingers of his other hand. “Weaknesses, vulnerabilities, dangerous allergies, immunities, and so on. And how such things were discovered. There's books about that in Melakar's hoard, but most of them are in the dragon language. I…" He wrung his hands again. “I actually think I'd like to write my own book about dragons, but I'm going to need extensive research."

Sparrow tilted her head, gazing at Nesh. “When we have time, and I'm in the mood, we can talk. For now, how about you find our harnesses so we can ask our friends to start the repairs? Tomorrow, Blue Jay and I will hunt enough food to last the others while we're away." She turned her attention to me. “With the dragon's help, if she's willing."

“If I'm asked respectfully enough." I arched my neck. “We'll leave most of it in the snow, so it freezes. That will keep it from spoiling, and they can bring it in to thaw it or cook it as they see fit."

“That works for me." Sparrow stretched her front legs out, her paws splayed. She yawned, thin gryphon tongue protruding from her beak. “I think I'm ready to get some sleep. Can you find those harnesses by morning?"  

“Sleep sounds pleasant." I pushed myself up to all fours. “Nesh, let's find their belongings, and then retire for the evening."

Only as I returned to my current sleeping quarters did it truly settle in on me. Soon, I would be on my way to a human city. There were few more dangerous places in all the world for a dragon to visit. Yet it seemed Melakar had made a habit of it. I told myself if Melakar could do it, I could do it too. But I was not Melakar, and I possessed not half of his diplomatic gifts. I would have to rely on Nesh to keep me from overstepping my bounds. I did not want to ruin my chance to forging an alliance before it even started. There was something else that worried me, too. For in my heart, I knew the truth.

Negotiating with humans had gotten Melakar killed.

Yet, here I was, about to follow him into that very same storm. I had taken up his ideals, and now bore his hopes and dreams of an empire for dragons upon my wings. But in the end, that very weight had crushed him. He was betrayed by the same humans he hoped to build a future with. Now all I could do was hope that sharing his cause would not also mean sharing his fate. What manner of fool was I, then, to believe that following the same path would not lead me to the same end?

 A hopeful fool, I told myself, but a fool just the same.

*****

Chapter Twenty Seven

Departure

*****

A few mornings later, I stood outside in the cold snow and stark sunshine. For the first time since I met Nesh, I was finally free of the many stitches he put in me. While I was pleased to be healed, I was less pleased with all the sturdy leather straps and brass buckles now locked around me. Cargo pouches were buckled around all four limbs, and the base of my tail. Another, much larger one was slung against my chest plates, and it in turn contained more empty bags. I wanted to be able to carry as many medical supplies back for Nesh as I could.

But storage packs were not the only thing I wore. Nesh busied himself securing the last clasps of an elaborate safety harness I'd dug out of Melakar's hoard. Melakar used to enjoy taking his vassals flying, and commissioned elaborate devices to keep them safe. Since I had no more room left to carry Nesh against my chest, I decided to let him ride upon my back, instead. The harness I selected was strapped around both dragon and rider, and should the human slip from the dragon's back, the safety straps would catch them before they fell out of reach.

“Wouldn't a saddle have made more sense?" Nesh passed under my neck, tugging belts. He was dressed in his thick winter coat, with several other warm layers looted from Melakar's hoard beneath it. A set of brass and leather flight googles made for another of Melakar's former vassals perched atop his head, looking like the extra eyes of some odd insect. “He must have had this custom made, so I'm surprised he didn't ask for a saddle."

“Saddle?" The very idea made me flatten back my ears. I glanced down at Nesh, snarling. “Saddles are for burden beasts, Nesh. Dragons do not debase themselves so. Besides." I tossed my head with a snort. “You can fall out of a saddle, too. A harness keeps you safe. They are for friends, not mounts."

“A horse can be a friend." Nesh chuckled, moving around my side to check the securing strap under my left foreleg. “A yak, too."

“Can they?" I tilted my head, perking my frills to give Nesh a dubious look. “Have a lot of deep, meaningful conversations with yaks, do you?"

“Well…" Nesh scratched the back of his head, ruffling his scruffy head-fur. “Not meaningful, anyway. But when I was younger, there was this one yak…erm, actually, no, I'll stop talking before I really make myself sound foolish."

“A bit late for that," I said, rumbling amusement.

The sound of paws crunching in snow drew my attention. I turned my head as Blue Jay walked up alongside me. An ebony cargo harness was strapped around his indigo and gray body, flattening down feathers and fur alike. In additional to all the pouches I remembered from before, much larger satchels sat across his chest and along each side of his body. I suspected that last time, they'd removed all the excess storage before coming to engage me in battle. Now, everything bulged with supplies and equipment for travel.

“Speaking of burden beasts, here's one now." I flicked my tail against the crusty snow, spraying bits of white at the gryphon.

Blue Jay clacked his beak at me, tossing a pawful of snow in my direction. “Speak for yourself! You look like you're covered in warts."

I looked myself over, scrunching my muzzle. The safety harness wasn't the only thing I wore. Cargo pouches were buckled around all four limbs, and the base of my tail. Another, much larger one was slung against my chest plates, and it in turn contained more empty bags. I wanted to be able to carry as many medical supplies back for Nesh as I could. All the bags and fastenings felt odd against my scales, a strange sort of light but ever-present pressure. I knew I'd get used to it eventually, so for the time being I did my best to simply ignore it.

“Blue Jay," I said, looking over at him again. “Did you know humans make friends with animals and talk to yaks?"

“Humans talk to everything." Blue Jay clicked his beak a few times, warbling. “Whether or not it can talk back. I've even heard them talking to plants!" The gryphon lifted his voice a few notches to imitate a human. “Oh, tomatoes! You're looking beautiful today, look at all those flowers, you're going to give me so much fruit."

I growled laughter, swinging my head around to regard Nesh as he finished his inspections. “Is that true, Nesh? Do your people talk to plants?"

Nesh shrugged, glancing away. “Maybe on occasion. But it's not as if I haven't caught you murmuring to that golden Mantle."

I snorted and tossed my head. “That's different. I was just thinking out loud."

“If you say so. The point is," Nesh said, dusting off his hands. “That dragons sometimes talk to things that lack intelligence as well."

“I suppose you're right, Nesh." I stretched a wing out to drape it across the indigo gryphon's back. “I do talk to Blue Jay, after all."

 “Hilarious, dragon." Blue Jay wriggled out from under my wing with a hiss. “Besides, I'm far more intelligent than you." The gryphon took a few slow, exaggerated steps, mantling his wings and swishing his feathered tail about in self-indulgent strut “Sexier, too."

“I've yet to see any proof of either claim." I tilted my head, watching him swagger about as though he believed himself the most attractive creature in all the world. “And the more you try to convince me, the less believable it seems."

“Well then." The gryphon pivoted back towards me, striding up to put his beak near my muzzle, and purr ever so gently. “Perhaps you'll have to give me a chance to prove myself."

“Oh, yes, because that always works." Nesh waved his hand, turning away from us with a laugh. “Nothing a woman likes more than a man offering to 'prove' his prowess in bed."

“Tried and failed, did you?" Blue Jay cooed at Nesh. “I could give you some pointers, if you like. Or a demonstration."

Nesh pivoted on his heel to glare at the gryphon. “Is there anyone you won't offer to have…relations with? Or wouldn't accept such an offer from?"

Blue Jay shrugged his wings, his harness packs shifting. “If they've reached adulthood, and they're consenting, why not? Life is too short and fragile not to indulge ourselves with anyone who wishes to do the same. Just because your gods won't let you enjoy your body with anyone you want doesn't mean I can't."

I lifted a foreleg and eased Nesh a few steps away from Blue Jay. “That's enough, now."  I did not think Blue Jay was intentionally antagonizing Nesh with his teasing any longer, but Nesh sometimes took it that way. “No sense in starting our journey with bruised feelings." I shot Blue Jay a smile that was both threatening, and playful. “Or bruised testicles."

Blue Jay grunted and settled onto his haunches to make a show of covering himself with his forepaws. “Very well, I shall not pick on your concubine." He tilted his head, warbling and perking his ears. “Am I safe to remove my paws, now?"

“If I planned to strike them, I'd have already done it. I just thought it prudent to stop you before I had to defend Nesh's honor again. We'd be delayed all morning, waiting for you to pick yourself up off the ground." I pulled Nesh closer, gently hugging him against my scales. “For what it's worth, though, I actually agree with you."

The gryphon moved his paws away from their protective location and set them before himself. He opened his beak, but then gaped a moment in silence before wisely biting back whatever initial reply he had. Blue Jay shook himself, ruffling his feathers. “About what, may I ask?"

“About life's pleasures, and who we share them with."

“Ah!" Blue Jay gave a pleased chirrup. “It's a common enough attitude, among gryphons. Most gryphons, really." He tilted his head, looking me over. “Have you ever…?"

“With a gryphon?"

Blue Jay waved a paw. “Or a female dragon. Or humans, or…just curious how broad your horizons are, so to speak."

“I'm…just going to see how Sparrow's coming along." Nesh wiggled free of my grasp and hurried back to the entrance to the lair.

“I'm sorry," Blue Jay said, rustling his wings. “I didn't mean to scare him off, or offend him." One of his forepaws drifted back to cover his testicles again.

“You needn't cover up, bird, I'm not going to hit you, I know you weren't trying to antagonize him that time. He's just…"

“A prude?"

I chuckled, licking my nose. “Something like that, yes. And to answer your earlier questions…yes, with female dragons, and yes, with female humans. Yes as well to a male va'chaak, though I was drunk. Nothing with male humans, nor with gryphons of any sex." I lifted my frills, peering intently at him. “Yet. You?"

“Mostly gryphons." Blue Jay swallowed, seemingly to shrink just a little under the intensity of my gaze. “Male and female."

“Yes, I thought I saw something between you and Cardinal."

The gryphon nodded once. “Beyond my own kind, it's mostly been human females. A male, gnoll, once. And watched an urd'thin, if that counts. But…" He clicked his beak twice. “Never a dragon."

“Your interest is flattering, I shall admit." I arched my neck, flaring out my frills. I did not mind being desired by him, gryphon or not.

“And, is that interest in any way requited?" He held up his forepaws, his pads towards me in show of gryphon acquiescence. “I'm only curious, and if you truly tire of my teasing I shall endeavor to curtail it."

I gave a rumbling, murmuring noise, and then tilted my head down, making a show of letting my eyes wander across his body, and eventually down his underbelly, between his hind legs. “I'm a little curious, yes." I lifted my head again. “But for now, that's all you're getting. It's hardly the time or the place to considering indulging such curiosities."

“Unfortunately I must agree, but it's nice to know the feeling is mutual."

“I wouldn't go that far, Bird." I turned around, smiling to myself. “Besides, Nesh has first call." That didn't stop me from flicking my tail up and shaking my haunches at the gryphon. If he could tease, I could do the same. “Now, let's fetch him and Sparrow so we can be underway."

I lead the way back to the entrance of Melakar's lair. After days of frequent comings and goings for hunting trips, our paws had cut an icy trail through the snow. Dozens of frozen carcasses now littered the area where the shadows of the surrounding peaks prevented the sun from ever reaching the frigid ground. We'd mostly brought back elk and deer, along with several moose, a few mountain goats, and other animals as well. If that wasn't enough food to last my so-called guests while I was away, they'd have to resort to eating each other.

Sparrow, Blue Jay and I had spent so much time hunting that I'd scarcely done anything else the last few days. When we weren't hunting, we were gathering firewood. Piles of it now lined entry tunnel on both sides. Much as I wanted to study Melakar's notes for any discernable clues before our journey, I simply hadn't had the time. I'd squeezed in a bit of study each night, but it was clear I would need to spend weeks, if not months, sorting through everything he'd left behind to begin making sense of it. That was a task that would have to wait until I had the time, and the solitude, to manage it.

 Back inside, I found Sparrow talking with Cardinal and Pigeon. Nesh stood near here, while the rest of the humans lounged about or worked on simple tasks. Nesh and I had made it clear that the humans were not to enter the private areas where Melakar's notes and things were, let alone where the Mantle was kept. I'd blocked off the adjoining archway with as many heavy crates and other obstructions as I could, and then had Nesh inspect it for any human sized openings. When we were satisfied it was secure, Sparrow charged Cardinal and Pigeon with insuring the humans did not infiltrate that area. I trusted her, for now, and she in turn trusted them.

“All done discussing your various…" Nesh waggled his fingers at me when he saw me approaching. “Sexual conquests?"

“Is that what you were discussing outside?" Cardinal flared up his crimson crown feathers, then gave a disappointed coo. “I'm sorry I missed that!"

Pidgeon nudged him with her beak, warbling softly. “If she was discussing it with Kraas, I'm sure his side of the conversation was a very short list."

“Not as short as yours!" Blue Jay snapped his beak, glaring at her.

“Nor as short as something else that belongs to you, I'd wager." Pigeon chirped at him, then smiled at me and made a sign with her paws indicating something quite small.

“That's unfortunate," I said, laughing.

“It's also a blatant lie." Blue Jay ruffled himself up, fluffing out indigo and gray feathers. “Avalek, are you ready to go? I'm not sure how much more of this unfair abuse I can take."

“Yes, poor Kraas, always so abused." Cardinal gave low, sympathetic cooing noise. “And definitely never brought on by all his own bragging and bravado."

“Yes, I think I'm ready," Sparrow said, after snapping her beak to cut the others off. She glanced at the two gryphons staying behind. “You two know where all the food and firewood is. Do you need anything else?"

“I think we're prepared." Cardinal turned his eyes up to me. “Any last minute instructions from the Queen of the Valley?"

I snorted at his playful use of my title, but shook my head, my tail swishing. “Nothing that I haven't already told you. Aside from the private areas, you're welcome to the run of the place. Clean up after yourselves and make sure the humans do the same. You may peruse the books and things, but treat them with the utmost care." I glanced between him and Pidgeon a few times, a smirk curling across my muzzle. “If you get amorous with one another, do so where it will make the humans uncomfortable."

“I hardly think that's going to happen." Pigeon glared at me, flaring her crown feathers.

“That's not the impression I've gotten from gryphons, thus far." I turned my attention back to Sparrow and Blue Jay. The former lovers had moved close to one another, and now whispered to each other in the gryphon language, too softly and too swiftly for me to parse it. Given Blue Jay's smile, and Sparrow's wide eyes and perked ears, I had the sneaking suspicion he was relaying the contents of our private conversation to her. I snapped my teeth for their attention. “Are you ready to go, Sparrow?"

“I believe so." Sparrow inspected her various pouches and bags, murmuring to herself. “Rations, medicine, coins, maps, documentation, survival gear…" She glanced at Blue Jay. “You've the snow blankets and tarp anchors, yes?"

“For the third time, yes." Blue Jay clacked his beak. “I have everything you told me to bring."

“Good. Then yes, I believe we're ready." Sparrow bowed her head to her companions. “Until we return then. Safe winds, and warm shelter!"

The other two gryphons returned the gesture, along with what must have been a gryphon farewell phrase. Then they wished us all a safe journey. After they'd said their goodbyes, Sparrow turned towards the exit. “I shall lead the way, for now." She glanced at Blue Jay, whispered something in gryphon that made him smile and nod, and then strode forward.

Both gryphons walked around me in closer proximity than usual. Sparrow brushed past me, and her plumage tickled my scales in a way that made me shudder, just a little. I did not think she was doing it on purpose until she curled her feathered tail around the back of my hind leg. The longest of her tail feathers teased not only finer scales of my thighs, but also what lay between them. My breath caught even as Blue Jay did the same thing. He rubbed up against me, his tail feathers sliding across the same places from the other side. Between the two of them, they left me shuddering, and wishing for more.

I glared at them as they strode up the tunnel. “You little shits did that on purpose!"

Gryphon laughter echoed through the cavern.

Nesh peered up at me, confusion etched across his features. “They did what on purpose?"

I sighed, and simply waved him forward. “Nothing, Nesh. Let's just go."

On the way out, I contemplated the gryphons. I was not surprised by Blue Jay's teasing, but Sparrow's had caught me a little off guard. I had grown to trust her as much as the situation and circumstances allowed, and I believed she felt the same of me. But it was for her to drop the veneer of professionalism, to relax and act more like a playful, mischievous gryphons. To my admittedly limited knowledge of her people, gryphons outside the restrictive confines of the human societies were akin in spirit and behavior to dragons.

However, where we could sometimes be aloof and solitary, they were mischievous, and heavily social. Like dragons, they made ferocious warriors when their furies were roused. Unlike dragons, I believed them to be quicker to forgive, and also quicker to grow flirtatious with anyone they perceived as the least bit receptive to their advances. It was the ego, I thought. While dragons too sometimes had egos larger than we deserved, gryphons were far beyond us. Each gryphon often seemed to think themselves the most attractive, beautiful creature in all the world.

Or so it seemed. Perhaps Blue Jay's personality had simply tinted my impressions of his entire species. 

As if to prove my point, Blue Jay glanced back at me, and shook his haunches, his indigo and black feathered tail swishing. “Enjoying the view dragon?"

I snapped at his tail. “Yes, but only because I'm thinking about whacking you in the balls for that little stunt a moment ago."

“What stunt?" Nesh put a hand on my side as we walked out into the sunshine. “What did I miss?"

I spared Nesh a quick glance. “Nothing that won't initiate your camouflage response."

“My what?" Confusion twisted up Nesh's face. “I don't have a…wait, are you talking about blushing?"

“It was her idea!" Blue Jay pointed a wing tip at Sparrow. “Don't be mad at her me!"

“Yes, but I haven't got any balls for her to whack." Sparrow chirruped musical laughter, nipping at Blue Jay's wing. “Besides, she likes me better than you."

“That wouldn't take much," I said, rumbling laughter. “Besides, I'm more inclined to blame you, Blue Jay, because you've been teasing Nesh and I from the moment we stopped fighting." I picked up a pawful of snow and tossed it at Sparrow, who ducked her head under it. “She's only just started, so I am forced to assume it was your bad influence corrupting her."

“Oh, no, no." Blue Jay shook out his wings, gazing up at the sky. “I don't think I could do a damn thing to change her, nor would I try. That was all her. She's got more wicked ideas rattling around her brain than you might think, she just hides them beneath her baffling desire for professionalism."

Sparrow took a few steps away from us, then paused to preen her left wing. “Some of us have a career to consider." She spat a loose feather on the snowy ground.

Blue Jay clicked his beak. “You sound like such a human right now."

“Had a career to consider, anyway." She sighed, gazing down at the lost feather. “Thanks to this whole debacle, I'll be lucky if I'm only demoted." Sparrow ruffled up her feathers, digging her claws into the frozen earth. “After all, I may joke about a court martial, but once I show up in a major city with a dragon and a traitor, it might not be so funny anymore."

“I'm not a traitor!" Nesh took a few steps towards her, then faltered, scratching at the back of his head fur. “Well, I suppose, by the technical definition, I am. But I'm not betraying anyone, I'm just…helping a creature in need." He glanced between the gryphons a few times. “I certainly don't feel like a traitor!"

Blue Jay warbled laughter. “A fact I'm sure they'll take into consideration at your court martial." The gryphon shot Nesh a dangerous look, his ears flattened. “Before they hang you, for being a traitor."

Nesh folded his arms, shrugging. “I think I'd request firing squad, actually. Hanging doesn't always…well, you don't want to know the details."

“I'm glad you're taking this in stride, Nesh." I curled a foreleg around him, sharping my voice. “Because I am not. Anyone who tries to harm my vassal will find themselves facing a particularly protective dragon long before they ever reach him."

“Thank you, Ella." Nesh hugged my forepaw, then turned towards me to pat my chest plates. “Don't worry, I've very little intention of returning just to face a court martial. When and if the time comes, I'll make sure I have a chance to tell my story to a receptive audience." He glanced at the gryphons over his shoulder. “Preferably with witnesses there corroborate it."

“Oh, I don't think they'd really execute you." Sparrow waved her paw. “They'll just toss you in jail, probably with Kraas and me. At least we can keep each other company while we rot in a cell."

“And on that note," I said, nudging Nesh with my muzzle. “It's time to go. Concubine, you may mount me now."

“Ella!" Nesh laughed, his face flushing. He shoved my snout away. “Don't say it like that!"

I waggled my haunches in the air. “Don't keep me waiting, concubine!"

Sparrow and Blue Jay shared a glance, and the male gryphon warbled. “And she says I tease him."

“Ella's allowed." Nesh swiftly buckled the safety straps around his body. “You're not. After all, I agreed to be her concubine, not yours." He pause, blinking. “Wait, that didn't come out as intended."

“Is probably what she says, when you remove your trousers for her!" Blue Jay cackled squawking gryphon laughed, nudging Sparrow with his wing. She batted it away, but also visibly fought back her own warbling giggles.

I laughed with them, nosing at Nesh's back. “You walked into that one, Concubine, so I'll allow it. Now, finish putting on your safety device, so I can take you for a ride."

Blue Jay glared at me. “You're making this way too easy."

When Nesh was prepared, I lowered myself down to my belly. The snow was cold, but I was quite used to winter's chill against my hide. I flattened my wings back against my body, shifting my wing-joints as far back as I could to give Nesh room to clamber up. Usually I carried vassals in my forelegs, not upon my back. I was not sure of the best approach for him to take. When Melakar used to fly Ayrah on his back, she preferred to sprint towards him and take a flying leap. Somehow, I doubted Nesh could manage such athletic feats without planting his own face in the snow.

I eased my foreleg out towards him, hoping it might serve as a step. “Put your boot on my leg, first, then try and grab at the back of my neck."

“Yes, alright, let's start there." Nesh placed a foot upon the silver-striped scutes of my front limb, then hesitated to put his weight upon me. “I'm not going to hurt you, am I?"

“Not unless you stomp on my paw." I snorted, curling my neck to watch him. “Just give it a try."

Nesh stepped up onto my leg, glancing at me to make sure he wasn't hurting me. The pressure was not comfortable, but it was not painful, either. When I did not complain, he grasped at the back of my neck, trying to find purchase against my scales. Then he hopped up, tossing himself against my body. Nesh managed to get his belly draped across the back of my neck, but then hung there with boots scrabbling at my scales and fingers struggling for purchase.

“Umm…a little help, someone?" Nesh wriggled against my neck. He tried to throw his leg up and over me, but only succeeded in making himself wobble back and forth like a hatchling's toy. “Anyone? I seem to be stuck."

Blue Jay padded up behind Nesh, plopping himself onto his haunches. He grasped Nesh around the middle in both forepaws, hoisting him up into the air. Then he turned him slightly, and set him down upon my back, just above where my neck met my shoulders. “There. Problem solved. We ready to go?"

Nesh wriggled himself into a more comfortable position, one leg hanging down on either side of me. “Thank you, Kraas."

“He's going to have to learn to do that on his own, you know." Sparrow clicked her beak, and ruffled her feathers.

“And he can do so on his own time, when we're not trying to leave." Blue Jay rose back to all fours and trotted a few paces away from me. “Speaking of which, let's go!"

Without waiting for anyone else, Blue Jay leapt into the air. He beat his indigo and black wings, ascending swiftly in a tight spiral. Snow swirled all around us as the gusts from his wings buffeted the frozen ground. Sparrow squawked and turned her head, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. I flicked my flight membranes closed, but otherwise ignored the whirling powder. I took a few steps back and forth, then slowly pumped my wings, testing them to ensure that Nesh's position would not interfere with my flight. His weight and the feeling of his legs against my scales were not uncomfortable sensations, simply an odd sort of pressure. The straps and ropes wrapped around me in various places were more irritating, rubbing and scratching at my scales. I hoped I'd grow accustom to such sensations.

I curled my neck to gaze at my passenger. “If you're ready, I'm going to take off now. I'll do a running start so you can get used to the motion, then I'll try and ascend smoothly." When Nesh nodded, I glanced at Sparrow. “You want to take off before me, or after me?"

“After you." The female gryphon backed away to give me extra room. “That way, if he falls and the rope breaks, hopefully I can catch him."

“Good idea." I pivoted on the snow to give myself the most room to run. “Ready, Nesh?"

“I suppose that depends on your definition!" Nesh scooted up against the back of my neck to wrap his arms around me for stability. “Is this alright?"

“Feels a bit funny, but it's fine. Brace yourself."

I gave him a moment to do just that before I started forward. I began at a swift walk, then moved into a trot, and soon, into a galloping run. Cords and bindings scraped and rubbed against my scales in ways that made me glad I was not going to be running the whole way there. I hoped the motions of flight would not prove so problematic. I did not want to end up with scales chaffed so badly I developed sores by the end of the trip. Nesh did his best to cling to me, bouncing only a time or two.

When I thought he'd had enough time to ready himself, I leapt into the air, and beat my vast wings. The ascent pushed him down against my back and helped hold him in place as I rose towards the cerulean sky. I kept my climb gentle, and when I banked, I did so smoothly so as not to unseat him. A few moments later, and I heard feathered wings beating against the sky behind me. Sparrow followed me closely at first, though thankfully she had no need to try and rescue Nesh.

By the time we reached the altitude where Blue Jay circled in waiting, Nesh relaxed and relinquished his hold upon my neck. “That wasn't so bad! Didn't feel quite as secure as being carried, but there's certainly something special about riding a dragon!" Nesh patted my neck, his excited smile shining through in his voice. “Can't imagine many people have ever had such an experience."

“Can't be half as exciting as riding a gryphon!" Blue Jay shifted course to fly alongside as we banked southwest. “We're much faster and more maneuverable, you know!"

“I'm not sure that makes it better, actually." Nesh shifted a little. “Besides, I've seen gryphons in the skies over the capital plenty of times. Dragons are far more exotic!"

Blue Jay clacked his beak sharply. “If you say so. Enjoy your bumpy, ungainly flight."

Nesh patted my neck. “It's not that bumpy."

“Not helping, Nesh." I snorted, trying to beat my wings in even strokes.

“I'm sure your flight is just fine, for a dragon." Sparrow took up position on the other side of me, matching my speed and altitude. “Just try not to jar him so badly he squishes anything of importance, hmm?"

Nesh gave an awkward sounding laugh as he adjusted his trousers. “I'm working to avoid that myself, actually."

“He's a human!" Blue Jay warbled laughter. “How important could they be?"

“More important than yours, Bird!" Nesh glared at the gryphon, holding onto the safety straps around his chest.

“Well played, Nesh!" I laughed, and then focused my attention upon the horizon. “We're going to head southwest, towards the lake. I can guide us to shelter along the way, but once we're beyond the valley, one of you will have to take over navigational duties."

“That's fine." Sparrow drifted further away from me, then eased closer again, lazily weaving back and forth as she flew. “Kraas and I should be able to guide us the rest of the way to Tivos, but we've brought maps as well in case they're needed. You said there were caves, and fortresses along the way?"

“Correct." I scanned the horizon, but the bluffs I sought were still a long ways from coming into view, even at altitude. “We should be able to make the first of them by this evening. The fortresses are on islands in the Lake of Stars, another day or two's flight beyond the caves."

“Good! Kraas and I brought our snow blankets. If we have to sleep in the open at any point, they should keep even a human plenty warm, provided he sleeps with us." Sparrow shot a glare at Blue Jay and me. “I'll thank you not to make a joke of that."

I laughed, and Blue Jay did the same, but neither of us commented. “You've mentioned those snow blankets before. Is that what most of you were camouflaged under, near the cannons?"

“That's correct." Sparrow pumped her wings a few times to match my pace. “They're dual purpose. They make excellent camouflage in the snow, but more importantly, they're very warm, especially for more than one occupant."

“They're a bit of gryphon survival kit, first made by tundra clans," Blue Jay said, gliding alongside me. “Made from the thick, luxurious hides of certain arctic mammals. They hold in body heat like nothing else. Even if we're caught in a blizzard, we'll be just fine huddled together under a snow blanket."

I snorted, flattening back my ears. “Trust gryphons to create survival gear that relies upon snuggling."

“We're social creatures, what can I say!" Blue Jay chirruped, flashing me an open-beaked smile.

“You say that as if huddling for warmth isn't something any creature would do to survive," said Sparrow.

I clicked my teeth, glancing between the two gryphons. “So long as Blue Jay's paws don't decide to get social, too. If they start wandering where they're not wanted, my paws shall do the same! And mine shall be decidedly less friendly."

Blue Jay tossed his head. “I hope you're going to give Avalek the same warning!"

I offered the female gryphon a playful grin. “Sparrow's paws may go wherever they please."

Sparrow flicked her feathered tail against me as we flew, but otherwise did not reply.

Silence settled over us as we began our journey, a dearth of sound and conversation that was calming, rather than awkward. While I had the chance, I studied the landscape. It had been a long time since I'd ventured to the valley's southern end. In one direction, the tallest of the jagged peaks ran in a broken line, ever-struggling to gouge the sky itself. They gradually gave way to smaller slopes, smoothed into gentle lines and curves by the same blanket of white snow that covered everything this time of year. Small, ice-choked rivers cut through the land in several places. The swiftest flowing of them remained relatively free of ice in most places. Its rushing waters sparkled in the winter sunlight, cascading and pouring over submerged boulders and around narrow bends.

 The, wide flat valley which gave the land its name lay before us. There, the rivers grew wider and wider on their trek towards the grand lake we'd reach in a few days. Each river took a different course, though in the spring, when the heaviest of the snowmelt swelled both tributary and major waterway alike, great floods often washed across the valley, joining the rivers temporarily. It was floods like that which kept portions of the central valley scrubbed clean and flat, with more earth, gravel, and water-worn boulders dotting the land than trees or bushes. This time of year, though, the land before us was little more than a very wide, very flat snowfield, cut with ribbons of icy water.

For now, I followed the valley, though eventually our course would take us away from it. I could just make out the gray and red smudges of stony bluffs on the far horizon. That would be our destination for the day. From there, we'd make for the middle portion of the great lake, where the largest islands were. We should easily be able to make an island fortress by the end of the second day of flight, and after that, it would be in the gryphon's hands.

I turned my attention towards the west, where the humans and their great army lay camped. Though we were too far away to see their camp, a noticeable haziness marred the distance. All their fires and forges looked to have left a smoky gray cloud above their vast encampment. I briefly wondered if they had any other units that had penetrated this far into our lands. What if there was someone else out there who might seek to shoot me down? It seemed unlikely, but not impossible. After all, I hadn't known about the last set of cannons until they were firing on me. I comforted myself with the thought that if there were others looking to shoot down dragons, they would likely hold fire so long as I flew between Blue Jay and Sparrow.

How surreal this must be for the gryphons, I thought.  They were sent out here to kill me, and instead, were leading me towards one of their cities. A thousand thoughts must have been spiraling through their minds, from the fearful and doubtful, to the exciting and hopeful. The turns our lives took where rarely predictable, and all we could do was ride out the uncertain winds to the best of our ability.

Suddenly, I wondered who was taking the bigger risk. The dragon who forced herself to trust the very people sent to kill her? Or the gryphons who would likely be seen as betraying their army by helping me? In our own way, we had all put our lives on the line with this grand experiment. But if they could trust me, then I could trust them. And if this worked…

Then maybe one day, we'd all know peace.

Maybe one day, the idea of dragons, gryphons, and humans all trusting one another would not seem so strange.

An impossible ideal, maybe, but one I was increasingly willing to risk my life for.

*****

Chapter Twenty Eight

Tea

*****

We flew southwest for much of the day. Conversation was often light, or nonexistent as we all lingered within our own thoughts. I suspected we were all trying to resist second guessing ourselves for our own reasons. The gryphons made it clear that taking a dragon into one of their cities could have deep and long-lasting repercussions for them. I was sure their army and their nation had all sorts of laws about bringing potentially enemies into their midst. Yet if Melakar had managed it, then there must be loopholes for them to exploit. For my part, I would do my best to avoid making a bad impression for my people.

My own thoughts often lingered on the possible consequences I would face for making such a foolish journey. Where the gryphons might get demoted or even imprisoned, I could lose my life. One wrong move, and they might think I was attacking. One misunderstood gesture, or grand miscalculation, and I might well be at war with the very city I was hoping to ask for help. After all, Melakar was far better at this sort of thing than I was, and it had still cost him his life.

Melakar. My mind drifted to him often. Even weeks after his death, it still seemed impossible that he was actually gone. Though we had been apart for over decade before his end, I always knew he was only a day's flight away. That if I'd ever had the nerve, I could have flown to him, visited him…swallowed my pride and told him I was sorry. Now, it was far too late. I whimpered at the thought, hoping he'd forgiven me in the end.

Steady flight gave me time to roll questions around in my mind. How long had Melakar been working towards peaceful alliances in secret? And how long had he possessed the Queen's Mantle? What had it taken him to solidify the irrik oro, the blood bond with a clan of gryphons? At least those felt like questions I could get solid answers too, with enough work and investigation. Other questions might never be answered.

Why was he shot down?

I knew well enough that learning the truth might not bring me closure. I also knew that there was a reasonable chance I would never actually find my answers in the first place. And yet, nothing would stop me from pursuing that truth until my dying day.

As we flew, I took time to gaze across the vast stretch of rugged land beneath us. Though the region was not foreign to me, this was Melakar's land to patrol, when he was alive. Given the great, cold distance that developed between us, I had not visited this region of the valley in quite a few years. His domain once encompassed the entire southern portion of our valley. He protected the monolithic and near impenetrable mountains around his lair, and the vast, stony flats and churning rivers of the valley floor itself, and even the increasingly rugged hills and bluffs that were our current destination.

There were a few more clans va'chaak dwelling in and around Melakar's land than there was in mine, especially along the flatter, marshier areas nearer the Lake of Stars. In another direction, a great forest stretched towards the horizon, draped in snow. Lines of towering, white-wrapped pines mingled with copses of birch and aspen, barren for winter. Gnoll tribes lived amidst the forest, along with a few scattered urd'thin villages, waypoints for their semi-nomadic merchant families.

Though they all fell within lands that traditionally belonged to dragons, such scattered settlements had long been considered our neighbors, not our subjects. In times long past, we might have seen them differently. But ancient alliances, historical friendships, and a general lack of remaining dragons to enforce any claims meant they were all free to live their lives and spread their people amongst our lands.

I wondered if Nesh had ever met any of the other sapient peoples of the world besides gryphons, and now dragons. Had he ever met the gnolls, or the va'chaak, or urd'thin? He referenced them before, as if he had. Some of the gnolls and va'chaak in our lands would be less than friendly towards strange humans, given the way they'd suffered at their hands over their years. But I hoped that when the time came, by bringing Nesh around to offer them medical care, he would be able to bridge some of those divides. I was going to need their help in building my empire, and Nesh's people were going to need their friendship.

Whenever my thoughts grew a little too dark, I glanced back at Nesh. Even in times of silence, an innocent sort of joy radiated from him. Somehow every time I looked back at him, he managed to smile even wider. His eyes shone as they swept across the lands gliding by beneath us. Now and then he watched my wings ripple in the wind, or the way the muscles along my back worked when I pumped them. Other times he watched the two gryphons flying on either side of me, staring at them with the sort of wonderment I'd thought reserved for children. From time to time, he rubbed the scales on the back of my neck, watching his fingers slide across them, or idly touching me as he stared across the horizon.

“It's different, isn't it?" I finally called back to him.

“What's that?" Nesh leaned forward, easing an arm around my neck.

“Riding me!" I lifted a foreleg and curled it, though I wasn't sure he could see it well from his vantage. “Instead of being carried!"

“It is!" Nesh laughed and patted my neck. “I…I certainly never imagined I'd ever fly on a dragon. Or…fly alongside gryphons! You know, I've never gotten to ride in a sky-crawler, before! Never flown at all, till you nearly made me piss myself the day we met! But this is…" He trailed off, shaking his head, his words stolen by purest awe. After a moment, he chuckled to himself, casting his hand out in a sweeping gesture. “This is simply stunning!"

“Just wait until you fly on one of us!" Blue Jay drifted closer, warbling birdsong laughter. “I'll do acrobatics that'll make you vomit!"

Nesh scrunched his face. “How is that better? That sounds horrible!"

I swung my head towards the gryphon. “You know he'd be vomiting on you, right Bird?"

“Oh…" Blue Jay pinned his ears back, grinding his beak. “You're right, that does sound unpleasant."

Sparrow chirped, flying ahead of us for a few wingbeats. “Thinking things through has never been his strong suit."

“I've yet to be convinced he has a strong suit in the first place." I spared Blue Jay another glance. “Sarcasm, perhaps."

“Nonsense!" The indigo and black gryphon waved a forepaw. “I've plenty of strong suits!"

“Ego doesn't count!" Sparrow chirped at him again as we caught up with her.

Laughing, I beat my wings harder, accelerating past both of them. Though the gryphons were more acrobatic fliers, and could reach faster speeds overall, dragons were built for endurance. Their top speed was higher than mine, but I could maintain swift flight for far longer. I decided to make them work to keep up, if only to prevent them from snapping at each other's throats until their bickering grew into an annoyance. I kept my brisk pace for several hours, until the gryphons started to lag. I knew their pride would not allow them to ask for rest, and I saw no reason to push them too hard. By then I was getting hungry anyway, and decided it was time for lunch.

Upon locating a small stream, I landed near the water. The stream's swift movement kept it flowing even in winter, but ice edged its rocky shoreline in strange shapes, like bubbles built atop bubbles. More ice coated the exposed surfaces of boulders jutting from its midst, where the water ever-sloshed around the gray stones, forming frozen, layered waves. Isolated copses of slumbering trees and brush dotted the uneven landscape beyond the water.

I let Nesh unbuckle himself and climb off my back, and informed the gryphons they should remain here and rest while I hunted. Both of them wanted to hunt with me, though I suspected that was pride talking. They did not wish to be outdone by a dragon, let alone in her debt. I compromised with them, and told them what I would hunt while I lead our journey. When we reached human lands and Sparrow took over, she and Blue Jay could do the day's hunting. 

Nesh dug out his supply packs from my harness as I took a turn to quench my thirst. When I'd had enough water, I left the three of them behind to hunt our meal. By the time I'd returned with the largest elk I could carry, Nesh had built a small fire to cook a bit of meat for himself. He had rations with him, but as long as their was fresh food available, he may as well take advantage. He'd also put an oddly shaped metal pot of some kind over the fire, on a little device that held it above the flames. A strange, herbal smell emanated from the steam that wafted from it.

“What are you cooking in that?" I sniffed at the steam, scrunching my muzzle. The smell was slightly bitter, and oddly appealing, like someone had swirled flowers into hot swamp water.

“Tea! And it's not cooking, it's steeping." Nesh produced a little cup from his pack, then a small cloth pad. “I found a kettle in Melakar's things, thought I'd make use of it. Want some?"

“I rather doubt that." I dragged the dead elk near the fire, creating a bloody furrow in the snow. “What is it?"

“You don't know what tea is?" Sparrow approached me, moving towards the elk's shoulder.

“Not exactly." I stretched a wing, signaling for Sparrow to pause where she was.

We did not usually feed together, and I did not know how she planned to approach it. Truthfully, I cared not if they ate directly from the carcass alongside me, shored off the meat to eat elsewhere, or even cooked it over Nesh's fire. But the meal was not yet ready. I took a breath, and spat a quick stream of roiling flame across the elk's body. Sparrow squawked and jumped back, beating her wings. I waited long enough for the fire to consume the animal's fur, then fanned my own wing sharply a few times to extinguish it.

“There. Now it's ready." I sunk my teeth in immediately into the elk's haunch smoking haunch, savoring the spill of warm blood across my tongue and the crackle of seared skin and fat. I beckoned Sparrow and Blue Jay forward with a paw. I licked my muzzle, glancing at the female gryphon again. “Is tea what humans make when they put dry weeds in hot water?"

“Basically." Sparrow chirruped amusement at the way Nesh grunted at my answer. She tilted her head, eyeballing the slightly charred elk, considering the best way to proceed. “Do you want me to wait while you eat, or…?"

“Do what you wish." I took another big bite, purring to myself at the rich, slightly minerally flavor of fresh elk meat. The scorched skin and layer of fat added a delightful crispiness to it, and a gentle, smoky sweetness.  

Blue Jay pushed up alongside Sparrow, across from me. “I'm sure as hell not waiting." With a few deft swipes of unsheathed claws, he'd peeled away the outer layer of scorched hide. He sniffed it, then dropped it into his beak. The gryphon gave a pleased chirrup, then dropped his beak and tore into the prey beast's flesh, eating with as much enthusiasm as I was. “Ooh, it's nice when I don't have to get past the fur. And burning it gives it a sort of, smoked flavor." He lifted his head, tearing a strip of meat free, then gulped it down and flashed me an open-beak smile.

Sparrow heaved a sigh, her wings drooping. “No manners at all."

“Oh, I'm sorry, do you think the dragon would be more impressed if I used Nesh's utensils?" He twisted his head around towards the human. “Nesh, do you have a spoon I can borrow?"

Nesh scratched his head, wrapping a cloth pad around the kettle's handle. He poured steaming liquid into a cup. “I don't think a spoon would help for eating meat. Do you two want any tea? There's not a lot, but I'm happy to share."

“I'd have some." Sparrow bowed her head to him. “My drinking bowl is in my cargo harness." Then she flashed Blue Jay a glare. “And that wasn't what I meant. I meant, you shouldn't just barge in and start feasting upon the dragon's kill."

I licked blood from my muzzle, gazing down at Sparrow. Was that actual respect she was showing me, or just diplomatic professionalism? Either way, I patted the elk's shoulder. “Eat. Please."

The female gryphon bowed her head in thanks, and with a bit more grace and restraint than Blue Jay, had soon dug her beak into the elk's flesh. Nesh approached her while she ate, carrying the kettle. He dug out her bowl, set it on the ground, and poured some of his odd smelling tea into it. Steam rose from the liquid in swirling coils. When he saw me watching, he waggled the kettle at me.

“Sure you don't want some? It's good for you." Nesh fetched another bowl from Sparrow's harness, rounding the dead elk to approach me. “Let me pour you a splash, and see if you like it."

“Very well." I sniffed at the stuff as he poured it for me. Little bits of dead plants swirled in what looked like dirty water. The scents of flowers and herbs wafted from it, though up close, the scent was more pleasant than expected. “This looks like stagnant ditchwater, and smells like medicinal ditchwater."

Nesh chuckled and shrugged. “I had to work with what was available. Melakar had some stale old tea leaves from a previous vassal. I mixed in some of the remaining herbs and things from the gryphons and from the last of my medical stockpile. Give it a try. I won't make you drink it if you don't like it." 

"Spoken as if you could force me to drink if you wished too." I bumped my nose against Nesh's chest, then returned my attention to the strange stuff he'd poured me.

"Fair enough," Nesh said, rubbing the back of his head. "Just see what you think."

I gave the tea a few more sniffs, then lapped it up. He'd scarcely even poured me a mouthful, but there was enough for me to get the taste of it. The hot liquid tasted a bit less murky than it smelled, with an oddly pleasant sort of bitterness to it, balanced by a hint of flowery sweetness. In truth it tasted far better than I expected. It also brought a pleasant internal warmth to counteract the cold air.

“That is not unpleasant." I nosed at Nesh again, this time in gentle gratitude. “I would have more, if you can spare it."

“I can!" Nesh poured me a little more, though not near enough to fill the drinking bowl. “But I'm afraid a tea kettle doesn't exactly hold a dragon sized portion. If you all enjoy it, maybe we can stock up on tea whilst in Tivos." Nesh patted my neck when I lowered my head to drink the offering. “If you like that, you'd really enjoy a truly fine tea."

Across the elk carcass, Blue Jay chirped twice. “I don't know about her, but I can't tell the difference between fine tea and piss-poor tea."

Sparrow shot him a glance. “I'm continually surprised someone as crude as you can even tell the difference between tea and piss."

Blue Jay only met her insult with a smile. “Is there much difference, though? They both seem like waste, to me."

Nesh poured a little more into Sparrow's drinking bowl, chuckling. “I suppose he prefers coffee." He returned to his own cup, and added the last of the kettle's contents to it. “I enjoy both, myself."

“I, meanwhile, wonder why you humans ruin perfectly good water that way." Blue Jay ruffled himself and returned his bloody beak to his food.

Sparrow clacked her beak, turning her head towards Nesh. “I tried to get him to enjoy both, but I don't think he's ever once given either a fair shake. Only drinks them when he has too. Had an officer who preferred a formal tea ceremony proceed any meetings, and Kraas would just grind his beak and fidget the entire time."

“Now, ale," Blue Jay said, swallowing another big strip of meat. “Ale, I like. And wine, mead…" He waved a paw. “Rum, whiskey, vodka…"

“So you don't like tea, but you are a drunkard." Nesh laughed as he set the kettle in the snow to cool off. He drew a knife, slicing hunks of meat off to cook from an area we hadn't touched. “Noted."

“Of course he is. He's a raider." Sparrow splayed her ears and lifted her crown feathers in smug display as she regarded the blue and black gryphon. 

Blue Jay shook his wings, staring right back at her. "Your claws might sink more deeply if I hadn't seen you drunk off your ass-feathers." He swished his tail across the snow, speaking to Nesh and me even as his gaze remained level with Sparrow. "When she gets really good and stumbling drunk, she starts singing old gryphon folk songs. One time, she flopped down in a puddle in the street, and spend the morning singing to the street sweepers before she finally passed out. If she weren't so diminutive she'd have blocked morning traffic!"

“Now that sounds like a side of you I'd enjoy seeing." I arched my neck, grinning down at the female gryphon.

“You know, I feel like I've heard that story somewhere." Nesh skewered his meat, and set it on stones near the flames, where it sizzled and steamed. “Back when I was still in the academy, there was rumors going around about some gryphon legion party in the capital that got out of control. Well…more than one, really." He folded his arms, turning towards Sparrow. “Wouldn't have guessed you were involved."

“I was off duty!" Sparrow made a sound of indignity, something akin to a squawk and a chirp all jumbled up. “Hell, I was in the middle of my vacation. I'd never do such a thing during duty hours, nor when I was expected to be on duty soon. And, it was before I was even promoted to this position." She ate a little while longer, only to jerk her head up and continue. “What he's not telling you is that it was part of a retirement celebration for an older gryphon. There were dozens of us there and we were all trying to keep up." She snapped her beak at Blue Jay. “And you kept putting more bowls of spirits in front of me."

“I didn't make you drink them." Blue Jay ate a few more beakfuls of meat, finishing off his portion. “You didn't have to keep up with everyone else."

“You'd have never let me live it down if I didn't!" Sparrow stripped the last bits of meat clean from her section of the carcass. “At least I didn't vomit and piss on myself."

“I only vomited a little!" Blue Jay walked down to the stream to wash up. “And I did not piss myself! I fell in a puddle, just like you."

Sparrow cupped a paw near her beak, whispering to Nesh and I. “He was so drunk, he pissed his feathers!"

“I can hear you!" Blue Jay rinsed his forelegs off in the stream, then ducked his head to wash the blood from his beak and face. He took a drink, ears swiveling towards us. “And I did not!"

Sparrow went to the stream next, swatting her tail across Blue Jay's face as they passed one another. "Whatever you say, pissfeathers."

When I was finished with my own food, I joined Sparrow alongside the water. I lowered my head to it, sniffed it once, and then took a quick drink. The water was too cold to drink much at a time, but I used it to wash my paws and face. I curled my tail so that it bumped up against Sparrow's. “So how much alcohol will it take to get you to sing us all gryphon folk songs?"

“Oh, no." She stretched her wing out between us as if to ward off the very idea. “I haven't drank that much in years, and I've no intention of doing so ever again. I've a captaincy now, and that means I represent the Gryphon Legion at all times. I'm not just some young, faceless legionnaire who can get away with that sort of thing, anymore." She pushed herself to her paws, and shook the snow from her haunches and tail feathers. “Anyway, that's all the slander I can endure. We should be underway as soon as Nesh is ready."

“Very well." I finished washing, and followed her back to the others.

I settled near Nesh, and while he finished cooking his lunch, I let my thoughts drift. Never in my youth would I have imagined I'd sit and share tea with humans and gryphons, or hear embarrassing stories from their youth. Our lives took strange turns, and I found myself wishing Melakar was still around, so that I could share my own life's latest twists with him. And yet, if not for his death, none of this would have happened.

It did not take long for Nesh to finish cooking his lunch, nor much longer to eat it. Once he was finished, he quenched his little fire with several bowlfuls of snow. Steam hissed and lashed at the air in angry coils, and soon even the hottest embers were but cold ashes. Nesh packed everything away where it came from, and buckled the safety straps around himself once more. When Nesh was ready, Blue Jay hoisted him up and deposited him on my back. He patted my neck and hunkered forward, a silent signal that he was ready to go.

Once more, we returned to the skies.

*****

Chapter Twenty Nine

Cave

*****

The second half of the day's journey went much like the first. It passed in long stretches of silence and roaming thoughts. There were fewer conversations this time, but I did not mind. Nesh's expression and body language once more radiated joy and excitement, and I saw no need to interrupt that with speech. The gryphons seemed content to focus on keeping pace with me, and to mull over whatever difficult questions must have lingered in their own minds.

By the time the horizon was swallowing the sun, we flew over much rougher terrain. Where much of my land held rolling hills peppered with stony spires and ridges, here the earth was punctuated with lines of rough-shorn bluffs rising from the broken ground, like rocky waves ever frozen in time. Steep chasms further divided the land between rows of bluffs, with turgid streams flowing through some of them. Most of the bluffs were gray limestone, though further along, reddish stone mixed in as well. In the distance, another line of cliffs were almost entirely red.

In times long before even dragons called this world home, the land was rocked by the great upheavals that once birthed the mountains. The bluffs that edged our land's southern reaches were given form by the echoes of those same great cataclysmic tremors. More spiritual dragons than I believed such world-reshaping devastation came from the battles of old gods. After all, the Valley of Gods' Blood and Earth Flame was so named for the belief that it was where the blood of gods mingled with magma from primal volcanoes. According to the legends, such a mingling was what first spawned the original four Elemental Dragons. It was thought if gods were to bleed, then surely only other gods could have caused such injuries.

When I was but a hatchling myself, and the clan still had a true Singer of the Stars, she used to weave tales of the great conflicts that shaped our valley, drove the old gods into hiding to lick their wounds, and birthed the first four dragons. In my adulthood, I had long realized it was all a bunch of gryphon bollocks and nonsense. Sometimes the earth just shook, and that was that.   

Countless small caverns pockmarked the many lines of ragged stone. They made suitable habitat for creatures such as bats and birds, or smaller predators like the arctic wolves and tundra foxes that prowled the lands. Some of the larger caverns made for dens for vorloth, though the large, furry predators often preferred roomier hideaways. Back when we still had a clan, the largest of the hidden caves were well known by the young dragons looking to sneak away with a lover.

“It's been years since I've been here, but if I remember correctly, we should head for that cliff!" I lifted a forepaw and pointed towards a bluff with a wind-scalloped edge overhanging the rest of the cliff. “There used to be a cavern there, hidden from most angles, but large enough for the four of us."

“As good a place to start looking as any!" Sparrow peeled away into a spiraling decent.

“Just be cautious upon entering, in case any vorloth have taken up residence!"

“Vorloth?" Sparrow squawked, glancing back at me with wide eyes. “Those things are almost as big as I am!"

“Bigger, some of them!" I laughed, banking to follow her. “But don't worry, I'm sure they're not used to preying upon gryphons out here."

“What do you mean, out here?" Sparrow hissed as she continued her descent, unsheathing all her claws. “They don't actually eat…" She snapped her beak. “Do they? I thought that was just a myth!"

Blue Jay broke into a dive, swooping past her. “Let me go first, just in case!"

Nesh leaned forward against my neck. “They don't really eat gryphons, do they?"

“I've no idea. I'd be a lot more concerned about cornering one and making it feel threatened." I glanced back at him, smirking. “I doubt there's anything here, though. I just like scaring the birds."

“Oh!" Nesh laughed, wrapping an arm around my neck while we descended. “I suppose I should have guessed. Do you think Kraas is genuinely trying to protect her, or just reminding her he's bigger than she is?"

“Both, I should think!"

I left the swifter dives to the gryphons, and carried my passenger on a more gentle descent towards the ground. But I kept my attention on the birds, just in case they did run into any unexpected trouble. Blue Jay landed first, folding his wings against his back as he trotted towards the base of the cliff. The snow here must have been crunchy and hard, because I could hear his paws punching through its frozen crust with every step. I saw no other paw prints or any other sign that any other large creatures had been here recently.

Blue Jay soon vanished beneath the stony overhang. From above, the cavern I remembered was nearly impossible to see. The cliff itself held an incline, with a large, overhanging ledge at the top. A few bits of crumbled reddish-gray stone marked the snow, warning that the rocky shelf was unstable. I just hoped it didn't pick the wrong time to come crashing down.

Sparrow landed a little ways behind Blue Jay, and quickly vanished beneath the ledge as well. I wheeled about, nearing the earth. I swept in for a landing, and told Nesh to brace himself. He squeezed my neck as I touched down upon my hind paws. I hopped a few awkward steps, jarring him before I dropped my forepaws down and trotted to a stop. Nesh relaxed his grip, but did not dismount. It was for the best, as there was no sense in unbuckling all the safety gear if the cave did not prove suitable.

Now that I was on the ground, the cavern itself was easier to see, if smaller than I remembered. The entrance looked more like a vaguely circular gap in the stone an actual cavern. It scarcely looked wide enough to fit Blue Jay, let alone myself. Yet the shadowy darkness beyond the entryway indicated greater depth than its entrance suggested. I remembered it opening up quite a bit, but it had been ages since I'd been here.

Sparrow stood next to it, peering inside. Blue Jay's cargo harness lay on the ground near her, removed with impressive speed and deftness. I wished I could get mine off that fast. Sparrow flicked her tan and gray tail, tilting her head back and forth. “Well? What have you found in there?"

“Not a lot!" Blue Jay's voice emanated from the cavern, somehow both muffed by and reverberating off the stone. “It looks like something was nesting in here, but it's been a long time. There's some old names, or something, scribed in the walls. It's an awfully tight fit getting in, but it's roomier inside."

“There are so many jokes to be made about that, Bird." I walked up alongside Sparrow, careful not to bump Nesh against anything. “Is there room enough in there for everyone?"

“I rather doubt it." Sparrow glanced up at me, shaking out her wings. “He barely fit through the entrance! Scraped a few feathers off his wings, in the process. Then I thought his haunches were going to get stuck! I was worried you and I were going to have to grab his hind legs and pull him back out!"

“Or leave him behind." I glanced back at Nesh. “You may as well get down. If this one doesn't work out, we'll find another in the area, so-"

“I heard that!" Blue Jay poked his head out the cavern opening, the white tips of his otherwise ebony crown feathers flared up in indignity. “There will be no leaving anyone behind. Least of all me! If I get stuck, you'll damn well unstick me!"

While Nesh dismounted, I waved towards an open stretch of snowy land nearby. “Perhaps if you leave your ego outside, there'll be more room for the rest of us."

Sparrow warbled her birdsong laugh. “And you'll be deflated enough without it that you'll glide right through the entrance."

“You know what?" Blue Jay hissed at both of us. “If that's your attitude, then this cave is mind." He flared his wings to block off the way in. “Find your own."

I only snorted, glancing at Sparrow. “I suppose we'd better find one for him to store his narcissism in, too."

“Well, that's a shot in the stones." Blue Jay huffed, hanging his head in faux dismay. “I am not narcissistic."

I reached out and patted the gryphon's head. “No, of course not." I set my paw back down, then tried to peer around the male gryphon. “Realistically, though. Is there room for all of us, or not?"

“Assuming you can fit inside without injuring yourself, yes. It'll be a bit snug, though. Don't think we can build a fire in there, either." Blue Jay motioned with his paw for Sparrow and me to move aside, then squeezed himself back through the hole in the rock. He tucked his wings as tightly to his body as he could, and even then, a few more indigo and black feathers ended up littering the ground. His haunches bumped both walls, but with a little wriggling he popped free. “I can make it in and out with a minimum of discomfort, but you may have a bit more trouble."

“Admittedly, it has been a long time since I've been here." I curled my neck to look myself over, wondering how much I'd grown since then. I didn't think I was that young when I visited, but perhaps my memory was playing tricks on me. Or maybe I'd just led myself to the wrong cavern. Whatever the case, I wasn't going to make it inside with all the cargo pouches and the harness strapped to me. “Nesh, we're going to have to take everything off, or I'm just going to rip it up against the stone."

“Just as long as you don't rip yourself up on the stone." Nesh hurried around me, unbuckling all the safety harness straps first. “Or tear up your wings."

“I'll be fine." Probably, I thought. Part of me wanted to seek out a larger cavern. But we were already here, and the day's flight left me weary. I suspected I'd be stiff and sore come morning, but at least the stiffness would ease swiftly enough once I returned to flight. “If I must, I'll sleep outside with a fire. Or that big, white blanket the gryphons brought."

“Then what are we to sleep under?" Sparrow chirruped her disapproval, settling on her haunches to start removing her own harness.

“Each other's wings, you love birds." I snorted at her, ignoring the glare that earned. Instead, I turned my attention to Blue Jay. “You remember how I said I'd do all the hunting for now?" As I spoke, I lifted my limbs one at a time for Nesh to unstrap things from them. “I changed my mind. You're the only one out of harness, so go find us some food."

Blue Jay gave an exaggerated bow, spreading his forelegs and bumping his chest and beak to the snow. “Yes, Your Majesty! Shall I also nuzzle your paws, and sing your praises?"

“You can do that after you're back." I tossed my head towards the sky. “And compose a sonnet about my beauty while you're away!"

“Keep it up, Dragon, and you're getting nothing but scraps!" Blue Jay took to the sky in a flurry of feathery wings. The snow here was hardened enough that little of it swirled in the gusts, only the broken bits of crust we'd stirred up. “I'll be back soon!"

I waited a few moments, then spoke up to Sparrow, lifting my voice loudly enough to ensure the retreating male gryphon could still hear me. “Finally! I thought he'd never leave!"

“Go mate with a sharp rock in a bramble bush, dragon!" Blue Jay's voice echoed down to us as he winged away.

 I tilted my head, glancing down at Nesh. “Did he say…?"

Nesh laughed and shrugged, undoing the last of the straps. “I think so, yes."

I shook myself as the last of the pouches finally came free. My hide felt oddly liberated after having so many leather straps pressed against it, chafing against my scales all day. I flopped onto my haunches, rubbing a few areas left uncomfortable. I could not recall a time I'd worn so much cargo gear for so long. Meanwhile, Nesh went to help Sparrow out of her harness. With a few buckles opened, he was able to pull it right off of her. I imagined she must have helped Blue Jay the same way. While the gryphons were able to get into and out of their gear on their own, it was easier and quicker for them to assist one another. Their squad probably spent a lot of time practicing such maneuvers for expediency.

“How're the repairs holding up?" I joined Sparrow as she dragged her harness across the snow, next to Blue Jay's.

“Well, so far." She moved aside to show me the areas that were stitched together. Her human companions had used the sturdiest possible sinew threads, leather bindings and other materials to patch together the areas I'd cut and torn apart. “Doesn't look pretty, but it'll do until I can get it professionally patched up, or get a replacement."

“As long as it does the job." As Sparrow arranged her gear, I caught sight of something gold in the fading sunlight. Stylized wings were sewn into the harness in rich golden thread, positioned to show up across her shoulders when she wore it. I reached out and gently brushed my pads across one of the insignias. “These mark you as a leader among your people, correct?"

“It's a mark of my captaincy, yes." She spread the harness out on the snow, then reverently touched the other marking. “It's a rank, in the Gryphon Legion. Means I'm a Flight Captain. I…" She swallowed, flattening her ears. “I worked years for this, actually. And now…" Sparrow sighed, her ears drooping. “Probably going to have it stripped from me. Granted, I'm…the captain of an exceptionally small Flight, but only because we're a specialized unit, we're out near the front lines, ready to act at any time. Meant to be able to react quickly, to rescue people like Nesh, strike targets of opportunity, or hunt down…" She flicked her wing across my scales. “You know."

“They sometimes send you after dragons, Bird, I understand." I ran my pads against her emblem again. Given how important her position seemed to be, a hint of greatly unwanted guilt tugged at my heart. Not because I'd beaten her, but because she was trying to help me now, and that might well cost her everything she'd built her life around. I lowered my head to nose at her neck. The gryphons liked to put leftover human soaps and scented things in their morning bath, and her feathers still bore hints of flowery aromas. “Perhaps, bringing one in as an ally will nullify your failure to kill me."

“Or get me court martialed." Sparrow chuckled to herself, gently squeezing the emblem on her harness. “Ah, well. It was only a small flight, anyway. I'd like to think we did some good, nonetheless."

“For what it's worth," I said, kneading at the snowy ground. I curled my tail around my hind paws. “In my limited vantage, you performed admirably. You lost, but you were up against extraordinary odds. And…" I licked my nose, grimacing. That had come out more arrogantly than I intended. “What I mean is-"

“Yes, yes, dragon, you're very impressive." Sparrow chirruped, swishing her tail.

“Thank you." I bowed my head, taking her sarcasm as compliment, if only to irritate her. “But what I meant was, you were sent to try and save someone who may already be dead, and to kill a dragon who had already slain dozens of soldiers armed with firearms, and cannons. Even for four gryphons, surely you knew the odds were not in your favor."

Sparrow ground her beak, shifting her weight and unsheathing her claws into the snow. “Admittedly, I was nervous. We're not a dragon hunting unit. Usually when we rescue captives or others in danger, it's from enemy soldiers. Or infiltrate enemy positions to extract information or items and technology. Or…or sabotage something. And when we're on kill missions, we're usually sent to assassinate some enemy officer, or some bandit warlord. You're not the first dragon we've dealt with, but…you're the first we were ordered to kill or capture, all on our own."

“You're expendable, is what you're saying." Nesh came to stand just between us, his arms folded. “I don't mean that insultingly, I mean…whoever sent you after us must have known you might not come back."

“Well, Nesh," I said, lowering my head to him. “You should feel honored! Some high-ranking bastard was willing to throw away the lives of four gryphons just to try and save you."

Nesh's face crumpled and he put a hand over his belly. “I feel sick, more like." He glanced at Sparrow, drawing his mouth into a narrow line. “And I hate to say it, but that's not exactly what I meant. As much as I like the idea of my people going to great lengths to save anyone, they probably assumed you'd killed me. Ella. Whoever gave the gryphons the order to kill you probably didn't care if they lived or died."

I cocked my head, gazing down at him. “Go on."

“Well, if we assume that Melakar was betrayed by someone in our military secretly opposed to our Empress? If the gryphons killed you, you couldn't go looking for answers about Melakar's death. And if you killed the gryphons?" Nesh gently set his hand on Sparrow's wing. “That would be evidence of the 'great danger' you dragons posed, and use it an excuse to send in ten times more people to root you out and finish you off." He patted the gryphon. “I'm sure even you found it concerning you were stuck with an unfamiliar human support squad, answering to a commander you didn't know yourself. Honestly, if even one of our conspiracy theories is true, if someone's plotting against the Empress?" Nesh gestured between Sparrow and me. “This is probably the last thing they want."

“Oh, good." Sparrow gave a heavy sigh, her wings sagging at her sides. “So at least we won't be jailed after our court martialing. We'll just be executed to prevent us from uncovering some kind of conspiracy." She stared down at the golden emblems on her harness. “Flight Captain Avalek…the sweetest words I ever heard, when they were first announced. Worked my whole damn career for a chance to lead my own flight. Thought I'd be leading dozens of gryphons into battle…and I ended up leading three, on missions no one will ever know about, in a squad probably marked 'expendable' somewhere, just like Nesh said. It wouldn't even be the first human commander to consider the lives of gryphons less valuable than the rest of his soldiers."

I snorted, staring out across the snow. The sun now hovered just above the horizon as an orange sliver, casting ever-fading fire across the earth. “And yet, somehow I get the feeling you're all the prouder of your gryphons for the things they have achieved."

“I am." Sparrow's voice was softer now, reverent. “Ever so proud of them, of my flight, of what we've done. You know…" She gulped hard, splaying her ears. “It was Kraas's flight, first. Usually, the smaller squads, they're the elites, with special skills, special training. Kraas has all that. We all do, really. I'm trained in a variety of-"

“Yes, gryphon, we're all very impressed." I rumbled, nudging her with my tail, unable to resist playfully turning her earlier words against her.

“You'd better be." Sparrow's voice was flat, but a hint of mischief shone behind the pride in her eyes. “I suppose it doesn't matter what we're trained in. Kraas had proven himself in other squads, in larger flights, and…because of his background, they thought he'd be a perfect candidate for assembling a new sort of flight, a smaller one. Something able to move anywhere in a hurry, and do…" She waggled her fingers in the air. “Whatever had to be done. That was years ago. Long before his series of demotions."

“And now you lead the squad he created." Nesh rubbed his chin, looking her over. “So is that why you and he are no longer…well you know, is that what led to…"

Sparrow glared at Nesh in angry silence, her crown feathers ever so slowly rising around her head. I gently circled a foreleg around him, and pulled him out of shredding range. “Nesh, not the time. In fact, the time for such a question is never."

“Oh…Oh!" Nesh's face reddened as he realized what he'd been asking, and he bowed his head. “My sincerest apologies, Avalek! I…I don't know why I'd even…I think…the dragon must be rubbing off on me."

“Oh, no." I shook my head. “Leave me out of this. You've wedged your foot firmly in your own mouth, don't expect me to pry it free for you."

Sparrow glared a moment longer, and then the anger left her in a sudden rush, all her feathers slicking back against her body. “It's alright, Nesh. There…there was a time when…I think he was angry at me, for…for accepting the captaincy, when it was offered, since it had only just been stripped from him. And a part of me resented that he'd earned such a position in the first place, without ever working for it the way I had. But…" She swished her tail across the snow a few times. “He and I have known each other a long time, and despite our disagreements, I wouldn't want to work with anyone else. And if you tell him that, I'll deny it until my dying breath."

“Good." I stretched my neck, and rested my muzzle against her shoulder. Among dragons, it was a gesture of comfort. I hoped she would interpret it the same way. “Whatever friendship lingers between you two, whatever deeper feelings may lie shrouded behind anger, behind pride…you should share them with him while you can."

Sparrow did not reply, at least not with words. She turned her head, her feathers tickling my scales. Then ever so gently, she nuzzled the top of my head, my muzzle, brushing her beak against me. There was gratitude in her gesture, a thankfulness for the comfort I offered. But there was more than that. There was a gentle, tender acknowledgement that she understood, that she knew I spoke from painful experience. I would never again have a chance to tell Melakar I still cared for him, to put my paw over his, to rest my head upon him, to sleep at his side. Eventually, I bumped my nose against her beak, and withdrew my head, glad she understood my message.

“We may as well go and have a look in this cave," Sparrow said, rising back to her paws.

“Agreed. You go in first." I swung my head towards the entrance. “If I get stuck, you'll have to pull me in by my forelegs."

“Or let Blue Jay push your haunches through."

“No." I shook my head, chuckling. “He'd enjoy the view far too much."

“True enough." Sparrow walked to the opening, sizing it up. “Very well. I'll go first."

As she vanished inside, Nesh tilted his head back, staring up at me. “What the hell just happened between you two?"

I could only laugh at his confusion. Trust a human to need a verbal explanation for a moment of mutual understanding that seemed so simple to dragons and gryphons. “Friendship, I think, Nesh. Friendship."

“What?" Nesh blinked, then glanced after Sparrow. “But all you did was…oh, never mind." Nesh put a hand against my foreleg, chuckling. “It's heartening, either way." He patted me, and then turned towards the cavern entrance. “At least she didn't have any trouble getting in. You, though…" Nesh knit his furry eye ridges together, looking me over. “Perhaps we should measure you first, just to be safe."

“Nonsense," I said, walking towards the cave. “I can fit." Actually, I wasn't sure I could. The opening was taller than it was wide, and while in my youth I'd been able to squeeze through, I had grown since then. I lowered my head, and pushed it inside, stepping forward till my shoulders brushed the rough stone. “Maybe not."

“Not unless you can leave your wings behind." Sparrow watched me from within the rounded chamber, illuminated only by the light streaming around me. “We may need to find another cave for the night."

I pulled back, them mentally gauged the dimensions once more. “I think I can go in sideways."

“Sideways?" Nesh crossed his arms, glowering at me. “You're not a sofa, Ella."

I spared him a quick glance. “I don't know what that word means."

“It's a piece of furniture. To fit it through a door, you have to…" He sighed and shook his head. “Never mind. How are you even going to do that?"

“In a very dignified manner." I eased down onto my belly, and put my head and neck through. “My wings won't fit horizontally, but vertically…" I rolled partway onto my side, careful with my wings, then stretched my forelegs to grasp the stone. I pulled myself forward, wriggling through the opening upon my side. “I think I can manage."

Sparrow tilted her head, clicking her beak. “You look like a newt struggling to hatch."

“From back here, she looks like she's having a seizure!" Nesh's voice followed me through the cavern opening.

“You're both ever so helpful!" I wriggled harder. Rough, cold stone and frozen earth scratched at my scales, and scraped at my wings, but I made steady progress.

“What would you like me to do, Ella?" Nesh laughed somewhere out of sight. “Grab your haunches and push? You were just making jokes about Blue Jay enjoying the view too much!"

“You're allowed to enjoy the view, Concubine!" I grunted, pushing myself further inside the cavern. “He isn't!"

“Be that as it may, I fear a creature of his strength would provide far more useful assistance!" Nesh's voice drifted a bit as he walked around my hind end. “I'm actually trying to stay out of disemboweling range while you're flailing your hind legs about."

“Almost…there…" With a grunt of effort, I wriggled the rest of the way through, popping free of the cavern's entrance. I rolled to my feet and shook my wings. Their membranes stung where the stone scraped them, but other than that I was unharmed. “There. Easy."

Sparrow smiled at me, her ears perked. “You know you're going to have to do that again every time you leave and return, right?"

My frills slumped. “Shit." I settled on my haunches as Nesh followed me in. “Concubine, I shall require your assistance next time."

“With what, chiseling a larger opening?" Nesh circled me, inspecting my wings. “I doubt you'd even notice if I got behind you and pushed a while."  

Sparrow chirped at him. “Then what good are you as her concubine?"

I rumbled laughter, letting Nesh examine my fresh scrapes. “That's not bad, for a city bird."

Nesh managed a chuckle. He patted my side to tell me I was cleared, then turned and shook a finger at the gryphon. “You keep that up, and you'll be in danger of developing a sense of humor."

“I have a sense of humor." Sparrow preened her wing, removing a few loose feathers. “It's usually just too sophisticated for a dragon. But it seemed an appropriate moment to debase myself." She spat another feather on the ground, then rearranged several others with her beak. “And I'm not a city bird, regardless of what Kraas thinks."

I shrugged my slightly sore wings. “If you say so."

“There's not a lot of room in here, for the four of us." Nesh walked around the outer walls. “But I suppose that means it'll hold in warmth a little better. Don't think we can build a fire in here, though, the smoke won't have anywhere to go. We'd all suffocate. I can light my travel lantern, at least."

I gazed around at the cavern, lit by sunset's fading fire. The chamber was much larger than it appeared from the outside, though it still did not provide a lot of room for a few dragons and a gryphon. Nesh, at least, had plenty of room to move about. The cavern was shaped like an uneven egg, roughly oval and with a concave ceiling, highest at the center. The evening light gave the gray walls an orange shine.

Old draconic runes were cut into them in random places, names and professions of everlasting love left behind by young dragons who visited the place long ago. Many of them were probably long dead now, others long since flown to safer parts of the world. Mixed in amidst the youthful declarations of undying affection were a few images, depictions of crude but delightful acts carved into the stone.

“Ella…" Amusement and embarrassment alike mingled in Nesh's voice. “Did you do this?" He pointed to a simple carving depicting two dragons mating.

“Of course not, Nesh." I snorted as if indignant, then scanned the walls for a familiar etching of one dragon pleasuring another. I pointed to it. “I did that one."

Nesh rolled his eyes, then laughed, shaking his head. “Of course you did." He looked around again, eyes roaming across the old runes. “You know, that's not all that different from humans. We do the same thing…visit secret places to carve our names in trees and stones, and do things we aren't supposed to, with people our families might not like."

I cocked my head, lifting my frills. “Oh? Was that the case for your first mate?"

“Well, we certainly never carved our names anywhere, but others did." Nesh turned to jab a finger in the air at me. “And that's all the information you're getting about that."

“Very well." I certainly wasn't going to push Nesh on anything he wasn't comfortable discussing. “My name is here, somewhere. Over here, I think." I padded turned around in the small cave, forcing Sparrow to move out of the way of my tail. Guided by old memories, I approached a section of wall with a distinct swath of black stone. Familiar, if somewhat faded, runes lay just beneath the dark rock. I lifted my paw, brushing my pads reverently over the old sigils. “Here, it is."

Nesh came to stand at my side. “So that's how you spell your name in draconic?"

I nodded once, pointing to each of the four symbols as I spoke them with all the old draconic vocal accents. “Ehl-la meer-iss."

Nesh stroked his chin, nodding. He tried to sound out the syllables the same way I did, and to his credit, came quite close. Then he reached up to put his hand near mine. “And is this Melakar's name, under yours?"

“It is." I spoke those sigils aloud, as well. “Mehl-lih-kar." The name sounded almost foreign, when I spoke it slowly. “Our written language is…archaic. The pronunciations are a little different, now."

Nesh set his hand on my foreleg, and gently stroked my scutes. His silent comfort was greatly appreciated. For a little while, I gazed at Melakar's name. In my mind, I could still see that moment, back when we were young. As tradition dictated, we'd carved each other's names, rather than our own. Even in his youth, he'd been a stickler for old rites. Melakar had worked so diligently to get every tiny line, angle, and curve correct in the letters of my mine. By contrast, I'd scratched his haphazardly into the stone, though I doubted Nesh or Sparrow could tell the difference. Melakar hadn't cared at the time, but…I suddenly wished I'd put as much effort into scribing his name as he had mine.

 “You two were together a long time," Sparrow said, gazing at the wall.

“I knew him my whole life." I glanced at the gryphon, flattening back my ears. “We were born in the same year…played together as hatchlings. Explored the world together as we grew, explored each other as we matured. Found love together, built a life, raised a son. And then pride, and anger, tore us apart. But even when weren't together, I knew he was out there. That he'd be there for me, if I never needed him. And I always thought I'd be there for him, too. But…" I swallowed, squeezing my eyes shut in vain attempt to ward off a sudden flood of emotion. “But I wasn't. I wasn't. And then…then he was dying, in the snow. Without me." I sniffed, swallowing against the hot clenching of my throat. A few tears spilled down my scales, despite my best attempts to hold them at bay. “I've never known a world without him. It feels…" I traced my paw across his name again. “Emptier."    

“I'm sorry." Sparrow stretched a wing to place it gently across my back. Her feathers were warm, and ever so slightly tickled my wing membranes. “I should have kept my beak shut."

“It's alright." I quickly brushed the tears away, my voice hoarse and shaking. “His absence haunts me. I can still see him, sitting here, scribing my name with his claws, so focused he didn't even know his tongue was hanging out." I parted my muzzle, and let my tongue hang over my lips for a moment, earning a soft laugh from Nesh. “Used to always make that face when he was focused. So fixated on his task, so lost in concentration, I could have flown home and he'd not have even realized I was gone till he was finished."

Nesh rubbed the plates of my chest in a gentle circle. “I know it'll take time, Ella, for the pain to ease. And, it will never fade completely. Anyone who tells you it will is just lying to spare your feelings. There are times I still miss my father as much as I did when I was young, when I was struggling just to make it through a day without him. Most of the time I don't think about it, and when I do, it's just…a familiar old ache, in my heart…" Nesh patted me, above my own heart. “Somedays, though, some old memory cuts me to the core, like a knife in my soul. And I just want to curl up and cry. But…those same memories? Somehow they make it better. They remind us just how much we loved them. How many happy times we had, together, and how much they loved us. And those happy times? They're worth clinging, Ella, they're worth remembering. And every time those memories make you smile, then…" Nesh sniffled, rubbing his eyes. “Then you know your loved ones might be gone from the world, but they'll never be gone from your heart. They'll always live on, inside you."

I took a shaky breath, and let it out in a shuddering sigh. Nesh's words left fresh tears dribbling down the scales of my face, and it was all I could do to stop myself from giving into them. I feared if I let myself break down crying now, I'd still be sobbing by the time Blue Jay returned. So instead, I leaned back against my tail to snatch Nesh up in a hug, squeezing him against my chest plates. He put his arms around as much of me as he could, his head pressed to myself.

“Thank you, Nesh," I said, my voice scarcely more than a hoarse whisper.

“You're…more than welcome!" Nesh's voice wasn't much better, ragged and wheezing. He must have overwhelmed himself with emotion, just as he'd nearly overwhelmed me. He wriggled, his boots tapping against my belly scales. “But…Ella…you're…"

Sparrow gently tapped me with the wing still draped across my back. “You're squishing your concubine, Dragon."

“Oh." I eased my grip and set him back on his feet, then wiped at my eyes with a paw. “Sorry, Nesh."

“Quite alright." He took a few deep breaths, rubbing his midsection. “I didn't really need those ribs, anyway."

I lowered my head and gently nuzzled his cheek, brushing my nose against his skin a few times. “Thank you for your words, and your comfort." I lifted my head, turning my attention to Sparrow as she withdrew her wing. “And yours as well."

Sparrow bowed her head to me in acknowledgement, and Nesh stroked my neck.

“You're welcome, Ella." He patted my scales before withdrawing his hand. “Happy to help, any time you need it."

“I appreciate that, Nesh." I turned away from them, careful not to buffet anyone with my tail in the small space. “I may need your help now, actually. Yours too, Sparrow."

“Oh?" Nesh followed me towards the narrow cavern opening. “With what?"

“Widening this exit so Blue Jay and I don't have to scrape our damn wings off." 

Together, we worked to chisel away chunks of stone from the sides of the entrance. Though I'd planned to let our efforts distract me from Melakar, instead my mind drifted back to him. I decided to follow Nesh's advice, and lost myself in the work, and in memories of happier times.

*****

Chapter Thirty

Games

*****

Later in the evening, the four of us sat around a fire, just outside the cavern. The sun had long since set, and plunged the world into darkness. The night sky was clear, smothered in uncountable stars, an ocean of blackness and infinite glittering lights. With no clouds to hold in what little warmth the sun brought during the day, the temperature plunged from cold, to frigid. At least the fire's warmth kept the worst of the chill at bay. We'd built it close enough to the cavern entrance to try and warm the space, though we did not want to fill our shelter with smoke. For now though, I was happy enough just to sit alongside the crackling flames.

I found myself oddly at peace. Perhaps it was the fatigue wrought by a long day of flight. Or maybe it was the lingering comfort provided by Nesh's words, and Sparrow's tender gestures. Whatever the case, there was little sorrow in me, and less anger still. I knew well enough such things would soon return, but for now I was happy just to feel peaceful, for a little while. Melakar was gone, and would always be gone, but Nesh was right. We had shared a long life together, and I had many cherished memories of him. Those could never be erased. For now, at least, it was enough just to know we'd loved each other.

It helped to lose myself in the simple enjoyment of conversation and friendship. It seemed strange to consider the gryphons friends, but more and more, that was what they were becoming. We were growing to understand one another, little by little, and with that understanding came something deeper. Something more meaningful and important. Where once Sparrow spat hatred at me and called me a demoness, now she brushed her feathers across my wings in a time of need. And where Blue Jay once sought to spill my blood, now he sought a different sort of combat.

Blue Jay sat across the fire from me, alongside Sparrow. He'd been molding an immense ball of snow between his forepaws for a while, and now hoisted it into the air. “I'd wager you an entire barrel of ale I can land this right between your horns."

“If you throw that at me," I said, snapping my teeth at the gryphon. “I'm going to bury you in a snowdrift."

Blue Jay tilted his head. “What if I throw it at Nesh?" He perked his ears, flashing the human a grin.

Nesh scooted closer to my side. “You'd damn near take my head off with that thing!"

I stretched a wing to curl it around Nesh. “This vassal is under my protection…An act of war against him is an act of war against the Valley of Gods Blood and Earth Flame!" I arched my neck to glare down at the gryphon. “I will retaliate."

Blue Jay clicked his beak, and slowly turned his head towards Sparrow.

She flattened her ears, glaring at him. “I am not having a snowball fight with you."

“Oh." Blue Jay's wings sagged in mock disappointment. Then he straightened again and gave a mischievous chirrup. “In that case, it should be easy for me to win!"

Before Sparrow could stop him, Blue Jay turned and dumped his immense snowball atop her. It plopped onto her head with a wet thump, and half-melted snow cascaded down her face and neck, streaking her gray and brown feathers with white. Sparrow gave a loud, high pitched squawk, fluffing up and shaking herself. Some of the snow fell from her and splattered the ground around her paws. More of it dripped from her beak. Blue Jay burst out in warbling, birdsong laughter, jumping to his paws and backing away.

“Oh! Direct hit!" The gryphon crossed a foreleg over his chest and bowed his head. “Victory is mine!"

With slow, deliberate motions, Sparrow pushed herself to her feet. She lifted a forepaw, and wiped melting snow from her eyes, then tossed her head to shake more of it away. “I'm glad you enjoy the snow, Kraas." She shook out her paw, hissing. “Because we're about to drown you in it!"

“You can't drown in snow." Kraas flicked his tail, ears splayed. “You'd have to melt it first, otherwise you'd be choking…wait." He blinked, tilting his head. “We?"

Sparrow offered me a sly, sidelong glance, her ears perked and beak slightly open. “We have a truce, do we not, Dragon?"

I cocked my head, easing my wings back to give Nesh room to slip away. “We do, yes."

“In that case, your truce-partner humbly requests your aide in defending her sovereign territory from this cruel and unprovoked attack!" Sparrow flourished her wings and dipped her head down. “Will you come to my aid, Dragon?"

“The terms of our truce are quiet clear." I pushed myself up to all fours, uttering a playful snarl. “I am required to come to your aid."

“Oh, shit." Blue Jay backed away from both us.

“Oh shit, indeed." Nesh laughed, scrambling out of danger zone. “Just don't break each other's wings! Or anything else, for that matter!"

In a single, smooth motion, I bound across the fire, near enough for it's heat to tickle and tease my underbelly. It was all Blue Jay could do to steel himself for our collision before I crashed into him, upending him off his paws. He coughed from the impact, and tumbled through the snow, wings tucked. The impact carried me with him and we rolled through the snow together, battering each other with our forepaws.

“Pin him down!" Sparrow called out from nearby. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, rolling up a massive ball of snow, and apparently content to leave the hard part to me. “I demand revenge!"

“Hold still, gryphon, and this will go quickly!" I tried to get a good grip on him, but he proved as skillful at mock battles as he had in our real fights.

Just when I nearly had him pinned to his back, Blue Jay snatched my forepaw between both of his. He twisted it to the verge of pain, then pulled it sharply across my chest. Before I truly realized what was happening, instinct bade me to follow his uncomfortable guidance or risk having bones broken. The movements shifted my weight and my balance tipped. At the same time, he pressed both his hind paws to my belly, and shoved me to the side with all the strength he could muster. Despite outweighing him, he still toppled me over, and I crashed into the snow.

Blue Jay scrambled back to his feet, dancing away from me and warbling laughter. “You're going to have to do better than that, Dragon!"

Hissing, I returned to my own feet, shaking my paw out. “I forgot about all your little tricks."

Blue Jay lashed his feathered tail, offering an open-beak grin. “I'm just glad they work on dragons, too! I trained against other gryphons, after all."

A snowball suddenly exploded against the side of his head, splattering wet snow in all directions. Blue Jay yowled and stumbled to the side, rubbing his head. “Ow!"

“Play fair!" Sparrow snapped her beak at him.

“I am playing fair!" Blue Jay snapped right back at her. “She's bigger than me!"

“Fine, then!" Sparrow turned her attention to me. “Play dirty!"

I tilted my head, lifting my frills. “You want me to seduce him?" I curled my paw around a handful of snow.

“Wait…" Blue Jay froze, gaping at me, his beak hanging open. “What now?"

As soon as he was as distracted as I hoped, I hurled my pawful of snow directly into his face. The gryphon yelped and staggered backwards, grabbing at his eyes. “Ah! You got me in the eyes, damn it!"

“Then we're even for our first battle!" I took a few quick steps towards him, reevaluating my plan to get him pinned.

“I didn't blind you!" Blue Jay stumbled around, trying to blink the frigid stuff from his eyes and clear his vision. He turned himself towards the sound of my paws crunching against the snow. “That was her!"

“Yes, but we're friends now!" Sparrow spoke up in my place, making her voice loud enough to help cover my approach. At the same time, she stomped towards Blue Jay, adding extra crunching footfalls to mask how near I was getting to him. “Isn't that right, Ella?"

Though I wasn't sure just how strong our friendship was yet, we had built at least the foundations of trust. For now, that was good enough for me. When Blue Jay's ears swiveled towards Sparrow, I threw myself sideways against the gryphon. I didn't hit him too hard, just enough to leave him stumbling and off balance. Before he could fully recover, I decided to use one of his tricks against him. Reaching under his body, snatched his far foreleg, and yanked it towards me across his chest. At the same time, I pushed my hips against him in the opposite direction, forcing him to flop over onto his side.

Even as the gryphon collapsed, I kept moving. I straddled him, shoving his beak into the snow and pinning one of his forepaws to the ground. Then I dropped my haunches down against his hips to pin him, curling my tail around his hind legs. Blue Jay wriggled and struggled, but his efforts were futile.

“There, that's better." I arched my neck, smiling down at the squirming gryphon. “This seems familiar, don't you think? Me, sitting on you? Going to have to change your name to Pillow after all, at this rate."

Blue Jay tried to reply but the snow I'd buried his beak in muffled his retort.

“Oh?" I tilted my head. “Is that right? You don't say." I turned my attention to Sparrow, who had built herself quite the snow boulder during my scrap with her counterpart. “One adversarial gryphon, captured and pinned as requested. You may proceed, truce-partner."

Sparrow offered me an exaggerated bow. “Your assistance in this time of need shall never be forgotten." She rolled her frozen projectile towards us.

Blue Jay wriggled and gave another muffled complaint.

Ignoring him, Sparrow hefted her great, frozen monolith. Large as it was, she had to sit back on her haunches to grasp it in both forepaws. She hoisted it as high as she could, and then hurled it down at Blue Jay. The giant snowball exploded across him, completely burying his head. I burst into rumbling laughter at the way his indigo shoulders just vanished into a mound of stark white. Little cascades of snow rolled down the sides of it when he squirmed and wiggled.

“It looks as if he's been decapitated by a tiny avalanche!" I kept him pinned in place even through my laughter.

“That it does!" Sparrow laughed with me, then turned away, flicking her tail. The feathers on the end of it brushed the snowy mound. “That'll teach him to ambush me! Alright, mission accomplished, Dragon. I'm going back to the fire."

“Yes, that does sound pleasant." I rose from the gryphon and stepped away from him in a quick, smooth motion, not wanting to give him a chance to retaliate before I was prepared.

No sooner was I off him than Blue Jay leapt to his paws and jerked his head up from its icy prison, sending snow flying in all directions. He gave his head a violent shake, then dropped onto his haunches to rub his beak between both front paws. Blue Jay worked his beak a few times, squawking and warbling.

Sparrow settled down near the fire, and I returned to my previous spot just across from her. I gave Blue Jay a cursory glance. “Problem?"

“M'beak'sall'umb!"

I glanced down at Nesh as he added more wood to the fire. “What the hell did he say?"

The flames illuminated Nesh's face with a warm, flickering glow. “I think it was something about his beak being numb." He set another log across the fire, and embers popped and crackled, swirling into the air in red-orange whirls.

Sparrow swiveled her head around to gaze at the male gryphon over her shoulders. “Maybe that'll finally shut him up for a little while."

Blue Jay dropped a forepaw from his beak to grasp himself between the hind legs, making what I assumed was a very rude gesture among gryphons.

Sparrow only tilted her head, staring at him. “I know what you're reaching for, but I just can't quite see it." She shrugged her wings and returned her attention to me. “Must be the chill in the air."

Even Nesh laughed at that. He shook his head as he rejoined me at my side. “Oh, now that's just cold. No, wait, I didn't mean-"

“Yes, Nesh, from the looks of it, it is quite cold." I curled my wing across his back, gently shepherding him into my warmth.

Nesh rested against the outside of my hind leg, laughing sheepishly. “I meant cruel. Cruel was the word I was looking for."

“When you least expect it…" Blue Jay finally returned to the fire, huffing as he dropped onto his haunches between Sparrow and I. He glared at me, snapping his beak, though the mischievous amusement that shone in his firelit eyes belied his anger. “You're getting a snowball right between the eyes." He flicked a wing open to smack at Sparrow with it. “So are you!"

I only smiled at him, bowing my head in acceptance of his challenge. “Very well, I shall look forward to your no-doubt feeble attempt at revenge. An attempt which I shall return ten fold upon you." 

“Ella…" Nesh reached up and poked at my belly. “Are you threatening to have a snowball fight with a gryphon?"

“Certainly not." I arched my neck, and unfurled my wings, adopting the most regal pose I could manage while seated. “I am merely declaring the certainty that any retaliatory strike will be met with overwhelming force." I snorted, tossing my head. “Dragons do not have snowball fights." I finally allowed a smile to play across my muzzle. “We have snowball wars, which I will win."

Nesh held his hands out towards the fire's warm. “I'm genuinely surprised and impressed that you even know what a snowball fight is."

I folded my wings back to my body, gazing down at him. “It is not a challenging puzzle to solve, Nesh, the explanation is in the name. Besides, I was a hatchling once, you know."

“Is that something dragon children do, then?" Nesh picked up a stick, poking at the fire with it. More embers crackled and lofted themselves towards the stars. “Snowball fights?"

“Not as such."

 I gazed out across the dark horizon. Beyond the flames, the snow was as endless gray sand, stretching towards an infinity of stars and darkness. It had been a long time since my son Vevarek had been a playful hatchling, and far longer still since I myself was one. But I still had vivid memories of taking Vevarek to play in the snow, and watching him romp in it with the other little hatchlings who remained.

Some of my own childhood memories were nearly just as vivid. “When Melakar and I were young, we never made snowballs, but we did play fight in the snow with the other younglings. We'd wrestle and fight and try to shove each other's muzzles into the snow, or bury one another in it." Another memory rippled through my mind, and I laughed and shivered at the same time. “Or surprise someone with a pawful of snow shoved into their most sensitive areas."

“Oh, Lord." Nesh pinched the bridge of his nose, laughing. “I should have known."

“Do humans not do such things?" I smirked at Nesh.

“Well…" Nesh glanced away, his face reddening. “If someone's getting snow shoved somewhere, it's usually into their face. But…maybe a time or two, into the trousers."

“You see?" I rumbled my amusement, hugging him against me with my wing as if to warm him up. “Not so different."

“I suspect what you're talking about is a bit more…" Nesh waggled his fingers. “Intense, shall we say?" He patted my wing membrane. “Mostly what we'd do is just throw snowballs at one another. Sometimes we'd even form teams, and build forts and walls out of the snow."

“Oh!" I thumped my tail, grinning. “We had a game like that. We called it Snow Empire. Each side would build a fort, and then we'd try to conquer each other's lands. Whoever's fort lasted longest won."

Blue Jay gave a happy chirrup, ruffling his feathers. “We used to play a game like that when I was young, too! We called our version Raiding Day, though. We'd team up with the other fledglings, and one side built a fortress, like you said. Only in our case, they hide some fake valuables there, and the other team had to try and steal them. So it was more of an attack and defense game, and whoever had the most artifacts at the end of the day was the winner." Blue Jay held his paws up, warbling. “Now, when I say artifacts, they was usually just a trio of shiny rocks, or some old bones, or something." He settled his paws, and flattened his feathers back down. “Though as far as hurling spheres of snow, that was something I learned from humans."

I licked my nose, nodding. “As did I. It was old vassals of ours that taught Melakar and I about snowball fights. I will admit to enjoying them, though they were hardly fair. Melakar and I could only gently lob our projectiles at the humans, lest we worry about injuring them. But the humans could throw them at us as hard as they wanted!"

Nesh chuckled, fiddling with the buttons on his coat. “I hope you two dragons didn't team up on your poor human friends. Now that would be unfair. Besides, I rather doubt that a human could really hurt a dragon with a snowball no matter how hard they threw it."

“I thought the same, until I took one directly to my nose." I scrunched my muzzle, a sting of sympathy pain running between my nostrils. “And until Ayrah struck Melakar in the balls with one. Poor male flopped over like a felled tree." Blue Jay and Sparrow both squawked raucous gryphon laughter. Even Nesh chuckled as he shook his head, grimacing in sympathy. I laughed with them, slapping a forepaw against the snow. “She swore to him it was an accident…and then she winked at me when he wasn't looking."

“Seems a sound strategy in a snowball fight." Sparrow turned her head to nip at Blue Jay's wing feathers. “Something you'd best keep in mind, if you make good on your threats."

Blue Jay narrowed his eyes, glaring at her. “You wouldn't. It's beneath you."

Sparrow turned her beak up. “It's not unprofessional if it's an accident."

“And it's not an accident if you do it on purpose!" Blue Jay poked her with a single digit.

Sparrow only shrugged her wings. “You'd never know for sure, would you." Smiling, she turned her attention towards me. “You know, I actually had a lot of snowball fights with other gryphons growing up. I'm sure we picked it up from the human children, but in the gryphon district I grew up in, it was quite common to see dozens of young gryphons all running about, trying to pelt each other with snowballs."

Nesh leaned towards the fire, warming his hands again. “That honestly sounds adorable."

“Of course, as we got old enough to fly, strategies started to change." Sparrow stretched her gray and tan wings out as if to illustrate. “The first gryphons old enough to fly started carrying armfuls of snowballs into the air with them, and hurling them down on the rest of us."

Nesh clapped his hands, laughing. “Oh, that's delightful! Like a sky-crawler doing a bombing run!" He patted my scales. “Alright, Ella, that settles it. At some point I've simply got to see a dragon in a snowball fight. It'd be perfect for the book on your species I want to write! I could get illustrations drawn. Oh…Oh!" He clapped his hands. “You could do it in Tivos, if there's snow there. Show the people your playful side! That would help endear you to them, surely."

I only grunted. “Dragons do not play for the amusement of humans. If and when we indulge in such trivial activities, it is solely for our own amusement." Despite my halfhearted protests, I savored my playful mood while I had the chance. “However, if I do wage a snowball war upon the gryphons, I will expect you to join us."

“Yes!" Blue Jay thumped a paw against the snow. “You can join Avalek's team, Nesh." Blue Jay unsheathed a talon to gesture between himself and I. “It'll be Team Wildlings versus Team City Bird."

Sparrow squawked. “I am not going to be on any team called City Bird."

“No, you're right." Blue Jay shook his head. “It doesn't make sense with Nesh. Team City Dweller!"

“That's not what I meant." Sparrow gave a low, frustrated growl. “I'm not a damn city bird!"

“And if anything, Nesh will be on part of my army." I patted Nesh's head. “He'll be my master of strategy, and mender of bruised noses."

Nesh playfully shoved my paw away. “Don't I get a say in this?"

I made a point of ignoring him, and instead, glanced at Blue Jay. “Why do you call her city bird, anyway?"

“Because she's from the city." Blue Jay stretched a hind leg out to make a show of inspecting his back paw. “I should have thought it obvious."

“He means it as an insult," Sparrow said, chittering in annoyed tones. “It's a derogatory term among gryphons. It means someone who has gone soft, who has…adopted a human means of living. A gryphon who's adapted human culture and forgotten their own. That sort of thing." She ground her beak. “I am not a city bird."

“It has different meanings depending on who you ask." Blue Jay withdrew his hindleg, shifting his weight. “It often simply means, someone who was born and raised within a city, like a human, rather than in a wild clan, like a gryphon."

“I assure you, I was raised like a gryphon." Sparrow squawked, fluffing up every feather she had. “I am a damn gryphon."

“Of course you are." Blue Jay set a forepaw over hers, softening his tone. “And a damn fine one, at that. You're an excellent combatant, a very impressive flier, a damn good flight captain…But the fact remains that you're-"

“I'm not a city bird," Sparrow said, a bit of sullenness replacing the annoyance in her voice.

Blue Jay squeezed her paw. “Were you or were you not hatched in the middle of the capital city of Diandrios?"

“I was, but-"

“And were you or were you not raised in that city? Amidst the factories, and the smoke, and the locomotives, and the airships?" Blue Jay tilted his head. “Did you grow up learning to hunt food, or did you buy things at a market? Did you ferment your own fruit and roots, or did you visit taverns and drink ale? Were you trained by your elders, or did you attend an academy?"

“Oh, you live in the damn city too!" Sparrow clacked her beak before trying to shrink down into her own fluffed feathers, sulking.

“I do now, yes, but that's not how I was raised." Blue Jay stretched his neck, gently preening a few of Sparrow's feathers. “I'm sorry if I've upset you. I don't mean it as genuine insult, only playful, just to get under your-"

“Oh, shove your city bird nonsense under your tail!" Sparrow straightened up, but did not rebuke his preening.

“There, that's better. That's the Avalek I know." He straightened a few more of her feathers with his beak, then pulled his head back. “I'm sorry."

Sparrow sighed, and glanced up at me. For a moment, uncertainty shone in her eyes, raw and painful. Then she slowly turned her head towards Blue Jay, and dipped her beak. “Apology accepted. Thank you."

Blue Jay returned her gesture, then clicked his beak a few times, turning his gaze towards me. “Anyway, that's the gist of it. City Bird's just an old insult I picked up in my youth. I only mean to tease, but perhaps it can be more hurtful than I intend. Truthfully she's got a lot more of the wild in her than half the other gryphons I've known in the city. But at this rate, they'll outnumber the rest of us in a few generations."

I curled my neck, considering it. “I had no idea so many of you had already joined with the humans." I scratched at my neck with a wing tip talon. “Granted, until you four came after me, I did not know any gryphons lived with humans."

“The world's changing." Blue Jay tilted his head back to stare up at the stars. They glittered in reflection upon his eyes. “Changed already, really. There's more humans now than there's ever been. It feels like every day, one of them creates some new, world-changing invention or mechanical monstrosity. They've got cannons mounted on ships that fly, smoke-belching behemoths that streak across the land on iron rails, factories that forge metal at a pace you can hardly imagine. Think about the how much their weapons have changed in your lifetime alone, Ella. And then realize you've only seen the very tip of the spear that is progress. After we've been to Tivos, you'll start to understand."

“My clan, a few generations ago…" Sparrow tilted her head back and forth, seeking the right words. “We used to fight with humans over territory, just like you did. But…those times were gone, and those were battles we could no longer win. So my ancestors forged an irrik oro, a blood truce, with Nesh's ancestors. We chose to help them guide the world's progress, before it had a chance to sweep us away."

Blue Jay's voice hardened, just a little, and he gave Sparrow a long look. “Call it what it is, Avalek. We chose to become their equals, before they had the chance to make us their pets. And yet, all their progress threatens to make us…" He growled, a low, frustrated sound. “Irrelevant, to them, just the same. How much longer will they even need creatures who can fly, when they have ships that do it for them? At this rate, we may end up their pets, anyway."

 A shiver racked me, my scales clicking. When Sparrow did not voice any disagreements, I wondered just how true that was. I'd be damned if I'd ever allow my people to be forced to bow our heads and press our bellies to the ground before the humans, no matter the size or strength of their empire. I wondered then, if that was the future Melakar beheld when he visited their great cities in person. A future where dragons had a choice to submit and live as pets, or die, free and defiant. Was that what he sought to avert, through his diplomacy and his efforts to build an empire? To prove ourselves their equal, to forge for us another path, where we would always live free, in an empire of our own?

An empire of our own. The more I thought about them, the more I believed in Melakar's ideals.

The more I told myself I would build that empire and protect our people, whatever it took.

*****

Chapter Thirty One

Sky

*****

When it came time to sleep, the cavern's small size proved both blessing and burden. While it retained heat better than a larger chamber, there was scarcely enough space for the four of us to get comfortable together. We had to sleep the way the gryphons seemed to prefer, draped against one another. At least I trusted the gryphons enough now that I did not mind sleeping alongside them.

As the largest of our group, I settled in for the night first. Sparrow and Blue Jay then spread out their immense white blanket and tossed it across me. Laying still as gryphons pulled a blanket made me feel akin to a fledging being tucked in by her parents. Once the thick cover was spread, they crawled under it and settled on either side of me. Normally I wouldn't want them so close all night, but warm feathers would certainly be appreciated in the chill. To ensure Nesh wasn't accidentally stepped on, I made him wait until the rest of us were settled before he dragged his bedroll in to join us.

Beneath the vast white blanket, the air warmed quickly. I had no real trouble falling asleep, despite laying between two former enemies. Perhaps the gryphons had earned more of my trust than I'd realized. Or maybe I was just that exhausted from our day-long flight. Though my body was healed now from my various battles, I probably still needed as much rest as I could get.

I woke only once through the night, when one of the gryphons got up to go relieve themselves. The movement of feathers against my scales, and the influx of cold air as they lifted the blanket stirred me. So long as I was awake, I decided to follow their example and do the same, lest my bladder wake me again before morning. I returned and found Blue Jay waiting for me. He held the edge of the blanket up for me to slip under, then followed me beneath it's warm embrace. When I curled in against Sparrow, she made an irritable chirping noise, so I offered her nearest ear a few licks, gentle apology for waking her. Nesh, meanwhile, snored softly, completely nonplussed by our excursion.

In the morning, I hunted breakfast for us while Nesh and the gryphons packed up their blankets and travel supplies. I happened upon a small herd of antelope feeding upon bits of sagebrush protruding through the snow between stretches of bluffs. I snatched one up and brought it back to share with the gryphons. Nesh sliced a few hunks of meat off to cook for himself. By the time we were finished with it, there was little left but gnawed bones and bits of especially unpleasant viscera.

After feeding, I led us back into the sky. Much of the day was spent flying over rocky, boulder strewn hills, and thick forests of pine. Where their boughs poked through the snow, swaths of green-gray clashed with the white shroud coating the land. The heavy snowpack gave everything a hypnotic, disorienting sense of sameness. After a few hours of flight, snowy hills and icy pine forests all looked the same. I used the sun's progress against the azure expanse above us to help maintain my general heading.

As we flew, I considered the sky. According to old legends passed down by our long lost Singers of the Stars, the sky itself was a sort of deity, not unlike the great elemental dragons. It saw everything, ever-watchful of the world so far below. And when the lives of dragons came to an end, then the sky itself opened to accept them onto its warm and loving embrace.

I suppose every race, every religion, had their own name for such a place. Dragons called it, the Sky That Shelters. Old legends said the name came from a great ruler among dragons, long ago, in another part of the world. The Sky That Shelters was said to be a place of solace and comfort, of endless, joyful flight and everlasting peace.

Or so believed dragons more spiritual than I.

I saw no warmth in the sky, only a cold, uncaring indifference. It gazed at us, detached and disinterested, and when we died, it did not open for us. It only watched us die.

And yet, as I flew beneath the vast cerulean cloak that covered the world, I hoped I was wrong. Melakar had believed in the Sky That Shelters, though he rarely ever spoke such belief aloud. In our youth, he often visited our clan's last surviving Singer of the Stars. He cherished all the old rites and beliefs. In his adulthood, he taught our son those legends. And in his dying moments, Melakar offered me the sky's blessing, beseeched the Sky That Shelters and the Wind That Carries to keep me safe. Even as the last of his blood poured into the cold snow, Melakar still clung to the old beliefs. Now, I could only hope he was right. That somewhere out there, Melakar flew on forever, peaceful and content, and sheltered within the endless sky.

And perhaps, visiting me in my dreams.

I don't know why that thought popped into my head. But, suddenly, I was reminded of the dreams I'd had, with the waves sweeping across the land, and Melakar imploring me to flee while I still could. I knew they were only dreams, knew they were only my slumbering mind trying to answer questions my waking mind could not. And yet, some strange, hopeful part of me wished they were more.

By the time we landed for lunch amidst a flattened, boulder-strewn floodplain, the idea had grown into a question. I tried to hold it at bay as I hunted, but it only grew and grew. After I'd eaten, I could not keep my thoughts to myself no longer.

 “Nesh," I finally said. I sat on my haunches across the small fire from him, shifting my weight nervously. Nesh was busy cooking his own food, and making tea. “I have something foolish to ask."

Blue Jay opened his beak, but whatever asinine thing he was about to imply was cut off when I twisted my head around to shoot him a murderous glare, and snarl. Instead, he gulped and busied himself talking softly with Sparrow about the progress we were making on our travels so far.

Nesh chuckled, quirking a tiny, furry eye ridge. “Yes, Ella?"

“Do humans…" I shifted again, curling my tail around my paws. “I mean, I know some do, but…your people. You're…quite religious, are you not?"

Nesh turned his meat skewers over, giving me a sidelong look. “I'm not sure I'd say, 'quite' religious."

“I've long since lost count of the number of times you've told me not to blaspheme." I snorted, rumbling a little amusement. If only my laughter could ease the irritating tension bubbling away in my belly. “I'd call that quite religious."

“Perhaps by your standards." Nesh checked the kettle, and then poured some tea into a drinking bowl for me. He poured a bit more for Sparrow, and finally for himself. “Why do you ask?"

I took a slow, steady breath, steeling myself. Even then it was difficult for me, and I knew not why. I felt a fool for what I wished to ask. While I sought my voice, Nesh sipped his tea, patient. A few memories flickered through my mind, unbidden. Memories of Melakar comforting me in difficult times, and whispering encouragement to me, when feared I was not yet ready to be a mother. Then another, more recent memory. After I had killed the dragonslayers, and sat back to watch the sunrise, I had imagined Melakar watching it with me. Somehow, it had eased the emptiness just a little.

Hoping it would help, I tried to do the same now. I imagined Melakar sitting next to me, putting a wing across my back, a paw over mine. In my mind, he leaned against me, nuzzling at my scales, and speaking soft encouragement into my ear. Just ask him, Ella, he won't think you a fool.

The thought made me smile. While Nesh might not think me a fool, I surely looked like one when I instinctively leaned my head into Melakar's touch. A touch that wasn't really there. At least I hadn't put my weight against him. If I'd toppled over into the snow, I'd have had a lot of embarrassing explanations to make instead of one embarrassing question to ask.

“Nesh, do you believe in…" I got most of the words out, but the last few caught in my throat. After all the teasing he'd endured from me about his beliefs, here I was asking him for a serious answer about them. “In an afterlife?"

Nesh sipped his tea, then set his cup down on the little stump he was using as a saucer. “Yes, Ella, I do." He put a hand to his chest. “But, that's just me, I certainly can't speak for everyone. Did you mean me, specifically? Or my country? My religion?"

I grunted, turning my eyes away. I focused on the distant horizon, where snow met sky. “You, I suppose, or your people, or…or…all of it." I licked my nose in a moment of uncertainty, flicking my tail tip towards Nesh. “Let's…just say you, for now."

“I do, yes." Nesh picked up his tea, and moved around to sit next to me, gently patting my scales. “I believe in it very much, actually. What do you want to know?"

“I…" I faltered, then sighed, my head hanging. “I don't know, Nesh. Anything, I suppose. Your afterlife, it's…called heaven, right?" I'd heard the name from vassals, but rarely paid it any attention.

“Well…" Nesh scratched his chin. Hints of scruffy fur were starting to show. “That's the common word for it, yes. I mean, there's lots of different names, depending on religion. Though if you want to get specific, heaven is sort of a blanket translation of a number of places and concepts, and…" He took another sip, trailing off. “I suppose the official name for the place my people believe in would be Aeturnium, but it's sort of become known as the Golden Plain. Which, is possibly a mistranslation of Golden Plane, as in, a different aspect of existence, and…" Nesh quieted again, smiling up at me. “Isn't this normally where you'd chide me to 'cease my ramblings' or whatever you say?"

“I think, Nesh," Sparrow said, her voice soft and reverent. “She just wants to hear a voice other than the one in her head, right now."

I flattened my ears back, looking away. I cursed Sparrow for her incisiveness, and thanked her for saying what I could not, just the same.

“Oh…right." Nesh gently patted the bowl with my tea in it. “Drink it before it gets cold, Ella."

“Yes, mother." I gave him a smile, then lowered my head to lap at the tea. The slightly bittersweet, herbal flavor and the warmth it brought me made for a pleasant balm for my jumbled thoughts and uncertain soul. Halfway through, I lifted my head, fixing my eyes upon him. “I was thinking about the Sky That Shelters. About how Melakar believed in it."

“See?" Nesh smiled back at me, gently cupping my chin in his hand. “The tea always helps. Mother used to always give me tea, or something else warm, when I couldn't quite clear my head. If she knew I had something to talk to her about that I couldn't put words too, she'd give me tea, or warm milk, or something else." He rubbed my nose, memories drifting behind his eyes. “Usually tea. So, Melakar believed in…?"

“The Sky That Shelters." I tilted my head back to gaze up at the sky far above us. If I'd hoped to find it somehow looked warmer, and more sheltering, I was only setting myself up for disappointment. If anything, it looked even colder and emptier than the last time I'd gazed at it. “It's a sort of…afterlife, I suppose. For dragons." I waved a paw at nothing in particular. “We have a lot of old adages, based on legends from our pasts. Our Singers…"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the gryphons staring at me. When I realized how silent they'd gone, I glanced towards them.

Sparrow tilted her head when she caught me looking. “I'm sorry, Singers? You dragons sing?"

I hadn't meant to involve them, but I may as well explain. “Singer of the Stars. It's a title, of ceremonial importance.  They were high ranking members of the clan, who offered the queen or other rulers spiritual advice. Think of them like…" I waggled my half-unsheathed claws. “Shamans, priests, priestesses, you might say. When our clan was still vast, they were believed to hear the stars singing to them. The star-song brought guidance, and so the Singers carried it to our clan, sang it to our people. And in return, they sang back to the stars to tell them stories! For it was believed, even the stars grew lonely. So the lonely stars sang to anyone who would listen, and rejoiced whenever someone sang back."

“That's…" Nesh rubbed his head fur. “Oddly beautiful."

“I always thought it was nonsense, but Melakar believed in it." I sighed, gazing down at my front paws. “For all his knowledge, all the books he read and all the things he learned? He still believed in the old ways, and the old legends. Melakar believed in what the Singers told us, and they spoke of a great Sky That Shelters that opens to us when we die, and provides our consciousness…" I swallowed, rubbing the scutes of one foreleg with my other forepaw. Sometimes I wished I truly believed it. “A place to persist. To be peaceful and sheltered, for all of time. An endless, warm sky where we drift in peaceful, perpetual flight with all the other long-lost dragons."

“That's also a beautiful idea." Nesh gently grasped one of my fingers and gave it a soft squeeze. “It's…not that different from some of the other ideas of heaven out there, either."

“It's a children's story." A hint of bitterness crept into my voice, like fire bile dribbling over my tongue before I could stop it. “Meant to comfort us when we die, when our loved ones die. When I look at the sky, I don't see shelter, I don't see warmth, or concern. The sky, to me, is…" I tossed my head, reminded of another old legend inspired by the great dragon ruler of times long past. “Uncaring."

“Gryphons believe it's sad." Blue Jay spoke for the first time since the discussion began. “The sky, I mean. It watches everything we do, and when we ascend towards it, when we try to reach it, we are as its friends, its loved ones, its children. It watches us grow, it cradles us when we're aloft. Then, inevitably, we die. Over and over, the sky watches us live, and grow, and die, and never can it do anything to help us. To comfort us." Blue Jay slowly shook his head. “To save us. And so sometimes, the emotion overwhelms it, and it hides itself away behind clouds. Storms are the sky's rage at its own helplessness, and the rain, its tears of sorrow. So maybe it's not uncaring, maybe it's just…helpless."

I clenched my jaws, flattening back my frills. “I like that more than I should admit."

“Certainly a more pessimistic take on it." Nesh finished his tea and retrieved his skewers from the fire. He set them on a stone to cool. Little coils of steam rose from the meat, drifting away into the cold air. “Though, not without its own tragic sort of beauty."

I turned my eyes towards Blue Jay and Sparrow, looking them each over. “Do your people have an afterlife belief?"

“Most of us. Though the specifics vary from clan to clan." Blue Jay stretched a wing to brush Sparrow. “Her clan's version different from mine."

Sparrow gave a little warble. “Ours is mostly peace, happiness, sunshine and warm winds." She jerked her beak at the male gryphon. “Theirs is more about eating, drinking and mating."

I rumbled laughter, thumping my tail against the snowy ground. “That does sound better than just floating in the sky."

“I think so, too." Blue Jay mantled his black-barred wings in showy display. “I'm not sure what I believe in, myself. My home tribe is mostly focused on surviving and enjoying our daily lives while we can. But we still had a spiritual side. In the olden days, we used to believe that our ancestors and loved ones would come to visit us, as spirits, to try and guide us, or help us with our struggles."

“Visit you?" That stirred something in my heart, something I was not sure I wanted to acknowledge. I sighed, lowering my head. “I like to imagine Melakar does that. I…I've imagined him, at my side, comforting me. Advising me. And…" I hesitated, staring at my paws again. “I see him in my dreams."

“That's normal, Ella." Nesh patted my leg. “I still see my father in my dreams, sometimes. It's always bittersweet to wake from it. I'm happy to have seen him again, and…yet I know he's still gone, that it was only a dream."

“Precisely," I said, my voice scarcely more than a murmur. “He's…always trying to help me. Trying to get me to flee, actually. Before some great wave sweeps the valley clean, and obliterates me. I know it's just a dream, but sometimes I wish…" I clenched my paw, digging claws into the frozen ground. “I wish I believed it could be him, that I believed he was still out there, in the Sky That Shelters. But I know in my heart, he's just…" I swallowed hard, retracting my claws. “Gone."

“You don't truly know that, Ella." Nesh stood up to put his hand over my chest. “You believe it, but you don't know it. Just as I believe in the afterlife, the Mother of Light and Father of Darkness, and the Creator Child. We can believe these things with all our heart…but that doesn't make them true." He sighed, and dropped his arm back down. “The fact is, no one knows what's true, nor can we know until…well, until we die." Nesh lifted his face, smiling at me. “And when that day comes, let's just hope that Melakar was right. Because I for one, plan to go on existing even after I die."

I laughed harder than I should have at that, but it was laughter I so desperately needed. It lifted my spirits, just enough. I grasped Nesh in both forelegs and hugged him tight to my body. “Thank you, Nesh, I needed that."

“You're…welcome, but…please don't squash me!" Nesh made a noise halfway between a cough and a laugh, patting my scales.

“Sorry." I let him go, then nudged him towards his food. “Now eat your lunch before it gets any colder."

The truth was, I wasn't just the laughter I'd needed. It was the whole, conversation, the sharing of beliefs. I needed a reason to try and believe that maybe, just maybe, Melakar did still exist. That maybe I'd get to see him again someday. If nothing else, it was a comforting ideal to cling to. And when I felt adrift on life's dark, lonely waters, that was truly what I needed. Something to cling to.

But…it wasn't really an ideal I was clinging to anymore, was it? Now, something far more real and tangible kept me from drowning in despair.

It was Nesh.

Smiling, I cradled him under my wing, and together, we stared at the sky.

*****

Chapter Thirty Two

Fort

*****

I spent the rest of the day's journey in a far better mood. Even flight seemed easier, as if some weight had finally lifted from my wings. While my beliefs hadn't changed, the whole conversation had heartened me. If Nesh believed that Melakar's spirit, his consciousness, may yet persist, then for now that was good enough for me. I'd let Nesh believe for the both of us.

It was also nice to learn more about the gryphons. With every little bit I discovered about gryphon culture, it was that much easier to see their species as potential friends, rather than enemies. With any luck, learning about old dragon beliefs would have the same effect on them. If nothing else, I hoped to show Sparrow we'd once been more than a scattered collection of angry demons, scorching the land.

The second half of the day's journey passed with alternating bouts of peaceful silence, and casual conversation. By the time weary sun drooped towards the horizon, we had finally reached what my clan once called the Lake of Stars. The name came from the fact that on calm, summer nights, the entire night sky was seemingly reflected upon its vast surface.

The Lake of Stars was said to be so large that even a dragon could not cross it in a single day. I did not know if that was true, but in my youth I had flown far enough for the shoreline to disappear in every direction. The sight of nothing but water and waves beneath me for as far as I could see was eerie enough to prevent me from ever trying it again.

Fed by three great rivers, and innumerable smaller streams, the Lake of Stars was sprawling enough to drown a nation. Fertile wetlands surrounded about half of it, especially on its western shores. To the south, it grew even deeper and wider. Numerous arms fed by smaller rivers stretched out across the land, like great blue roots ever seeking nourishment. To the north, grassy marshes met flooded pine forests. Towering mountains edged much of its eastern shore, where pitted limestone cliffs plunged into water that was clear, cold, and unfathomably deep. Warm springs fed both the southern portions of the lake, and the wild swamps surrounding its southwest flank. To southeast, the shores were lined with pebbly beaches. Countless islands of varying sizes dotted every part of it. Some islands were rocky, others forested, others windswept and sparse.

Many different species called the Lake of Stars and the lands around it home. Small urd'thin villages dotted the flooded pine forests, with walkways elevated above the water, serving as waypoints for their wandering nomads and merchant groups. A gnoll clan, separate from the warrior tribes of the northeastern part of the valley, also dwelled there. Many lizard-like va'chaak set up fishing camps within the warmer, swampier sections. In the warmer seasons, they all plied the waters with boats to trade with one another.

Large swaths of ice often encased much the northern half of the lake throughout winter, though the movement of the rivers kept some areas open, or with only spotty, unstable icing. But this winter had been harsher and colder than most, and the whole lake looked frozen as we approached it. The forests, frozen wetlands and gentle hills gave way to an infinite, flat whiteness, broken only by lines of wind-sculpted snowdrifts. From a distance, they looked like tiny alabaster hills.

“Is that all ice?" Sparrow drifted closer to me as we flew. “I can't even tell where it ends and the far shore begins!"

“That's because you can't see the far shore from here!" I ascended a little higher. “Give me a moment, let me find our destination!"

I scanned the horizon as far as I could. The setting sun's golden fire gave everything a strange, yellow-gold glow, daylight's final burst of vibrant life. The further it sank, the more that glow would fade into a creeping purple gloam smothering snow and sky alike. I hoped to have our shelter located before the world succumbed to darkness. In the far distance, I finally spotted what I was looking for. A series of tall, stony-gray shapes, some rectangular, others jagged, stood out against the otherwise flat terrain.

“There!" I pointed to it until I was certain Blue Jay and Sparrow had both set eyes upon our destination. “That fortress out there, on an island. That's where we'll sleep tonight!"

Sparrow gave a keening cry, a sound I hoped was a gryphon noise of approval. “Lead on, then!"

I banked towards the distant island, and beat my wings swift and steady. In a few breaths, the shoreline was already far behind me. I slowly descended, studying the ice. It was riven by fractures and cracks where large chunks of ice had piled against one another, driven by the wind. When the clan was thriving, some dragons brought back immense chunks of ice to stockpile in alpine caves for the warmer months. I sure as hell wasn't going to land on that ice, though. If I went through it, I doubted I'd ever reach the surface.

The familiar triangular shape of the island ahead of us gradually came into focus. It was large enough to have once supported a reasonably sized fortress amidst its forested hills. An octagonal watchtower of stone was built into the rocky shorelines at each of the island's three corners. Immense mounds of jagged, crushed ice were piled up against the rugged shore, pushed ever-inward by the wind sweeping across the lake. Atop the tallest hill was sizable keep and its surrounding settlement, ringed by imposing stone walls.

“Look at that!" Nesh pointed to the fort as we drew near it. “It must be ancient! Might be from the Chivril empire, perhaps? It's held up so well. Gods, can you imagine the expense? All that stone must have been shipped out here. They'd need to build a dockyard, just for that. And they'd need to pay the workers, feed them, house them…"

Nesh went on, but I was focused on finding us a safe landing spot while there was still light enough to allow me to do so. I swept over the icy stones encircling the island, and the jagged ice stacked up between them, then flew up the hillside towards the keep. We passed a thick stone-block wall with several shattered, collapsed sections, now choked with dormant brambles. Old, red-brick houses whipped by beneath us. They remained mostly intact, albeit with chimneys blocked by birds nests, and winter-barren tree boughs jutting through ruined windows. Wooden buildings remained only as piles of rotting rubble, and lichen-crusted roofing materials.

A plaza paved in red granite flagstones made a suitable landing spot in the fortress courtyard. I touched down on my hind paws, and trotted to a stop. The keep loomed above us, a squarish structure built of immense limestone blocks and topped with its own smaller set of towers. Evenly spaced battlements lined the towers, as well as walkways between them. Colorful, stained glass windows lingered above the yawning entrance where wooden front doors once stood. Snow lingered wherever there was shade.

“You may as well get down, Nesh." I settled onto my belly against the chilly ground. “I don't want you to bang your head against the entryway. Make it quick, though! This stone is cold enough to freeze the scales off my ass!"

Nesh laughed as he hurried to disembark. “Is that actually something that can happen?" He quickly undid the straps from around himself, then patted my side when I was cleared to rise.

“I sure as hell hope not." I shook myself and pushed back up to my paws.

Blue Jay and Sparrow landed nearby as Nesh undid the safety straps from around my body. He tugged his flight harness free, and packed it away in one of my cargo bags. For the moment I kept the rest of my cargo gear on. Once we found a place inside to spend the night, I'd take everything off, and help the gryphons do the same.

“This is nice!" Sparrow gave a happy chirp as she gazed around. “It's surprisingly well intact."

“It's stone." Blue Jay flicked her with his tail. “Of course it's intact."

Sparrow shot him a glare, ruffling the feathers around her neck. “Most of the old human ruins I've seen are little more than crumbling walls and toppled towers."

“That's because most of their ruins have been pillaged." Blue Jay shook himself, tossing his head. “That's why they're ruins."

“I'm just going to ignore you." Sparrow turned her head towards Nesh, offering him an open beak, ear-perked smile. “What era is this, do you know?"

“I'm not totally sure." Nesh pivoted on his heels, taking the everything in. “I think it might be Chivrillian, in origin. There were a few competing kingdoms and empires in this part of the world who build things like this a few hundred years ago. But Chivril was perhaps the wealthiest, and they had a very wide reaching trade and resource empire. They just…" He waggled his fingers. “Overextended themselves, as far as I know. Too many fingers in too many pies, as it were. Stretched their military, and their budget, far too thin trying to protect far too much territory. Eventually they collapsed, and everyone with a sniff of power started trying to take control of what was left, and while they were busy devouring themselves, another kingdom swept in and picked up the pieces." Nesh crouched down, running his fingers over one of the flagstones. “Actually, that could be who built this place. Mennanar did use a lot of red granite…"

“You two are welcome to stay here and listen to the Professor's history lecture as long as you like." Blue Jay strode towards the great arched entryway. “But I'm going inside in the hopes that if it's a little warmer in there, I might someday find my balls again."

I snorted amusement. “If you think they're cold now, try sitting down on that stone." I stretched a wing across Nesh's back, urging him forward. “But don't worry, Blue Jay, I'm sure my Concubine can help you locate them."

Blue Jay glanced over his wings to smirk at Nesh, beak slightly parted and ears splayed. “Only if he's offering."

Nesh reddened but otherwise took it in stride, waggling his fingers at the gryphon. “Cold as my hands are after that flight, I doubt you'd appreciate that as much as you think."

Chuckling, I walked forward with Nesh still under my wing. “And I'd damn near swallow my tongue if you ever actually made such an offer. Now come along. You can wander the place all you like in the morning, when it's light out again."

“Yes, that'd be lovely." Nesh straightened up, rubbing my wing. “I could make some nice, hot tea, and roam about, taking everything in with the sunrise."

I nodded. That did not sound unpleasant. “I had not realized you were so enthralled with your people's history."

Nesh chuckled and scratched at his head fur. “I suppose it's a minor interest of mine. It's just that we don't really see old castles and things like this very often, anymore. A lot of the older palaces and castles in my home were destroyed in the last great wars, before Diandrios even became Diandrios. And what great historical military fortifications do remain have all been heavily renovated to support modern weaponry. Now they need anti-air cannons, or parts of them get torn down and rebuilt because they weren't large enough to fit, say, a sky-crawler hanger, or a locomotive depot. And that's not even accounting for trying to fit things like gas lines through stone walls built to withstand catapults and siege engines." He paused to gaze up at the entryway. Intricate knotwork and ivy vines were carved into the stone in elegant, swooping lines. “Ooh, now that's a nice touch. Yes, I think this was definitely Mennanar. They had a real knack for adding artistic flourishes to otherwise stark military installations."

The front entry lead into a large, darkened main hall. My eyes swiftly adjusted to the gloom. The fading sunset poured into the room in golden cascade through the gaping entryway, and in vibrant, rainbow hued beams through the stained glass windows. On either side of us, a half dozen fluted, red granite pillars stretched towards the ceiling, where they gave way to vaunted arches. Rusted iron sconces for torches and lamps still clung to the pillars. Bits of faded murals lingered on the stone walls. Rotting benches and tables littered the floor in moldering piles. Claw marks and gouges marred the floor, evidence of dragons who had visited in years past. I steeled myself for any remnants of Melakar's scent that might still haunt the place.

Blue Jay lowered his head to sniff at the claw marks. “Some of these don't seem as old as I expected. Is this another place young dragons used to sneak away to, to mate with other young dragons their parents don't like?"

I snorted at him. “Nonsense, this is far too far from the valley for that." I flared up my frills, smiling. “This was a place adult dragons went to mate, while other adult dragons watch their young for them." At least, that was sometimes what Melakar and I used it for, when our son was young. I followed Blue Jay's example, sniffing at markings on the floor. Hints of Melakar's familiar scent left my heart aching anew, but I forced the pain aside. Traces of human scents remained as well, possibly our old vassals. “Melakar may have taken vassals here for…" I glanced over at Nesh, lowering my voice to a playful whisper. “Concubine activities."

Nesh quickly turned away from me. “Whatever your people use it for, it's huge!" Nesh stared back the way we'd come. “The front doors alone are immense. You didn't have any trouble at all getting through there, Ella. I don't know why they'd build them so big on a fort, though. It's more like you'd see on a grand cathedral. And really, so are these pillars." He turned around, tapping a finger to his chin, where scruffy fur was emerging lately. “Perhaps it had a dual purpose? Still, seems counterintuitive to have such a large entry on something you want to protect."

“Perhaps dragons helped them construct it." I stretched a wing tip, tracing the outline of the front doorway with it. “Much of the lower floor is sized that way. There was a time my clan traded with human empires, after all. Perhaps they used this place conduct trade talks, and they needed to make sure we fit inside." I folded my wing back against my body.

Nesh rubbed his hands together. “That's a fascinating idea. Perhaps dragons helped build the place in return for whatever it was humans had to offer at the time."

“Gold, probably. And gems, and other treasures." I rumbled happily at the thought, until homesickness squeezed my belly. I missed my own bed, and my portraits, and my armor. And I missed my hoard. “And practical things we hadn't made for ourselves. Lamps, perhaps. Or an exchange of knowledge. It could have been these humans who helped us learn to forge metals."

“Why do you dragons like gold and treasure so much, anyway?" Sparrow swished her feathered tail as she padded up alongside me. “Humans use it to buy things, but you don't do anything with it."

“We just do." I shrugged my wings, following old memories and trails of scent towards the adjoining corridor and the rooms Melakar and I used to stay in. “Some clans had myths that an ancient god created dragons to protect his sacred treasures. Once that god was no more, the instinct remained." I snorted, tossing my head. “I think it's a load of gryphon balls, of course. And not just because it conflicts with the other legends of our creation. We don't need a reason to like valuable things."

Blue Jay glared at me. “And I should thank you to stop using my valuable things as a metaphor for nonsense."

I bumped my hips against his, grinning. “Yours are hardly valuable, bird." I glanced back at Sparrow again. “Truthfully, if there's a deeper reason we hoard things, I do not know it. Besides, they are birds that collect items sparkle and shine, but no one questions why they do it. They simply do. They like it." I put a paw to my chest. “Dragons like gold, and gems." I set my paw down. “And other things. Melakar liked books, as you saw. I enjoy weapons and armor."

“You hoard weaponry and armor?" Blue Jerk perked his ears, his black crown feathers raised. “I should very much like to see that!"

“You haven't quite earned that much of my trust," I said, pausing at the hallway. “But perhaps someday. Now come along, there's a room back here where Melakar and I used to…" I trailed off, flashing Nesh a smile. “Sleep."

Nesh ignored me. “I've seen some of her armor collection. It's actually very impressive. Even got her to model an old dragon helmet for me! Looked quite magnificent on her, truth be told."

“I wore that helmet out here for Melakar, once." I licked my muzzle at the moment, shivering. That was a very pleasant few nights one warm summer.

Nesh patted the side of my tail. “You keep talking like that, and I think Blue Jay's going to want you to wear it for him, next."

I studied Blue Jay, examining him from beak to tail. “That would be an honor he's yet to prove himself worthy of."

“I can prove anything you'd like me too, dragon, if you but give me a chance." Blue Jay titled his head, white-tipped feathers still raised around his indigo and ebony face.

“Perhaps if I get desperate." I turned my attention towards the antechamber the hallway connected to. Another arched ceiling rose above it, adorned with ivy leaves carved into the stone. Opposing doors led to spacious rooms. “These rooms here are where Melakar and I used to stay. We'll spend the night in whichever remains in the best condition."

“These doors are big enough for dragons, as well." Nesh put both hands against the wood and iron door on the right side of the hall. It was slightly ajar, so he tried tried to push it open. Though it creaked and shifted, it did not move much. “And damn heavy to boot."

“Probably rusted shut." Sparrow slipped forward, leaning back onto her haunches to put her forepaws on the door. She pushed, and the door slowly swung open, hinges squealing a grating protest. “It's fascinating they built things this big, though. I hadn't realized humans had ever had any kind of a formal alliance with dragons. I always thought gryphons were the first to take such a step."

I swished my tail, thumping it against a stone wall. “Not sure how formal it was. I only know that at the height of our clan's strength, we allowed humans access to our mountains. We gave them permission to mine them, in return for agreements of mutual protection, and for treasures and tributes from foreign lands."

“Probably just some specific ruler who decided that working with your species was more beneficial than fighting you." Nesh walked into the next room when the door was open far enough. “The sort of thing we hope to accomplish on an even grander scale, hmm?" Nesh glanced back at me, smiling.

“We can certainly hope." I followed Nesh inside along with the gryphons. “I think these rooms were designed to house visiting dragons. They are large enough to fit several of us comfortably."

Nesh came to a stop, gazing around the darkened room. “And with doors to match. It makes sense if they were negotiating with dragons, they'd need a place for them to stay." Nesh gave a little sigh. “It's a shame that after Mennanar collapsed, fear and hatred of dragons soon returned."

“It would have helped if your religions hadn't decreed to your people that all dragons are evil monsters." I glanced over at Blue Jay. “Not sure how your people escaped that particularly unsavory designation."

“We weren't known for conquering local villages, or burning and pillaging them." Sparrow chirped at me, then softened her tone. “Not that I think you did such things, but some of your ancestors did have a reputation."

“Yes, yes." I flourished a forepaw in the air. “Dragons never did anything but burn the countryside, pillage villages, and ravage princesses." I glanced at Nesh. “And medics." I swung my head back towards Blue Jay. “Why don't you looter birds have the same reputation?"

Blue Jay only smiled at me. “Because we never burned any countrysides, and the princesses all came to us willingly." Then his smile faded, and he flattened his ears back. “Truthfully, they used to think the same thing about us. I'm sure some of them still do. But if it makes you feel any better, Dragon, humans tend to find reasons to hate other humans, too." He brushed his wing across Nesh. “His people think Shevar is full of godless heathens. Meanwhile, half of Shevar thinks Diandrios is a dangerously oppressive theocracy, despite the fact their primary church hasn't had that kind of influence in generations or more." He pulled his wing back, clicking his beak. “I could go on and on." He shifted his voice to a higher tone to imitate a human. “Lendekos is full of godless heathens! The Prisarrians are demon-spawn!"

Nesh folded his arms, scowling. “I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, but…you're not exactly wrong, either. We're not always good at humanizing one another. Let alone humanizing the other thinking species like you all." He blinked. “Wait, that's not offensive to say, is it?"

I draped a wing across Nesh's back, gently hugging him against my side with it. “We've all done terrible things to each other, dragons and gryphons included. And we can all do better."

Nesh unfolded his arms to rub my nose, smiling. “Damn right we can. If you and I can become friends, Ella, anyone can."

“And now," Blue Jay said, walking up alongside me. He dug out a few cloth-wrapped light stones from one of my cargo pouches. “Ella's even friends with Sparrow! I'd never have imagined that a month ago." He passed the stones to Nesh. “Unwrap these, will you? It's awfully dark in here."

Sparrow gave a little sigh. “I'd like to consider myself open-minded enough to…wait." She snapped her beak. “Did you just call me Sparrow?" She jabbed a claw at Blue Jay. “I'm not about to starting allowing you to compare me to a tiny little bird!"

“And yet…" Blue Jay cocked his head, looking her over. “You do rather resemble-"

Sparrow snatched his beak in her paw. “Finish that sentence, and I'll knock your testicles into the next room."

Blue Jay swallowed, flattening back his ears. When she eased her grip from his beak, he lowered his head in apology. “Sorry, Avalek."

“Accepted." She turned towards Nesh, her voice softening. “Do you need help with anything?"

Nesh unwrapped one of the roughly spherical stones, and its gentle blue light spilled across the room. “You could place this wherever you think it'll do the most good. I'll get a lantern going as well, after I get Ella's gear off. We'll put the rest of the light stones in the other room."  

As Nesh worked to unbuckle my cargo pouches, Blue Jay slunk past me. He whispered into my ear. “You're right, though. Avalek does look like a sparrow."

I rumbled laughter, but when Sparrow glanced my way, I only shrugged my wings. She hobbled past me on three legs, the light stone clutched in her other forepaw. The light cascaded around the room in shades of spectral blue. When the light illuminated the tall stone walls, I sucked in a breath. They were not as I remembered them.

What was once bare stone was now covered in strange carvings of circles, arranged into spirals. Lines radiated outwards from each circle like the spokes of a wheel, each connecting to another sphere. A different wall had similar images, but here the connecting lines were more random, crossing the entire wall before touching other circles, or intersecting one another at uneven intervals. Some spheres were larger than others. Where some of them had lines connecting them to many more, others had only a single attached line, or stood alone.

“What the hell is all this?" Sparrow tilted her head back, gazing up.

Nesh finished lighting his lantern, and flickering orange light it cast added shadows to the odd designs. “Good question. Some kind map, or something?"

The sight tickled something vaguely familiar in me, some old memory I couldn't fully grasp. Trying to clutch at it was like trying to claim a drop of dew for my own, no sooner had I touched it than it was evaporating within my paw pads.

“I've seen this." I turned my head, scanning first one wall, then the other. “In old dragon books, I think. Melakar showed me, but, I don't remember where he found the books in the first place."

“Could be a star map." Blue Jay pointed his beak at a few different spheres. “The larger ones are the brighter stars, the smaller ones, the dimmer. Someone could have based it off a nighttime navigational chart, perhaps. Not sure what the lines represent, though."

Nesh held his lantern higher, standing below the wall with all the circles. “I agree, it does look astronomical in origin. Reminds me of lectures about the solar system, from when I was in the academy. About how our world moves around the sun. A bit like that, actually…" He traced a finger in the air, outlining one of the circles. “But I've never seen a model like this, before. I don't know if these are meant to be stars, or moons, or planets. Whatever they are, it's almost like they're connected to one another."

“Stars." I stomped a forepaw as recognition clicked in my head. “That's where I've seen it. In old tomes once owned by the Singers of the Stars. They had images like this in them! Supposedly, they even had a secret cavern, with carvings like this everywhere, though I've never seen it." I gazed around the room, then snorted and shook my head. “Whatever it is, none of this was here years ago."

“So…" Nesh slowly turned towards me. “You think Melakar found some dragon spiritualist, and brought them here? Or do you think he did it? You did say he believed in all that."

“He did." I clenched my jaw, my belly twisting. For some reason, that idea, though certainly possible, sat unpleasantly heavy within my stomach. “And it does look a bit amateurish. Carving was hardly his strong suit." I sighed, shaking my head. I slunk forward to sniff at some of the carvings. Melakar's scent was definitely there. It didn't prove he'd carved it, but it seemed the most likely possibility. “If he truly wanted me to be Queen, then perhaps he imagined himself becoming my Singer of the Stars."

Nesh set his lantern down and approached me, beckoning for me to lower my head. When I did so, he wrapped his arms around the top of my neck, hugging me to his chest. “I hope coming here doesn't turn out to be too hard on you, Ella. But it if does, I'm here for you."

“Thank you, Nesh." I pressed a forepaw to his back to return his hug. “But I knew his scent and his memory would haunt these old halls." I nuzzled at Nesh's chest, and he stroked my scales. “There's nothing here that will be any worse than living in Melakar's old home." I slowly lifted my head, gazing at the odd designs. “I just…didn't expect to find this."

Nesh chuckled, patting me once more before turning around. “I don't think anyone expected to find…" He waved at the walls. “Whatever the hell this is."

“No," I said, shaking my head. I gazed around the rest of the room. It was otherwise mostly barren, just some moldering old furniture, torn shreds of cloth, and other remnants. “Come on, then." I turned towards the door, careful not to bowl Nesh over with my tail. “We may as well see what other surprises await us."

*****

Chapter Thirty Three

Confession

*****

The gryphons preceded me, crossing the antechamber to the other door. Sparrow went through first, and Blue Jay followed her with a light stone carried in his beak. I trailed the gryphons while Nesh fetched his lantern. When he had it, I curled my tail around his middle and led him into the next room. It proved even larger than the last one.

Blue Jay set his light stone down at the far end, near a hearth as immense as it was elaborate. The fireplace was built into the wall with carved stone blocks in different shapes and colors, made to look like a stylized dragon. The fire itself was lit in its own mouth, with the metal gratings serving as the dragon's teeth. I'd always liked that hearth when I came here with Melakar. Several times, we'd laid curled together before a warm fire, gazing into the flames together.

I released Nesh from my tail, and let him carry his lantern further inside. The dance of light and shadow revealed that where the first room was barren, this one was messy. A pile of blankets and pillows occupied the area near the hearth. Rugs and other soft things were strewn about around the pile of blankets, as if the comfortable-looking mound was gradually colonizing the rest of the stone floor. A human-style mattress with its own set of pillows and coverings lay nearby.

Books were scattered everywhere. Some sat alone in random places or forgotten in corners. Others were organized in tidy stacks near the all the bedding. Scroll cases and bulging pouches lay amidst all the tomes. A large, wooden chest with its top removed sat up against a wall. It held more books and leather-bound folders. Maps were affixed to the walls around the beds, with more rolled up and tied with ribbons sitting on the floor.

“This looks awfully familiar." Sparrow glanced back at me, her ears slayed and beak half open in gryphon smirk. “At least we know he was here."

Blue Jay walked towards the maps on the wall. “And recently, from the looks of it."

Icy claws encircled my heart, threatening to rend it to frozen, agonized ribbons. My throat clenched, and I swallowed in vain attempt to ease its sudden burning. I had expected to find his scent, expected to find memories of our time together here. But I had not expected to stumble into evidence of his life without me. The mattress indicated he'd brought a human here, and the books, the maps? Those told me it was a human he'd trusted with his life's work more than he trusted me.

Once, I'd have thought such a thing impossible. When we were younger, he used to speak to me of his plans, his secrets, and all his fears and burdens. Melakar was a social creature by nature, and it helped him in his hardest times to have someone to confide in. But for the last decade, I had made myself unavailable to him. He dared not bring the truth to me, for fear that I would laugh him out of my cave. Or worse, put myself in his way before he had ever finished assembling the building blocks of our would-be empire.

And so, it seemed he had confided in a human, instead. I sighed, wishing anew that I had not let my foolish pride and anger close me off to him.

Nesh padded to the mattress, then crouched down to examine it. He put his hands on it, testing its softness. “This is fairly new. He must have been bringing someone here often."

I nudged Nesh aside, then lowered my head to the mattress, hoping for a familiar scent. The scent I found there was immediately recognizable, despite the hints of floral bouquets and spices that clung to it.

“It's Ayrah." I lifted my head, licking the nose. “There are more perfumes than when she first found her way to Melakar, but I still recognize her smell."

Something else about her scent struck me: it's freshness. It was only a few months old, at most. Curious, I turned towards the bedding pile nearby, and investigated it the same way. Melakar's scent was likewise far fresher there than anticipated. It was not quiet recent and strong as it had been in his lair, but he had been here only months ago. I glanced at the mattress, flattening my ears. With Ayrah.

“Ayrah?"  Sparrow tilted her head, her crown feathers flared. “Is that not the woman we hope to meet with in Tivos?"

“Yes!" Nesh snapped his fingers. “I knew I recognized the name." Nesh pivoted towards me. “She's the former vassal who's picture shows up in Melakar's books." He smirked, folding his arms. “I do believe you said she was the one who taught you the dirty words. You said she was a thief, right?"

“That's the one." I laughed, pleasant memories drifting through my head. Many were the days we lounged under the sun, or upon soft blankets, questioning her for the human words for various parts of our anatomies. “She was fleeing persecution for her crimes. Melakar took her in, in exchange for her services as his vassal. That was back when Vevorek had started to live on his own, around the valley. He dwelled there a time to grow accustomed to hunting and providing for himself, and so on. After he left…" I trailed off to swallow at the sudden lump my sons memory left bulging in my throat. I cleared it with a sharp growl and cough. “After he left, and Melakar and I fell out, Ayrah stayed with him a while longer. They were very close friends. I should not be surprised they stayed in close contact."

Blue Jay made a warbling trill, patting the human sized mattress. “Based on this, I'd say they were more than friends. Perhaps she was his Concubine, just as Nesh is yours."

Nesh shot Blue Jay a glare, but soon returned his attention to me. “Were they really that, erm, sort of friends?"

I shrugged my wings, and then offered Nesh a very sly smile, my muzzle parted, my ears flattened back and my frills partly lifted. “You say that as if she and I weren't."

Nesh's expression reddened. In the odd mix of orange flicker and blue glow from lamp and light stone, his blush looked almost purple. “You know, I find it harder and harder to tell when you're teasing me, and when you're serious about something like that."

Sparrow stepped around the mattress, brushing against me in a flash of warm feathers. “With all the things Melakar kept around for his vassals, I'm starting to think he had a penchant for humans."

“Nonsense," I said, waving a paw as if to bat aside the notion. “He had a penchant for anyone interested in him."

Blue Jay warbled again, fluffing himself up. “A wise old lizard, then."

Nesh muttered something behind us, likely thinking I wouldn't catch it. “Wise and horny, from the sounds of it."

I curled my tail around Nesh's belly. His squeaked yelp was all the evidence I needed to tell me he hadn't meant his comment to be overheard. “Your sarcasm is noted, Nesh, but if you find me a species out there who doesn't enjoy mating, I'll find you a liar." I scrunched my muzzle. “Or, I suppose, an insect. They might not enjoy it, for all I know. Sapient species, then."

Nesh gave a sheepish laugh, patting my tail's enclosing coils. “Sorry, Ella. I've just been thinking of him as this sort of, wizened old sage, like a draconic scholar. Maybe even looking to get an oversized pair of spectacles fitted! The idea that he might be taking human women out here for…for…pleasure outings has somewhat put a damper on that idea."

“Pleasure outings?" Blue Jay turned all the way around just to stare at Nesh, his tail flicking back and forth. “Who the hell says that?"

“Someone's grandmother, probably." Sparrow paged through a nearby book, chirping laughter.

“Well, what would you rather have me say?" Nesh tried to wriggle free of my tail. “I didn't want to say harlotry, it sounds very disrespectful. And, I didn't want to say-"

“Mating?" I refused to let him escape just yet.

“The human word is sex," Blue Jay said, clicking his beak.

Nesh scratched his head. “I thought that only implied the, erm, act itself. Besides, I rather doubt he'd fit, so I assumed they were…well I didn't want to describe it, and now I am! I should have just said he brought her here for…" Nesh threw his hands up. “For sexcapades!"

I burst into laughter, relaxing my tail so he could escape. “Oh, Concubine, you're just making it so much worse!"

The gryphons laughed with me, glancing at each other as if they couldn't believe the word Nesh chose.

“Alright," Nesh said, as he smoothed out his coat, trying to hold back a laugh of his own. “That isn't quite the word I had in mind. In hindsight, I should just have said…" He sighed, running a hand down his face. “Anything else."

“If it makes you feel any better Nesh." I turned towards him, cautious with my tail so as not to knock him over or smack the gryphons. “Aside from the spectacles, you're mostly right. Melakar was a wise old scholar of a dragon. But why can a scholar not also enjoy the pleasures of life?"

“Oh, he can, he can." Nesh held his hands up as if defending himself. “I'm not judging him, mind you. Just…not what I'd imagined." He nudged at the human mattress with his boot. “Also, now I'm wondering if I'd be better off not sleeping on this bed."

I reached out with a forepaw to ruffle up Nesh's headfur. “For what it's worth, dear Concubine, I don't think they ventured out here for that sort of pleasure. Not with all the books and maps. I think it's more likely he brought Ayrah here because she had his confidence." I circled an unsheathed claw in the air. “I imagine they retreated here to discuss his plans and operations. Especially if he was using her as a contact. Even if he was allowed to meet with her in Tivos, there might be things he didn't want to discuss with her inside the city."

“Such as meeting with Shevar." Sparrow kept her tone soft and her voice respectful, but it was clear she still suspected Melakar's motives.

I grunted, but nodded my agreement. Much as I wished I could prove to her he was not betraying her people, even I had to admit the possibility existed. “Such as that, yes."

“We are about halfway to Tivos, I think, so this would be a good, isolated meeting place for them." Sparrow gazed around at the maps on the wall. “Even being allowed into Tivos often, they'd still keep a close eye on him. Out here, he could speak his mind, and show her whatever his latest developments were."

“And when that was finished, he'd show her something else entirely!" Blue Jay cackled birdsong laughter, batting Sparrow with his tail.

Nesh heaved a mock sigh, turning on the male gryphon. “You're as bad as Ella."

“No, I think he's worse." I lowered my head to nudge Nesh with my muzzle. “Now, help me look around. Perhaps if we're lucky, we'll find some fresh clues. He was here recently, and…" I trailed off, my mirth replaced by sudden sorrow. It hit me then, that this was one of the last places Melakar ever saw. One of the last things he ever did with his life. Probably the last time he ever saw Ayrah. “And so…so…" I licked my muzzle and swallowed hard, fighting back a sudden flood of emotion. I could no longer find the right words, and blurted out what I could. “Just look for clues."

I turned away from the others, taking a deep breath to try and steady myself. I decided to try and bury myself in the task of seeking anything relevant that might help me determine just what Melakar was doing in his final days, and what led to his murder. For now, I kept our search focused on the chamber we were in. He seemed to have made this place a home away from home, and had left behind more than enough to keep us occupied.

"Nesh, if you would, please go through everything in this." I gently lifted the wooden chest, and set it before Nesh. Many of the leather-bound books and folders within looked of human make, and I did not want to risk damaging anything important. Melakar had taught himself to manipulate fragile tomes and brittle pages with exceptional care, but I had not. While dragon forepaws had fingers and thumbs just as human hands did, I lacked his great experience with books not of dragon origin. "He was always better at handling delicate things than I was."

“Oh?" Blue Jay padded up alongside me, brushing his feathered tail across mine. “And here I was, certain you had plenty of experience handling his delicate things."

Nesh heaved a sigh, trying to ignore the gryphon.

“You're correct." I chuckled, licking my muzzle over a few particularly enjoyable memories. “But even a male dragon's most delicate parts are still far less fragile than old human books."

Blue Jay squawked, flaring up his feathers. “Lucky for you dragons, then."

“He also had dexterous paws, with soft pads, so imagine their uses as you will." I nipped at Blue Jay's ear, then tossed my head towards the wall with all the maps spread across it. “Now get to work, dirty old bird. See if you can find us any useful clues."

While Nesh explored the contents of the crate and Blue Jay studied the maps, I asked Sparrow to look through anything we found related to gryphons. Several of the books were written in the common gryphon language. After a quick skim through a few of them, Sparrow discovered that one was a book of old gryphon fables and heroic myths. Another was a history of various gryphon clans up until the modern age, and a third was all about cultural norms and practices among their species.

“Those are the first three," Sparrow said, stacking them up near the human bed. “There's at least as many more in our language, as well. Melakar probably used them to study up on our people." She patted the pile of books. “Preparing visit the clans he made his irrik oro with."

“Or perhaps he just wanted to impress his human friend with how fluently he could read and speak the gryphon tongue!" Nesh popped open a folder, pulling free a thick stack of documents.

“I assure you, by the time he took Ayrah out here, she was already suitably impressed by dragons in general." I lowered my head to whisper into his ear. “And by our tongues."

“Ah-ahem!" Nesh coughed a few times, clearing his throat. “Should have seen that one coming by now."

“You certainly should have." I peered down at all the papers he'd taken out of the folder. “What have you found there?"

“Financial documents, from the looks of things." He flipped through a few of them. “Banking information on deposits…" Nesh whistled, and shook his head. “Quite large deposits, at that, and in Ayrah's name, from the looks of things." Nesh paged through a few of them, skimming the information. “It'll take time to go through all the fine details, but they're dated from years ago. I have a sneaking suspicion that your former mate made Ayrah a very wealthy woman." Nesh trailed off. “Not sure why she'd keep these out here. Though given her past, and the dragon's wealth, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some legally gray areas she wanted to keep hidden. Anyway, this is just the first folder I've looked into. Some of these others are intriguing." Nesh scowled, setting his hand on an unopened folder. “This one has military markings on it."

I lashed my tail, wishing we had more time. It was clear we were going to need to return here. “For now, just record your findings best you can. We'll return later for a detailed investigation."  

Locating some books in the draconic language, I set them aside to look through. The first was bound in black leather. I paged through it, delicately as I could. “This looks to be a history of several former dragon clans, including mine." I gazed at Sparrow. “Perhaps Melakar and your people were having a sort of cultural exchange."

“It's possible." She shrugged her wings. “This place would have made good neutral grounds for a meeting, not in our lands, or yours."

“There's a few other such locations marked here, too." Blue Jay tapped a single digit against one of the maps, his claws sheathed. “This depicts the northern half of the continent, with all of your valley on it, along with Diandrios, Shevar, what remains of gryphon lands, and everything in between. All the other little nations, too. As usual, Melakar's got his own markings all over it. Some of them look like he's selecting hideouts, or meeting places for contacts."

I stared at the map for a few moments, then gestured at another one Blue Jay had been looking at. It had a lot more markings in various colors of ink. “And that one?"

“This involves military formations." Blue Jay circled a finger pad around a few colorfully marked regions. “Border fortifications with anti-air divisions, Shevar sky-crawler patrols, and places with permanent troop deployments. Which…" Blue Jay set his paw down, grinding his beak. “Could be the sort of information a spy would be rewarded handsomely for." He flattened his ears back. “Or he might have just been tracking which areas were safe to fly and which weren't." He softened his voice. “I should note, the area where our army…" He trailed off, but I knew what he meant. “It's all marked with what I think are danger symbols."

My heart sank into my bowels. I swallowed, staring down at my paws. Had he seen his own death coming, and pushed on just the same? I tried to force strength into my voice. “Thank you. See what else you can find."

The four of us returned to our work. Nesh did as I suggested, retrieving a pen, ink, and a writing pad. For now I decided to make do with a basic cataloguing of the broad details. We could always return and spend a few days exhaustively investigating everything later. Nesh made notes of his own discoveries, and ours as well.

When Nesh finished going through the crate, he moved to another larger pile of books near where Melakar had made his bed. From their number and position, I suspected they were some of his most recently used tomes. While Nesh start looking through them, I perused a few more dragon language books.

“Ella?" Something in Nesh's voice had changed, some odd sort of trembling worry that set my nerves on edge, and left my wings tingling. “I…I think this one's for you."

“What do you mean?" I pushed aside the book I'd been skimming, and padded towards Nesh.

“It has your colors." Nesh brushed his fingers over the black leather bindings of a wide, dragon-sized book. Red and silver markings ran around the edges of its cover, and down its spine. It looked brand new, compared to the others. “And it's mostly empty. I think it was meant to be a journal, or something akin to it. There's only a few pages with writing, and it's all in the dragon language. But…" Nesh cracked it open, and ran his fingers across the top of the front page. “I recognized your name, at the beginning. It looks just like the carving you showed me in that cave." Nesh swallowed, and slowly turned the book towards me. “I think it's a letter for you."

“Oh…"

Lumps of ice formed in my belly, trickling out into my blood. The writing Nesh indicated was achingly familiar, every sigil in my name scribed with loving care and perfect precision. It was certainly not dictated. Melakar had written it himself. I knew, then, what that meant, and the beginning of the letter only confirmed it.

Ellamyriss,

My Dearest,

Sun in my Sky,

I am sorry.

Let that be known, first and foremost.

It was all I could do just to keep my legs from giving out then and there. I already knew what this was going to be. On shaking paws, I slunk to the pile of blankets and pillows that occupied the corner of the room. I flopped down onto Melakar's former bed, and took a few breaths to try and steady myself. His scent clung to his bedding, and I could almost feel him laying his wing across me. Nesh followed me, and knelt at my side. He set a hand upon my foreleg, gently stroking it.

“Is…" His hand stilled, but only for a moment. When he spoke again, he continued his comforting caress. “Is that the sort of letter I think it is?"

I swallowed, my tongue suddenly glued to my teeth. It took effort just to force a single word. “Yes."

Nesh nodded.“I should let you read it, then." He lifted his voice to the gryphons. “We should give her a little space." He patted the back of my forepaw. “Unless you'd rather we stayed?"

I shook my head, then curled my neck to nose at Nesh's chest. “No, I'd…rather be alone to read it. But thank you. Can you bring it here?"

“Certainly." Nesh rubbed my nose before rising. He fetched the book and set it at my paws. Then he wrapped his arms behind my horns and over my frills to hug my head to his body. “I'll be nearby if you need me."

I returned his hug with a single foreleg. “Thank you, Nesh."

Blue Jay and Sparrow both approached me, their heads low and tails lower. Both of them brushed my folded wings with theirs. The caress of feathers against wing membranes was slightly ticklish, but the inherent message of comfort and support was greatly appreciated. Each nuzzled my neck before they turned away to follow Nesh out.

Blue Jay glanced back my way. “Let us know if you need anything."

Sparrow did the same. “Yes, please do. Till then, we'll give you some space."

She stretched her wing across Blue Jay's back, and ushered him out of the room. Once they were outside, Sparrow eased the door most of the way shut, leaving just enough room for Nesh to make it through, should I call for him. Their murmured voices and footfalls soon faded away.

I was alone with Melakar's letter, amidst the scattered remnants of his life.

For a long time I simply stared at it without reading a single word. Now and then I glanced around the room instead, seeking any kind of distraction. There was a part of me, scared and trembling deep inside, that did not want to have to read this. But I owed it to myself, I owed it to Melakar, to read the words he had scribed for me, regardless of how painful they may be.

“Wish I had some alcohol."

I licked my nose. I should have brought some Kralgoor, or something even more potent from Melakar's collection. But the closest thing we had was a bit of Nesh's medicinal spirits, for cleansing wounds. I glanced towards the door, half debating calling Nesh back in just to ask him for some. It might ease the burden a little, if it didn't burn a hole in my stomach.

I sighed, and turned the book back towards me. “May as well get this over with."

I took a deep breath, and forced myself to read what I feared was Melakar's farewell.

Ellamyriss,

My Dearest,

Sun in my Sky,

I am sorry.

Let that be known, first and foremost.

I am ever so sorry for the part I played, in our coming undone. Sorry for every furious word, every biting remark, every little thing I did that pushed you away. Sorry that I lacked the courage to return to you, years later, with head bowed, only to ask if I could make things right. I know you well enough, dearest Ellamyriss, to know you may reach a place where upon you blame yourself for our dissolution. But the blame is not all yours to bear. It took both of us to build our life together, and together, we tore it apart.

So for my part, I am sorry.

“I'm sorry, too," I said, my voice a shaky murmur. I took a slow breath, and read on.

If, as I suspect, you've also apologized, then consider your apology accepted.

I snorted, making the pages flutter. “You always thought you knew me so well." I sighed, flattening back my frills. “You were usually right."

Know also that I forgive you. Not just for the end of our life together, but for every transgression you ever made against me. I always forgave you, Ellamyriss, even if sometimes it took longer than others, when the pain and the anger lingered as a deeper, festering sort of wound. In the end they always healed, and I always forgave you. So whatever grudges you think I may bear against you? Whatever wrongs you think you committed, and whatever regretful memories keep you awake at night? Please, release them. I am ever so sorry for every wrong I ever committed against you, and I forgive you every wrong in turn.

With that out of the way, I shall get straight to the heart of the matter.

“Of course, I forgive you." I sniffled, curlrf my tail around my paws, and managed a little smile. “But you could never get straight to anything, you babbling old lizard."

If you are reading this, then it can mean only one thing. Well, two things, I suppose. I might have finally dredged the courage up from the murky sediments of my heart to present this to you in person. Perhaps I'm even sitting in the corner, my head curled under a wing, pretending to read a book so I don't have to look at you while I read it. We can only hope.

But more likely, by the time you read these words, I will have long since returned to the Sky That Shelters. I will…actually, no, there's a third possibility as well. Perhaps I have simply misplaced this letter, as I misplaced so many other things in my life. If you've discovered it on your own, but I am not dead, please return to me so that I may sheepishly explain myself in person.

Rumbling laughter spilled from me, a blessed respite from the increasingly heavy weight settling within my chest. “Told you, Melakar. You never in your life got to the point, so why start now?"

 Let us assume then, that I am dead.

What a strange thing to write. What a frightening concept to imagine. But imagine it I have, and lately, all too often. Should the worst happen, should my fears come to pass, then I know you will not rest until you have avenged me, no matter what I may say to try and dissuade you. So I will say only this.

Revenge will not save our valley.

Bloodshed will not save our valley.

But I know your heart, dearest Ellamyriss. Despite the way we grew apart, your blood will burn to avenge me, even unto your own demise. So I ask this of you. If blood for blood is your only choice, then do not seek it blindly. Be not deceived. If I am slain, then my slayers may not be who you think. For among those you may think my murderers, there will be allies to you, and there will be traitors.

Seek the traitors, Ella, for if I am murdered, it is at their hand.

I slowly lifted my head, sucking in a breath. It was all I could do not to shout out to the gryphons, to Nesh, to call them back in and point to the page. To yell and scream at them that I was right, that it was traitors amongst their people who had shot him down. Here was the proof of it. And yet, despite my own iron-clad belief, what was proof to me would only seem like ramblings to anyone else. There were no names, no evidence.

I sighed, and pressed on.

I suspect I should explain myself, and to do so, I must start at the beginning, shortly shortly after Vevorek left the valley for good. You and I just had our final parting. I know, that's putting it gently, but there's no need to rehash the things we roared at one another.

Without you, without our son, I felt adrift, and alone. In my restless loneliness, I turned to Ayrah for solace and companionship. You remember Ayrah, surely? With you gone, she became my chief sounding board, and my greatest friend. I'm certain you remember how we used to take her flying, and brought her to visit the villages in and around our valley.

What you likely did not know, is that in your absence, Ayrah invited me to see her world, and visit the city she came from. I will tell you now, I did not wish to abandon my duty to protect the valley, but what good could one dragon do? I was angry, and isolated, and I had grown to feel…unmoored here, unwanted. I needed time to heal, and I saw a chance to fulfill a dream. So I accepted her offer, and together, we made for a city named Tivos.

I was as cautious as could be. I alighted well outside their walls, laid on my belly upon their roads. I gave Ayrah coin to pay off her own debts and crimes, and to smooth over the fears of the city and its soldiers. I laid passive as they approached me, and gently as I could, spoke greetings in their own tongue. They were quite startled, but eventually, they allowed me to see their city.

That was only the beginning. Ayrah and I visited many places, after that. Such wondrous things I saw. Machines that streak across the ground on rails of iron, belching smoke. Great halls built of stone, and steel. Roads that stretch further than I could ever fly. Great, bloated ships that drift across the sky. Odd pumps, that look as if they're mating with the earth, and draw forth blackened sludge that carries great value. And the foods! Oh, the foods. Meats covered in spices, cooked over flame. Fruits that make your muzzle pucker. Cakes so sweet they almost hurt. And custard. Oh, Ella, Custard! You've never had anything like it, I assure you.

“Again, with the damn custard." I chuckled to myself, blinking back tears. How I wished I'd given him reason to trust me with knowledge of his travels.

There were so many things I wanted to tell you about, but I knew you did not wish to hear of them. And then, one day, all my wonder turned to horror.

That was the day I first saw their army.

It is a terrible thing, like a force of nature inflicted upon the land, a mass of humans and their allies so great as to be uncountable. It hit me, then, that all the strange and fascinating machines I had witnessed held a far more insidious purpose.

War.

Our ancestors feared poisoned arrows. Our parents feared ballistas. And in our lifetime, we have learned to fear cannons. But our children? They will learn to fear weaponized machinery, upon the earth and in the sky. If they stand against it, alone, they will be crushed. 

The terrifying truth, dearest Ellamyriss, is that dragons have already been left behind.

We are a relic, too busy gazing only at our own valley to realize that the world we once dominated has long since brushed us aside. You called me a coward, once, for wanting to leave our valley, and find the others. But you have not seen the things I have seen. I could not explain them to you, because you would not have believed the truth of it. You'd have thought I was exaggerating, argued it was our duty to face any threat. Please understand that I did not want to abandon our home. But it had become all too clear to me that to stay here, to fight for this place, was to die.

Violence, war, they would not save our valley. The humans were coming, and there was nothing we could do to stop them. We could fight, and slay them by the hundreds, and it would make no difference. In the end, we would fall from the skies, bleed out into the earth, and the valley would be lost.

For nothing.

I could not be party to that. So I began to work towards another way to save our valley, the only way I know how.

With peace.

It sounds so foolish to put it to so simple a word, so quickly after describing the inevitability of their victory. But I believe in my heart, Ella, that peace can save us, can save our valley. Can save our people.

It has already saved the gryphons. They will likely argue the truth of it with you, but history tells me of a time when one of their greatest clans faced annihilation. And rather than fight until the death of their species, the largest of their clans chose alliance. It is a choice borne out throughout history, throughout civilizations. Small nations band together to fend off larger nations. Large nations forge truces to avoid destroying one another. Even the greatest of our clan's Queens once forged alliances with our rivals, to prevent war.

And that is what I propose, Ella. Alliance, with the humans. As their allies, as their equals. But to forge an alliance, we must have an empire. And alas, two dragons does not an empire make. One dragon, two dragons, that is not enough. At best, a human kingdom may call two allied dragons, friends. At worst, they will call them their pets.

Such was not always the case. Time was, a single dragon would make a great and powerful ally to the humans. They could keep a castle safe, or lay fiery waste to an invading army. But now, humans have cannons to protect their castles, and flying ships to rain fire upon their foes. And no longer do their populations number in the thousands, but in the millions.

The time when a kingdom might writ a great alliance with but a single dragon is long past. If we alone were to offer them an alliance, we will be ignored. If we stand between them, and what they intend to take from our valley, we will be swept aside. If we fly against them, with fire and fang, we will be blasted from the skies and ground beneath their boots and their machines.

You have to understand, dearest Ellamyriss.

We.

Are not.

Enough.

Not on our own, not without an entire empire behind us. And that, Ella, is exactly what I intend to build. An empire of dragons, of gryphons, of any and all who would call us friend. And with that empire, I intend to sow a great alliance with the human nations who already crowd our shores, who flood our valley with their armies and their machinery.

And when the time is right, when this dream finds its way into tenuous reality, then I will come to you at last, Ella, and bestow upon you the Queen's Mantle. Or so was my grand dream. But if you're reading this, then it means my efforts have been my undoing.

Sometimes I wonder if I've flown too far. I feel as though the Winds That Carry have snatched me up, and hurled me towards something inescapable. I've been doing this for years now, and met with kingdoms ever at each other's throats. The further I pursue this, the more danger I put myself in. I accept that. If my death would save our clan, our people, then I will gladly breathe my last.

In truth, I fear that Sky That Shelters is already calling me home. At night, I dream of the stars. They sing to me, when I slumber. When I close my eyes, I see them, bright and shining, and I hear their song, and the light grows and grows until it envelops me. When I wake again, I can feel some creeping thing, like fate, slinking through the shadows towards me. But I will not turn away. I will not abandon our home, our people.

I will build our empire, or die in the attempt.

I go in a few months to meet with their armies again, in hopes of finally securing a meeting with their empress. I have heard she wishes to meet with me, yet her commanders make it difficult. It has become clear to me that not all of them truly support her. I fear they may betray me, or worse, to use me as a scapegoat in some misguided attempt to seize power. If I do not return, and you cannot turn yourself from the red tide of revenge, then seek the traitors among them.

And then promise me that you will take up my cause. Promise me that you will bear the Queen's Mantle, and all the terrible burdens of rulership. That you will do all in your power not only to see a great empire for dragons rise from the ashes of our clan…but to see that empire forged in an alliance that will secure our place in history for generations to come.

To build a home where our son can return from the north, and raise a family of his own.

I, in turn, will offer you a promise, and a confession. Firstly, the promise. Should the worst happen, I swear to you that I will fight to the last breath for our valley. And when I am overwhelmed, I shall resist the sky's eternal call as long as I can. I shall struggle, to my very last drop of blood, just to make my way home.

To make my way to you, Dearest Ellamyriss.

Which brings me at last to my confession. I still love you. I have always loved you. I don't know if you still feel the same, but I want to make it clear. Even in our darkest, angriest times, I never stopped loving you. If I am to die, then my last act in life will be to do whatever it takes, to see you one last time.

Ella, you were always the sun in my sky. I shall love you evermore, in this world and the next, until the stars themselves fade and die.

Your old bastard,

Melakar

In stunned silence, I stared down at Melakar's words, unable to breathe. I put a trembling paw on the book, hot tears running down my muzzle. My throat clenched, and my aching lungs refused to work. He didn't know if…if I still loved him?

And yet, he had expended himself, just to see me…

Just to die in my arms.

Without ever hearing the truth fall from my tongue.

That I still loved him, too.

“No!" I cried out, my voice little more than a ragged croak.

I wanted to scream, to roar, to shake the heavens themselves with my voice, and tell him of course I still loved him. But it was far, far too late, and now I could only tell him in my dreams.

“No…" This time my voice came as a broken whisper.

Tears spilled onto the pages of the book, and I snatched it away, fearful my coming sobs would ruin the ink. I meant only to move the journal aside, but the emotions surging through me took hold. With a snarling roar, I hurled the book across the room. It smacked against the wall, and bounced to the floor in a crumpled heap. Then I too, crumpled, curling up on what was once Melakar's bed. I stretched my wings across my face, and in their comforting warmth, let my sobs claim me.

Nesh was there moments later. He came unbidden, in silence, and more welcome than he'd know. He slipped beneath my wings and took my head into his arms. Without a word, Nesh cradled my head against his chest, and held me while I cried.

*****

Chapter Thirty Four

Stars

*****

I woke some time later, still enclosed within my own wings. I must have cried myself to sleep. Perhaps it was the only way for my mind to escape the pain. Nesh had stayed with me, consoling me deep into the night. Before I dozed off, the gryphons returned and offered me comforting strokes with their soft flight feathers. Other than that, they built a fire to warm the room, then gave me my space.

All the tears left my eyes feeling sticky and crusted. I wiped them with the pads of a paw, folding my wings. A single light stone bathed the room in an ethereal glow. Blue Jay and Sparrow lay curled against one another, fast asleep in front of the stylized hearth. Glowing embers lit the teeth-like gratings with a faint orange glow. I looked towards the human bed, expecting to find Nesh there, but it remained empty.

Yawning, I pushed myself to my paws. Quietly as I could, I stepped around the sleeping gryphons, and eased the door open. I made my way into the hall, sniffing around. Nesh's scent lingered, fresher there. I followed it back through the grand chamber with its towering, fluted columns, and out the front entryway.

Nesh sat in the middle of the courtyard, bathed in the silver-white glow of moonlight. He'd found an old chair that remained sturdy enough to be usable, and set it up outside. A heavy blanket, lilac with woven silver stars, enveloped him. It wasn't the same blanket from the human mattress, so he must have taken it from Melakar's former bed. His head poked out from the top of the blanket, his booted feet from beneath it. Breath drifted away from him in aimless clouds, gradually dispersing.

I didn't want to startle him, so I made a point to step gently down into a patch of snow, just enough for the crunching sound to disrupt the still night air. Nesh twisted around in the chair, smiling when he spotted me. 

“Hello, Ella." He stretched an arm out of the blanket to give me a beckoning wave. “Join me, if you like."

“I should like, yes." I padded over and settled on my haunches alongside him. “Though I'm going to freeze my ass-scales off."

Nesh chuckled, patting my foreleg after I sat down. “I still don't think that's how the cold works. Besides, it was colder than this back at Melakar's lair."

I gazed down at him, my frills lifted. “Says the one hiding in a blanket."

“Fair enough." Nesh stroked my scales before withdrawing his hand into the sheltering warmth. “How're you feeling?" He stared up at me, eyes shining in the moonlight like beacons searching the depths of my buried soul. “I think that's the longest I've ever seen you cry."

I sighed, looking away. “He…" My gaze wandered aimlessly from patches of snow to cold, stone walls. “He still loved me, Nesh. Even after all that happened between us, he still loved me."

Nesh nodded. “As you still loved him, I gather."

“But I never told him." I flexed my forepaws, digging unsheathed claws into the frozen flagstone. “I think I even denied it to myself, to acquiesce to my pride. Even…even when he lay dying, I…" I sniffed, then swallowed back the lump in my suddenly tight throat. “I never told him that I still loved him."

“He knew, Ella." Nesh slipped his arm out to stroke my foreleg again. “He knew."

I blinked away the tears that threatened to spill anew down my muzzle. I did not want to collapse into another round of sobs. “I…I sincerely hope you're right, Nesh."

“From all you've told me about him, he sounds too wise and perceptive not to know." Nesh tightened the blanket around himself. “I'm sure he had his doubts, from time to time, but so do we all. For my part, I'd like to think that wherever he is now, he's watching over you. Just…" Nesh stared up at the moon-bathed sky. “Just as I like to think my father still watches over me."

“It's a beautiful thought." I curled my tail around my paws, and tucked my wings closer to my body to keep them warm. “I liked what Blue Jay said, the other day. That his people believe…" I scratched a few anxious lines into the red granite. “That the spirits of our loved ones can visit us, guide us. Because if that's true, it means when I tell Melakar I still love him, he hears it, truly hears it!" I gave a little sigh, staring at the stars. “Even if it's only in my dreams."

“Funny you should mention that." Nesh rocked his chair back, balancing it on two legs. “I had a dream like that, tonight. It's why I ended up out here, in the cold."

“Oh?" I turned my gaze back to Nesh, flicking my tail tip. “What did you dream?"

“It was about my father, actually." Nesh slipped a hand free to scratch at the scruffy fur smothering his chin. “He and I were out on a frozen lake, in the middle of the night. Fishing, through a hole in the ice. The way we did in the winters, when I was but a tiny child. And we were…" Nesh worked his jaw in silence for a few moments before he found the right words. “Just talking, I suppose. Felt so important in the dream, but I can't really remember the conversation, now. Only that right before I woke, he put his hand on my shoulder, and told me he was proud of me."

“And…" I tilted my head. “You believe this was really your father, visiting you?"

Nesh scrunched his face. “Not sure I'd go that far. I believe we all have souls, that persist in Aeturnium, but…"  He pulled his hand back into his blanket shelter, sighing. “I'm not sure that I believe those souls genuinely return to see us." Nesh chuckled, shrugging under his blanket. “But I'm not sure they don't, either. Whatever the case, couldn't get back to sleep. I thought I may as well get some fresh air. Took a blanket from Melakar's old pile, found a chair, and came out to enjoy the night sky."

I turned my attention up to the nightscape above us. The moon was nearly full, bright and silver, yet somehow failed to eclipse the brilliantly shining stars all around it. “It is a very striking sky."

“Isn't it?" Nesh rocked his chair a few more times. “Reminds me of my childhood. Before I moved to the big city to further my medical studies. When my father was still around, we'd spend a few nights a month fishing. There's a species of fish in the lakes back home, that bites best at night. Especially in winter. And my father loved to watch the stars. So he'd bundle me, and walk with me out onto the ice, cut some holes…" Nesh trailed off, a wistful smile on his face, the starry sky reflected in his eyes. I rarely paid attention to the eyes of humans, but in that moment, they were unmissable. “We'd just spend the night talking. Bring some fish home for mother to cook the next day. Back then it seemed magical, staying up all night, out in wilderness with just my father, and the stars above."

I smiled at that mental image. Trying to catch fish through holes in the ice seemed like a very strange way to spend a night, but I could not deny the appeal of the rest of it. “My father used to take me flying, before I was old enough to fly on my own. On nights of celebration, we'd stay out late with the rest of the clan. Sometimes I would dare him to fly me all the way to the stars."

Nesh brushed my scales with part of his blanket. “That sounds lovely, too."

“It was." I licked my nose, smiling at the memory. “Then sometimes, he would drop me."

“What?" He bolted upright, gasping. “That's horrible! Were you injured?"

“Of course not." I snorted, tossing my head. “I still had wings, Nesh, I could glide! It was delightful fun."

“Oh." Nesh leaned back into his chair, huffing. “You could have made that a bit clearer."

“Perhaps so." I flared out my wings, their red edges shining like wet blood in the moonlight. “Father was always right behind me, anyway. If I faltered, he'd snatch me back up long before I was in danger." I glanced down at Nesh again, grinning. “Though I did once return home, and loudly announce to my mother that father had dropped me out of the sky, and let me fall all the way down. I meant glide, of course, but that wasn't what I said."

“Oh, lord." Nesh shook his head. “That can't have gone over well."

“It did not." I shook myself, laughing. “I believe my mother threatened to break off his horns and beat him to death with them if I was hurt."

Nesh cringed, but soon shared my smile. “I hope things were cleared up quickly."

“Relatively so." I flexed my wings, bumping one of them against his enclosing blanket. “Mother amended her death threat into one in which she'd simply beat some sense into him, instead." 

“So you take after your mother, then." Mischief clung to Nesh's voice like sticky sap.

I snorted, thumping my tail against the cold flagstones. “In some ways, yes. Though when Melakar and I had our child, I was always the one letting him glide under his own power, and Melakar was the one chastising me."

“That sounds right, somehow." Nesh nudged me with the toe of his boot, and turned his gaze back to the sky. “Do you ever dream about them? Your parents, I mean."

“Not often." I took a slow breath, and let it out in a deep sigh. “I don't think about them as frequently as I used to. Just pleasant memories, or things I'd wished they'd seen. And when I see them in my dreams, it's…" I gestured with a paw. “Just a dream. It's different with Melakar. Almost as if he's bringing me the dream, trying to speak to me." I shivered at the memory of the great, catastrophic wave sweeping the dreamscape. “And my mind won't let me reply before it's too late."

Nesh drew his mouth into a thin line. “If you don't believe it's real, your mind rejects it. But now that you've recognized that? Maybe you can…" He shifted his blankets. “I don't know, let him in, so to speak? That is, if you're starting to believe he's really there."   

“What do you believe?" I eased down onto my belly, and draped my head across Nesh's lilac-shrouded lap. There was no barbed reply waiting for him, no sarcasm and no teasing. “You said you like to think your father watches over you. Would your gods allow such a thing? A visit, from someone departed?"

Nesh slipped a hand free to stroke the large frill that ran between my horns, and down the top of my neck. “It's not unheard of. We don't believe in ancestral guidance the way Blue Jay's people do, but…" He waved his hand. “From time to time, the gods may allow a departed soul to come visit a loved one in times of need. Maybe they're sending Melakar back to help you, when you need him most."

“Maybe." I flattened my ears back, closing my eyes to savor Nesh's touch. “If nothing else, it is a pleasant fantasy. Will you tell me of your gods? You speak often of them, but rarely in detail."

Nesh's hand stilled across my neck. “Well…" He idly toyed with one of the semi-mobile spines that gave my frills structure. It was an odd feeling, and left me tingling ever so slightly in ways I decided against telling him. “I suppose in a way, my religion is a bit private to me."

“Didn't stop you from accusing me every blasphemy you could think of, when first we met." I opened my eyes to slits, an amused smirk on my muzzle.

“That's different." Nesh returned to petting me. “But, since you asked, these days my people have three main gods. In ages past, we had many more. Some still worship many more."

“If I remember, the other day you mentioned a mother, a father, and a child?" I leaned my head into his touch.

“Correct!" Nesh sounded quite pleased that I remembered such a detail. “They have names, but we aren't really supposed to speak them lightly." Nesh ticked off a few fingers. “So we usually just refer them as the Mother, the Father, and the Child, though…" He glanced down at my face. “Some believe they're not really a family, and were just described that way to make them more relatable. But to get into that, would be to detail the differences between one branch of my religion's beliefs versus another, and I can tell you, that gets over so tiresome. It's hard to believe people fought wars over something so foolish."

I smiled to myself, and let Nesh ramble. I was happy enough just to be with him, and to let his voice soothe me, and distract me from my own troubled thoughts. When he circled back to the topic at hand, I swiveled my ears to pay attention once more.

“So, anyway." He patted my nose. “They're alternately referred to as the Mother of Light, or Mother of Life, and Father of Darkness, or Father of Death. As you can imagine, they've been simplified into personifying good, and evil. But, at heart, the teachings state that it's not so black and white. The Mother created the idea of light, and life, and the Father simply created the balance for it. The Father doesn't rule over the domain of evil, no matter how people may twist the teachings. Evil exists, of course, but the Father didn't specifically create it, no more than the mother specifically created good." Nesh sighed and shook his head. “Nonetheless, far too many people simply look at it as good versus evil, without looking deeper."

“Nesh," I said, my voice soft. “You can't have balanced deities, that's simply too much common sense. People need something to fight over."

Nesh gave a bitter chuckle. “Far too true, I'm afraid. Hell, even I was taught the simple version, growing up. Now, don't get me wrong…" He held up a single finger over my muzzle. “I do believe that there are forces of good and evil in the world, that there are agents of chaos and destruction, and of benevolence and kindness. But we're also taught that The Mother and Father created lesser deities for other spheres of influence, and they in turn begat…well, for lack of a better word, angels and demons. Beings who lived in the flesh, as we do, who would help us, or betray us, guide us or tempt us, support us, or destroy us, if only we let them."

“And that's what you think dragons are?" I lifted my head from his lap for a moment, just long enough to smile at him. “Demons, put forth in the flesh, to tempt and destroy you?"

“Well…" Nesh scratched his head fur again. “Admittedly I was taught that dragons were the spawn of demons, yes, but I should like it noted that I have long since learned the error of those particular teachings."

“Aww…" I let mock disappointment swell my voice. “So you're saying I don't tempt you?" I lay my head back down upon him. “What a shame."

“Yes, you're heartbroken, I'm sure." Nesh laughed, teasing another frill spine.

“Completely." I flicked my tail. “I shall have to take to tempting Sparrow, instead."

“She did call you demoness, after all." Nesh patted my neck. “Anyway, are you following along so far?"

I licked my nose, grimacing. “I'm trying to, but your religion is very convoluted."

“Most of them are," Nesh said, shifting his enrobing blanket. “You've probably got the gist of it. The Mother of Light and Father of Darkness are two of our highest deities, and if you were to ask me to be very specific, I'd say that I worship the Mother, and the Child. Saying you worship the Father implies something darker, to many people. There's cults and such devoted to him, and I'd rather not be associated with those."

“So you don't want to start a death cult?" I clicked my teeth. “That's a shame, because that sounds like something a dragon could really get behind."

Nesh poked my nose. “According to the old tales, that's exactly what some dragons used to do."

“They probably just wanted the worshippers." I stretched my wings in the grandest gesture I could manage without rising to my feet. “We dragons do appreciate being worshipped."

“I hadn't noticed," Nesh said, his voice dry as desert sand.

Ignoring his sarcasm, I folded my wings back in place. “So, tell me of this child."

“We call him, The Creator Child. Although…" Nesh rubbed his chin. “It can't be definitively proven that he's male. Suppose it doesn't matter. It's believed the Child is the one who actually created the world itself. That while the Mother and Father were those who created life and death, it was the Creator Child who actually manifested the physical plane. He built the earth and the sky, and everything in between. He made the plants grow, and thought up the animals, and the people, and so on. The Child is just as cosmically powerful as the Mother and Father, but where they were stoic, and orderly, he's curious, imaginative, and playful, even Chaotic. An eternal child. So between all the strange and wonderful things to spring from a god-child's imagination, limited by the stricter rules of life and death from Mother and Father, our world was forged."  

I slowly lifted my head. “So you believe that some child deity is responsible for all creation?" I had a sudden image in my mind of some hatchling with ink-dipped claws scribbling out drawings on parchment, only for misshapen creatures to emerge from the earth all around them. “I suppose that would explain why so many things in life make so little sense."

That earned a belly laugh from Nesh I hadn't expected. “So it would, Ella. So it would." He sighed, and patted my neck. “That's the basics of the gods I believe in, anyway. Unless you'd like to hear the fine details, or a history of all the other various deities we've worshipped over the centuries, I think I'm going to try and get back to sleep."

I eased back from Nesh to give him room to rise. “I think such an explanation would put me to sleep."

Nesh stood, still wrapped in his blanket. “I thought as much. But…" He paused long enough to offer me a smile. “I'm glad you asked, just the same. And…I'm gladder still you're feeling better." He walked around my tail, dragging the chair behind him. “Don't stay up too late. I'm sure we'll be leaving early in the morning."

“Yes, Mother." I playfully snapped my jaws at him as he vanished through the door.

Once Nesh was gone, I sat up on my haunches. Despite the cold, I was not yet ready to retire for the evening. Instead, I turned my attention to the skies. The moon was bright and beautiful, and yet the stars nearly outshone it. I did not remember them being so unusually vibrant. Then again, I rarely paid them much heed. I learned constellations for navigation, but that was it. They never held a spiritual meaning to me the way they had for Melakar, let alone our old Singers of the Stars.

“Suppose I'm our Singer of the Stars now," I said, murmuring to myself.

It struck me then that during Melakar's pyre, I'd already anointed myself with that title. That was mostly for ceremony, however, and I'd put little additional thought into the idea. If Melakar's plans had succeeded, then the position would have been his. Perhaps that was why he'd taken to carving the strange old Singers' diagrams. And he'd mentioned in his note that he had heard them singing, at least in his dreams. I stretched a wing forward to scratch at my neck with a wingtip talon. But surely, they were just that. Dreams.

Melakar hadn't actually heard the stars singing…had he?

I closed my eyes, and envisioned Melakar out here, seated in this old courtyard. Starlight bathed his bronze and blue scales in shades of silver. With his head tilted, he to an ancient song that only he could hear. When the stars fell silent, Melakar sang back to them, his sonorous voice cascading out over the lake.

It was a beautiful thought.

Opening my eyes, I gazed up at the night sky. “Alright, stars. Now's your chance to prove it. Prove the legends are true. Prove Melakar was right to believe in you. Sing to me. Sing to me, here and now, and I swear on my own blood I will devote myself to your wisdom."

I stared at the nightscape. The stars flickered and shone, glowed and ebbed, and glowed again, but they did not sing. I flexed my forepaws, digging claws into the flagstone. I wanted them to sing. I willed them to sing. For countless moments I gazed upon them, demanding they sing to me, even begging for their song. But there was nothing. Only wind, and the distant crunching of ice against the shore.

“That's what I thought." I sighed, strangely disappointed by their lack of song. I pushed myself up to all fours, ready to return to warmth, and slumber.

When I turned around, Melakar stood before me, so close our muzzles nearly brushed. Silver starlight glittered in his eyes. He reached to me, cupping my cheek with a bronze forepaw. His touch was warm, gentle, and achingly real. My heart leapt at the sight of him, the feel of his pads against me. And then everything inside me crumpled into cold darkness, because I knew it was not real. It was a dream, at best. And yet…There was a part of me that never wanted to wake.

I opened my muzzle to speak, to profess to him my love while I had the chance, but I could not force words across my tongue.

“You cannot demand the song." Melakar settled on his haunches, cradling my head between both front paws. “You can only hear it."

I stared into his eyes. With every passing moment, the glimmering stars inside them grew and grew. And with every heartbeat, I wanted to melt more and more into the warmth of his touch. Again, I tried to speak, but when I opened my muzzle, silence poured out, like a smothering, physical thing, stifling all sound. The winds faded. The crunching ice died away.

Melakar opened his mouth, and where I spoke only silence, Melakar sang.

Music filled me. Impossible music, alien yet somehow achingly familiar. The melody thrummed in my bones, and rippled through my blood, bittersweet. There was happiness in it, and tragedy, sorrow and joy, all rising and falling, tumbling over one another into a single, all-encompassing song. A thousand voices, all singing at once. A thousand stars, shining in Melakar's eyes.

Sing it. It was Melakar's voice, in my head.

“I…I can't." My words were overwhelmed by the ever-present music. “There's…too much."

Find the melody. Find your melody.

Melakar's song grew and grew, till I could feel it dissolving me, bit by bit. Till I was becoming part of the music. I focused on it, trying to do as he asked. Beyond the veil of voices, there was a single melody. There was something deep, and sorrowful about it, but also something hopeful. It was snow falling on frozen stone, but so too was it rain falling on a long-parched desert.

It was life built anew.

It was hope amidst hardship, love amidst tragedy.

That was my melody. I seized it, and I sang it back to Melakar.

My voice rose and rose, first joining with his, and soon, overwhelming it. His song trailed off, but mine continued, louder and louder until the stars themselves could hear it. And when the stars heard it, they sang it back to me. The entire sky pulsed with life, with hope, and their star-song shaped a new world all around me.

All at once, it was summer, and I stood in the midst of an endless desert. Dunes of golden sand shimmered in all directions, glittering like sunlight given physical form. But there was no sun in the sky, only an endless ocean of stars, each brighter than the last. The stars flickered and shone, glowing and fading and glowing anew in time with my song.

Melakar's voice returned, and the song was once more his alone. I turned towards him, warm sands shifting under my paws. This time, he was not alone. A tiny, gray-furred being was with him. An urd'thin child, little more than a pup, tiny horns and great ears. He danced across the dunes, and in his footsteps, worlds were sculpted from the sands, borne and vanished again in a blink. The pup sang to Melakar, and Melakar sang back, and all the while, the pup danced around him in perfect time to Melakar's song. Then their music fell silent. The pup gazed at me, and in his eyes, I saw infinity itself, all the great cosmos on display. He smiled at me, raised his hands, and I knew I was meant to sing.

So sing I did. With all the strength I could muster, I sang to him, and the stars all sang with me. A million voices added to my own, music beyond comprehension, underpinned by the melody I had chosen. The pup spun into a new dance, timed now to my song. Dunes rose beneath him, thrusting him to the sky, and he threw his hands to the starry expanse. No longer was he merely dancing, but conducting the stars themselves to sing along with me.

With every note, the world changed around us. Buildings of stone and steel erupted from the sands. Roads paved themselves in long, winding lanes. Where the pup pointed, a strange, silver tower stretched towards the sky. A grand palace built itself from nothing, all in time with my song. Moment by moment, note by note, a great city assembled itself all around me. Trees sprouted, and grew from tiny saplings to towering ancients in a breath.

People sprang into being. Humans and other bipedal species walked together. Floating ships drifted across the horizon. Gryphons and dragons alike swooped amongst them. In a blink, Melakar and Nesh both stood beside me. They smiled, gazing out across an empire built for dragons, and all those who would call us friend.

All the while, I sang. Melakar lifted his voice once more, his song joining mine. His melody was a happier counterpoint to my somber but hopeful tune. Together, our songs grew, and grew, and the stars sang them back to us. As the sounds reverberated, the whole world glimmered with the shining silver light of stars. As our song rose, the light around us strengthened, growing brighter and brighter until it was all I could see. And then Melakar dissolved into starlight, and the world dissolved with him. Then, there were only stars, and song. And when the song faded, there was only silence.

I found myself sitting on cold stone, surrounded by walls bathed in faint blue light. A suffocating haze of disorientation clung to me. Everything looked so dim, so pale. And it was so quiet. Where was the song? I shook my head, trying to clear the fog. I could still hear Melakar singing to me. His melody was simpler now, gentle and soothing, but with a bittersweet edge.

Gradually, I realized I was back in the fort, in the room where Melakar had carved stars into the walls. Had I dreamt the whole thing? I did not remember going back inside, let alone coming to this room, of all others. I had dreamt of Melakar before, but never like this. This dream, this vision, this felt so much different. I took a trembling breath. Somewhere, deep in my uncertain soul, I knew. This was different.

I had dared the stars to sing me their song, and through Melakar, they had done exactly that. But I'd done more than just challenge them, hadn't I? I'd sworn myself to them, on my blood. Slowly, I lifted a shaking forepaw. A promise was a promise. I unsheathed a single claw, and cut a thin line at the side of my paw pad, where I would not have to trod upon it as it healed. I grimaced, cutting deeply enough to bleed freely, if only for a little while.

Then I pressed my paw to one of the stars Melakar carved upon the wall, and let my blood flow through the lines in the stone. It tricked through circles and spheres, and down the spiraling lines connecting them. As my blood graced the stone-wrought stars, I could almost hear them singing to me. Softly, I sang back to them.

When my ritual was complete, I withdrew my paw, licking the small wound to help stop the bleeding. Once it was quelled, I returned to the room where the others awaited. The gryphons and Nesh were sleeping. The hearth's embers were faded, and a chill had settled in. Nesh was curled up tightly under his blanket. He must have been cold. I contemplating placing another blanket across him, but then thought better of it. Instead, I decided to forsake the comfort of Melakar's old bed, to keep Nesh warm instead. I settled down on my belly alongside Nesh's mattress and draped my wing across him.

Nesh stirred, blinking up at me. “Ella?" He smiled and gently stroked my sheltering wing. “You alright?"

“Yes…yes, I am." I did not even know where to begin explaining what had just happened. “I…I think I met your god."

Nesh scrunched his face, still half asleep. “Wait, what?"

I curled my neck, and lay my head down next to his. “Go back to sleep, Nesh. We'll talk tomorrow."

While Nesh drifted back to sleep, I hummed him Melakar's song as gentle lullaby. Then I closed my eyes, and while I waited for slumber to claim me, I thought about the stars.

*****

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