“Based on the scales, I’m guessing we will be visiting the dragons today?”
I nodded, solemnly. “I’m not overly thrilled about it, apparently I need to resemble that of a warrior queen and the sky beasts will know where to take us.”
Alric’s brows pinched together. “Sky beasts?”
Reva bent over at the waist and laughed. “Oh, this is going to be good.”
The sky beasts, as the god called them, were waiting for us at the top of the mountain like last time Reva brought me here. Except this time they brought a friend. The third massive bird was all black but when it moved in the light, a rainbow of colors were revealed in each feather. All three of the beasts bowed to me at the same time before Reva helped me mount the red one and then she assisted Alric when mounting the black. She giggled as quietly as she could while he protested. But he still got on the beast.
“I think this is a horrible idea,” He shook his blond hair out and his eyes widened. I’d never seen him so frazzled before, not even when we were back in the fraud kingdom and I knew nothing of the greatness that was to come.
Reva hopped on the blue bird and clapped her hands. “This is the best day of my life.”
Alric didn’t have any time to retort as the birds took that as a go-ahead to dive headfirst from the mountain. I wondered if I sounded anything like Alric as I plunged from the cliffside for the first time. His scream was not very manly and by the time it stopped, my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Freedom was found in these clouds and I was thankful we were finally going to meet the dragons.
The dragons livedon the islands that were floating in the distance the first time I took a ride on the sky beasts. As we drew closer to them, I realized they were literal islands that were somehow ripped from the ocean below and floating high in the sky.
A flock of sky beasts were circling the islands as we drew closer. They watched us curiously as we landed gracefully and then eventually dismounted. My legs were a bit wobbly but somehow I remained upright. Alric wasn’t so lucky. He immediately collapsed to the ground and began vomiting. Reva grinned down at him with no mercy.
“This is really and truly the best day of my life,” she cackled and I elbowed her in the ribs.
“Behave.”
“It’s almost impossible with all this joy I’m feeling.”
Alric ignored it all and continued to retch in the bushes. The floating islands were made up of three separate areas. Beast birds flew around us and watched curiously but didn’t get tooclose. The forest up on these islands was thick and there looked to be holes in the ground, but I was too anxious to move away from the edge we were standing at. We hadn’t been welcomed into this area and the last thing I wanted was to be thrown off to my impending death below or blasted with fire.
“Do you wish for us to fight in your war, human?” I blinked as a voice boomed around us.
“No,” I began. Perhaps that was the god’s plan but it was not mine. I hadn’t come here to ask for their assistance in a war I didn’t know how to fight or even win. I wouldn’t sacrifice these beasts for a war they didn’t have any part in. “I came here to meet you. When I journeyed to the last fortress the last time, I assumed all the beasts here were just as cursed as the ones back home. When the gods told me you were my subjects as well, I knew my duty was to meet you, though I would be lying to say I wasn’t intimidated by the matter.”
“Come forward, human.”
If Alric hadn’t been so busy retching in the bushes, I imagined he would have had something to say about her tone and use of the word human. For now, I didn’t mind it but I knew it would eventually come to irk me.
“Walk toward the crater in the ground, it slopes down slowly. This is our home.”
Through the thick brush and trees, there was a massive hole in the ground, bigger than the doors to the castle at Oakhaven. The ground did as the dragon said, it sloped down and then back up again until we were staring at what looked to be an underground city similar to the keep we’d come from. Except dragons flew around. Dragons that were much bigger than I could have ever imagined. These creatures were bigger than the ships that sailed the seas. They were probably bigger than the castle.
A white and silver dragon stepped forward while the others continued their flights. Not a single one seemed to care about the three humans coming into their homeland. After all, how could we possibly pose a threat to them?
“I see you come adorned in the scales of my ancestors.” The dragon didn’t seem angry or even annoyed, but merely curious as she watched me with her slitted feline eyes. With raised brows, I looked down at the armor the gods fashioned for me.
“It was a gift,” It also wasn’t a lie. I didn’t know how much I needed to reveal just yet.
“So I see,” Her mouth didn’t move as the words boomed around us and echoed off of the rocky walls. The area was warm, but not uncomfortable. Every few seconds there was a small breeze that would go through. It was pleasant. “What have you come for, human?”
Now that Alric was no longer sick and could handle himself, he stepped forward. “She is the queen. You should address her as such.” I sometimes wondered if he had a death wish. Reva remained a statue behind me. Not even a snicker out of her.
“She could be our queen, but there hasn’t been a coronation, has there?” The dragon sat back on her haunches and watched all three of us. “It matters not. She will not be our queen if she cannot prove herself. This place has been untouched by the blight since the Last Mage Queen, but I fear it is coming. Many of our young dragons can no longer fly to the heights that are required to come back home.” She fluffed her magnificent wing span and the wind from it almost took me out. “I fear what’s to happen to my people. If you can eradicate the blight, then we can possibly have an agreement. But we have a long way until that can happen. The human that calls herself queen has been feeding the curse for a long time. Can one magical woman be what it takes? Do you have what it takes?”
This time, once again, I knew that honesty was all I had. “I don’t know. I would love nothing more than to have the confidence you seek, but I don’t. I haven’t been in this role or used my magic long enough. I know the gods speak to me and I know they are tired of the war between darkness and light. I will tell you that I fight on the side of light, on the side of good. I will not allow her to continue her reign of terror. I will no longer allow this curse to continue to spread and I will do whatever it takes to bring justice to this land and your people.”
She cocked her large head and nodded. “I see the goodness in you, child of the gods. I wonder if it will be enough. I pray that it will be enough. I am Rey, the leader of the dragons. This is our home. If you ever need anything you send your sky beast and we will do our best to be there. When it comes to the war, I don’t know if I can see my people perish but we will think about it. My advisors are waiting to hear of our meeting. We will speak again soon.”
With a flick of her tail, she turned her back on us and took flight to the other side of the cavern. Alric was the first to turn back to the cave opening, I followed behind him, and Reva was behind me. Our sky beasts were waiting right where we left them. The flight back was full of silence as I thought of what was to come next.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
