Her posture was unyielding with nerves. For a moment, the only noise was our heavy breathing until I caught a glint of metal in my side view, but it was already too late. One warrior, known as Ravi, rushed forward, axe drawn for Emeris. The dragon pulled back, lowered her snout to her neck while she puffed out her chest, preparing for a battle. My pulse thrummed; my mouth went dry. I jerked to the left, where Ravi was coming from, blocking his battle axe from Emeris’s side. I brought my foot up to his chest and knocked him to the ground.
“She is not your enemy!” I heaved. Anger flooded my senses at how quick Ravi was to think I would do anything to harm my people by bringing Emeris here. He kicked out his boot, hitting my ankles, knocking me to my back. He got back to his feet while Emeris lunged forward for him until a small voice coming low from the ground stopped her.
“Daddy!” the child screamed, squeezing from the safety of her mother’s arms. Her mother’s eyes were wide with terror, and she tried to chase after her baby trying to get to Ravi. The only thing standing between this father and his daughter was Emeris. Ravi raised his blade before I could scream.
Baron ripped the axe from his hand, tossing it to the loose soil. He placed his two hands on Ravis’s shoulders, restraining him.
“No!” the mother cried from the crowd that held her back as Ravi jerked and pushed forward, but Baron gripped him firmly. The young girl stood there trying her best to be brave—unafraid, as Emeris lowered her head down to hers. The girl stood still, rooted to the ground with fear. Her chest heaved so hard, herwhole body quaked until Emeris nudged her, gently showing affection. Emeris’s head was bigger than the child’s body. The girl held up her arms, her tiny hands barely able to cover the tip of her snout. Emeris released a huff of ashes and smoke from her nostrils, making the young girl giggle. The smokey air tousled her long blonde hair back over her shoulders, and it was as if the entire world went silent. My heart froze and my breath stalled as I looked from Ravi to his wife, Elise, to the crowd of our people. Their postures stiffened, eyes wide. Some had splayed fingers over their chests and mouths open in amazement at what they were witnessing. I rose to my feet, walking to where the little girl stood with a small smile spread over her face as Emeris nudged and played with her. Every breath Emeris took whipped at her blonde hair. Ravi and Elise stepped forward.
“She is not our enemy,” I whispered, my voice breathy. I held out my hand to Ravi and his wife. Both of them lifted their arms with me, slowly placing their hands on Emeris’s forehead as their young daughter played with the end of her snout. I looked at them and then at the crowd. My eye contact was unwavering. My stance was open, my head held high—confidence laced every word.
“The dragons are not our enemies. They love this land just as much as we do and will protect it just as we are. We don’t have the power of the elements like most fae, but we all have the heart of the dragons on our side.” My voice bellowed out through the crowd and Emeris lifted her head, releasing a loud purr like a calling to the sky. The ground shook and the winds grew until the trees whipped and the dust swirled around us. Looking up, all I could see were wings and scaled skin of all shades of color. Dragons. An entire thunder of them. I’d seen glimpses of other dragons while flying with Emeris, but never like this.
Never this many.
I’d traveled through our islands and I’d never found their resting place or seen so many at once.
One by one, they all landed, circling my people as if they listened to Emeris’s call to them. I took them all in, and Baron stood next to me. He intertwined his fingers with mine as Ravi grabbed his daughter and wife and they stepped back into the crowd. Eyes of all shades looked at me, blues, greens, yellows, and I swore one even had violet eyes beaming at me. They all bowed their heads to the ground, facing Baron, Emeris, and me. I squeezed Baron’s hand as we both looked up at Emeris. She gave us a strong, decisive nod before she thrust out her chest, standing tall amongst the bowed dragons.
It took me a moment to understand, but soon I realized.
She chose us. The dragons had chosen us. They wanted to fight for their home just as much as we did.
I held my chin high as I spoke. “Listen to your chieftess. We misjudged the dragons. These creatures have a heart of passion and fire, just like us. Let us help each other protect our lands and our home!”
I unsheathed my sword. Baron followed my lead, and we lifted them above both of our heads, waiting for our people’s response. Our men, women, and warriors did the same with their axes, daggers, and pitchforks, gradually chanting something to themselves until they all grew louder and louder.
“Dragonheart, Dragonheart, Dragonheart!” The moment brought a lump of emotion to my throat. Pride beamed from my chest at seeing my people unified with the beasts they’d once hunted. Emeris lifted her head toward the skies, letting out a bellowed roar. She quaked the very ground I stood on before bringing her head back down, rubbing the side of her head against Baron and me.
“Ember will be here at daybreak, but we’ll be waiting.” The cheers of our people roared along with the dragons of Osparia, filling my heart with something I hadn’t felt in a while—hope.
Chapter Four
“Any women or elders not fighting, gather the children and go with Shay to find refuge off the island.” Baron’s voice boomed through our village, reaching all ears. Every fae glanced up at Baron as fear struck their faces. Who could blame them?
There was a war landing on our beaches and we’d never left the shores of our islands before. At least not for long. I stepped forward, giving them warm smiles, trying to reassure them. Baron put his hand on the small of my back as he spoke. “Ember will be here at daybreak. We must prepare for tonight! Set the traps. Archers, take posts in the highlands. We must protect our home.” Our people scattered, ready to do their duties before dawn.
Most of the dragons launched back into the skies as if they understood the commands. The few that stayed behind dropped themselves to the ground, making it easier for us to climb onto their backs. I glanced at Emeris, and she scaled down as well forme to get on, but I couldn’t leave before the others. I walked over to the small group of fae that wouldn’t be fighting, slowly helping them get atop the dragons’ backs. The children were excited to be on the dragons. While it took the few elders some time to get up, they were still leery about the winged beasts.
Being fae, they were quite agile for their years in this world. I peered over, seeing Ravi saying goodbye to his wife and daughter as he helped them up.
“You can stay with them, you know,” I said, and he just shook his head.
“I am with them in fighting for a home to return to.”
I gave him a smile and nodded, feeling proud of how far he had come in such a short time.
“Hold on tight,” I declared to everyone on the dragons before whistling my bird song, sending them all gently into the skies. I turned to Ravi.
“I’m going with them to be sure they get someplace secure. Go meet Baron. He’ll tell you what to do next.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
“Then promise me…”
“Ravi—” He cut me off.
