“Ensure that if anything happens, you’ll keep them safe.” I knew he was referring to his wife and daughter. My heart couldn’t turn down a man’s last wish for his family, so I tried to give him hope to cling to.
“They will make it through this, and you will too. No goodbyes yet.” He gave me an enduring look before following the warriors tending to their duties. I ran to Emeris, leaping on her backside as she darted up through the trees, pursuing the other dragons off the coast of the isle.
Staying toward the rear, I could see the children spreading their arms out into the open as the breeze whipped their hair.It brought a smile to my face, hearing the faraway sounds of their laughter. The sun was barely a sliver above the distant dark waters below. As the dragons flew forward, the islands spread out so small behind us that I grew confused.
“Emeris…where are you going?” She huffed a breath, and I looked forward, trying to see through the growing mist. Wondering where the land had gone, I glanced back again, not seeing the Espien Islands anymore. Mist and fog grew as thick as smoke. The weight of it pushed against my skin as if flying through a barrier of some sort. The tang of magic filled the air. My nose burned as it tingled through me, making the hairs on my neck raise. Everything in my gut told me to turn away, but Emeris flew onward. I tried to tug on her to get her to turn, but she wouldn’t listen to me.
“Emeris! Turn back!” I yelled over the whistling wind, but all she did was purr loudly, trying to calm me. I looked around. The fog had grown so thick, I couldn’t see the other dragons anymore nor hear the laughter of the children. My heart thrummed with the prickly feeling of fear growing, making my stomach churn. My head pounded as my ears popped under the pressure. The urge to run tightened through every muscle in my body. I held my breath a moment, fighting my body’s desire to turn away, and then as fast as the pressure and dread had built against me, it fell aside, gone as the fog lifted and the dark sky grew clear. Looking down, my eyes found an island I’d never seen before, and now I realized why. Magic protected it. Powerful magic that I had never felt before. This wasn’t like elemental bending. It was different—old.
It was an ancient type of illusion I didn’t know existed anymore, similar to a fae glamour but more formidable. It left me feeling in awe of the amount of power it would take to glamour an entire island. All fae could glamour looks and feelings or anything about themselves, really, even someone orsomething in the same vicinity as them, if needed. But nothing as large as a piece of land.
Emeris landed along the shore with the other dragons. Mothers and children climbed down from the dragons they were riding. The magic still masked all their faces with fear from coming through whatever barrier protected this place. Emeris nudged me, making me walk forward as she tried to lead me through the trees. I turned to my people.
“Stay here until I come for you. The dragons will keep you safe.” Everyone nodded in agreement as Emeris kept nudging me forward through the dense woods off the beach. There were no trails or signs of life. It seemed no one had been here for a time. Emeris led me through the large trees, and my curiosity got the best of me. That was when I noticed it: a vast, stone-looking building to my right. Vines growing so dense around it made it look like the world was dragging it underground. I veered to it, but Emeris stepped in front of me, stopping me from going any farther, and then I realized why…I saw him.
A dragon was lying on the top of it and staring down at me with his icy, fierce eyes. His coloring was something I’d never seen. His gilded scales shimmered against the moonlit forests, almost making him look as if he were a statue made of gold perched atop the building to scare away anyone who’d want to go inside. They’d get an awakening if they tried. He nodded to Emeris as if telling her to keep moving, and I was not going to disobey. I saw a small mountain in the distance and dark shadows of wings in the air. When I looked farther ahead of me, I could see the trees grow scarce as a cave-like hole opened on its side—nothing but darkness. Emeris opened her mouth, creating a faint glow from the fire of her throat, giving us a light source as we stepped into the cavern after walking for what seemed like forever with only hearing my heart pounding in my ears. I heard the rustling sounds of wings, the popping of fire on wood, and awarm orange glow came from up ahead. I ran to it, the suspense of not knowing where I was taking over. Rushing through the opening with Emeris on my heels, I saw all the dragons that had landed on the isle were here, some flying, playing, others eating fish or some other animal carcass for dinner. This was their home.
The dragon’s den.
Baron and I always knew there had to be one somewhere, but we never thought they would protect it on its own island, lying in the middle of the sea.
Children’s laughter came echoing from my left, and I turned to see the other two dragons that flew here with us gliding through a different tunnel in the mountain before they landed in front of me. The children leapt down with their mothers, asking if they could ride again, while other children were yawning, rubbing their sleepy eyes. Emeris blew a thin line of fire to her right, and a row of flames licked up the side of the wall, slowly wrapping around until the room was lit with the warm glow of fire. It made it easier to see in the depths of this hollow mountain. I ran my hand over the wall closest to me, realizing that it was stone, too, just like the structure that the other dragon was resting upon.
“What is this place?” I whispered to myself, not expecting a response, but a raspy warm voice called back.
“This is Magni Island, where the mighty roam.”
I jerked my head toward Emeris, with my eyes going as wide as saucers. She looked at me, and I was astonished by what I had heard. “Ris, did you just speak to me?”
“Yes,” she hissed.
“That’s impossible…I’m losing my mind.”
“No, darling, Magni Island holds a lot of special qualities, one being that you can hear me in your mind if I choose.”
“Amazing.” I walked to her, running my hand down her neck and chest.
“Why is this place protected? Who is the golden dragon?” Questions spewed from my mouth faster than my thoughts could process.
“That’s Draken. He’s the last of his kind, and his story is not mine to tell.”
“Are they safe here?” I glanced over to the women, children, and elders who had made their way farther into the vast expanse, lounging around a small fire and collecting the belongings they could bring on their person to use to sleep for the night.
“Yes, but Draken will only allow your welcome for so long. Come now, we must get back. My voice only works here. But I can still understand when you speak to me.”
“It would’ve been nice to talk to you when we first met. Maybe we wouldn’t have tried to kill each other.” I gave her a small smile, and she gave me a side-eye, but I could hear her faint laugh in my head.
“Come on,” she spoke to me from mind to mind, and I listened, getting up on her back.
“Shay! Where are you going?” Ravi's wife, Elise, yelled from across the room, and I reassured her before Emeris spread her wings to take off.
“You’re safe here. I’ll be back!”
Emeris launched us into the sky, barreling through one of the multitude of tunnels out of the side of the mountain before we soared through the night back home.
Chapter Five
Iwalked back to our cottage with exhaustion sinking into my bones, but my mind raced with all the thoughts of everything that had happened in one day. How much life could change in a blink of an eye.
