By the time he returned to Jobin, he collapsed onto his furs without even lighting a fire, relying on the sun to keep him warm enough. When he woke, the dragon had curled around him, his head resting nearby, eyes open and staring at him.
“Hi,” Fox said, unsure what the dragon was waiting for. He blinked slowly before giving a small flick of his tongue.
“Chalia told me not to stare. Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Fox said, trying to shake the unease of waking up to the dragon’s stare. “Any news from the others?”
Jobin couldn’t communicate with Chalia’s mind directly from this far, but they’d exchanged feathers so they could send rough messages backand forth.
“They’ll be ready tomorrow evening at the earliest. Once you give them the go-ahead, they’ll be here.”
Fox nodded. He and Sofia had guessed they wouldn’t want to return with the others until they were ready to act, but he was disappointed, nonetheless. He wouldn’t see Sofia until Ian was ready.
“Do you want me to tell you about the time I beat Az in a fight after he tried to tell everyone I was defective?”Jobin asked, the words hitting Fox in a rush—which was how Jobin always spoke.
“Why did he think you were defective?” Fox asked, turning to look at the dragon.
“Because Az is a dirty tail-feather. And because I don’t have a proper tail.”Jobin flicked his nub. It was a few feet shorter than most and featherless.
Fox thought it might be rude to ask, but Jobin didn’t strike him as someone who’d care. “What happened to your tail?”
Jobin stretched out his neck and shook his head.“Nothing. I was just born this way. But when we were younger, I did have Chalia convinced for a whole ten sun cycles that I’d lost it in a human attack before she was born.”
“How’d she find out you lied?”
“Az told her that there hadn’t been a human attack in over two hundred sun cycles.”
“Az sounds like an ass.”
Jobin let out a snort and a warble.
“He is!”the dragon agreed.
Fox spent the rest of the day talking with Jobin, exchanging stories. By the end of the afternoon, Jobin was doing most of the listening. He was all too excited to hear about the human world and Suvi.
That night when Fox returned to the tree, he was disappointed to see Ian hadn’t hung up the signal yet, though he found a Dereyan uniform tied to a branch just a few yards up the tree. That night he also caught sight of dark curls just along the edge of Harlow’s tent before they disappeared again. It might have been a female soldier—as few as there were—but he’d never known one who let her hair grow out long enough to be used against her.
“Mother, I’m coming for you,” he whispered, so low he didn’t evenhear his own words. But they were a comfort. He just needed to believe them.
It took two more nights before he finally saw the scrap of dirty white fabric tied to the center pole of the small tent he’d pegged as Ian’s. It was already there when he showed up that night, fluttering in the wind. He should have turned back immediately, but he stayed for an hour, straining to catch sight of his mother’s hair again. It wasn’t until even the soldiers started to go to sleep that Fox left, knowing she wouldn’t be coming out that night.
Jobin seemed to know what had happened before Fox even sent him the message. By the time Fox returned to the camp, Jobin was sitting with Chalia’s feather tucked in his claw, his eyes closed.
When Fox came to sit beside him, Jobin opened his eyes, the bright purple orbs nearly glowing.
“It’s sent.”
And Fox let out a breath.
They didn’t knowhow long it would take for the others to get to them, but Fox heard the flap of wings just after dawn and felt his heart in his throat. Jobin confirmed it was Chalia and the others, but Fox still felt uneasy until he saw the silvery blue wings he had grown so familiar with. As she landed, Sofia slipped from her back and looked around the clearing until she saw Fox, standing awkwardly at the edge of the firelight. He wanted to run forward, wanted to wrap her up. They’d only been apart for a few days. Micael, Javi, Jacinta, and a man he vaguely recognized slipped from Chalia’s back after her.
Sofia seemed to have the same thought, stepping forward but stopping short before reaching him, her hands clenching at her sides.
Chalia, on the other hand, barreled forward, sending Javi and Jacinta stumbling back in her rush as she wrapped her neck around Fox.
“You’re okay! I knew Jobin would take care of you, but I was still afraid.”
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” he said, laughing at the rambling of herthoughts. She’d clearly projected to the rest of the group because Javi was holding back a laugh, and Sofia was rolling her eyes.