“You feel her absence, do you not?”
Sofia nodded slowly. She had the impression that Aurelia was only speaking to her now.
“Chalia said she was in your mind and you in hers. Not in the same way we speak, but something more. Something deeper.”
“I think we shared a connection, yes,” Sofia said, unsure how to explain it.“We were just—together.”
Aurelia bent down, examining Sofia as if she held the answer. Icy breath brushed against her face.
“Have you ever felt Chalia’s mag?—”
The dragon cut off suddenly, nostrils flaring wide as her head whipped up, turning toward the crest of the slope—from where the army first attacked. The other dragons shifted restlessly, hearing something up the slope that Sofia couldn’t. She reached for her dagger before she realized she didn’t have it. Her heart raced.
She needed to get her dagger. She needed to be ready to fight. The earth shook beneath her as Aurelia pushed off the ground and shot into the air, moving like an arrow up the slope, staying low and within the barrier that hid them. Not that it mattered. Harlow knew they were here already. The barrier was nothing but false comfort.
A black speck rose over the edge of the slope and paused only momentarily, and then there was another and another. Sofia stared, trying to understand what she was seeing because they weren’t soldiers. They weren’t humans or wolves.
“Aurelia,”Sofia sent as the dragon swept up toward the slope.“I don’t think those are enemies.”
The strange herd of animals crested over the slope now, racing down into the valley, and Sofia watched in awe. There were foxes and deer and rabbits, but there were hawks and eagles, too, and monkeys and peccaries.
“Clarita found some friends,” Jacinta said.
“A lot of friends,” Sofia said, trying to count the animals as they moved. There were dozens—more. They wouldn’t outnumber the army, but the playing field just became a little more equal.
Aurelia didn’t returnto the ground until the shifters had gathered on the edge of the barrier and she’d made sure they weren’t being followed. Sofia and Javi reached the top of the grounds at the same moment she touched down again, watching the shifters with suspicion.
Only once they were there did Sofia see Clarita and a few other humans scattered among the shifters, jumping off some deer and elk, their backs holding large packs.
“I know I’ve probably missed a lot,” Clarita said, “but I thought I’d bring some friends.”
Sofia stepped forward.
“We have a lot of updates, but thank you.” Sofia looked out over the mismatched herd and felt the first inklings of anxiety. There were so many of them, and the moment they shifted back, they’d be naked and freezing.
“We have our own supplies and many of the shifters here spend most of their time in their animal forms, so you needn’t worry.”
Sofia nodded, turning to Aurelia. “Are they welcome?”
She looked over them and gave a nod—an expression that Sofia had noticed dragons didn’t naturally use, but they’d started using to communicate with the humans and shapeshifters.
They walked into the barrier, the shifters’ backs twitching as they crossed over the line, and Sofia witnessed the look of awe on their faces as the dozens of dragons came into view on the other side. Her fatherstood down the slope, his own look of awe there as he watched a strange herd of animals move into camp.
Sofia helped the various groups find places to settle in. Some shifters claimed caves for themselves, while the more winter-bred shifters found places outside that were tucked away from the wind. Clarita and the other humans from their group passed out the supplies they’d brought, including clothes, blankets, and tents.
It was late in the day by the time Sofia caught Clarita’s eye, and the woman ended her conversation to approach her.
“Thank you for your help with everything,” she said, waving a hand at the tent Sofia had just helped set up.
“It’s the least we could do,” she said. She watched Clarita, wondering if she should ask the question. “What changed your mind? You always said this wasn’t the shifters’ war.”
Clarita gave a tight smile, eyes sweeping over their haphazard group. “You don’t have to pretend I’m being altruistic. I know I’m not. Eloy found us and told us about the deal that was struck with the wolfshifters. The rainforest belongs to us and isn’t Harlow’s to dole out. He’s made it our battle now.”
Sofia didn’t want to ask her next question, too afraid to hear the answer. “Have you heard from Lumi?”
Clarita reached out, placing a hand on Sofia’s shoulder.
“They’re still in Suvi helping with the resistance there. Your friend, Flor, is alive and well. Though Lumi seemed to imply they were close to strangling her themselves.”