“I think you know it, too, even if you do not have words for it.”
“Chalia and I are connected,” Sofia said, words careful. “More than just a friendship.”
Aurelia’s nostrils flared, her feathers ruffling. “I was young when the massacre happened. Only a little over two hundred sun cycles old, barely old enough to lay an egg. There was a lot I did not know—things that have been lost to death or simply passed from memory.”
Aurelia stared up at the sky as she spoke, her voice full of a wistful pain, and Fox wondered what grief felt like four hundred sun cycles after you lost someone. What was time like for a being who lived so long?
“But I remember,”she continued,“that we used to talk about the bonded ones. Dragons who bonded with humans. Most of them died in the massacre, killed alongside their humans.”
“What did it mean? To have a bond? I can use Chalia’s magic. That’s how I called the fire down.”
Aurelia made a sound that Fox thought might have been a laugh.“Lightning. The fire from the sky is called lightning. And yes, I believe you canchannel Chalia’s magic. It is why you can heal. It is why your pain and your anger hurt her the same as it hurts you.”
“What does it mean? Can any human bond? What happens when I die?”
“These are the questions I cannot answer. But I know someone who can. I have prayed on it and think it is the best course. One that Quelia would approve of. I think you should go speak with Bruta.”
Fox exchanged a look with Sofia. Bruta was the dragon who Chalia had told stories about—the elder dragon who was gone now.
“Chalia said she’s dead.”
Aurelia gave a snort of derision.“Not dead. She lives in the deadlands now, communing with Quelia. If anyone knows how the bond works, it is she. I can direct you to where she resides, but you will have to go alone, and there is no guarantee she will speak with you.”
Sofia opened her mouth, but she never got her question out. A dragon’s roar split the night, the slope going quiet at once. Fox’s stomach dropped, and Sofia’s hand went to her belt. She was wearing her dagger despite the festivities. Fox was glad for it.
Yet, a second later, when Aurelia let out a roar, it wasn’t one of fear or anger. Even Fox could hear the joy ringing through the vibrations.
Sofia gasped, and Fox followed her gaze into the sky. A tiny dragon the size of a wolf was flying behind Ielo. Its wings were nearly invisible against the black night, but its pink skin glowed as it made a crooked, undulating path across the sky and down toward the lake, unsteady in its body.
A moment later, Fox was face to face with a baby dragon, its toothless mouth open in a high-pitched howl. The rest of the dragons, scattered as they had been around the slope, descended until they surrounded Fox, Sofia, and the baby.
Aurelia moved forward, her nose nudging the newest member of their flock.
“Gavil and Bia’s child. The first dragon born in over forty sun cycles,”Chalia said, her words meant for only Fox and Sofia.“He’ll get his name at the end of his first sun cycle, but for now he is known as Ours.”
Sofia’s hand slipped into Fox’s, and he turned to see she was crying again. He pulled her closer until he had wrapped his hands around her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, a whisper in her ear.
“Yeah—yes,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I think everything is going to be okay.”
EPILOGUE
FOX
After four days of flying, they’d almost made it to the deadlands where Bruta lived. It was just Fox, Sofia, and Chalia, though Eha had almost come. But she’d been too afraid to bring Zuni along, and no one could blame her for not wanting to leave him.
Aurelia had told them there was no guarantee that Bruta was still among the living. She’d left the tribe intending to spend her last days in contemplation, but that had been over forty sun cycles ago. It had been Fox who had assured them that Bruta was still alive—he felt it in his bones for no reason he could articulate. He didn’t know if they believed him—and he didn’t know if he believed himself—but they must have seen something in his face because no one argued.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon, the sky turning the snowy slopes a pale pink. They’d left earlier that morning than usual, but Chalia had said they were getting close. They should make it to Bruta before midday. Sofia was sitting in front of Fox, her head resting on his chest. He looked down to see her eyes closed, her breathing soft and constant. She’d fallen back asleep.
He didn’t wake her, savoring the moment to simply watch her breathing. Her freckles stood out against her dark golden skin, a dustingacross her nose. He wanted to trace them each with his fingers, but he was too afraid to wake her.
She must have sensed something because a moment later she was opening her eyes. She smiled.
“You’re staring.”
“Yup,” he said, his smile soft.