"That's my mom. She passed away a few years ago, if you hadn't heard."
A soft "mmm" answered me. "I was aware, child. Everyone was. The supernatural community mourned her, and we knew well the moment when she left. But magic doesn’t cure everything. Why do you feel like fire?"
That was something I'd gotten used to in the witchy world. I'd spent years telling myself that no one could reach out and touch me unless I were sitting right beside them, yet there was a breath of wind that stirred my hair and I knew that, whoever this person was, they knew where I was and who was around me. They were giving me a way to tell them the truth.
It was a test.
And it was then that I had an inkling as to what I was dealing with, more than a who.
"I'm part of a dragon flight."
"Which?"
"Eskal Vervain's Nightflight."
The woman on the other end of the line chuckled. "Took them long enough to find you. Your mother had visions of you with dragons, surrounded by them, since you were a little girl. You've always been meant for them. Bring them and yourselves. I'll cast a navigational tether for you. Do you remember your lessons?"
"Google Maps works a lot easier."
She snorted. "Google Maps is no match for the magical wards in the area. Do you think I get mail from the postal service?"
"I don't know what that has to do with anything, but fine. Do the spell and I'll do as much as I can to work it from my end. Thank you, miss."
My phone went dead and I turned directly into Eskal's curious gaze. "Who was that?"
"Someone who can help us."
He nodded. "But who was it? She knew there were dragons around you. She spelled you. I felt it."
"A friend of my mother's, apparently," I said, tapping the book then replacing everything in the bag.
I felt the spell kick into gear. It was a bit like someone flashing a laser light pointer at my forehead. You don't quite understand what you're feeling but you're aware of something being there all the same. It's almost like you can sense the vibration of the light. I mean, I don't think you can.
But I didn't think dragons were real, either.
I concentrated and felt way toward that inviting sensation. Suddenly, it was as if someone had drawn a line between her mind and mine. We linked up and I simply knew how to get to her place.
Eskal rubbed his cheek against me as the sun poured into the cave. I patted his head and got up, pulling my clothes on from last night. "Will the crows make us leave or do they take a little while to get going in the morning like normal animals do?"
"We have, perhaps, an hour before they come down to peck at us while one flees to tell the others that we have not yet left. It is an annoyance, but what can you do?" he shrugged.
He spent the next few minutes waking his flight mates. I tucked the whelp securely in my pocket, the baby fast asleep for the time being, and looked at the eggs. I only hoped that where I was taking us understood the eggs weren't for sale.
I was pretty sure this was the person who had sold my mother a dragon egg in the first place.
The dragons shapeshifted once again. I was becoming somewhat used to it, though I couldn't imagine a time where their shift wouldn't startle me a little bit. Everything cracked and rolled and popped so loud that I thought it couldn't be comfortable, but maybe it was just something that they got used to after all those years.
"Does all of that hurt?" I asked, piling the eggs onto Iyadre's back. I'd seen Eskal flinch when he turned his head. He didn't need me on top of him, too.
My new mate blinked at me, surprised. "The shapeshifting? Never. Whelps, sometimes, cry about it but we've done it for so many years that it's hardly thought of. Most of the wolves say it's strange at first. Maybe we're simply more magical than they are."
He said it in such a smug way. I rolled my eyes at him and smiled. He grinned at me and lowered his wing so I could climb on.
"Not me?" Eskal asked. He tried to hide his disappointment but it was so evident in his voice that I couldn't ignore it.
I nudged Iyadre over to him and ran a hand over his neck. "You're sore. I saw it when you looked away from me. From the fight last night?"
"I will have you know that I'm not so sore as to be unable to carry you, should you so desire it."
All I could do was stroke him and hope I wasn't offending some little-known dragon culture rule. Maybe the human was always supposed to ride the biggest, baddest alpha dragon of the flight, but I wasn't going to strain him. "We have a 5- or 6-hour flight. You don't need to worry about me."
He grumbled, nestled my hand, and leapt into the sky once again. Vadriq and Nariti followed him. Iyadre's head craned back to look at me. "Are you ready?"
"You know, that's the first time anyone's asked me that," I said, then patted his shoulder. "I think I'm getting the hang of this. Let's go."
And up we went. Iyadre was an easy dragon to ride compared to Vadriq and Eskal. Though the others were already long in the clouds, he took his time ascending so I could get used to the chill. The blanket around my shoulders did little to stop my lungs from regretting every breath I took, but we had no vehicle and we had no manner
