She ascended into the sky, then banked to the north and flew away, leaving Aila and Kelsey alone on the high ridge. Below them, the plains of Southern Kinell stretched, a treeless, flat landscape of farms and grasslands.
‘Something tells me that didn’t work,’ said Kelsey, her arms hugging her bruised ribcage.
Aila shrugged. ‘She didn’t actually refuse.’
‘Aye, but you picked the wrong day for this argument. She might have done it if she’d thought no other dragon would see, but we should be reaching the Catacombs today, and I think the embarrassment would kill her.’
A low rumble vibrated through the mountainside.
‘Damn earthquakes,’ muttered Aila.
Kelsey pointed south. ‘Not this time.’
Aila turned to glance in the direction Kelsey was pointing. Twin funnels of smoke were rising above the horizon, sending vast pillars of ash and rock into the sky.
Aila groaned. ‘Volcanoes?’
‘Looks like it. Didn’t Frostback say that lava flowed right past the Catacombs? I wonder if that’s normal.’
‘Normal? Nothing about Lostwell is normal. Are there volcanoes on your world?’
‘Just the one that I’m aware of, but I’ve never seen it. My father’s folk used to believe that an old volcano was a god – Pyre.’
Aila smiled. ‘Yeah?’
‘Don’t mock. Those were simpler times.’
‘What about earthquakes? Do you get many of them?’
‘Nah. I’ve never felt one of those.’
‘That settles it; I’m going to your world. It would be nice to walk over ground that doesn’t shake and rumble all the time.’
Kelsey nodded.
‘What about you?’ Aila said. ‘Are you homesick?’
‘Not really. This trip has opened my eyes to the possibilities. There are other worlds out there to explore. I even fancy taking a look at your city-world, now that it’s safe from the greenhides. I wasn’t that upset when Amalia was threatening to take us there.’
‘Wouldn’t your mother be sad if you didn’t go back?’
Kelsey shrugged. ‘As I mentioned before, I’m the most expendable of her children. I’ve never really fitted in. She’d be disappointed, and then she’d probably forget.’
‘I don’t believe that.’
‘You don’t know her.’
‘No, but I already know that she won’t like me. Karalyn made that quite clear.’
‘Part of her will be secretly pleased and flattered that a demigod is joining the family, though she’d never admit that out loud. “Yes, this is my new daughter-in-law. She’s immortal, in case you didn’t know.” She’ll love it.’
Aila laughed. ‘Daughter-in-law? Malik’s ass, that sounds strange.’
‘Try “Aila Holdfast” for size. Once the family’s sucked you in, there will be no escape.’
Aila fell silent. ‘I hope Corthie’s alright. If something’s happened to him, I don’t know how I’d go on.’
‘Don’t say that; he’ll be fine. He’s probably getting drunk somewhere.’
‘He’d better not be. He’s supposed to be looking for us.’
A shadow swooped over them and Frostback landed on the ridge.
‘Any soldiers?’ said Kelsey.
‘I didn’t look. I came back when I saw the volcanoes erupt.’
‘Aye, we noticed that. Is that not normal?’
‘No,’ said the silver dragon. ‘I’ve seen them give off smoke and ash before, but never like that. We have to go; the Catacombs may be under threat.’
The dragon reached out with her forelimbs to seize the two women, then paused.
‘If the Catacombs are in danger,’ she said, ‘then I might need to keep my limbs free. I have an idea; climb up onto my back, and I’ll carry you that way.’
Aila opened her mouth, but kept quiet at a glance from Kelsey.
‘That’s a good idea,’ said the Holdfast woman.
‘Yes, thank you, Frostback,’ said Aila.
‘So, how do we, uh… climb on?’
The dragon shifted position, and presented a limb for them to scramble up. Kelsey went first, and clambered up until she was perched on the dragon’s shoulders, then Aila did the same. It was better than being clutched in a forelimb, but she felt vulnerable atop Frostback with little to hold onto and nowhere to put her feet.
‘Blackrose had a harness,’ she said, ‘and now I can see why.’
Frostback glared at her, then beat her wings and rose into the sky.
‘Woah,’ said Aila. ‘Don’t turn too quickly or we’ll fall off.’
‘It’ll be fine,’ said Kelsey, her eyes lit with excitement. ‘This is great.’
Frostback circled a few times as they ascended, and Aila could see the volcanoes more clearly. Vast rivers of lava were surging across the broken mountainside, and the sky to the south-west was filling with ash and smoke. Even at that distance, she could make out the burning rocks that were raining down on the cliffs by the side of the valley. The dragon moved off, heading south, following the edge of the mountains. The grasslands faded and died the further they went, and the valley floor transformed into a barren wasteland of basalt and deep, ragged ravines. Pools of lava were glowing, and sending clouds of vapours and steam into the valley, filling it like mist. Frostback flew higher, getting above the vapours, and Aila stared at the approaching volcanoes.
‘How can anything live here?’ she said.
‘It’s how my father likes it,’ said Frostback. ‘No humans can approach, which makes it safe.’
‘It doesn’t look very safe.’
‘Something’s wrong,’ the dragon said. ‘The volcanoes have never erupted like this.’
She picked up her speed, and Aila gripped onto the folds on her shoulders, her knuckles white as the wind rushed through her hair. Her eyes were streaming, and she kept them half-closed as the miles unfolded beneath them. The noise from the volcanoes increased, and a few red hot boulders crashed down onto the valley on either side of them.
Frostback let out a cry, and banked, almost sending Aila and Kelsey hurtling off her shoulders. She straightened in time, then circled.
‘It’s gone,’ she gasped.
‘What’s gone?’ said Aila.
‘My home; the Catacombs.’
Aila and Kelsey both gazed at the cliffs below them. Lava was flooding down from open fissures in the mountainside, and the slopes were covered in molten rock. Kelsey pointed. At the bottom of the valley was the charred and smoking body of a large dragon, half-covered in debris. A dozen yards from the body, what could have been a dragon wing was poking up from the rocks, burning.
‘Amalia’s breath,’
