BEFORE

Sarai 15, 2204 FG

IT WAS TIME TO GET TO WORK.

Ilina already had horses waiting for us—stubborn mares who’d grown up around dragons and wouldn’t shy at the sight of a Drakontos maximus on the horizon. Some people thought it was cruel to keep horses here, but the sanctuary was huge and we needed faster modes of transportation than our feet for even simple excursions. There were plenty of times Ilina and her family had camped overnight on their way to dragons’ territories. (Mother had never allowed me to join them, of course.)

Crystal and LaLa took to the sky as we rode past the enormous collection of spindly, first-century ruins. The pair of dragons wove between the spires of pale stone, all broken arches and crumbling towers. Embedded noorestones glowed a faint blue, even after thousands of years. They should have darkened long ago, and while no one really knew why they still shone, the popular theory was that the ruins themselves formed some kind of conduit to the gods, which kept the crystals charged.

Quite unbecomingly, dragons liked to lick these noorestones.

The eight of us—three humans, three horses, and two dragons—moved west, uphill and toward the Skyfell Mountains. “We’re checking on Lex today,” Ilina said. “And we’ll come back the long way to check on Tower, too.”

Hristo was staring at the back of Ilina’s head as she led the way. “You sound worried.”

She glanced over her shoulder, and though she forced calm into her tone, I could hear the concern now, too. “It’s nothing really. Probably just the earthquake.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Astrid.” Ilina directed her mount around a creeping passionflower vine, heavy with pink and purple blooms. Butterflies danced through the sweet scent. “She wasn’t home last night when I made my rounds near Red Cliff.”

“You think she left her cave because of the quake?” I asked. “She knew it was coming?”

Ilina nodded. “Probably. As sensitive as the little dragons are to movement in the ground, the big dragons are even more. Astrid probably went somewhere more stable to wait it out. I’m sure she’s back now.”

“Maybe we should check,” Hristo said. “Once we’re finished visiting Lex and Tower.”

I nodded, wishing I’d thought of it first. Hristo always knew the right thing to say. It was an annoying habit that had earned him a string of several short-term romances, which often ended because of his obligation as my bodyguard. That, and the girls assumed that he and I were romantically involved.

We most certainly were not.

Ilina flashed a smile over her shoulder, and Crystal gave a throaty chirrup. “That’s a good idea, if we have time.”

We made the rest of the trek up to the territory of a Drakontos rex named Lex. When Ilina and I were younger, we’d composed a song about her, which heavily relied on the rhyme of rex and Lex. Though we’d tried to persuade Hristo to sing it with us, he insisted professional guards didn’t sing. We found out later that he was just self-conscious about his voice—not that we ever confronted him about it.

“There is a big dragon whose name is Lex,” I whisper-sang.

Ilina snorted a laugh. “Surprise, surprise, she’s a Drakontos rex.”

“Her hot breath of fire’s up with the best.”

“Surprise, surprise, she’s a Drakontos rex!”

Hristo groaned. “Not that again.”

Ilina and I grinned at each other, the unease of earlier momentarily forgotten. But then we reached a post with a horse carved into the wood. We dismounted, tethered the horses, and walked the rest of the way.

The scent of smoke billowed from the entrance, which rose in a graceful arc ten times Hristo’s height. Like most of the bigger species, Lex had made the cave by blasting flame into a cliff face, hot enough to melt the very stone into hot rock.

It wasn’t a fast process. Normal dragon fire didn’t reliably liquefy rock, but they could eat dragonroot to manipulate their second lungs into producing a hotter fire. Much hotter. But it was an unhealthy diet to maintain, so they saved it for special occasions. Like creating living accommodations.

It had taken Lex three years to build this cave. She’d chosen a good spot, too, carving into a protrusion of rock that allowed a curved entrance so the wind wouldn’t zip in and disturb her in the deeper caverns.

Ripples of obsidian and basalt flowed down the sides of the opening and down the hill, almost concealed now by the moss, vines, and ferns that had crept back over the years.

LaLa climbed up my arm and perched on my shoulder, making herself small against the curve of my neck. Crystal had taken a similar position on Ilina as my friend whistled for Lex to come out.

“It’s all right.” I petted the soft membrane of LaLa’s golden wing. All the sanctuary dragons knew not to hunt the smaller species, but thousands of years of instinct didn’t just vanish because they lived in the same place now. Dragons—big dragons—were very territorial.

We waited for the low rumble and scrape of scales on stone, but no sound came from the cave.

The three of us exchanged worried glances. Astrid going missing was one thing. She might have been out hunting, or avoiding a rockslide, or perhaps there wasn’t enough prey in her territory anymore. She might have left the sanctuary, as unlikely as that seemed; the wall afforded them safety from poachers and thoughtless humans.

But Lex, too? They were on opposite sides of the sanctuary.

“Maybe she left because of the earthquake, too?” But even I didn’t believe it.

Hristo didn’t take his eyes off the cave opening. “Wouldn’t she be back by now?”

“Probably.”

We were all quiet for a few minutes, listening to the wind in the trees and the twitter of birds. This peace was an illusion. Something was very wrong here.

Ilina took a single, decisive step toward the opening. “All right. We’re going in.”