Chapter Sixteen

DARKNESS WAS FALLING RAPIDLY AS THE DRAGONS disappeared into the blue velvet of the night. Anders could still make out the wolves in the city below, forming up, ready to defend Holbard if the four dragons still above them descended.

Rayna and the others were talking about something, bellowing to one another across the distance between them, but he had no way of knowing what they were saying. Some decision must have been made, though—as one, they turned for the west. They were leaving the city but picking out a direction that made it clear they weren’t following the adults.

They crossed the Sudrain River by moonlight after about half an hour, and slowly descended to land near a clump of trees in the farmland beyond it. The Great Forest of Mists loomed on the horizon, black trees wreathed in white fog.

One by one the dragons came to ground, and the wolves slid down from them. Anders transformed as soon as his paws hit the earth, and once human, silently pulled off Rayna’s harness so she could do the same. Nearby, Lisabet was seeing to Ellukka. Both the harnesses were charred in places, and he wasn’t sure Rayna’s would hold if they used it again.

One by one the dragons transformed, until the eleven children stood in a circle. Some leaned over to rest their hands on their knees, exhausted, others hugged themselves, staring at their companions in the moonlight.

The tableau was broken when Kess suddenly streaked across the circle, leaping down from Lisabet’s arms to run straight for Anders, scaling his body and perching on his shoulders. He was so exhaustedly happy to see her, he didn’t even mind the places where she sank her claws in.

As if the cat’s movement had woken her up, Viktoria spoke in a whisper. “What have we done?”

“The same thing as us,” Ellukka replied. “You can’t go home. Neither can we.”

“We had to,” Lisabet said, sounding just as tired as the others. “If we hadn’t brought the Sun Scepter, the wolves would have weakened the dragons until they killed them. If we hadn’t kept it from the dragons, they’d have used it against the wolves until they could attack instead. We’re the only reason they’re not at war right now.”

“All we did was destroy half of Holbard instead,” said Theo, looking sick.

Rayna sighed. “And they’ll still be at war, once they’ve had the time to think about it. They hate each other. The wolves think the dragons just attacked them, and the dragons know the wolves were getting ready to do the same.”

“Then we’ll need a plan to stop them,” someone said.

Anders blinked, as he realized it had been him. Everyone was looking at him. He took a deep breath and continued. “Viktoria, Sakarias, Det, Mateo, Jai, this is my sister, Rayna,” he said, pointing at her.

“But, Anders,” Det said carefully, as his wolf friends all blinked. “Um, she’s a dragon.”

“Wolves, this is Ellukka, Mikkel, and Theo,” Anders replied.

“Lisabet,” said Ellukka carefully. “Did I hear the Fyrstulf call you her daughter?”

Mikkel’s mouth fell open. All the dragons were looking at Lisabet.

“Actually,” she said, lifting her chin defiantly, the soot on her pale skin streaked with the white paths of dried tears, “I think you heard her say I’m not her daughter anymore.”

“You could have mentioned that earlier,” Ellukka said slowly.

“Would you have?” Rayna asked, with one of her snorts.

“We all have a lot to tell each other,” Anders said. “But right now, we need somewhere to hide. And to make a plan. We thought it was enough to try and counter the Snowstone, to push Ulfar and the Dragonmeet back to a stalemate. But we were wrong. How we do it matters as much as what we do.”

“Anders, the problem is even bigger than you know,” Sakarias said. “You asked us to look into the dragonsfire attacks on Holbard. We have to tell you what we found.”

Mikkel spoke up. “We have to get to safety first. We can fly again, but we’re going to need an hour’s rest, something to eat. It feels like I’ve flown farther today than in all my other times since my first transformation put together.”

Anders watched as Viktoria, Sakarias, and the other wolves exchanged a long glance. He knew what they’d been taught about dragons—he’d been taught the same things. He’d felt the same way, even a few weeks ago.

“These are my friends,” he said. “They’ve lost their home for this. We wolves have been exiled, but they have too, whether the Dragonmeet’s told them so or not. They can’t go back to Drekhelm now, and they gave that up to help us stop the wolves freezing half of Vallen so they could attack the dragons. And to stop the dragons taking the Sun Scepter from us to heat up the city and attack in return.”

Theo spoke up behind him, hesitant but determined. “I lived in Holbard until not long ago. The dragons kidnapped me. I thought I was going to die, but they knew something I didn’t. I needed to transform, and they had to help me do it. They’re not what I always thought they were.”

“And the eleven of us, wolves and dragons,” said Anders, “we’re all that’s left to stop a war. We have to work together.”

He watched as the wolves spoke silently—even in human form, they communicated with glances, with twitches of body language that would have been invisible to him before he’d become one of them. It was a lightning-fast conversation—uncertainty from some, decision from others.

Slowly, on behalf of all of them, Viktoria nodded. “We need somewhere to hide,” she said, her voice soft but clearly determined not to shake.

“Cloudhaven,” said Rayna.

Anders nodded. “It’s where the first dragonsmiths worked,” he said. “Nobody ever goes there now, it’s forbidden.” Then, after a moment: “Our mother worked there too.”

Sakarias did a double take. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Like I said,” Anders replied, with what felt a little like his old smile. “We have a lot to catch you up on.” But the mention of his mother had made him think of someone else. “Does anyone know if Hayn’s all right?”

Slowly, one at a time, the young wolves shook their heads. “I saw him during the battle,” Jai said. “But I don’t know what happened to him.” They sounded far from certain.

Anders reached up to grasp the augmenter at his neck, his fingers tingling with a hint of its power as its edges pressed into his skin. Wherever Hayn was, somehow he was sure it wouldn’t be too long before they saw their uncle again. And Professor Ennar had refused to let anyone speak against Hayn when he’d been locked up. Perhaps there was some hope she’d listen to them.

Beside him, Lisabet started going through her bag, pulling out food and setting it on the ground. “Let’s rest,” she said. “And then Rayna is right, we should go to Cloudhaven. There’s lava deep below it, so the dragons will regain their strength there. And it’s permanently surrounded by mist and cloud, so the cold of it makes it a perfect place for wolves. Once we’re there, we can . . .” But that was where her practical tone of voice ran out, and she trailed off.

Anders didn’t know the answer either. He didn’t know what they’d do next, or how they’d keep the peace. It couldn’t be another act of brute force, another attempt to force the hands of Ulfar and Drekhelm. It would have to be something new.

But as he watched Sakarias break a bread roll in half and pass the other piece to Ellukka with a tentative smile, he knew one thing for sure.

Whatever he did next, he’d do it with all his friends at his back.