News from a Friend

Florence had a lot on her mind. Getting two ghost dragons, a flying cheetah, and a group of humans here was a great deal to tackle, what with the volcano network and all the flying in a strange land she’d never been to before. Then there was Thisbe to worry about. She’d been trying to stay calm about everything, to be the voice of reason, but this was a huge problem that she didn’t know how to solve. And with that problem came intense heartbreak all around—including her own. But she couldn’t dwell on it because she was leading this crew. And then Drock had shown up, staying close as they traveled but trying not to appear so. Was he under the Revinir’s mind control or not? That had given Florence one more thing to address. Luckily, Simber soon found Drock to be of his own mind.

When Fifer’s send component showed up in the cavelands, Simber and Drock were on the ground talking and Florence was in the midst of assigning everyone caves to settle into until further notice. Ghost dragons roamed around asking repetitive questions and making everything just a little more difficult, and Florence was eager to get back on Gorgrun, fly over to Ashguard’s palace, and figure this whole mess out.

Florence opened the message and read it, and realized she’d never responded to the head mage to let her know that they were indeed going to camp out at the cavelands as commanded… for the moment, at least. So she hastily wrote back:

Fifer,

We’re in the cavelands as you suggested. I’m coming to you later today on a ghost dragon to do a flyover and drop supplies. We’ll stay high in the air unless it looks safe to land. Don’t worry—those dragons can’t hurt us. Anxiously awaiting further instructions on how to get you out of there so we can find Thisbe.

Florence

She sent it off, then shouted out a couple of orders and went over to greet Drock. “It’s good to see you,” Florence said warmly to the dark purple dragon. “You’ve managed to keep yourself from succumbing to the Revinir’s roar. That’s quite a feat. Watching all of these dragons fly around aimlessly is quite a sad sight.” She patted Drock’s side. “How are you, old friend?”

Drock’s expression was as desolate as the cavelands. “I’m losing hope, Florence. How are you?”

The dragon’s words cut deep. And even though Florence was energized and eager to help the people of Grimere, she thought she understood how bleak things must look from Drock’s perspective. He was the only dragon that had retained control of his own mind, and it had been this way for months. His mother, Pan, and his four siblings didn’t acknowledge him or even seem to know him. There was no one to talk to except the ghost dragons, and Drock couldn’t stay in the cavelands for long without being missed. “I’m sorry,” Florence said. “You must feel terribly alone.”

“It’s true,” said Drock. “I was pleased to notice your party shortly after your arrival. Though I’m sure the Revinir has received word by now that you’re here.”

“Unfortunately that couldn’t be helped,” said Florence. “There was no way to hide being spewed from a volcano. Even if the ghost dragons had used their cloudlike hiding features, they wouldn’t have been able to hide Simber or me. And it was too late—we were noticed from the moment we entered the area.”

“She’s likely been expecting you for some time,” said Drock. He looked around the cavelands as if searching for someone but didn’t seem to locate them.

At the same time, Rohan and Maiven approached the small group. They greeted Drock, and Rohan blurted out, “Is it true about Thisbe?”

Drock bowed his head. “I saw one of the red dragons drop her at the castle. She went inside. That’s all I know.” He hesitated. “It doesn’t look promising.”

Florence and Simber exchanged a glance while Rohan stared numbly ahead. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“So Fiferrr’s message was accurrrate,” said Simber. “As I thought.”

“Is there any way you can find out what’s happening with her?” Florence asked Drock.

“I was on my way back to the castle to see if I could circle around and eavesdrop when I saw your party arrive. And since I’m here now, there’s… someone I need to check on. But I’ll go back to the castle soon and see what I can discover.”

“I’m going with you,” said Rohan.

“No, you’rrre not,” said Simber sharply.

Rohan was taken aback. “Why? Thisbe will listen to me. I need to speak with her.”

“Rohan,” said Florence patiently. “I know you’re not thinking clearly, but if you are seen, you’ll be captured. Everyone at the castle knows you.”

“Then I’ll go at night on a ghost dragon,” he said. “We’ll use the fog feature. I’ll stay hidden.”

Florence studied him. “That’s actually not a bad idea,” she said thoughtfully. “I’ll think about it. But before I let you go anywhere, I need to see you put your feelings in a separate compartment for a little while and focus on what’s right for our combined army.”

“I can do that,” said Rohan, standing up straighter.

“And speaking of our combined army,” Florence said, “I’d like to hand over the leadership position to Maiven now that we are back in her land. Maiven, your word is law from this point forward.”

“Thank you,” said Maiven with a little bow of her head.

Florence shared her plan to do a flyover with Maiven and Drock. “It’s wise to use a ghost dragon,” Drock said. “I’d take you myself, but I’m not sure what the red dragons have been ordered to do. They might attack me or any other regular dragon. At least if they do attack, a ghost dragon won’t suffer from it.”

They dispersed to take care of their individual tasks: Maiven to address the people and give them an update, Drock to search the cavelands for Dev before heading to the castle, and Florence to prep for her trip and find a ghost dragon to take her to Ashguard’s palace. She wanted to get moving as quickly as possible to get an idea of what they were dealing with so they could start fixing things. Or, at least, that’s what she intended to do. But things weren’t going great for anyone lately.