Page 437 of Kingdoms of Night

He was unaware that he was supposed to be asking those questions.

“To be honest, I’ve been working so hard on untangling the memories that I don’t know what she’s doing these days.” He blinked a few times as though that might clear the fog of exhaustion from his mind. “I’ve been working with multiple crystals a day now. The work is... a lot.”

“I’d imagine it would be for an elf rather than a dragon.” Aster tapped her spoon on the table. She used to do that when they were children. The rhythmic sound helped her think. “When was the last time you saw Tanis? I remember seeing her when the second group left, but I don’t remember seeing her since.”

All the talking at the table stopped. So many of the dragon helpers looked at him with expectation but... He didn’t know the answer to that question.

“I saw her...” He counted in his head when the last time he’d seen her was. “Five? Six days ago? She came out for food, but she’s been moving deeper and deeper into the caves.”

“Chasing what messages she can,” Aster murmured. “The crystals from Umbra must be throughout the continent, and they’re sending her messages as they move forward. I fear we may not have much time.”

Much time? For what?

Lydia voiced his question. “Do you think they’re killing all the dragons? Is that even possible?”

“There are so few left,” Charger murmured. “We have only a handful of crimson dragons here. They assumed no one could cross the raging sea.”

Rowan’s stomach sank and the food he’d just eaten pressed against the back of his throat. “I did it. I paddled in little more than a canoe for a week to get here. If I could do it with so little...”

The orc finished his sentence for him. “A ship could do it in less. The seas no longer protect the dragons or their kin.”

They all sat in fear for a few moments. No one knew what war had been waged on the mainland of Umbra. No one knew just how terrible things were about to get. But they all feared the same thing. Losing their dragons and returning to the lives they hated.

Rowan sniffed loudly, then stood. “I think I’m going to check in on Tanis. Thank you for reminding me my job isn’t just about the crystals here.”

The smile on his sister’s face didn’t reach her eyes. “No, it’s not. All of us are bound to the dragons we serve, and I think you and Tanis are bound more deeply than any of us. You share memories now, Rowan. Don’t forget that.”

Why did she look so worried?

He had to shake off his own fear. Tanis would tell him everything was fine, and that the dragons had merely needed more time to contain the humans who were attacking them. It wasn’t a futile mission. Dragons were impossible to kill for so many reasons. There was no need for any of them to worry.

But, as he walked up to her cave, he remembered that he’d done this same walk for days now without a single hint that she was still inside. She wouldn’t have tried to follow her kin, would she? Tanis was too small. Her wings wouldn’t let her glide through the winds like the others. Not in such a long flight. She’d tumble out of the sky and hit the water. And then what? She wasn’t all that good at swimming.

He picked up his pace. Strangely, he felt angry at the thought that she might risk her own life. As though she didn’t have a right to do so without asking him, and that was silly.

He was just the elf who served her. A fraction of her size and so much younger than she was. The dragon looked at him like a child she was training, nothing more. Nothing less.

But he realized he looked at her very differently. She was a beautiful dragon with a stunning mind that captivated him from the start. She knew so much more than he did, and he loved to listen to the sound of her voice as she told him about the history of their people. She’d weaved a web of magic and history around him until he’d forgotten the physical differences between them.

Losing her would feel like losing part of himself. And perhaps that was what Aster had meant. They were bound together by more than just fondness at this point. He didn’t know what he would do without the strangely beautiful dragon in his life.

Rowan burst into the cave shouting, “Tanis? Tanis, where are you?”

Silence met him, along with a cool draft in her cave. That wasn’t right. The cave was always comfortable because she put off so much heat. His dragon warmed every space she took up. This cave should not feel chilly in the slightest.

He stepped into the silent cavern, the sound of his boots ringing in an echo.

Where was his dragon? She most certainly would drive him mad if she insisted on not even eating. He trailed through the crystals, carefully picking his way to the back of the cave where a tunnel disappeared into the earth.

Bracing himself on one of the crystals, a memory pushed against his palm. He no longer hesitated to view them. He let the magic flood through his mind and saw a female dragon laying a clutch of eggs.

She was a beautiful creature. Another dragon did the same beside her. Two eggs each, a small clutch to be certain. One of each color. Red, green, sapphire, and a single amethyst egg.

Why did the memory feel so sad? Like the dragons knew they were leaving these eggs behind. With horror, he realized that’s exactly what it was. These two females had shared the memory that they left their eggs in the hopes that someday, someone would find them. And they would save them from the humans who wanted to harm them.

They’d laid those eggs with the expectation that they would never hatch. Or maybe they would, if someone found them, but it wouldn’t be for a long time yet. His heart felt as though someone had stabbed him in the chest at the realization.

Where was Tanis?

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