Page 99 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
This was ridiculous. Aiden considered how to force her into telling him, but he felt something nudge against his shoulder. It was Sparky, trying to get his attention.
“Not now,” he tsked, but then Sparky flew out, and Aiden had no choice but to follow. He glared at Mireya, then chased after his baby dragon—just like he had that night over three months ago, the night Sparky had led Aiden to Saphira.
“Sparky!” Aiden ran after him as Sparky zigzagged through the halls, heading up. The dragon went outside, passed Torch, flying toward the edge of the mountain.
“Please, I don’t have time for this,” Aiden said, running his hands through his hair. “We need to find Saphira.”
Sparky looked back to the edge of the mountain, making a sound, then turned back to Aiden, his purple eyes wide, as if willing Aiden to understand something.
But Aiden didn’t understand; he could hardly see straight, he was so worried.
Sparky moved as if to fly off the cliff, and Aiden reached out for him.
“Sparky, what are you doing?” Aiden asked, exasperated. “We have to find …”
He stopped himself, remembering something, a vital bit of information: dragons could track their riders. Which meant that Sparky could track Saphira; he was as bonded to her as he was to Aiden, if not more so.
Aiden exhaled, the realization dawning on him, while Sparky waited expectantly. He was a baby, but he was smart.
“Good boy,” Aiden said, scratching under the dragon’s chin. He ran to Torch, and Sparky followed. They quickly mounted, then set off.
While Sparky was too small to be flying on his own through the mountains, he could communicate to Torch where they needed to go.
As they flew through the clouds, Aiden couldn’t help but feeling this was his fault: he should have done better to protect her from gossip, or reassure her, or given her the Drakkon ID sooner, or done a million other things so she wouldn’t have had to put herself in danger like this. He felt as if he was well and truly losing his mind.
It was freezing. He hadn’t even worn a jacket, he had been in such a rush, but he hardly noticed the wind whipping against his skin, he was too preoccupied in searching for her, for where she might be.
Sparky led Torch to another mountain, this one higher up. It was a stark and sharp white peak, surrounded by clouds, higher than any other mountain. As they flew toward it, the temperature dropped even further, but Aiden was focused on searching.
And then he spotted a little speck amongst the snow.
“Saphira!” he cried, voice breaking, but she couldn’t hear him. They were too far away. His chest tightened painfully. “Torch, faster!”
They grew nearer, and he could see her clearly now, dressed in a dark robe. She was climbing up steep steps, her movements slow as she pushed against the wind and snow. The steps spiraled up alongside the mountain, leading up to a cave.
She was about halfway there, but the weather was too horrid for her to be doing this. It was much too dangerous.
“Saphira!” he cried again, heart pounding painfully as they got closer and he saw just how steep the steps were, just how close to the mountain’s edge. Anxiety was making his stomach roil, and he pushed Torch harder, faster.
Then, a gust of wind blew.
And she slipped.
Chapter 27
“The ritual is simple,” Mireya had explained to Saphira that morning.
She would get dropped off on a mountain, where she would have to climb steps up to a cave. In the cave, a dragon would be guarding gemstones, of which she had to choose one. Once she had done so, the dragon would signal Mount Echo, and they would come retrieve her.
Easy! Unless the dragon took offense.
Then she would be barbecued.
Saphira was pretty confident that wouldn’t happen. Sparky loved her, as did all the baby dragons at her cafe. So this ritual would be quick and simple.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped. Halfway up the mountain, Saphira was struggling. She was incredibly high up—higher than Mount Echo—and it was freezing.
The wind was a physical force, fighting against her as she climbed, and snow kept blasting into the air, cutting into her face like tiny shards of ice. Saphira paused to bury her nose in her scarf, catching her breath.
