Page 103 of Blood of Dragons

When I woke up the next morning, Talon was gone from the tent.

I dressed then stepped outside, finding the campfire cold and vacant.

Khazmuda was there, eyes closed as he enjoyed the sunshine.I like that it’s warmer here. Reminds me of home.

“I hope I get to see it soon.”

It’ll be ravaged by war and tyranny, no longer the beautiful place I remember as a hatchling.

“But it’ll still be home…always be home.” I looked around at the scenery, hoping to see Talon nearby.

He went hunting.

“Oh.”

It was my turn to sleep in.

I grabbed new logs for the campfire and lit it with the match I found in Talon’s pack. The flames came to life and provided an extra layer of warmth we didn’t need.

Talon returned moments later, but he didn’t have an animal carcass over his shoulder. He carried a sack instead. “I found some potatoes and mushrooms.” He kneeled down by the campfire and washed them with water from his canteen before he started to slice the potatoes.

And what am I supposed to eat?

“There was no game,” Talon said.

There was no game, or you didn’t look?

“I don’t think it’s wise to cook a deer when Queen Eldinar can emerge from the trees any moment.”

We’re not feeding from their forest.

“Even so, it’s unwise to provoke them when we’re at their mercy.” He finished skinning the potatoes then chopped them up into pieces before he tossed them in the skillet with the mushrooms. The veggies started to sizzle.

I’m not a rabbit, so I’ll hunt myself.Khazmuda took off and soared into the sky.

Talon stared at the fire for a while before he looked at me. “How’d you sleep?”

“Like a rock.” I slept better on the hard ground next to him than I had in my soft mattress in the tree house. I’d never felt so warm and safe, felt more at peace.

He gave a slight nod and looked at the fire again.

Minutes later, footsteps sounded in the distance.

Talon was the first one to notice, and he rose to his feet to turn toward the forest.

I got to my feet and followed his stare, seeing Queen Eldinar accompanied by Uncle Ezra and a dozen armed soldiers brought for her protection. Rather than wear her pristine gown, she was in her armor, which had been cleaned after the battle.

Talon stared at them before he approached.

“Your sword.” Ezra moved ahead, keeping his queen behind him.

Talon hesitated before he removed his blade from the scabbard and tossed it twenty feet away, where it landed on the grass. He dropped his quiver of arrows and set them to the side as well. Heeven removed his dagger from his belt and threw it into the dirt, where the hilt protruded from the soil.

Ezra stepped aside so Queen Eldinar could approach.

“I told you I have no ill will toward your people,” Talon said. “Calista has deep affection for you, and since I have deep affection for her, you’re immune from my wrath.”

Queen Eldinar approached him and dismissed what he said. “I only stand here at the request of my husband. He tells me you wish to know the location of the dragons to ask them to fight in your great battle, a battle that doesn’t concern the last free dragons.”

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