Page 12 of The Arrival of the Dragons

The Green Dragon Shifter then spun on his heel and joined the jack-booted thugs he had brought with him. The four of them stormed inside. Valerius’ lips flattened.

Remember that we’re ignoring him,Caden reminded Valerius.He’s not worth your breath. And he’s getting nothing he wants out of this visitation with me.

Valerius gave a slight nod.He is dangerous, Caden. Remember that.

Oh, I will.

“Goodbye, dear Iolaire!” Esme called to him with a wave. “I look forward to seeing you soon. Perhaps we can go flying together and see how water and ice can be used to create unique effects.”

Iolaire was eagerly nodding their head to that. It sensed that they could learn much from the Blue Dragon Shifter. If they trusted her.

She seems really willing to teach,Caden agreed.I think… Well, I think she might be trustworthy too.

That surprised him a little. He’d seen Esme on television and the net before. She’d always seemed charming and warm. She seemed that now though there was a slightly harder edge about her that hadn’t been present for the cameras. But Valerius had told him that the other Dragon Shifters hadn’t gotten their Spirits through necessarily noble acts. He wondered how she got hers.

But beyond all of that, he wondered if she wanted to teach him things. He had thought that all the other Dragon Shifters would want to make sure that he didn’t become powerful and threaten them. Not that he could threaten them really. Even with this new gift, he was pretty sure it had limits. He wasn’t sure if it would work all the time, or on how many Dragons it would work on, or for how long if there was more than one that was affected.

Chione waved to him as well. “See you soon, Iolaire!”

Stay safe, Caden, Valerius sent once more.Remember, right back to the pond.

They nodded. It was time to go. Iolaire had just started to flap their wings when Caden suddenly worried they wouldn’t be able togracefullyget up into the air again. He pictured them going up a few feet then falling over or soaring into the side of High Reach or falling into one of the mansions below. But Iolaire had it covered and they were up and safely away from the castle within moments. Valerius’ form became smaller and smaller. Caden felt a wave of depression go through him.

I can’t believe we won’t get to see Valerius and Raziel alone for like… ever,Caden sighed.

Iolaire hooted sadly as well. Though he hadn’t really thought about it, Iolaire must have experienced what he and Valerius had done sexually. Iolaire knew how he felt about Valerius, too. But the Spirit had not been intrusive at all, giving him total privacy. But still, Iolaire was impacted too by this relationship, and he had never asked the Spirit what it thought.

Iolaire, you are okay with me and Valerius… uhm, being together, right?

Iolaire appeared startled. Not startled because he had asked, but startled, because it was completely on board. He got the sense from it that it would never tell him “no” as to what lovers or friends he picked, that Iolaire was utterly pleased. There was some hooting and a little bit of hiding its head beneath a wing in Caden’s mind’s eye--not in real life as they were flying--as it expressed admiration for Raziel.

You like Raziel, huh? That’s awesome! It’s like dating brothers or something. Huh, I’m glad that this is working out.

Iolaire softly hooted again, and made clear that it wondered if he thought that Raziel liked Iolaire back.

I think Raziel is pretty chuffed about you, to be honest. Let there be a Dragon romance!

Iolaire let out a hoot of delight, sending their head back and allowing a puff of frost to be released as they flew over Reach. The White Dragon was taking thelongway back to the pond, and Caden didn’t mind that at all. In fact, despite what he’d told Valerius, he didn’t want to go back there just yet. This was the first time he had a chance to just be with Iolaire. Couldn’t he do what he liked for once? Why wasn’t he free to simply fly around like Valerius did and then go back to the pond when he had a mind to? Maybe they should take this opportunity to do something on their own.

Hey, Iolaire, Tilly is at Spirit Park today with her friends. Maybe she’s still there. We could drop down and give her that ride we promised,Caden suggested.No one will know that we aren’t just meeting up randomly with some kids. Tilly won’t give us away.

Caden could almost feel Valerius’ disapproval even though the Black Dragon King did not know what he was doing.

What could possibly go wrong with this? We’re just going to go down for a few minutes!

Iolaire was eager to meet his sister and readily agreed. Nothing would go wrong!

Let those not be famous last words!

They curved to the left and headed towards the large park on the south side of the Mid. Spirit Park was dedicated to the Spirits that transformed humans into Shifters. There was plenty of lawn space where people could play games, picnic or just hang out. There were also large swathes of forest with running-walking paths threading through their leafy vastnesses. Finally, there was a large pond where people swam and fished called Little Lost Lake. Tilly liked to hang out near the swimming pond. He directed Iolaire in that direction.

Let’s see if we can catch sight of her. I hope she’s still there.

And they were in luck. As Iolaire flew them lower to the ground, they caught sight of his sister and her two best friends, Tobey Caudle and Macauley Smythe. His sister was in the center of the group, and immediately clapped her hands together when she saw Iolaire.

Tobey, a gangly 13-year-old with thick Coke-bottle glasses and too long legs, jumped up and down in excitement. Macauley, who was scared of just about everything, froze and curled down rabbit-like. Tilly patted Macauley’s back in encouragement. Iolaire landed about fifty feet from the group. Caden had been so excited to see his sister, that he hadn’t worried about the landing.

Humans can’t fly, but Dragons can. So long as I leave the flying to you, I think we’re safe, right, Iolaire?Caden asked.

---