Page 62 of Rejected By Dragons

Lying there in the dark, my fingers curled around the bracer, I worry that I'll be up all night again. I whisper a quiet prayer to anyone who's listening that I find rest and peace.

Slowly, a comforting darkness creeps across the edges of my mind. With relief, I drop into a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Such a bunch of drama queens," Freya mutters, her gaze darting between the two horizons.

Amy suppresses a snicker, and I can't help the way one corner of my lips quirks up.

Freya's not wrong, is the thing. Just hours before the Fire and Stone Kingdoms were scheduled to arrive, we received a frantic message from a representative of the Fire Kingdom's delegation, who had apparently gotten wind of the fact that the Stone Kingdom had completed most of their travel the night before, and were therefore on target to arrive at least an hour before the Fire Nation would.

"Unacceptable," the delegate had roared.

With the entire summit ready to collapse before it had even begun, we scrambled to set things right. The Stone Kingdom groused about needing to delay their proceedings, but eventually, we were able to find a compromise.

Now here we are, the entire organizing team behind the event arranged in the center square of Unity. We're decked out in our finest, which in my case involves a long black dress I borrowed from Amy. It has short, sheer sleeves that show off the bold lines of the Shadow Queen's bracer where it's still stubbornly yet comfortingly wrapped around my arm. The skin beneath the warm metal prickles.

From both sides of us, a formation of dragons is on the approach.

They're still little more than specks on the horizon, but even so, their majesty takes my breath away. The fire dragons practically glow with a red aura of flame, while the stone dragons have a solidity that makes their flight almost eerily smooth.

It was a neat bit of logistical maneuvering to arrange it so that both kingdoms' envoys would arrive at the same time. Even now, two of our team members are telepathically linked to pace setters from each delegation, coordinating their approach.

A shiver hums up my spine.

I've seen this kind of showy display before, of course. King Zephyr was fond of putting the Air Kingdom's royal guard through their paces. They would fly over Wynrath Crest a couple of times a year in full combat mode, supposedly to strike fear into the heart of our enemies, though the fear it elicited in the Air Kingdom's citizens was probably a pretty great bonus for the tyrant. Even with Storm flying on the formation's right wing, I couldn't help the way my stomach would tighten, all the hairs on the back of my neck rising and my dragon faintly twisting around with agitation in my gut.

My dragon's reaction is anything but faint today. She's practically throwing herself against the cage of my ribs, and the spot between my shoulder blades tingles with electricity. I couldn't bring her forth in any of the four Emergence rites I attended, but there's a part of me that's half-afraid she'll leap out of my skin right now if I'm not careful.

I curl my hands into fists and squeeze my eyes shut tight.

Amy nudges me with her elbow. She whispers, "You okay?"

Opening my eyes, I hold back a deranged little hiccup of a laugh. Of course I'm not okay. My dragon's been going berserk for days, and Amy's mom herself told me that I'm wearing an artifact of a long-lost queen of the shadow dragon realm, before questioning my lineage and then ominously foreshadowing that I have some unknown role to play in the peace talks we're about to host. Two dozen dragons from two tense, warring nations are swooping toward us at speed.

"I'm great," I lie, my tone as dry as the desert that surrounds the independent territory of Unity.

Amy's throat bobs. "Me, too."

I cast my gaze back toward the sky.

The dragons have eaten up the distance. Their individual forms are clearer now, the wide spans of their wings and the glints of their hides.

"Now," Freya intones.

The magical barrier that surrounds Unity falls with a faint shimmer that you could almost miss unless you were looking for it. The dragons soar past the invisible, undefended boundary before that same ripple colors the air once more as the shields are brought back up.

My heart in my throat, I crane my neck to watch the two formations fly a slow circle around our town. Then, as discussed, they hover for a moment, the Fire Kingdom's delegation on the west side of the square and the Stone Kingdom on the east.

A half dozen dragons from each group descend. The crowd that has assembled to watch the proceedings lets out vague murmurs of unease and awe, and I'm filled with that same swirling mix of emotions as well. As one, the Fire Dragons spread their wings and let out a coordinated burst of flame aimed at the sky. Heat billows out through the square before the dragons fold their wings and transform into a group of human soldiers.

The Stone dragons make their own show of landing in a perfect line, the ground rippling beneath their feet and sending shockwaves radiating around the town.

Freya growls beneath her breath. Both sides signed an oath to preserve Unity while they are here. One crack in the sidewalk or one scorch mark on the grass after these little displays of force, and there's going to be hell to pay.

The Stone dragons shift into human form as well, and a leader from each sides gives a signal. More dragons descend, this time with less pomp and circumstance, until finally, only one dragon from each side remains.

What dragons they are, though. I pull in a rough breath through my teeth, and the beast inside of me does, too.

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