to explore. Despite all the trouble she'd come across, she couldn't tamp down the curiosity growing within her every day. What else was out there for her to discover?
"Almost there," Margret shouted to Tressa.
The dragons began to descend, the ground coming closer at a slow pace. She braced for a hard impact, but Peyter set down gently. His head dropped to the ground, followed by his shoulders. Tressa was able to slip to the grass without so much as a thud.
"Thank you." Tressa turned around, not surprised to see both brothers had reverted to their human forms. "Where do I go from here?"
Margret ground a toe into the dirt. "Well, there is one little thing we didn't tell you."
Alarms clanged in Tressa's mind. She knew it. There had to be a catch. Something those devious little dragons didn't tell her. "What?"
"We're trapped in here. The rulers of the Hills of Flame erected a barrier we can't cross. No green dragon has been outside the Meadowlands in a year."
"I met workers in the Sands who were from here," Tressa said. She folded her arms across her chest.
"I know. They left before. If you went to the Sands right now they would tell you they haven't met any new Greens since then. Not since the Reds caught us turning every child into a dragon. That’s where you come in," Margret said.
"How am I supposed to help?" Tressa asked. "I can't use magic. I don't know anything about how to free you."
"That's where you're wrong," Peyter said. He took a couple of cautious steps toward Tressa, his hands in the air. "I won't hurt you."
It sounded like a promise, but Tressa had seen too much violence to process it as anything but a threat. She backed away from his advance, her left hand close to unsheathing one of her hidden daggers. It wouldn't be enough to permanently injure anyone, but maybe it would give her time to get away.
"Trust us," Margret pleaded.
"Why should I?" Tressa asked. "You could have told me there was a condition to your assistance. Now you've flown me away from everyone and everything. What do you plan to do with me?"
"I told you she was an idiot," Edmond said. "This isn't worth our time. She doesn't even know."
"Know what?" Tressa asked, curious, despite her trepidation.
"Only another dragon can help us through the barrier." Margret said.
"I know a couple of dragons, but unless you tell me where to go, I can't get them to help you." Tressa's heart pounded. She tried measured breathing, attempting to calm her growing irritation with these dragons. They were too young to handle their dragon side, that much was clear. No wonder the other lands put them behind a magical barrier. They were an irresponsible danger. Or they'd get themselves hurt. These younglings didn't seem to understand that the world wasn't filled with kind people.
They stared at her. All three of them standing in a row, their eyes pleading with Tressa for help. "If you tell me where to go, then I'll come back with help, I promise."
Edmond rolled his eyes. "Next time you find an undeveloped, make sure it has some clue what it's getting into. This girl is worthless." He nudged his little sister with an elbow. In turn, she smacked his arm.
"Maybe not," Peyter said. "Give her a moment. Let her think. Maybe she'll figure it out."
Tressa glared at them, tired of the ridiculous game. She'd been a child once. She knew what it was like to taunt adults. Often they grew just as tired of her as she was growing of the dragon siblings. But then she'd been keeping them from a chore. This was different. Death whispered on the wind, reminding her every moment that her people were in danger. She needed to find Jarrett. She needed to save them.
"I'm sorry." She dropped her hands to the side, frustrated. "I just don't know what you want from me."
Margret shook her head. "We need a dragon to lead us out, Tressa."
"I know," she said. "You already told me that."
"You," Peyter said, "are that dragon."
Chapter Forty-Six
Tressa doubled over with laughter. "Me? A dragon? You must be kidding."
The siblings looked at each other, visibly agitated.
"See, I told you she wouldn't believe us," Edmond said. He punched Peyter on the arm.
Peyter pushed him. "Shut up."
"You shut up!"
They locked arms and wrestled each other to the ground. Margret rolled her eyes. "Boys." She placed a hand on Tressa's arm. "We wouldn't make up something like