dragons, yes. The Eye explained that God will grant us forgetfulness so we can survive here while we wait. Otherwise, we would go insane.”
“I wish we could stay and help.” Sapphira glanced down at his ring. As her thumb rubbed the gem, the pulsing stopped and its surface faded to pink, then to white. When she pulled her thumb away, it changed back to red and resumed its pulse.
“It would be best,” Makaidos continued, “if we dragons ”
“How odd!” Sapphira whispered.
Makaidos looked down at her. “Odd? What is odd?”
“May I try on your ring?” she asked.
Makaidos glanced at Roxil. Her sour expression had deepened. “I suppose it would be all right,” he said.
Makaidos pulled the ring off and pushed it over Sapphira’s finger. Since it was several sizes too big, it slid easily down to her bottom knuckle. The gem turned snow white. He lifted her hand close to his eyes and whispered, “Amazing!”
She slipped it back off and returned it to Makaidos’s finger. “Look!” she said, “it’s red again.”
Roxil raised up on tiptoes and craned her neck, but she said nothing.
Makaidos twisted the ring back in place. “Perhaps a dragon’s touch keeps it red.”
“Or maybe the touch of an Oracle of Fire turns it white.” Sapphira set a finger on her chest. “That’s what I am. At least that’s what the Eye told me.”
“That reminds me.” Makaidos pointed at her. “I need to tell you the rest of the Eye’s warnings. This dimension is reserved for the spirits of dragons, so everyone who is human will have to leave at once. The Eye said that a new king of the dragons will arise to set all dragons free and lead them to a better world. The two Oracles of Fire will have the power to open a portal to allow him in, but if they open it before the proper time, this place will burn with fire. And even when the king comes, the very hour he departs with his followers, all of Dragons’ Rest will be destroyed.”
“So we have to go right away?” Sapphira asked.
Makaidos lowered his gaze to the ground. “You have no choice.”
Roxil stepped forward and hooked her arm through Makaidos’s and pulled him away. “Father, I think we should get right to work and let these humans” she glared at Sapphira “and underborns obey the Eye’s commands.”
Makaidos began walking with Roxil toward the brick kilns, but he glanced back at Sapphira. “Godspeed, my child. I hope the Maker allows us to meet again.”
A tide of sadness washed through Sapphira’s mind. She sniffed, then waved, not wanting to turn and leave this lovely man . . . or dragon . . . behind.
Acacia whispered. “We’d better go. We don’t belong here. And besides, we have a thousand things to talk about.”
The joy of having Acacia back overwhelmed her sadness. She grasped her twin’s hand. “And all these other girls to get to know.”
“Do we have to swim up through that whirlpool?” Elam asked. “It’s no fun, believe me.”
“We came through the portal down near the fountain, so going back that way will likely put us back in the magma river. I’m not sure, but the one where the tower used to be might lead us to the bottom of the chasm, like it did when Elam and I used it. I’m kind of confused, because I don’t think we’re in the same dimension as when we used it before, so going back might take us somewhere else, like maybe the top of the museum.” She winced at her own words. “Does that make any sense at all?”
Elam shook his head, while Acacia nodded. “Perfect sense,” she said. “I vote for the tower portal. I don’t think anyone wants to fight that whirlpool.”
“That part makes sense,” Elam said, “but if the other portal takes us anywhere near Morgan, the magma whirlpool might start looking like a fun swim.”
Chapter 6
COUNCILS OF WAR AND PEACE
Merlin skulked into the enormous cave, laying his hand against the side wall as he crept forward. This had to be the place. Valcor’s directions were exceedingly precise. As the cavern dimmed, he ducked under a spider dangling from the ceiling and slowed even further. Although he was more acquainted with dragons than was any other living human, the thought of attending a council of a dozen or more in an unfamiliar cave wasn’t exactly comforting. Some would be strangers, and if he failed to adequately explain why their king was killed by humans like