Dragon's Isolation - Miranda Martin Page 0,8

turns to face him, and I’m sure that he’s about to hit him next.

“I am myself,” Ragnar says.

Drosdan stops, his body trembling with the effort to contain himself.

“I am myself, “Ragnar repeats, almost growling the words.

“Together we are stronger,” Drosdan responds, dropping his arms to his sides.

“Survival of the group matters,” Ragnar finishes.

“Fine,” Drosdan says, turning away from the door.

Even from here I can see there are new dents in the metal. The two males move away from the door towards me until I hold a hand up for them to stop.

“We’re supposed to stay at least two wingspans apart,” I say.

“Fine,” Ragnar says. “When did this start?”

“How long is it for?” Olivia asks, coming up to stand with them.

“It started four days ago,” I say. “Ladon got sick before that, and then when Ormarr caught it Rosalind ordered the lockdown.”

“For how long?” Drosdan growls.

“I don’t know.” I say with a shrug.

“We can’t risk returning this to the Tribe,” Olivia says. “All the kids are there. Have any of the children here been exposed?”

I shake my head. “We don’t think so at least. None of them are sick.”

“That’s a relief,” Olivia says.

“It is,” I agree.

“Your supplies are on the sled,” Drosdan says. “We need it back though if we’re going to bring your next batch of grains.”

“Can you unload it by the door?” I ask. “Then I can get people to carry it to the bivo pens.”

“Yes,” Ragnar agrees. “What about our meat return?”

“It’s waiting for you,” I say. “We need to be careful on the loading, and you should take steps to sanitize everything we give you.”

“With what?” Olivia asks. “We don’t have electric cleansers like we had on the ship that kills germs.”

I don’t have a good answer to that. “You have soap?”

“Just what we make ourselves,” she says.

“When you get back home, wash the outside of the packages with soap and water before you take them in,” I say. Privately, I think we have to hope that the illness is not transferred that way. Maybe the sunlight shining on the packages as they travel will help.

“That will take forever!” Drosdan says.

“Yes, it will, Drosdan,” Olivia says quietly. “It’s worth it to keep the whole Tribe from getting sick. To keep Sarah from getting a fever and falling into a coma.”

Drosdan blows out an angry breath, and his shoulders slump. The only time I have seen him purely peaceful is when he is with his mate, Sarah. He’s not peaceful now when he turns to me, though.

“This better not be a joke,” he says, his eyes narrowing.

“I wish it was,” I say.

“Then let’s get to work,” Ragnar says. “This is going to take longer if we have to keep further apart.”

It takes more time. I don’t mind because being outside in the sun and working hard feels good. I’m getting to use muscles that even after only four days feel stiff and underworked. The Tribe members keep their distance from me as I do them, and eventually, we finish the work.

We’re standing two wingspans apart. Ragnar and Olivia hold hands behind Drosdan, who has his arms crossed over his chest and a deep frown.

“How long do you expect to keep Ormarr?” Drosdan asks.

“I don’t know,” I say. “I’m sure Addison will send him home as soon as possible.”

“I’ll let Bailey know what’s happening,” Olivia says.

“Thank you,” I say.

“We’ll be back in two cycles of Sestejan,” Drosdan says.

Sestejan is the smaller of Tajss’ two suns. In the humans’ terms it would be the same as two of their weeks. Amara has been helping me to understand their different methods of measuring time and space. It’s a study I find interesting.

“I will see you then,” I say.

Drosdan grunts then slips the reigns of the sled over his shoulders and walks away. Olivia lingers behind. Ragnar steps away then stops, waiting on his mate.

“Shidan,” Olivia says. “How bad is it?”

“It will all be fine,” I assure her.

“Cut the bivoshit,” she says, shaking her head. “Tell me true.”

The intensity in her eyes is more than I can meet. I can’t lie to her, and it’s forcing me to be honest with myself, too.

“It’s bad,” I say at last. “We don’t know more than that.”

Her lips tremble as she nods and then turns and walks away. Ragnar puts an arm around her shoulders, and they walk side by side, climbing the first dune towards home. My own arms ache with emptiness, and I want nothing more than to have Amara in my arms.

I