from the end of the street, smiling softly. “Being all assertive and in control.”
Tauran smiled back. “All done?”
Kalai nodded. “I had someone set up a safety barrier,” he said, before adding, “Commander.”
Tauran raised an eyebrow. “Sounds good coming from you.”
Kalai’s smile widened. “I bet it does.”
Tauran glanced at Jinhai, who seemed to try very hard to look everywhere else. Tauran softened. No casualties. Minor injuries. It could have been so much worse. “Let’s go inside. I think we could all use a warm drink.”
* * *
The following morning, they woke early to help clear the rubble from the foot of the mountain. Some of the large rocks had landed on the stairs, splitting steps down the middle. Tauran kept an eye on Kalai, making sure he didn’t push himself too hard so soon after his recovery, but seeing Kalai active and energized filled him with relief.
“I haven’t seen Leyra and Arrow since the earthquake,” Tauran said. He stood behind a wagon, passing rocks to Kalai sitting on the back.
“I’m sure they’re fine. Arrow roams a lot.” Kalai added the rocks to the pile in the wagon with a groan. His sleeves were rolled up, cheeks rosy in the Sharoani heat, making Tauran wonder if the rest of his life would be spent resisting the urge to kiss him. It didn’t seem like such a bad fate.
“Still. Last night was scary. I’d like to make sure they’re okay.”
“We can call them.” Kalai stood. “They might hear us.” He brought a hand to his lips and whistled sharply.
Tauran winced at the sound of it. Kalai sure could whistle so all of Kel Visal would hear.
They waited, but no dragons appeared.
“They’re probably fine,” Tauran said. He made to grab the wheelbarrow and fetch another load of rocks when the hoarse cry of a swiftwing echoed between the buildings. He looked up.
Arrow soared toward them, landing silently with his wings and legs outstretched.
Kalai hopped off the wagon and approached him, indulging Arrow’s begs for chin rubs. “Everything okay?”
Tauran left the wheelbarrow to join them. “He doesn’t look distressed,” he said, raising an eyebrow at Arrow’s blissful expression, eyes half-closed. Tauran didn’t blame him. Kalai did have skilled hands. “Where’s Leyra?”
Arrow raised his head, a quiet deep sound rumbling out of him. Spinning, he spread his wings and leaped onto the roof of a nearby building, then looked back at them, urging them to follow.
“I guess we can take a break,” Kalai said. He shielded his eyes from the sun, tracking Arrow’s path across the rooftops.
Tauran brushed dust from his hands. “Let’s grab the horses.”
Arrow kept a brisk pace, and by the time they’d saddled the horses, Kalai had to call him back again. But Arrow’s impatience seemed to stem from eagerness rather than distress, and when they reached one of the green clearings in the woodland surrounding Kel Visal’s silkwheat fields, they realized why.
Leyra stood in the center of the clearing, and she wasn’t alone.
The swiftwing beside her was slightly smaller than Arrow, which made it look even smaller compared to Leyra. It was a female, her light brown scales shining brilliantly under the bright Sharoani sun. Arrow trotted over to them. Next to each other, and to someone who didn’t know them, the two swiftwings would look like different-colored copies of each other, with near identical rows of neck spines and long, slender legs. But Tauran could pick out this female in a crowd of thousands just like her.
“Sorcha!” Tauran went to them, Leyra’s large head momentarily blocking his view of Sorcha when Leyra greeted him with enthusiastic rubs of her head against his shoulder.
Sorcha joined with a high-pitched coo, slotting her head under Leyra’s large wing to reach Tauran.
“Good girls,” Tauran said, with a hand on the head of each dragon. The metal buckles of Sorcha’s saddle caught the light and Tauran stretched to look past her. “Where’s Catria?” For a moment, he feared Sorcha being here alone meant Catria was in trouble, but then a familiar voice rose from the edge of the trees.
“Tauran!”
Letting go of the dragons, relief and joy extinguished Tauran’s spark of nerves when Sorcha turned and revealed Catria coming toward them. Catria smiled, her cheeks flushed and her curly hair drawn back in a fluffy ponytail. She went to him and pulled him into an embrace. “I can’t believe I found you! When I spotted Leyra in the air, I couldn’t believe my eyes.” Releasing Tauran, she turned to Kalai and hugged him just as fiercely. “She’s