Kalai took his hand, lacing their fingers. “Nothing you’ve told me about her makes me think she would,” he said. He slipped off the desk and pulled on Tauran’s hand until he stood. “You jumped off a mountain. You can do this, too.”
Tauran groaned and dropped his head on Kalai’s shoulder. As usual, Kalai saw straight through him. Kalai’s hand on the back of his neck softened the tightness in his muscles. “I need a push,” he admitted.
“All right.” Kalai leaned back so he could cup Tauran’s face. He smiled. “We’ll eat, delegate tasks, and then we’re leaving in three hours.”
Tauran blinked, nervousness making his heart skip. “Three hours?”
Kalai nodded firmly. “That’s right.”
Slowly, Tauran smiled, too. “Yes, sir.”
Sparrow came down the stairs, feet quick on the steps. Tauran looked back when the boy paused on the landing. Sparrow straightened, as tall as he could make himself. “Sir! I have unpacked the bag! May I go see the dragons, now?”
Tauran smiled and turned from Kalai, although he held onto his hand. “I have an important job for you, sky recruit.”
Sparrow nodded sharply.
“Why don’t you go make sure Leyra and Arrow are tacked up and ready for a flight? The commanding dragon specialist and I are going on an excursion.”
Sparrow’s eyes lit up. Ever since they returned to the archive on the first day following the eruption, Sparrow had been fascinated with the dragons. If the fascination stuck, Tauran might well turn him into a proper sky recruit. “Yes, General! At once!” Sparrow darted for the front door. His steps receded around the building to the garden where the dragons rested.
* * *
The countryside shone in its winter colors - gold and orange - as Tauran and Kalai flew south. Even here, as in most places, the grass was dulled by a layer of ash, although it was thinner in the open fields between Valreus’ two volcanoes, the trees having entirely shaken the gray from their leaves. The Valreus volcano was no longer active. A temple messenger on dragon-back arriving from Sharoani a week prior had informed them that the Kel Visal volcano was slowing its activity, too, delivering a note for Kalai from Iako, reminding him in no uncertain terms to get lots of rest and eat well.
The weather was good, and the winter sun was warm enough to combat the chill of the breeze. Tauran felt safe astride Leyra and let his mind drift.
They had left Catria in charge of the Sky Guard while they were gone. She and Emilian were a powerful team. Following the eruption, Tauran had thought Emilian might wish to resign from his position as Ground General, but he had taken on the job with a whole new level of energy and enthusiasm Tauran hadn’t seen in him since their rider days. The news of Valeron’s death and Roric’s disappearance had shaken him, but with Catria at his side, he’d recovered. Emilian had even aired to Tauran that he might soon propose.
Things hadn’t been all easy. In the month since the clash, they had informed the dragon masters in Kel Visal about the stolen books and documents. On top of making sure they were all returned, the dragon masters demanded compensation - rightfully so. Teaming up with Jinhai, Kalai was in dialog with them, the two of them acting as middlemen between their countries, a task Kalai’s kindness and eloquence made him perfect for. Following the events of recent years, the Sharoani had also voiced a wish for more involvement with the Sky Guard and its contact with dragons, especially if they were going to send recruits looking for dragon partners to Sharoani in the future.
Five days ago, an assistant had arrived with a letter addressed to Tauran from the Iradesi monarch. Irades was somewhat more defensive than Sharoani had been, but they had scheduled a meeting, and Irades had not yet closed its borders to trade between their countries, so Tauran counted it as a partial success.
Things were no less tense in Valreus. As they quickly came to learn, many of the soldiers who had switched sides in the heat of conflict had done so for their own protection, and not out of any sense of belief or conviction. They were as critical and skeptical of Tauran’s command as he had been of Falka’s. Almost a third of the Sky Guard personnel - flight technicians, dragon specialists, assistants and weather experts, had quit in the days following the eruption. As difficult as it made