Tauran’s mountain of work, he couldn’t blame them. He ought to encourage critical thinking after what Falka had dragged the Sky Guard through. In the weeks following the clash, Catria had gone scouting with Sorcha, looking for signs of Excellor, but had found no trace of either the titan or its rider.
Every night, Tauran and Kalai returned home to the archive and fell into bed together, with no energy to do much else than hold each other. Four years ago, this level of responsibility would have horrified Tauran. But he wasn’t alone, and the prospect of healing what Falka had broken made the long nights easier.
Still, it was nice with a trip out of the city, even if their tight schedule only allowed them two days of reprieve. After this, they would continue flying to the Terror Marshes and inform Andreus and Hali of the Sky Guard’s change of command. At least this trip south would be far more pleasant on the backs of dragons.
Syena came into view between the rolling hills in the distance, and Tauran urged Leyra to slow. The calm inside him was replaced by nervousness to rival the thought of his meeting with the Iradesi monarch. Kalai must have noticed his hesitation, because he steered Arrow closer, the smaller dragon effortlessly lowering himself enough that Kalai could reach down and give Tauran’s hand a brief squeeze.
“It’ll be okay,” Kalai said. “She loves you.”
They brought the dragons down near the edge of Syena, since the town square was far too small for Leyra to land in. A flock of sheep bleated and fled to the far corner of their pen at the sight of the dragons. Leyra turned curious eyes on them, but Arrow dragged her focus from the fluffy prey with a quiet grumble.
Almost before they dismounted, a group of children clutching long-forgotten toys darted from the nearest road and paused by the edge of the meadow where the dragons had landed. Leyra’s tail curled at the sound of their yelps and gasps of awe.
Tauran detached the cane from his saddle and approached. The children’s eyes were wide as saucers when he strode forward, the sun catching the silver of his Sky Guard uniform as he bent before them. “Is Madelina Darrica in town?” he asked.
For a moment, all the children seemed stunned silent. Then a girl with chunky blond braids pointed over her shoulder to the town square.
Tauran smirked. “Wanna pet a dragon?”
All the children laughed and squealed, shouting their excitement, clutching each other’s sleeves and hands.
“Go on, then.” Tauran angled his chin at Leyra and Arrow. The children ran forward, then slowed, hesitant to take the final steps. They held onto each other and inched forward, one boy’s voice carrying over the crowd when he exclaimed, “Look at those claws! They can dig so well!”
Leyra released an amused rumble and flattened herself to the ground. That seemed to give the children the last courage they needed, and they all crowded around her and Arrow, stroking their noses and gently caressing the silky membranes of their wings. An over-excited boy tumbled over, Arrow righting him with a gentle hold of the back of his shirt. Tauran smiled. Dragons or humans, Arrow made an excellent babysitter.
“You’re recruiting them young,” Kalai said, amused, joining Tauran at the edge of the meadow. “They’re all going to want dragons of their own after today.”
“The Sky Guard has plenty of open positions.” Tauran winked and draped an arm over Kalai’s shoulders, drawing him close.
Kalai laughed. “They might need to grow a little taller, first.”
Syena was exactly as Tauran remembered it, as if nothing had changed. Rosehip bushes stood between low fences, edging gardens that’d be ripe with vegetables and fruits at the height of summer. Chickens darted between their feet, a cat meowing on the roof of a moss-covered farm house. The faint smell of horses and cows drifted from the adjacent fields.
“It’s idyllic,” Kalai said, a soft smile of wonder on his face. “I love it, here.”
Closer to the center of the village, the roads turned from dirt to cobblestone and old-style street lamps lined the sidewalks. For each step, Tauran’s stomach grew more unruly. He was thankful for Kalai’s hand in his own, steeling him.
Tauran would know the way back home in pitch darkness. Countless times in his youth, when he’d been up to no good, he had raced home in the dark with a farmer hot on his heels, sprinting through gardens and leaping over fences, in