“We have what you’d call a base here, a training ground. Eyes of the Far West they are. My father and yours trained there.”
“Did they? Did you?”
“My father and yours trained us in the valley. The stones there are Fin’s Dance, the largest and they say oldest in all of Talamh. At sunrise on the summer solstice, the rising sun strikes the king stone—the tallest—and the light spreads from it, white and bright, stone by stone. And they sing. You hear them sing to every dance in the world, and every dance in the world answers.”
He circled once more. “And so their song and the light of the longest day touches every corner of Talamh.”
“It must be magnificent.”
“It is. And the winter solstice gives the moons; their light is softer and restful for the longest night. But still it spreads, and the stones sing.”
She leaned against him as he flew back. “I loved seeing that. Thanks.”
“Ah, that was to clear your head. We’ve a journey yet to take.”
She assumed a short one, as the sun eased toward those peaks in the west. But long or short, she didn’t mind. Cróga cleaved through clouds like a boat through the sea, and the wind on her face tasted fresh, crisp. The world below rolled green and gold with rivers and road winding through. They soared over the Troll mines, the dales below them, the forest where the shadows deepened.
And, she saw now, they flew toward that towering peak.
“To see the dragons?” Beyond thrilled, she shoved her hair as it blew in her face when she turned to him. “Oh, what a day! Are there many? Can you feel them? I can feel them. There’s such power, such pull.”
Even as she spoke, Cróga let out a roar. In response, dragons, every color in the world, rose into the air and answered.
A flood, a flood of bold gems against the sky, and the power, the sheer power of them beat like a thousand drums.
“Oh God! I can hardly breathe. It’s so amazing. It’s so beautiful.” She jumped, then laughed at herself when a dragon, amethyst with eyes of emerald, swung beside them. Cróga turned his head, rubbed it to hers.
“His mate,” Keegan said. “They live long, but take only one.”
“She’s beautiful. Does she have a name?”
“Banrion. It means queen, as she’s regal. Her rider is Magda, who lives in the Far West.”
“There are so many,” she said. “They all have riders?”
“No. Some will have lost their rider, as we don’t live as long. And like a mate, they take only one, as a rider takes only one. Others will not have chosen or been chosen, found or have been found. And won’t until their rider becomes, and makes the choice. Until, they wait.”
She saw caves in the mountain, some huge, and ledges, steps, a wide plateau. Clouds swirled around them like smoke as Cróga glided down.
“Babies! Or young ones. Smaller.”
“A year, a full turn, the mother carries the egg. One to three eggs, though three is rare. And then when laid, she nests a quarter turn—only rising when her mate or another takes her place for a brief time.”
The young, big as horses, scrambled, squawked, as Cróga landed on the plateau. And, like children, Breen thought, raced back again to flutter around them. One, shining silver, flew up to stare at her from bright blue eyes, then zipped away.
“They’re gorgeous. Am I allowed to touch?”
“They wouldn’t come to you otherwise.”
And because they did, when she slid down, she held out her hands, touched as they darted toward her, did turns and circles and dips.
“They’re showing off,” she realized. “Playing. Are any Cróga’s?”
Keegan gestured, and she watched a youth, emerald and blue, sliding up Cróga’s tail. “His youngest. Watch.”
Cróga flicked his tail, sent the youth flying. The sound he made could only be called giddy joy. Cróga soared up after to fly with his mate.
“They have three. Two sons, a daughter. One from each nesting. She carries two now, and please the gods will lay them safe next summer.”
“Of all the wonders I’ve seen here, this is the most—I don’t know—compelling. I’ve always had a thing for dragons. I guess it came from the childhood I couldn’t remember. And seeing them like this, free and flying. Full grown, children.”
Again she held out her hands. One, the size of a large cat, landed on her arm.
“Heavy!” Laughing, she cradled it.