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Shiri made a face as she scraped tea leaves out of the bottom of her cup. “How did Thorin get across the Periculian Mountains?”
“He has wings,” I answered, recalling the time he’d flown away from me after he’d again tried to bed me and I’d threatened to turn his genitals into a twig and berries. He’d flown fairly well for a drunk, evading my magic before slamming into a tree and falling onto his back in a drunken stupor. I’d left him there, hoping he’d drown in the coming storm, but the clouds quickly passed over while he snored through the night.
“I don’t remember his brother Selig having wings,” Helian said as he added herbs to the frying fish.
“Thorin is part human. His wings were small, so he hid them under a cloak,” I said, nodding toward my sister’s mates whose wings fanned out behind them like giant sails, their feathers draped over her shoulders. “His wings aren’t as powerful as a full-blooded Ravini, but they do work for short distances.”
“Then it should be easy to catch him,” Blaze mumbled as he poured wine into a goblet.
They’d thought of everything when they’d packed. My sister and her mates shared a goblet of wine between them, though I knew I couldn’t have any, for I remembered when I was pregnant with the girls my mother had told me that spirits weren’t good for my unborn children. I also noticed Helian was without a drink. Had he quit for good? I couldn’t deny nothing would make me happier, for he wasn’t himself when he was drunk. I licked my parched lips, wishing I could partake in something refreshing to get the sour taste of that tea out of my mouth. As if he could read my mind, Helian jumped up and struck down a low hanging fruit with his sword. Then he used his sword to slice it open and offered me half.
“You look like you could use something sweet,” he said with a wink.
“You always know what I want,” I answered, batting my lashes while slurping juices from the fruit. The juice was mildly sweet and so refreshing. It was just what I needed.
Helian and Ash let out low rumbles, giving me looks that promised they’d give me exactly what I wanted later.
We ate our fish in relative silence. Thanks to the many bags Esther had sent with us, we were able to add pickled vegetables and buttered bread to our meal. At least we wouldn’t starve on our journey. Despite my depression, my appetite returned, especially after Helian had seasoned the fish with chunky salt and rosemary. I was surprisingly ravenous this evening, which meant my unborn child was hungry, too. At Helian’s insistence, I ate an extra thick piece of bread slathered with butter. The satyrs truly were magnificent cooks.
Shiri burped into her fist, tossing bones in the fire. “How long will we fly on this island chain?”
“Two more days if we don’t take breaks,” Helian answered as he tipped back his fruit, drinking down the liquid, “and then we fly to the western coast of Caldaria.”
“Then how many days before we reach the Werewood Forest?” my sister asked.
“It will take about a week to fly down the coast and over the Periculian Mountains. Five days if we hurry,” Helian said before collecting mine and Ash’s wooden bowls and throwing the bones in the fire.
Pain sliced through my chest as my shoulders fell. “That means it will take weeks or even months before I see my children again.”
Listen to me, Goddess. Isa lifted her head, hovering over me like a snake preparing to strike. You must stop your moping. Do you think you’re the only one who misses your children? She blew steam and smoke all over our camp, causing Ash and Helian to swear. That dragons don’t love their young, too?
I arched away from her. “I never said that.” What had come over her? Was she angry with me?
In twenty-three years, I’ve never parted from my child. Her thunderous voice rang in my head like a gong. How do you think I feel?
The steaming kettle of rage in my chest felt ready to explode. “Forgive me for missing my children after I was forcibly separated from them for two years!”
Isa snarled and then shrank back when an agonized roar echoed above us, rattling the trees.
How do you think I feel, Isa? A dark shadow hovered over camp before landing on the other side of the fire. Radnor pawed at the earth like a centaur ready to charge. After only a few stolen moments with my hatchling because you wouldn’t allow me to spend time with her. Now I’m chasing after demons with this miserable crew. He swept the ground with his tail, knocking down a hapless tree and scattering fruit and a startled wyvern who jumped into the sky with an angry squawk.
Isa turned up her snout. Nobody told you to come with us.
Radnor flashed his fangs. Then perhaps I’ll fly back to Triss.
She jutted a foot toward him, a ball of flame glowing deep in her chest. You don’t go near her!
Ash and Helian swore, jerking me out of the line of fire, backing us up against a thick tree. Blaze scooped Shiri in his arms, jumping into the air as Drae followed.
Sister, do you want me to send Drae to get you? Shiri called down to me.
I shook my head as Ash wrapped a protective arm around my waist. No, but you may need to stop them with your siren if it gets out of hand.
It’s so strange. I’m trying to summon my siren now, she answered, but my magic isn’t answering.
Oh no. The tea has slowed her siren!
Radnor arched back, the spikes on his spine rising like a feline prepared to fight. Elements forbid she has a full-grown dragon protecting her.
