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We finally reached the cavern in which the scouts had been attacked, and the first thing I noticed was the lack of bodies. The rescue team would have retrieved what was left of our dead, but they certainly wouldn’t have done anything to the olm.

“We dragged them into the right tube,” Kele said, obviously seeing my frown. “Figured if they were going to come for a feed, they’d tackle their dead first before they came after us.”

“Good thinking.”

“It does happen occasionally.”

I laughed and moved on, leading the way through the tube until we reached the side tunnel that snaked up toward the old aeries. The heat gradually increased, and sweat trickled down my spine. Though no one truly understood the reason why this section of the range was so much warmer than the rest, it was thought to sit above a deep but still active lava tube, and that this area, with its multiple fissures, allowed the overheated air to rise more easily. The old aerie in Zephrine apparently had similar properties, but I had no idea if the one in the Red Ochre mountains did. As far as I was aware, there were no pockets of volcanic activity in that region. Maybe it wasn’t necessary, given that range wasn’t plagued by the violent swings of weather that could hit both Esan and Zephrine, thanks to their closeness to the sea, and tended to be more temperate.

I slowed as we neared the aerie.Gria? We’re coming in. Don’t attack.

Not.She paused.Who we?

Me, Kele, and Damon.

Mate fix cave? Make safe?

Yes.

No eat?

I smiled.No eat anyone.

She sighed. It was a very put-upon sound.Hungry.

Kaia will return soon.Was, in fact, already returning if the strengthening buzz of her thoughts was anything to go by.

I stepped into the aerie and paused a few yards in. The main chamber was a vast high space that could easily have held more than a grace of full-sized drakkons. There were also eight chambers running off it—smaller C-shaped areas of deeper warmth in which eggs could be safely laid and hatched, and which were more easily defended if raiders came. For too many years, we had. And for too many years, the blood of drakkons and Esan’s soldiers had stained the gritty soil of these caverns.

Gria was hunkered to our left, half in, half out of one of the larger hatching caves. She was too big to entirely fit into it, but her tail and haunches were resting on the warmer sands, and contentment ran through the back reaches of her mind.

Damon and Kele stopped on either side of me. Gria eyed them, her thoughts abuzz with curiosity. It struck me again just how little fear she truly had of us. Of course, she’d been raised far away from any settlement, resulting in very little interaction with us, but I still found it surprising none of Kaia’s distrust had leached over to her daughter. But then, Kaia had never shown any animosity toward me, either, despite her awareness of where I came from. Drakkons were obviously more magnanimous than we humans.

“Can I get closer to her?” Kele whispered, as if frightened speaking too loudly might spook a reaction. “Would she mind?”

No mind,Gria replied.Must scratch.

I grinned and unslung my pack. “She said as long as you promise to scratch the ridge above her eye, she promises not to eat you.”

Kele’s gaze cut to mine, her expression a mix of uncertainty and amusement. “She said that?”

“Not in so many words, but yes.”

“Huh.”

She followed me across, her fingers flexed and her expression a mix of wonder and awe. Though Gria was a third the size of her mother, she still towered above the two us. The drakkling watched us approach, her eyes black jewels in the faint glow of the light tubes. Then she lowered her head, her snout landing a few feet away from Kele’s side. It was an obvious invitation, and after a brief hesitation, Kele reached up and scratched the ridge. Gria rumbled in contentment, and Kele laughed in delight.

“Looks like the drakkons have snared another heart,” Damon said dryly.

“Easily done.” To Gria, I added,Stretch your right wing out. I need to finish patching it.

Hurt?

Shouldn’t this time.

She grumbled in soft disbelief, and Kele jumped back. “What did I do?”

“Nothing. She was just responding to me. Keep scratching her while I repair her wing.”