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Its golden horns stuck out from all angles, jagged edges reflected in the sun’s glow. She was at least twenty feet tall, towering over each of us.

Angie reached over to her dragon. “Washailameii3,” she said her name, slurring the beautiful word.

Her hands rose to her dragon, its weight settling upon the scales with a delicate precision. As her fingers brushed against its scaled surface, a stirring of wind began. It was gentle at first, but soon gathered strength. Dust, long settled upon the mountain's peak, danced into the air, swirling in wisps of smoke around us, carried upward by the growing tempest. The wind's force intensified, and a flurry enveloping us, distorting my vision as it whipped strands of hair across my face. Amidst the gusts, the taste of dirt filled my mouth, and each breath became a struggle against the swirling chaos.

“What the curses is happening?” Damian swore.

“Hermaxz,” I said, “Is wind.”

My eyes stung as the wind brushed pieces of debris in them, making me blink hard. The air and wind halted, leaving it rushing back to normal.

“How do you make it work?” Luella asked as she pushed back her curly hair over her ears, hiding the knotted strands.

“Well, it depends on what works best for you,” Angie said, smiling atWashailameii.

“How do you do it?” Damian asked.

“I personally think of how I want themaxzto work. I visualize it before it happens. I know others like to say it in their mind or draw in the power of the scaled tongue… Let me ask Abner what he does.”

Angie silently looked up at the sky, finding where he was with his dragon. We watched as the three of them in the sky circled, using theirmaxzof invisibility, shadows, and light.

Within moments, Abner swooped down, his large onyx dragon stampeding when hitting the ground. Gushes of air rose, alerting us of his presence. “You called, GG?” He looked at all of us, worried that there was a situation.

“I was just wondering if you could describe to everyone how you use themaxz.”

“Ahh, yes. I used to draw out the movements onWaimanimet4 as we would ride. Now it happens the moment the thought crosses my mind.” He flew back into the air, not waiting for us to ask any follow-up questions.

“Well, there you go,” Angie continued. “Any questions?”

“I’m nervous,” Luella proposed, her brow tightened.

Angie smiled over at her. “Just try it! What’s the worst that can happen?”

Luella continued to gaze atTanaleiiman5 as if they were having a mental conversation.

“It makes it easy that you already know themaxzyou are attempting to work with. Think of Aurelia.” She looked over at me. “Sorry.” She shrugged, no remorse in her voice.

“No offense taken,” I said.

Luella shakily started to reach up on her large dragon, her slight frame struggling to make her way up. Her dragon bowed down, allowing her to reach the part behind its ears, where it would be easiest for Luella to hold on to.

“You got this,”I said to Luella in her mind. She looked over at me, and I gave her a reassuring smile.

Luella and her dragon flew up into the air without another moment's thought. Her dragon had thinner wings but looked smooth and slick in the air, nonetheless. Her dragon appeared almost slimy from how the sun’s rays reflected off it.

They continued to fly up in the sky, nearing the others and their dragons. Luella’s eyes were sharpened, pulled to a squint, attempting to focus on themaxzto get it to work.

I thought of how Luella had to make her dragon cry to be connected. I wanted to know the back story. It was disrespectful to ask, as it was such a sensitive subject. Dragons rarely cried, so that made it slightly conflicting.

Small bursts of ice shattered throughout the air, sprinkling like splintered glass. As it shot to the ground, some pieces dissolved back to its liquid state as others thudded; all the Scalebornes cheered in response.

“Scales, I did it!”Luella screeched through our connection, which I assumed was linked to everyone.

“I’m so proud of you!”I responded, nervous to do it myself.

Luella quickly flew back down to where we were standing on the mountain. Her blue dragon swooped down without hardly an effort.

“I did it! I did it! All I had to do was breathe and focus, and then I thought about it! Then it started to rain ice! Oh, my scales, that was amazing!”