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Too low to the ground, they couldn’t manoeuvre their way back up in time, so her rescuer executed a swift sideways roll, turning upside-down to protect Alex as together they crashed into the nearest sand dune. Their speed was such that they burst straight through it with an explosion of grainy powder, coming out the other side with a skidding halt in the dark, arid valley.

Silence fell around them, with only Alex’s panting breaths and pounding heart reaching her ears. At least until a low, deep groan sounded, along with a half-moaned yet still wry-sounding, “That hurt more than I anticipated.”

Alex’s pulse was hammering so hard that she felt it thrum throughout her whole body. If not for that and the bruising she felteverywhere, she would have been certain she was dead. And that was because—

“Xira?” she whispered, barely a breath of noise.

An answer came, but it wasn’t spoken aloud.

Who else do you know crazy enough to have attempted that suicidal move just to keep you alive?

Shooting up from where she lay cocooned between his thick talons and held close to his heart, Alex took in what she could of his hulking, dark mass, seeing him lying flat on his back with his wings stretched out like black ink across the sand. Brilliant cerulean eyes blinked at her from his curved neck, intelligent beyond comprehension—and bright with affection.

“Itisyou!” she cried, scrambling up his chest to wrap her arms around the base of his neck. He was much,muchlarger than when she’d last seen him—her arm span wasn’t even able to stretch the width of his collar, let alone encircle him.

“Expecting someone else?” he asked dryly. “Any other draekons you’ve bonded with that I should know about?”

Pushing up again, Alex pointed an accusing—if trembling— finger towards his amused face. “Why didn’t you answer me when I called out for you? I thought—I thought—” She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried again. “I was afraid you were dead.”

“I didn’t hear you,” he said, his rumbling voice low, gentle. “I couldn’t feel you either. As of a few days ago, I thoughtyouwere dead, Alex.”

She looked at him in bewilderment.

“Jump down so I can get up and I’ll explain while we fly,” he told her. “If I understood your panicked thoughts just before I caught you, you still have a race to win.”

Alex shook her head, despair hitting her anew. “There’s no way we’ll be able to catch up to them. I’ve already lost—already failed.”

With an unreadable gleam in his incredibly blue gaze, Xira said, “Have a little faith, Alex. The girl I once knew never used to give up so easily. What happened to her?”

Alex was unable to keep the tears from pooling in her eyes, and Xira, reading her emotions and the thoughts she sent him, thoughts she was unable to say aloud, curled his long neck forward and moved his enormous face closer to hers.

Oh, Alex. I’m so sorry.

He nudged her with his muzzle to offer comfort, and while kneeling on top of his chest, she leaned into him, finding strength in his familiar presence.

I’ve missed you so much, she whispered into his mind.

You have no idea, he whispered back. And really, she didn’t. It had barely been much more than a month for her, but for him, millennia had passed.

“Jump down, Alex,” Xira said again, if softly. “You still have a world to save.”

Knowing it was useless, that the other Tia Aurans had probably long since finished whatever circuit they had to complete, she still followed his quiet order, crawling across his scales and sliding down a significant distance to the desert floor, sand cascading from her body.

Watching as he heaved his formidable bulk over until he was the right way up once more, Alex couldn’t help pointing out the obvious. “You’re alotbigger than the last time I saw you.”

“And thank the stars for that,” he replied, “because that crash landing would have been even more painful if my scales weren’t as strong as they now are.”

Concerned, Alex asked, “Are you hurt? Badly, I mean?”

“Nothing a good race won’t fix.” He shook his massive body like a dog, dislodging the sand that had dusted him from their fall. “Now up you get, Alex. The others are beginning to get restless.”

Unsure of what he meant but sensing his words held significance, Alex moved closer to his side again. His very,verylarge side. “Uh, like I said—you’re a lot bigger now. Is there an easy way for me to get back up, or do I just climb you like a jungle gym?”

In answer, Xira stretched out one of his enormous wings. A memory hit her then, something he’d said to her the first day they’d met.

‘When I’m a little older, my wings will be strong enough for you to run straight up them.’

Sharing the memory with Xira, he chuckled and said, “That feels like forever ago.”