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V ahly’s stomach twisted. “Of course, you can. You’re probably exhausted like we all are.”

Nix cocked her head and raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know. This feels wrong somehow.” She’d gone pale, and Vahly’s stomach turned.

Spreading her arms wide, Nix lifted her chin and let a stream of black smoke seep from her nostrils, probably trying to summon the feel of dragon magic with a bit of fire in her belly. Then Nix dropped her arms, her smaller, human-form wings drooping.

“I can’t, Vahly. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Vahly grabbed her bag of clothing from the ground and handed it to her. “Then we’ll return home as is.”

“Maybe you need healing?” Arc held up a hand.

Nix shook her head as Aitor and Euskal gathered closer to her.

Aitor bumped her with his large, dark blue head.

She touched his scarred face and smiled sadly.

“Maybe Ruda will know of something to help. Or maybe I just need a very large goblet of wine. You should hurry on without me. I’ll follow at my own pace. ”

With her smaller wings, she wouldn’t be able to keep up with Kyril or the full-sized dragons. Vahly knew trying would exhaust her. “How about Aitor and Cygnus hold back and keep you company?”

“I’d love a chance to travel with you, Mistress Nix.” The winter wind buffeted Cygnus’s tunic and black hair.

Nix agreed, and they took off as one. The dragons each took a turn looking the way the Jades had flown and breathing a blast of dragonfire in farewell to their fellow dragon warriors, the ones who had fought with them in the War of Balancing.

Snow fell in thick clumps, catching in Kyril’s feathers and his fur. Vahly tugged a pair of lined gloves on, then adjusted her position on the gryphon, settling herself against Arc’s strong body. Her own body melted into the feel of his, but her mind was focused on her dearest friend.

What was Nix thinking right now? She had to be insane with worry.

It was as if Eux’s mad plan to change the way dragons lived had ripped a tear in the fabric of all their lives.

Surely though, Nix would be able to shift again.

Why would that change? A new worry stabbed Vahly’s chest. What if Aitor and Euskal weren’t able to shift back into their human forms?

Aitor and Nix wouldn’t be able to run the ciderhouse together as they had been.

What would their relationship look like?

Arc’s voice warmed Vahly’s ear. “Breathe, my love.” He stroked her hair and set his lips against the crown of her head. “We’ve been through great and terrible events. We will battle through this one as well. Nix is strong still, even after all her centuries of life.”

Shivering, Vahly swallowed and forced herself not to cry. If Nix saw her tears, she might lose hope. Vahly reached back and touched Arc’s thigh, feeling the top edge of his tall boot where it sat below his knee. His trousers, tucked into his boots, weren’t iced with frost like hers.

“Can you warm me up a bit, my wonderful elven lord? My eyeballs are about to freeze shut, and my toes are icicles.”

Arc’s arms wrapped around her middle. She shook her head at his ability to hold on to Kyril so easily using only his legs.

As Arc’s power enveloped her and heated her from tip to toe with tingling air magic, she breathed in his scent of mint and sun-warmed tree sap.

She wished they could be in their bed, enjoying the last of Frostlight with nothing but candlelight to clothe them. But alas. Such was life.

Nix began to falter, falling back in pace as they began to cross the borders of what used to be the Red Meadow and was now a region with some wild areas still but also stretches of farmland.

Soon they would fly over stubbled fields of barley that slept under the snow, and later, the pastureland Arc used for his horses.

A horse—surprisingly similar to the mount he’d ridden when Vahly had first met him in the fire marshes—waited in one of the cozy barns at home.

She argued that he was Etor, but Arc claimed the horse was a new spirit, born of her earth magic.

But he must’ve agreed somewhat with her claim because he named the piebald Etienne—not too different from Etor.

Now, Vahly gave Cygnus and Aitor a grateful smile as they turned to fly beside Nix, slowing their pace.

Arc waved to Cygnus just as Zuzan and Euskal increased their speed.

Vahly strained to see Nix, to meet her eyes and let her know how much she was cheering for her, but the snow blotted out any chance of that.

Focusing on their path through the steely sky, Vahly pulled her hood over her head and tucked the ends around herself as best she could, Arc giving her a hand. The snow pelted her face as they flew, and she could barely see Zuzan and Euskal ahead of them.

Suddenly the blur of Euskal’s Lapis scales and Zuzan’s red hair and black cloak took a hard left, going easterly.

Arc’s voice rose on the wind as he used his air magic to speak. “Son, where are you headed?”

Zuzan dropped back and cupped his hand to his mouth as Euskal beat the snow-lashed air with his wings. “We are going to the new lands. I want to explore. Euskal is with me. I can feel it. He longs to leave too.”

“Ask him when he’ll return,” Vahly said to Arc, who repeated the question with his powerful voice.

But Zuzan didn’t answer. He and Euskal disappeared behind a curtain of falling snow.

“Baww will be put out,” Vahly said.

“Does Euskal owe him coin?” A laugh painted Arc’s words.

Vahly knew this was all more serious than that, but she took Arc’s offered ray of hope and humor. “Always. But I suppose he can charge interest. This might be Baww’s best bet yet.”

Against her back, Arc’s chest moved in a quiet laugh.

They would need some good humor when they returned.

This shifting thing as well as the Jades’ decision would understandably upset every dragon in the eastern province, Call Breakers and Lapis alike.

Between this and the whole bizarre sea kynd phenomenon, the last days of Frostlight would be far from peaceful.