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But with these physical changes she went through, Vahly had hoped her powers would rise as they did in stories about humans, and in elves too, back when they had also roamed the island.

When her magic did not bloom in time with her body, Vahly had gone to Amona in hopes her mother knew of a human power ceremony similar to the Dragonfire ritual. But Amona knew of none and didn’t believe such a thing had existed in the human culture.

Vahly had searched the dragons’ records inside and out for any hint to discovering her earth magic.

But there was nothing.

When the Sea Queen flooded the last large city of humans, Bihotzetik, she’d also destroyed all of the humans’ records. When Vahly was a baby, the sea’s great maw had likewise swallowed the humans’ final settlement in what was now called the Lost Valley.

The Dragonfire ritual ended, and Xabier landed to cheers from all the dragons in attendance. Unless he proved to be more suited to the kitchens or the smithy, the young male would join the other mature dragons in the fight against the sea. The dragons needed every warrior they could get.

With a bright flash of fire, the dragons shifted out of their full dragon form and into their scaled human form.

Dragon servants came forward to hand out cloaks with large holes for their wings, dresses which were also sewn to accommodate flying, boots, trousers, and all manner of jewelry.

Though the dragons were never ashamed of their nakedness, they preferred velvets, brocade, rubies, and gold.

When the dragons shifted to human-like forms, their scales diminished in size and grew delicate, curving around nostrils, ears, elbows, and eyelids not so different from Vahly’s own.

The spikes faded in the fire of transformation, and the dragons now had long or short hair in shades of amber, chocolate, jet black, or flax like Vahly’s own braid.

Dragon eyes were not like a human’s round version.

Dragons’ slitted, reptilian pupils worked far better in the dark.

The dragons’ fingers numbered five on each hand like Vahly’s, but their scaled digits ended in talons, a far thicker version of human nails, capable of cutting flesh or stone.

Wings transitioned in a way similar to scales by simply decreasing in scale.

Most dragons in attendance were from the Lapis clan though a good number of clanless individuals had come.

Amona tolerated their presence near the Lapis mountain palace during the Dragonfire ritual because the more dragons that participated, the stronger the maturing dragon’s fire tended to become.

It behooved her to welcome all, despite their defiance to her in the past.

Once all the dragons were in human-like form and dressed in their finery, Amona roared approval of the event.

Her Blackwater mark shimmered in the uneven light, a near match to Vahly’s.

Just as Vahly’s marked her as a potential Earth Queen, Amona’s told the world she was meant to be a dragon matriarch.

Amona blasted a rippling stream of dragonfire into the steely sky.

She had been the one to rescue Vahly, the last of her kynd, when the Sea Queen flooded the final human settlement. Amona was scary, but she also had a good heart, and Vahly had grown attached to her despite their differences and Amona’s oftentimes stoic demeanor.

Nix—the clanless dragon who ran the cider house as well as an impressive ring of smugglers and spies—was Vahly’s only true friend.

Nix slid away from the gathering as she fastened the last of her cloak's buttons—the dragons had openings in their cloaks, dresses, and tunics for their wings. Before taking off into the sky, she whispered to a nearby friend. The male laughed and reached out a hand to touch Nix’s bright azure wings.

She slapped his clawed fingers away and flew off as the male shook his head.

The cider house should be safe from flooding for the time being, Vahly thought. It was high on a ridge that overlooked the Lost Valley, and not prone to flooding like the lower levels of the palace might be.

“Vahly!” In the air, Nix twisted to shout through the chaos, her red hair tossing about and her bright green, quadrant-cut cloak flapping in the wind like an extra set of wings.

“I’ll need help at the cider house if Amona can spare you!

” Dragons who bonded with the Lapis or the Jade, but then broke their bond gravitated toward the cider house for a variety of both honest and nefarious reasons.

Vahly waved and nodded. She hoped to escape after talking to Amona. A good game of chance at Nix’s place was far better than sitting on an uncomfortable chair, smiling for Xabier and his new powers, and pretending she might still become the Earth Queen the Lapis hoped she’d be.

They had longed for a savior. Instead, they were stuck with her. In place of an Earth Queen to fight the sea, they had a powerless human with a faulty Blackwater mark and a penchant for gambling.

Amona came up beside Vahly, the matriarch’s head tipping downward as she tied back her human-like black hair with a leather thong.

More white showed in her tresses these days, but at four hundred years and counting, Amona still had the vibrancy of a far younger dragon.

The breeze stirred the loose sleeves of her black, embroidered dress.

The gold thread along the wrists glimmered in the shape of the Lapis symbol—dragon wings over a slitted eye.

“You will sit next to me at the feasting, yes?” Amona’s voice brought drums to mind. There was an earthy beauty to the sound and a commanding tone as well. The matriarch smiled expectantly, her human-like red lips pretty against the deep blue of her scaled skin.

“I saw something.” Vahly kept her own raspy voice low so as not to alert the entire clan. That was Amona’s job if she saw fit to inform them.

Amona cocked her head. “I’m listening.”

Vahly spoke quickly, relating what had happened off the coast.

Amona looked over Vahly’s head, staring into the distance, in the direction of the ocean. As she glared at their ancient enemy, her pupils expanded and contracted in a way Vahly’s never could.

“So the Sea Queen thinks to attack us here, does she? The Jades will need to know this too.”

The other dragon clan, those with Jade blood, lived far to the north and battled almost daily with the Sea Queen’s army in their colder waters.

Sometimes it amazed Vahly that both clans were dragons.

As the old saying went Lapis hunt with their minds; Jades with their claws.

The end of the saying depended upon who was doing the telling.

A Jade would conclude with And see who has the blood of enemies between their teeth?

When the Lapis used the expression, they finished with And see who has a full belly at the end of a season?

Despite their frightening common enemy and the ever-increasing threat to their existence, the two clans fought almost as much with one another as they did with the sea folk.

“Vahly, are you injured?” Amona sniffed, then took up Vahly’s hand. What was left of the ripped nail hung loosely and blackened blood surrounded the first two knuckles.

Vahly tugged away gently. “I’m fine. Would you like me to take a message to the Jades?”

Amona would say no, of course. The Jades openly hated Vahly for not growing into the great powers her Blackwater mark claimed she’d possess, but Vahly still wanted to offer help.

Heat crawled up Vahly’s neck and spread into her cheeks, but she kept her chin up.

It wasn’t as if she hadn't tried to gain her powers. She’d imbibed nine kinds of potions Helena the healer crafted in the hopes of finding magic in her blood and bones.

Vahly had scoured the Lapis library’s scrolls.

She’d even tried half burying herself in the earth of the Red Meadow, outside the Lapis mountain palace, praying somehow the earth would notice her.

Despite her determination not to hate herself, the pressure of not living up to everyone’s expectations gnawed Vahly’s heart and soul.

Each day, the invisible beast of failure ripped another chunk of Vahly away and she found it more and more difficult to stand tall instead of crumbling into a mess of self-loathing.

“Thank you,” Amona said, “but I think I’ll send Lord Maur. He enjoys the shouting they call talking up there.”

“So you believe the Sea Queen won’t attack before he can get up there and back?” Vahly wanted to join Amona in gossiping about Lord Maur—he was a nightmare—but what she’d witnessed pushed everything else out of her mind.

“I don’t know. There is no way to know. I’ll evacuate the lower floors of the palace for the time being, but we can’t scout or strike unless we have a plan in place.

Like it or not, the Jades are my allies and I must make good use of their strengths.

They must be involved in any aggression toward the Sea Queen.

Not only because if we fail, the sea folk will strike the Jades next, but also because the Jades understand certain aspects of war in a way we Lapis do not. ”

This was why she was a great matriarch. All dragons were vain to a fault. But Amona never let those traits trip up her wisdom. Vahly hoped it would always be Amona’s way to stifle her haughtiness in order to help her kynd. Amona was not perfect, but she was the best dragon Vahly had ever known.

“Do I truly need to be at the feast?” The Dragonfire ritual always included a massive concluding feast and Amona required all loyal Lapis to attend.

The crowd of dragons began the walk toward the entrance to the mountain palace, Vahly and Amona leading the way.

Amona’s lips parted. She halted, sending several dragons into Vahly’s back.

“What is it?” Vahly ushered her mother off to the side of the throng.

Murmured apologies and bows came from those who had bumped into their Matriarch, but Amona didn’t seem to notice them. Her gaze flew to Vahly. A clawed hand shot out to touch Vahly’s chest. Amona’s orange eyes focused, pinning Vahly in place like Vahly had stolen the cookie jar.

“Daughter.” Amona rubbed a circle over Vahly’s heart and mimicked the movement on her own chest.

“Yes? What is wrong? Did I say something?”

“No.” Amona smiled, and if Vahly had been looking at anyone but Amona she would have guessed those were tears forming in her eyes.

But Amona never cried. Never. Dragons loathed weakness and what they deemed excessive emotional attachment.

“You truly care about the flooding and the possible evacuation, don't you?”

“Of course, I do.” What was Amona getting at?

“This is more,” Amona said, murmuring to herself.

A buzz of excitement, or perhaps dread, ran through Vahly. Lightheaded, she blinked in the sun now piercing the storm clouds the dragons had called up. “It is?”

Amona nodded and walked quickly toward the front of the mountain palace. “You will attend the feast. By my side, in your proper place. Vahly, I have discovered something very interesting. About you.”