Page 47 of Exquisite Monster

“I have not been able to find a direct answer,” Sotai said. “As far as I can tell, it is a show of strength by Andaros. To command the rulers of the humans and have them obey. They’re likely complying so they have access to both Craisos’s food and weapons.”

Erryn spoke now. The dragon was so quiet she nearly blended into the environment. “They have found a way to grow food at an absurd rate. They must be feeding half the humans in Viria with the number of shipments leaving Caelora every day.”

That made sense. Shipping food to Gleira had been part of the betrothal and alliance. How they did it? I had no idea.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, staring into the small flames in front of me. Fire that danced in the gentle breeze. It wasn’t the fire I wanted. I wantedtheirflames.

Unable to hold back my question, my voice shook. “Do you have a plan? To get them out?”

Karadi finally spoke as he shook his head. “No. Not yet. But the one thing we know is that Andaros is easy to anger, and obsessive in his need to conquer the Heirs, and by extension, all dragons.”

“How does that help?”

Belleo nudged my shoulder with hers. “He’s more likely to make a mistake. And that’s all we need. One mistake that gives a chance to get inside and get them out.”

“We’ll have a plan,” Ravi said. It sounded like a promise. “Once we get there, we’ll make a plan.”

It wasn’t much, but it was more than I’d had when I thought I would be going after my mates all alone. Gleym was right. There was every chance this would end badly, both for us and the rest of Viria. But I was still going to try, even if it killed me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

________

KATALENA

The world looked vastly different from the sky. Even in the moonlit darkness, it was easy to see the way the land dried up and turned brown. It finally faded to nothing but pale sand and gray rock. If any human saw it from this vantage point, they would have no doubt that the world was dying.

“How do you fix asheyten?”

Mesene’s voice entered my head.The flames of a dragon, and something to bind it together. Usually a metal. Not many materials can withstand the power. And you need all the broken pieces.

All the pieces? What if there were little particles you couldn’t find? What if the humans had ground down thesheytenuntil there was nothing more than grains of sand?

“How will you have all the pieces? Can they be lost? What about particles and dust?”

The power of thesheytencan call to itself. It will gather what it needs. And more, thesheytencannot break into the fragments you speak of. Breaking them at all is a feat. However, it is a truth that something once broken can never be truly whole.

“I’m not sure I understand.”

Then you are among friends,Idroal said.There is much that cannot be understood about thesheytenbecause they simplyare. They do not bend to the rules of the world, because they are the ones who created them. And yet they do not hold sentience as we would think of it.

I slumped over and let my forehead thud against their scales. “My head hurts.”

What we know about healing thesheytenis in theory only, Mesene said.There have been small broken pieces that were healed. Each time that piece was called back to its place once thesheytenhad been touched with dragon fire and cemented with the binding.

So rescue my mates, then worry about thesheyten. There were only so many problems I could hold in my mind. Instead a different question appeared.

“Idroal?” I lowered my voice until it was nearly swept away by the wind. “If I speak at this volume, can you still hear me?”

Yes.

“Can the others?”

They might hear that you are speaking, but at that volume and flying, it will be difficult. Why?

“You and Gleym have a history?” Knowing someone was alive wasn’t the same asknowingthem, but I knew what I’d seen.

Silence reigned the sky as we flew for a few heartbeats.