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The camp is a charnel house, but we dare not leave. We cower behind our walls, while the enemy celebrate a victory. But it was no victory. No battle. Just butchery.

The courage of my enemy cannot be discounted. Their mammoths came in the night, thundering out of the darkness without warning. They broke our walls. Made easy work of our rotted, salvaged wood that we have torn down and built up a hundred times in this cursed expedition, careless of our javelins, our blades, until they fell.

And then they came. Screaming from the grasslands, their beasts abandoned, throwing their bodies into the breach. They fought like the savages they are. It was a bloody business. Twice, I rode into the breach. Twice, I was thrown back by their courage.

They lost as many men as I, perhaps more. But you would not know it, the way they crow from outside our walls, taunting my men. I write to the tune of my men’s screams as the healers go about their work. We run low on catgut, on honey for the wounds. The sawbones do their bloody business with blades dulled from work, but there is no time to sharpen them.

I see now they will not let us leave freely. They will hunt us to the edge of our homelands, so I head for the prison garrison of Porticus. There is nothing for me here – their only resource is the people themselves. Let them face an arrayed legion, defending a narrow passage. Let them follow beyond their grasslands, into my territory. Then we shall see their mettle.

J ai sat in the still waters, setting the diary aside and listening to the creak of the boughs above, and the chirr of the insects that called the oasis their home. Vines hung from the trees, sheltering him from the sight of the rest of the tribe, who had, as one, shed themselves of clothes and entered the healing waters upon their arrival.

They had no need to fear ambush now. No Great Tribe would sully this sacred place with battle. No khan would war in the sight of the Mother’s eye.

Jai understood now why his mother had been buried here. He hoped that he would be able to find the grave in time, but he could not do so this night. Because to go into the High Council in grief would be folly. No, he needed all his resolve. Now was the calm before the storm, and he would rest his mind, gird his loins and cleanse himself of the past. For the future beckoned, the spinning top of the world at a precipice.

If ever there was a place to rest, this was it. The Blue Mesa and its surroundings were a strange, beautiful place. He could hear the laughter of children through the trees, though he’d waded further away, so he could be alone with Winter. She relished the water, for Jai knew her species frequented the geysers of the Northern Tundra, and hunted whales and dolphins in the icy seas.

Even now, she circled him in long, lazy strokes of her tail, as at home in the waters as the sky. Jai felt a pang of regret that he had condemned her to a life upon the ground, for the flats of the Great Steppe were the antithesis of her natural habitat. Through their umbilical, she reproached him, reminding Jai that he was her home, first and foremost.

Then she splashed him with her tail, and he laughed.

She swam away and Jai lay back, letting the eddies of the spring that fed this place float him where they willed, staring up at the stars through the underbrush. The moon was as full and bright as he’d ever seen it, such that its ethereal light allowed some colour to remain amid its silver sheen. He was... content?

It was a strange feeling, considering the past few weeks.

Considering my entire life , he thought ruefully.

Winter sensed it before he did. A twinge of recognition from her consciousness, a scent on the wind, a stir in the air. Jai stood, anxious, moving back to the shallows, where the water trickled from above, and a narrow strip of pebbled beach separated the jungle.

There was a crackle from above, lianas raining down, and then Regin was flopping into the water, Erica diving gracefully from his back. Jai stepped back as she emerged in a burst of water, wiping her eyes, and pulling her hair back.

‘Phew,’ Erica breathed. ‘You have no idea how good that feels. Beats snow by a square mile.’

Jai stared, and broke into a grin.

‘You sure know how to make an entrance,’ he said.

She smiled and shrugged, the swathe of cloth about her clinging provocatively to her body. He was suddenly aware of his own nakedness, glad he was underwater, his clothing draped over a branch a stone’s throw away.

‘Regin could smell Winter from up there,’ she said. ‘We’re camping on the mesa.’

‘The Caelite are here, then?’ he asked, both intensely interested in the answer and also not able to care less. She was so close. More, he had nowhere to go, his back pressed against the mossed stone of the mesa. He was glad of it. He liked her close.

‘A detour on the way home,’ she said, oblivious to his thoughts. ‘I’m ready. Blossomed core and everything. Here.’

She took his hand and placed it on her chest. Jai thrilled at the intimacy, and yet was equally thrilled as he entered the trance and saw within, the spiralled shape that closely matched the coral she had based her etchings on, but expanded in all directions in perfect symmetry.

She held Jai’s hand in place, long after Jai had left the trance. They were so close. He could feel her pulse quickening as he leaned in, daring, hoping. Her head turned just a touch to face him more fully, eyes flashing.

Erica’s lips met his, a soft brush, then she pulled into the kiss, pressing her body – somehow firm and strong yet soft and warm – against him. He was lost in it, her embrace, her lips parting as he ran his fingers up the nape of her neck and into her hair.

She broke off, gasping for breath, as if shocked at their daring.

‘By the All-Mother, I’ve been wanting you to do that forever,’ she breathed into the shelter of his chest. He held her, questioning if this was even real. He leaned in again to make sure, but her soft palm held him back.

‘This is ours and no one else’s,’ Erica said, looking into his eyes. ‘We are leaders, Jai. Our lives are not our own. But here, now... I want this. I don’t care what it means.’

Jai could tell her mind was spinning. His was as well. In the moonlight, he could see her lip trembling – he wondered if she could feel his own knees doing the same. But even though he was nervous, he knew this was right. He reached out and stilled her lip, pressing his forehead to her own.

‘It can mean whatever you want it to,’ he whispered. ‘In this, we are beholden to ourselves, and no one else.’

She pulled away again, and looked into his eyes once more. There was a fragility there. A fear. Of him.

‘First loyalty to our peoples,’ Jai said firmly. ‘But our hearts also deserve loyalty...’

Her hand played with his chest, raking the soft down along its centre. She stood, water splashing, and slowly removed her clothes, revealing her nakedness.

She was... perfect. He had dreamed of her since the moment they’d met, but even his vision of her was nothing compared to the woman that stood before him. So strong. So vulnerable. So assured yet nervous.

Just as he was.

Jai stood, meeting her lips, and pulled her further into the shallow water, their hands grasping, teeth clashing as they fell into the soft moss that surrounded the pool.

It was a battle, of the best kind. Talvir of the heart and soul, as each fought to consume the other. Nails raked his back, even as his fingers gripped rough enough to bruise and never let go.

Jai may have been inexperienced, but he knew what he wanted and she responded, helping him, helping herself. She guided his hands, his mouth, his fingers. Showed him what made her gasp, made her twitch, made her back arch. He loved the taste of her mouth. The smell of her skin. The feel of her spreading before his tongue.

They had been breathless on the Caelite mountain, yet nothing suffocated so deliciously as they bucked the air from their lungs, mana fuelling their movements when exhaustion would otherwise stop.

Soon it was too much for each. Jai strained and Erica groaned, their rhythm such that they rolled over in unison. She straddled him, her hands seizing his stiffening self, making quick work as she guided him against her. He hissed in anticipation, so sensitive he had to spend mana to not release too soon.

‘Not yet,’ she breathed. ‘Not yet...’

He drew Erica to him, crashing their mouths together in a kiss of affirmation, a promise that he would wait for her, and she bit his bottom lip, the pain a perfect acknowledgement. Her breasts heaved as she worked in the silver light, nipples pink and pert. Jai sat up, taking her breast in his mouth, before she shoved him down once, mounting him with a single, anguished thrust.

THEY LAY TOGETHER, THEIR dragons gambolling in the shallows, revelling in the afterglow of their twin souls. Erica lay upon Jai’s chest, spinning the hair around a finger, her breath tickling his neck.

‘Imagine a week here,’ Jai whispered. ‘Just us, our dragons. We could eat the fruits, the herbs of the land. Winter’d hunt us down a fish.’

Erica chuckled.

‘Regin’s the better fisherdragon,’ she said, teasing. ‘He’s the scourge of the mountain’s streams. Even snuck me a couple, before the Speaker caught wind.’

‘I can imagine the bards singing now,’ Jai replied. ‘“Regin, oh, Regin, scourge of the mountain streams, slaughterer of trout.”’

She gave him a playful slap to the chest, and sat up, bundling her hair in a knot. Jai traced the lines of her back with his fingers, feeling the muscles bunching and coiling. Her body was so beautiful, he tried to burn the memory of it into his consciousness. To savour every moment, so he could relive it in the days to come.

Because even in the throes of joy, there was sadness there too.

Erica was going home. And even as allies, he knew it would be long before he saw her again. She had her war to fight, and he his. They had done important work, bringing themselves to the same level most Gryphon Guard began at. With any luck, they would be well matched in a duel. As important as all that was, though, it didn’t make the knowledge that they’d soon part any easier.

She caught him looking at her and flashed him a smile, before lying back down, her head resting on her hand.

‘So you think this will work?’ she asked, breaking the spell. ‘All this?’

Jai sighed, letting the dread of what was to come spill back into his mind.

‘I don’t see how the other tribes have a choice,’ Jai said. ‘The legion just took down a Great Tribe. Slaughtered them, to a man. They’re all at risk. No one tribe can face a legion and win. Without some sort of alliance, we’re all prey to the Sabines. But then, they were always prey to each other too. Always a bigger fish. They just don’t realise a shark just slipped into their pond.’

‘And the Gryphon Guard?’ Erica asked. ‘There’s still three of them with the legion. And only one of you.’ She took his hand. ‘Don’t fight them alone,’ she said. ‘We were lucky last time.’

Jai shook his head, his mood darkening.

‘We’ll do what we can. I have a half-dozen soulbound training right now to fight them. They may not be able to fly, and none are yet ascended, but with some training, focus, their spells will knock one out of the sky same as any other beast.’

Erica nodded grimly. ‘But what about the next battle?’ she asked. ‘There’s fifty Gryphon Guard flying above my homeland right now. Burning villages, raiding our supply lines. The Dansk’s dragons hold them at bay, but that could change. And when they’re done with us, they’ll turn on you. You and I both know this legion is just the beginning. More will come.’

Jai turned his gaze up to the skies, shaking his head.

‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I’ll shame the Caeilite into joining us. That’s all I can think of.’

Erica ran her thumb along his cheek, as if trying to smooth out his frown.

‘I’ve ruined it, haven’t I?’

He forced a smile and sat up. ‘You couldn’t ruin this if you tried. It was perfect. You’re... you’re perfect.’ She blushed, and he once more wished they weren’t who they were, didn’t have the responsibilities to anyone but each other.

But they did...

‘I should go,’ he said, even as much as it pained him. ‘My people will be worrying where I’ve gone. We’re lucky one hasn’t come looking already.’

She nodded, her face a little sad, and it tore at his heart. He had finally found her, and more, they had finally found each other. If he could, he would fly off with her. It wasn’t like anyone could stop them...

No one but ourselves.

And that was the sobering reality. That as much as his heart belonged to her, his destiny belonged to his people. He was soulbound to a dragon, not to fly off and live in peace and love, but to fight for the Kidara. For the Sithians. Maybe one day...

Just not today.

‘Don’t leave without seeing me,’ Jai blurted. ‘I mean. If that’s okay.’

She smiled at his awkwardness.

‘Count on it.’