“I know it might not seem the best option right now, but it’s our only option, Daventio.”

  Daventio stood in front of Ahn’rah with a rather tense posture, his expression one of suspicion and concern. “You said you had a way to hold me, a carrier or something! Not that I would have to cling onto you and hope you don’t shake me off and leave me in the Aether!”

  “That’s not going to happen, dear.” Turimiil added from where she sat at the fire, which was now little more than embers.

  “Why do we have to go to the planet anyway? Didn’t you say it was dangerous? Why can’t we just meet them out of the atmosphere?” Daventio asked these questions in a pleading manner, seemingly desperate to get around this part of the journey.

  “We would never survive without our own supplies up there, we would get too tired to keep up, even after entering The Current. And we couldn’t store the supplies here because it would have drawn too much attention to us and what we’re doing. We’re trying to be discreet about all of this, and multiple trips up here with tons of supplies wouldn’t align with that.” Ahn’rah gave a soft sigh and pressed his jaw flat to the ground so that his head was as low as he could manage. “If you don’t trust me to hold you in my hands, then you can try your luck on my head. I won’t be able to help you as fast if you fall or slip off, though.”

  Ahn’rah’s deep blue eyes scanned over the Dullahan as he shuffled his feet slightly and gnawed on his lower lip. He could understand the hesitance, but there was no other way around it.

  Eventually, Daventio took in a deep breath and smacked both sides of his face, which seemed to help him steel himself. “Fine,” he muttered, his brow in a knot of anger and determination. “I’ll hold onto your head, but don’t you dare leave me out there if I fall off!”

  Ahn’rah gave a small nod, or at least as much of one he could muster with his head pressed to the floor. “You have my word, Daventio.”

  This seemed to help Daventio relax just the slightest bit, his shoulders loosening in a barely perceptible manner. The pale green Dullahan then approached the left side of Ahn’rah’s face and began to climb up the small, somewhat thin protruding spikes lining the curve of his jaw.

  Ahn’rah did his best to stay still, not wanting to scare or knock off the Fae. He couldn’t help but notice that one of the feet that would occasionally slip onto his scales was surprisingly cold, icy even. He could only assume that was his more spectral leg. It made sense that it wouldn’t be warm like a body part would usually be, but he still couldn’t help but find it offputting. Imagining himself with a leg that held no warmth, blood, or hum of electricity made him feel a bit disturbed.

  Once Daventio got to the top of Ahn’rah’s head, he glanced around, apparently trying to find the best foothold. Ahn’rah wasn’t sure what to suggest. After all, he’d never had to position himself to grip onto a Dragon’s head during flight. He opted to simply stay silent and try not to think about the strange mix of warm and cold footsteps atop his skull.

  Daventio soon decided to simply hug himself around Ahn’rah’s left horn, somehow able to find a grip as well as a foothold in one of its corkscrew-like curves.

  “Are you all set?” The blue Dragon asked once he felt no more movement.

  “Yes, just go before I talk myself out of this.” Daventio responded with a groan. They weren’t even in the air yet and the poor Fae already sounded nauseated.

  “Alright then. Don’t let go.” Ahn’rah replied before slowly lifting his head and standing up from the ground. Turimiil led the way up the winding tunnel out of the den while he did his best to walk smoothly and without bouncing. The last thing he would want is to shake the poor boy off and step on him.

  The three of them soon emerged onto the surface of their moon, and Ahn’rah couldn’t help but feel his own anxiety trying to pick at the back of his brain. He did his best to stomp it down and focus on the plan.

  “Remember: We take off for The Socket the moment we see The Thought-Bringers leave from there. We get in, take as much of the supplies they left us as quickly as possible, and then we fly off after them. We have to be fast and do our best to avoid any other Dragons.” Ahn’rah spoke with as much confidence as he could muster, hoping it would keep him from giving in to any of that anxiety he had locked away.

  “Got it. When we get there, I’ll get your share of supplies on you first, along with the satchel Daventio will be in. Then you can help me with mine.” Turimiil nodded, exuding a similar confidence.

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  “I would still rather have you ready first, Turi.” Ahn’rah spoke in a softer tone now, but Turimiil didn’t match him, her voice remaining hard.

  “Absolutely not. If we happen to be caught it’s more important that you and Daventio are able to escape. I can try to convince Hallath that I was trying to persuade you to stay.”

  Ahn’rah made a gruff sound of doubt. “I don’t think he would fall for that. Regardless, I’m not leaving you here. You weren’t born into the Divers and you don’t work for them, he wouldn’t believe-”

  “Is that them?” Daventio called down from Ahn’rah’s horn, catching their attention. Both Dragons turned to look at Topavara, specifically at the skull. A tiny mass of multi-colored shimmers had just emerged from it, making their way across the sea and slowly moving higher and higher into the atmosphere.

  “That’s them! Let’s go, hurry!” Turimiil yelled out as she took flight, quickly lifting herself into the air and gliding down toward the planet.

  Ahn’rah quickly followed suit, doing his best not to worry about Daventio too much as the young Dullahan began to yell in fright. The three of them quickly left the moon’s pull and began to enter the Topavaran Atmosphere. The beautiful greens, blues, and purples of the Aether slowly gave way to deep blue skies, and the air changed to that familiar scent of pine and cinnamon that Ahn’rah just knew he would miss.

  They eventually lowered themselves until they were sailing not too far above the sea, doing their best to not to attract the attention of anyone looking up. The many beaches and pine forests of The Forebearer’s left wing zipped by as they followed its shores toward The Skull.

  Ahn’rah quickly noticed that Daventio was rather quiet and glanced down toward the reflection of himself in the crystalline water below. He could just barely make out the Dullahan’s long ghostly green hair whipping in the wind, trying for dear life to stay in its ponytail and failing. Ahn’rah couldn’t help the slight chuckle that rose in his chest.

  “Ahn’rah! Divers!” Turimiil called out, having slowed down to now glide beside him.

  Ahn’rah followed her gaze up toward the skull as they made their way toward it, only to see two Topavarans gliding around it toward its face. He couldn’t really recognize them from where they were now, but he hoped with all his might that they were just patrolling.

  “Detour!” Ahn’rah responded, angling himself closer to land and flying low toward The Maw.

  He soon landed on the side of the open, displaced jaw of The Forebearer, peaking into its mouth. Inside the tooth-lined bone was a large damp cavern, mostly made of sand, moss, and algae. It didn’t run deep, as the entrance to The Throat had collapsed long ago, so he was luckily able to survey it without sticking his head too far in. Once Ahn’rah determined that no one was there, he walked along the jaw until they reached the last tooth. He slowly lowered his head until his left horn nearly touched the bone.

  “Hide here until we come and get you,” Ahn’rah ordered in a hushed voice. He lifted his head once he felt Daventio climb down and heard his feet hit the ground. When he turned his head to look at the Fae he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. The poor boy looked terrified, clinging to a Draconian tooth that looked loose in its socket.

  “You’re leaving me here?” The Dullahan asked in horror, and Ahn’rah quickly reassured him.

  “No, we’ll be back as soon as the coast is clear and we have the supplies, we can’t risk anyone seeing you.”

  “But what if you can’t come back?” Daventio asked, desperation in his voice.

  Ahn’rah turned to look toward the joint of the jaw, where Turimiil stood staring down at him with a mixed expression. The sunlight made her near-silver scales shine like a newly forged sword, and all he could do was deny he would ever lose that beautiful sight of her shining.

  “That won’t happen. We’ll be back for you, I promise.” Ahn’rah gave the Fae a determined nod. “We’re getting out of here, no matter what, and you’re coming with us.”

  Daventio simply stared at him, almost in disbelief, and Ahn’rah didn’t have the time to wait for him to agree. The blue Dragon instead climbed further up the jaw toward Turimiil, and the two of them took off again, rising into the air for the short glide up to The Socket.

  The two of them landed on the somewhat steep bone underneath The Socket, both walking low to the ground and keeping quiet as they slowly approached the lip of the orbital bone.

  Ahn’rah could hear voices, now, at least three, muttering about something he couldn’t quite distinguish. He eventually managed to get close enough to the entrance to peak over the lip of bone only for his body to entirely lock up and his blood to run cold.

  Between blades of grass and assorted tiny wildflowers, Ahn’rah caught sight of Hallath’s dark sea-green scales. He was standing in the center of the cave, watching as four other Divers searched the area. Some were moving rocks while others felt the walls for illusions or searched in cracks of bone and stone. One Diver in particular, a dark brown Topavaran with one single curled horn, seemed to be poking around dangerously close to the large flagstones the supplies were buried under.

  Ahn’rah couldn’t hear Turimiil as she peaked over the bone beside him, and he couldn’t hear the tiny gasp that left her. All he could hear was those words Cael spoke to him the night before.

  “You’re going to make it.”

  Suddenly, the determination Cael had given him began to lose its foundation. Fear gripped him, and his mind seemed to be jammed with all of the possible consequences his Father could bring down on them.

  All the sounds around him were muffled and he could do nothing but watch as one of the flagstones was lifted off of the ground, revealing the hole and the supplies within it. He watched them gather and begin pulling out satchels and bags, he watched them speak amongst themselves, and he watched Hallath bristle at the sight of it.

  He could barely feel Turimiil tugging at his arm, and he could barely bring himself to follow her urging and lower himself out of view. He stared down at the moss, clover, and bone that they were now hiding amongst, barely noticing as his mate’s hand gently moved his face toward hers.

  Her beautiful green eyes, nearly white in color, stared into his. Her expression held fear, yes, but also concern for him. Ahn’rah simply stared back into them, and eventually he could feel that muffled haze of horror start to dissipate from his senses. Her touch began to ground him, and looking into her eyes reminded him he wasn’t alone, that she wasn’t going anywhere. As scary as it was to know she was involved in the danger of it all, it still felt better to him that she was there at all.

  A pebble fell between them, and Ahn’rah’s thoughts halted once more. Slowly, they both looked up, only to see Hallath peeking over the bone, his rage-filled grey-green eyes staring down at the both of them. There was no denying that he was looking straight at them, that he had pieced together their plot, or at least enough of it to know they were defying him. It was plain as day.

  They had been caught.