“Here you are,” Dimitri said.
“Here I am,” I agreed quietly as I stepped over a fallen log. I thought I was heading in the right direction, even if this part of the forest looked unfamiliar.
“Are you sure about this, Sam?”
“Yes.”
“Then we shall guide you and stay with you until the end.”
“I—thanks, Dimitri.”
He shrugged. “You are not the only one grieving, apprentice. The forest weeps with you. Morgan was….”
“Yeah,” I said. “He was.”
We continued on.
AS NIGHT fell on the fifth day, a great and terrible storm came.
Lightning flashed.
Thunder rolled.
Rain poured down from the sky.
And still I pushed on.
“We’re close,” Dimitri whispered as we entered a clearing, the fairies in front of us lighting the way. “We’re—”
There was a crash behind us, trees getting knocked down as something heavy landed upon them.
I turned.
A black dragon stood behind me, wings spread, looking majestic as fuck.
“Dude,” I breathed. “Wicked entrance.”
“Yes,” Kevin said as he preened. “It was rather dramatic, wasn’t it? Especially with all this rain sluicing down my muscles. I look badass, don’t I.”
“So badass. I’m not going back.”
He frowned. “I didn’t think you would. Which is why I’m going with you.”
“But Gary—”
“Is angrier than I’ve ever seen him. They all are. And he’s totally going to kick both our asses when we get back, but this is where I belong. With you and the other dragons.”
“The other dragons? What other—”
Two more dragons descended from the sky.
“Ooooh,” the fairies said.
The new dragons were blue and white, their feathers shaking as they landed in the clearing ahead of us. Their eyes flashed as they shook their heads from side to side, flinging water from their snouts.
“Oh dear,” Leslie said. “I have decided that I like snow much better than rain.”
Pat snorted. “Well, if we had just stayed in our cave like I wanted to, we wouldn’t be in the rain.”