serve fire. We protect fire. We are fire. Can you stop fire from burning through the dry grass? Can you stop the brightness of lightning? Can you turn off the sun? Such are the draasin. We are. We hunt. That is enough.
Tan hugged the spike. There is more to it. Why did they hunt the draasin?
You ask the draasin why your kind would hunt mine?
Firelight danced in the distance and Asboel turned toward it. Tan heard the vague sense of alarm and realized it came from Sashari.
What does she fear?
Asboel sent an image to Tan.
Tan sat rigid atop the draasin. The vision Asboel provided him more than enough information to know what happened: Incendin burned.
Tan didn’t know exactly what he saw, but flames anchored against the night, shining against the coming darkness in such a way that he felt them. There was a draw to the flames, the same way as when he’d been changed by fire, nearly twisted into one of the lisincend. Asboel felt it too. The draasin did not have to fight the pull of fire in the same way Tan did, but the draw was there just the same. Power erupted from the flames, more than Tan could imagine.
What is it? Tan asked.
Fire.
I can see that.
No. Asboel pushed through the image of the fire in the distance again. This time, Tan truly saw it, could see through the flames, and recognized the dark lines worked within it. The Fire Fortress.
He’d heard of it. Lacertin had lived within the Fire Fortress for years, secluded to prove to Incendin that he could be a loyal fire shaper. Had he not, how much would have been lost? So many years were spent with Lacertin viewed as a traitor to the kingdoms when he was actually a hero.
Does it always burn like that?
Asboel turned, arching his body again away, twisting so they departed Incendin lands. We have watched Fire in these lands many times since our release. Always it burns atop the towers, but this is the brightest it has ever been.
What does it mean?
A warning.
What kind of warning? Tan wondered.
Asboel either couldn’t—or wouldn’t—answer.
----
T he return flight was much faster. As they flew, Tan felt a sense of agitation from the draasin. Asboel might not admit to it, but something about the fires in Incendin upset him. Tan suspected the draasin still hadn’t gotten over the pain of losing the hatchlings. He didn’t understand—couldn’t understand—what it was like to suffer such a loss, but he had known loss in his life. His father. His home. His past life. Except Tan suspected the loss Asboel had suffered throughout his life made Tan’s pale in comparison.
The draasin landed atop the rocks where he’d first found Tan. Sashari circled overhead, not landing. Tan felt a distant sense from her as well. Hunt well .
Asboel twitched his tail. Maelen.
Tan recognized the hesitation. If he didn’t ask, he would regret losing the opportunity. What is it? What did you see?
Asboel sighed with a gust of steam from his nostrils. Fire burned brightly in that place before the hatchlings were destroyed. Now it threatens again.
With Incendin, I suspect fire always threatens.
This is different.
Tan turned and faced the south, toward Incendin. Were he still atop Asboel, he might be able to use the draasin’s sight and see the Fire Fortress, but here, on the ground, he could see nothing more than trees. The darkness stifled him, making him feel limited. Times like these, he wished for the sight he’d known when fire had twisted him.
Can you explain?
Fire consumes. You know this, Maelen. You nearly lost yourself.
You keep telling me that the draasin are fire.
Asboel lowered his head and shook it. The draasin are fire. But fire is the draasin. I cannot put it in terms you would understand.
Try.
Asboel stood on his back legs, towering over him. Heat radiated from his body, pressing out between spikes and scales. In the cool air of the evening, steam misted from him, leaving a soft layering around the clearing, almost like a cloud settling from the
Tan hugged the spike. There is more to it. Why did they hunt the draasin?
You ask the draasin why your kind would hunt mine?
Firelight danced in the distance and Asboel turned toward it. Tan heard the vague sense of alarm and realized it came from Sashari.
What does she fear?
Asboel sent an image to Tan.
Tan sat rigid atop the draasin. The vision Asboel provided him more than enough information to know what happened: Incendin burned.
Tan didn’t know exactly what he saw, but flames anchored against the night, shining against the coming darkness in such a way that he felt them. There was a draw to the flames, the same way as when he’d been changed by fire, nearly twisted into one of the lisincend. Asboel felt it too. The draasin did not have to fight the pull of fire in the same way Tan did, but the draw was there just the same. Power erupted from the flames, more than Tan could imagine.
What is it? Tan asked.
Fire.
I can see that.
No. Asboel pushed through the image of the fire in the distance again. This time, Tan truly saw it, could see through the flames, and recognized the dark lines worked within it. The Fire Fortress.
He’d heard of it. Lacertin had lived within the Fire Fortress for years, secluded to prove to Incendin that he could be a loyal fire shaper. Had he not, how much would have been lost? So many years were spent with Lacertin viewed as a traitor to the kingdoms when he was actually a hero.
Does it always burn like that?
Asboel turned, arching his body again away, twisting so they departed Incendin lands. We have watched Fire in these lands many times since our release. Always it burns atop the towers, but this is the brightest it has ever been.
What does it mean?
A warning.
What kind of warning? Tan wondered.
Asboel either couldn’t—or wouldn’t—answer.
----
T he return flight was much faster. As they flew, Tan felt a sense of agitation from the draasin. Asboel might not admit to it, but something about the fires in Incendin upset him. Tan suspected the draasin still hadn’t gotten over the pain of losing the hatchlings. He didn’t understand—couldn’t understand—what it was like to suffer such a loss, but he had known loss in his life. His father. His home. His past life. Except Tan suspected the loss Asboel had suffered throughout his life made Tan’s pale in comparison.
The draasin landed atop the rocks where he’d first found Tan. Sashari circled overhead, not landing. Tan felt a distant sense from her as well. Hunt well .
Asboel twitched his tail. Maelen.
Tan recognized the hesitation. If he didn’t ask, he would regret losing the opportunity. What is it? What did you see?
Asboel sighed with a gust of steam from his nostrils. Fire burned brightly in that place before the hatchlings were destroyed. Now it threatens again.
With Incendin, I suspect fire always threatens.
This is different.
Tan turned and faced the south, toward Incendin. Were he still atop Asboel, he might be able to use the draasin’s sight and see the Fire Fortress, but here, on the ground, he could see nothing more than trees. The darkness stifled him, making him feel limited. Times like these, he wished for the sight he’d known when fire had twisted him.
Can you explain?
Fire consumes. You know this, Maelen. You nearly lost yourself.
You keep telling me that the draasin are fire.
Asboel lowered his head and shook it. The draasin are fire. But fire is the draasin. I cannot put it in terms you would understand.
Try.
Asboel stood on his back legs, towering over him. Heat radiated from his body, pressing out between spikes and scales. In the cool air of the evening, steam misted from him, leaving a soft layering around the clearing, almost like a cloud settling from the
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