Wings of Fire: Revenant

Chapter Fourteen

        Seeker's home was located on the northeastern side of the peninsula, right in the shadow of the old palace. It was a squat brick house with a domed roof and a chimney steadily trickling smoke that smelled of hickory and pine.

        Not far from the house was the tower they had seen from the air, which looked like it might have once been an observatory or lookout post. The upper part of the tower had long since broken off, and someone appeared to have used the fallen brick to brace the lower floor. A slanting wood roof had been added over the broken ceiling, and a metal chimney flue stuck out from one corner.

        "That's my father's forge," Seeker explained. "Not many dragons use the original buildings for anything except scavenging materials, but Father loves a project." She smiled fondly, her eyes twinkling as though she had just realized how close she was to seeing him again.

        "Sounds like he's still in there working," she said, noting the sounds of clanking metal coming from within. "Come on, let's go see." She then folded her wings and sailed down towards the forge.

        There was an open window just below the roof of the tower, easily big enough for a dragonet Seeker's size to fit through. She fluttered softly down onto the sill, nodding for Peacemaker to come land beside her. The metal tapping sounds were louder here, and the air was sharp with the scent of soot and iron.

        Peering over Seeker's shoulder, Peacemaker could see all the way into the forge. There was an anvil propped up on a rounded pedestal in the center of the room, with a hammer still resting neatly atop it. A large, open-sided fireplace took up one wall, while the other walls were lined with tables and draped with an astonishing variety of tools.

        Among all of this prowled a large, grizzled NightWing, absentmindedly sorting through tools and shuffling around boxes of scrap metal.

        Seeker grinned, leaning in through the window to shout, "Hey, I thought we agreed that the tongs need to go on the other wall?"

        The dragon's head popped up and he called out, "Seeker?!" He followed her voice up to the window, his eyes lighting up as though a palace full of riches had suddenly thrown itself at his feet. "Seeker, what are you doing here?" he said as she threw herself into his open arms.

        "We had a couple of days off from school. I thought it would be fun to surprise you."

        "You sneaky little moonflower, I should have known you'd try something like this," he said, the enormous smile never leaving his face.

        "Were you surprised?" she inquired.

        "I would say so," he replied, nudging her gently with his snout. "I can't believe you came all this way just to see me."

        "Of course I did. I've missed you so, so much."

        She then nestled into his chest, melting into her father's embrace as though she believed that nothing bad could ever happen while he had her in his arms. Watching the way the older dragon cradled his daughter protectively against him, it was easy to believe that he could crush any creature that so much as looked at her the wrong way.

        "And I have another surprise," Seeker said as they finally pulled out of their hug. "I brought a friend with me."

        Seeker then trained her eyes up to the window, and her father followed her gaze to the spot where Peacemaker was still perched.

        Peacemaker felt his heart drop all the way to his talons. Seeing the older dragon next to Seeker made Peacemaker fully comprehend just how huge he was. It suddenly occurred to him that he didn't know how Seeker's father felt about dragons from the rainforest, and whether or not he was in the habit of squeezing their heads like lemons until the juice came out.