Dream Walker✔️

7.3

"You're asleep early."

I startled, sitting up so quickly that I nearly banged my head into Aster's chin. He was the same gray-scaled hybrid as always, and I looked human. I would've thought the whole fight had been a dream, except that we were currently sitting in a small field in the middle of a dark void.

"You okay? You feel-" Aster stiffened. "Tell me Sae didn't drop you at a cannibal dragon's doorstep."

"Okay, I won't tell you."

"I knew this was a bad idea." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm coming back to get you."

"You are not leaving my baby sister alone."

"She won't be alone. She has Vance and Fleck."

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean. They need you. And in case you hadn't pulled this fact out of my mind yet, I got my powers back. Saefera wasn't lying."

The teknon in question appeared a little ways behind Aster. "I'm so sorry, Astie, but it was the only-"

He snarled. "The only reason you're here is to let me talk with Mars long distance, so shut up."

Saefera faded from view.

I squeezed his hand. "I'm okay. I have my powers back. I'm safer now than I was when we were together. You really don't have to worry."

"Yes, I do. I always worry about you." He hugged me close. "But I'm glad you got your powers back."

"Me too."

***

Someone was singing. A lot of someones, actually. It sounded like a whole chorus. The singing was low and reminiscent of a funeral dirge. As the singing dropped to a background murmur, a small voice spoke above it.

"We're gathered here today to honor the fiery giant who freed us from the people eater."

I opened my eyes, and a lesser spiny dragon feet from my face screamed. Several other dragons screamed and ran about wildly before gathering some twenty feet away beside a pond.

"Sorry, not dead," I said in my least threatening voice. Glancing around, I found myself in a large bed of moss with moss covering my entire body. It was warm and soothing to my many cuts and bruises.

One of the dragons bowed, and the others followed suit, murmuring "All hail the fiery giant."

"I'm glad to see you're all-" I stopped myself, realizing there were fewer dragons here than there had been in the enclosure. "At least, that some- some of you are okay." How many of them had burned because of me? "I'm so sorry." They were stupid, empty words that wouldn't do a damn thing to help anyone, but I didn't know what else to say.

The closest dragon raised his heads to blink curiously at me. "You're sorry we're okay?"

"No, I mean, I'm sorry that some of you didn't make it."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll come when you're coronated."

"What?"

"The only reason they didn't come was because they thought you might be another people eater." He nodded. "They'll trust you soon enough."

"So no one died in the fire?"

"No, we left. We'd been working on an escape route, but we needed a good distraction. Then you came and saved us."

"All hail the fiery giant," the other dragons murmured.

"Uh huh." As my mind caught up with my ears, I realized what he'd said. "There won't be a coronation. I have to go somewhere else."

"But you're our queen." He said it as if it was a matter of fact.

I eased myself into a sitting position. "I'm not."

"You killed our queen, so now you're our new queen."

"Your old queen was eating you?"

"She was. You'll be a much better queen if you don't eat us."

"I'm sure just about anything would be better than a cannibal queen, but I really do have to go." I stood, shedding my moss blanket. The quills had been removed from my wing, but I hadn't healed completely. I didn't think I could fly out of here. Walking it was.

***

Saefera appeared not long after I left the little dragons. "We can keep traveling through the void now." She hung her head, no doubt in guilt after nearly getting me killed. At least, I hoped she felt a little bit guilty. If she didn't, I should keep an eye out for possible betrayal in my future.

As for traveling in the void, I was much too large to stay within her protective aura. "I'm not sure if I can transform yet." I was fairly certain I was physically capable of it, but the idea of being all twisted up inside again sent shivers down my wings.

"Can you fly, at least?"

"No, sorry."

She sighed. "We'll be as slow as a stonegrub."

"Should've thought of that before you left me to fight off a greater spiny dragon on my own." I sped up into a trot, and she matched my speed.

After a while, Saefera's moaning about our slowness got on my nerves enough that I risked shapeshifting into my feathered humanoid form. We traveled through the void for several days, communing with Aster at night. He and the others were making good time toward Kadelt, though they only had enough money for the cheapest tickets, meaning they had to ride in one of the train's luggage compartments. At least they were safe. That was one worry off my back.

Eventually, we stopped in the void. It looked the same as any other place, but Saefera kept shivering and stomping her paws.

"We're here," she said with a huff.

"Where's here?"

Her tail swished nervously. "Merlin's place. I can't leave the void here. He's got a shield over the whole building. No teleporting in or out. Come on." She cautiously turned around, moving slow enough for me to stay close by her side. "We'll have to land outside." She took a few steps before dragging us into the blinding light of a new morning.