“Sleep well, batr?” Ragal murmured to me, beyond Denise’s hearing, as I landed on the forest floor with a resounding thump.

“Apparently, as well as you . . . or so I gathered from the giggling,” I shot back.

Such were the drawbacks of enhanced sensory perception.

As the remainder of our group dropped like overripe fruit from the canopy top, we coalesced into a group amid a small gathering of bushes. The juicy berries of the quieup bush had been the only food we had slowed long enough to gather.

My hunger felt like a living beast of its own, but I held back, allowing the humans to sate their appetites first. I knew my body would recuperate, hungry or not, but the humans were far more fragile, and the trek ahead of us was long and fraught with danger.

I watched as Denise plucked the plump magenta fruit, relishing far more than I ought to the sight of her eating. We hadn’t spoken directly about what had developed between us or happened in the hammock, but everything felt different.

Surely, I felt more at ease with her, our physical intimacy having broken through the barrier of tension. But emotionally and intellectually, I felt a tumult of chaos within me.

I cared for her—that much was undeniable. The private, revealing conversations we had shared marked a new experience for me. Though I had not been a pillar of virtue in any sense, my previous relations with the opposite sex were limited to the familial or explicitly physical.

In some senses, our exile had been a liberation of sorts. Prior to that, I had been forced by tradition and law into obedient silence. When we left Dragselia, cast out by our own brother, I felt released from the weight and burden of such compliance. Unfortunately, my brothers had not, but it felt so unexpected, so refreshing to be able to share those thoughts with someone else.

I had never felt able to share of myself before, to relate to a partner on any plane of significance, nor had I desired it. I enjoyed uncomplicated pleasure. Now, suddenly, I felt that shifting.

Faint pink tendrils snaked into the sky with the approach of dawn. We needed to move. Quickly, we drank from our hydration sponges. Replenished, we set out through the thick forest. Once more, we rotated positions between myself and my brothers at the front and rear, keeping the humans lined up between us.

We followed the forest as it wound through valleys between the foothills and the larger peaks of the Elder Mountains. Our progress was slower than I liked, but we kept a steady pace.

There was an awareness, now, between Denise and me. Her arm would brush against mine or a breeze would rustle her hair, tickling my shoulder as we walked together. Unsure as I was, I couldn’t help but take stock of the joy I felt from just being near her.

Witnessing her awe, I couldn’t help but to feel a certain wonder of my own. I had missed my home more than I cared to admit, and witnessing the way in which she marveled at everything, I wanted to share it with her. I wanted to show her all the incredible parts of this place that I had loved so much.

We took a respite, having descended low enough to find one of the many snaking offshoots of the River of Ancients. I went to the water and stuck my hand in, digging deep into the clay of the riverbed, feeling for the familiar ribbed exoskeletons, beckoning her to join me.

She smiled and separated from the group, following me.

“I want to show you something I think you will enjoy,” I said, pulling the Vibervane out and washing it clean in the water.

She squatted beside me, watching with fascination as I brought the sphere out of the water.

“What is that?” she said, tilting her head, the coppery highlights of her hair flashing in the sunlight that trickled through.

Turning and bringing it closer into view for her, I held out my hands so she could touch it.

“You can touch it. It’s called a Vibervane stone. They’re the unfertilized eggs of the Bervane, an amphibious creature native to these woods. This is just the exoskeleton of the egg. It’s an interesting creature,” I said, taking another and cracking the shell open.

“Oh! You killed it!” she cried in surprise.

“Not really. They lie dormant, sometimes for hundreds of years, until fertilization. There are pockets of them throughout the forest,” I said, peeling off the hard, ribbed shell.

Removing the layer of thick, white mucus, I washed it again in the water and held up the result, a small neon green ball that sparkled and glimmered brilliantly in the sunlight.

I let it roll around in my palm and explained, “We use these to draw out poison. Crushed up, they can be turned into a powder that, when added to a drink or food item, separates and detects poisons or toxins.”

“But why? Aren’t Dragselians invincible?” she asked, taking the Bervane from me and touching it with her own fingers, rolling it to get the feel for it.

“Correct. We cannot be killed, but we can be drugged and subdued. We try to avoid that. On the other hand, in a concentrated form, this is quite dangerous if ingested, causing cellular mitosis and degradation—essentially, they cause your cells to split rapidly, burning up your metabolism and wearing your body down. For a Dragselian, it sends us into a stasis-like state, and at worst, it’s an inconvenience. For a human, it leads to death.

“Of course, mostly, they’re just kept as good luck charms. As the crones tell it, they contain the scattered remnants of the Fire Gods who created Dragselia, and one day, when the great lava flow erupts again, the heat will transform and release them.”

I rolled the one I held between my fingers, examining its brilliance.

“When we were children, we would go on hunting parties with our father here, in the Elder Forest. He would have us collect these for my mother and bring them home to her when we returned. She was exceptionally superstitious, my mother, and her face lit up when we brought them to her.”

“Is she still alive?” Denise asked.

“Yes, but when my father died, she was devastated, both over his death and because she knew her children would be sent away. She deteriorated greatly and left Dragselia shortly after Mulkaro’s coronation, retiring to Romluc, the colony she grew up on. I haven’t seen her since.”

Denise touched my arm. “You must miss her.”

I looked down at the Bervane stone in my hand. “I miss much of how our lives used to be, but a dragon knows better than to breathe fire at the sun,” I said, reciting an old saying. “It means you must learn to accept that some things can’t be changed. Some battles can’t be won.”

“Ah, yes, we have sayings like that, as well. But personally, I don’t like to be told when to give up.”

I smiled at her, taking in the carefree beauty of her in this primal land. Her wavy auburn hair was frizzing slightly, freckles shone on the olive skin of her high cheeks, her lips were a soft, pale peach, and the fire in her eyes struck me. She was breathtaking.

She closed her hand around the stone in her hand and placed it into the pocket of the loose pants she still wore from the crash.

She smiled at me. “Well, you never know when I’ll need some luck.”

“I could help you with that right now, if you want,” I said, lowering my voice for emphasis.

Zaruv called to us to rejoin the group so we could keep moving. They were out of sight, over a small embankment.

Denise smiled. “I guess I’ll have to settle for the Bervane stone today.” Standing up, she turned to rejoin the group.

Her hips swung in front of me, looking sinfully tempting. Leaping up, I grabbed her at the hips, from behind, and lowered my mouth to her ear, loving the luxurious feel of her bottom curved against me.

“You won’t need that stone later,” I said, whispering against the delicate skin of her neck and ear.

She relaxed back against me, and I nibbled at her neck, drawing out a small sigh from her.

Eyeing the hill and seeing no one, I raised one hand to cup the full, luscious weight of her breast, letting the other slide between her legs, giving her a small sample of what I wanted to do to her later. I felt myself straining for her, wanting to be enclosed in her soft, wet heat.

As I heard her breath hitch, I could sense her arousal, and it was all I could do not to lay her down on the riverbed and take her possessively. I wanted to luxuriate in all the curves of this incredible woman.

Just as I was contemplating how much time we had before Zaruv came back—probably not enough—something on the wind caught my attention and I pulled her behind me.

Immediately alert, I rushed with her toward the low brush at the base of the slope. Looking up, hidden in the brush, I saw ten, maybe fifteen large dragons fly overhead. King’s Guard. I recognized some of them from my father’s protection squad. I motioned for her to stay silent as we watched and waited for them to pass.

When they finally did, we ran to find Zaruv. When we did, we rapidly gathered our few supplies and decided to follow along the bank of the river, hoping the rushing water would mask our scent.

Karun came up behind me and, too quiet to be overheard, muttered to me, “Get ready for a fight. That was a battle formation. They’re narrowing in on us.”

I braced myself, keeping alert.

Zaruv was at the helm, and I took the rear as we did our best to make good time along the bank, but when it disappeared into a rocky gulf, we were forced up the slope again to easier terrain.

As we reached the plateau, we emerged into a small clearing. I felt a faint electrical charge in the air. Before I could shout anything to Zaruv, I watched as he stepped, activating a pressure sensor, and instantly, beams of light shot around him, trapping him.

The group scattered, traps springing up at random. Denise was beside me, and I grabbed her, running so fast toward the trees that I barely touched the ground. I recognized the traps. They were force cages. Virtually impenetrable, they were usually paired with a chemical agent that rendered you paralyzed but conscious and incredibly vulnerable.

When we reached the cover of the trees, I scrambled up and looked back to see the dragon patrol we had dodged before swooping in.

Only Denise and I had made it out, having been at the very back of the group. I watched as my brothers, their mates, and our innocent human crew were captured. Every impulse in me demanded that I shift and attack, defending my family, but I knew I was massively outnumbered, and if I lost, I left Denise vulnerable.

The dragons of the King’s Guard collected the cages and took flight, leaving us utterly alone in the forest.

Denise was trembling slightly with adrenaline when she turned to me. “What now?”

For all I knew, they’d be executed as soon as they reached their destination. I knew what Karun, the tactician, would tell me. I was outmatched and outnumbered. I needed a smart strategy. I knew Ragal would tell me to collect myself, to not just react but think through the consequences fully. And I knew Zaruv would tell me to protect myself and Denise, to not go after them.

But I was not my brothers. I felt steely determination grip me. To hell with picking your battles.

“We go to the capital and I finish this.”