“You can do this, Carly. You just have to put one foot in front of the other.”

Her loud sniff echoed in the narrow passageway. She wiped a hand across her face, but it didn’t help. The tears kept flowing.

Carly sniffed again. How could he let her go? True, she wanted to let Jenny know she was okay, but how could Drago just let her go?

I will be waiting.

His words echoed through her mind. It was that statement that gave her hope that she would be able to return to this magical world. She stumbled at the thought of not being able to find her way back to him – or worse, that the crack between the two worlds had already closed before she could.

“Please, if it closes, let it be before I go through. I’m so sorry, Jenny, but I can’t leave him. I can’t,” Carly said in a quiet voice.

Carly reluctantly turned the last corner that she remembered on her journey here. The rough stone opening to the cave should be at the end. From there, it would be a short walk across it to the narrow opening of the crack in the rock and then the trail.

Carly fumbled for her phone before she remembered that she had left it in Drago’s bedroom on the nightstand. Wiping at her face one last time, she drew in a deep breath. It wasn’t far to the opening, but it was still very dark. She stopped and reached up to pull one of the burning torches free. Holding it in front of her, she turned and continued down to the end of the passageway.

Drago paced back and forth on the platform. His body shimmered – changing from his two-legged form to his dragon and back again. The power of his connection to Carly and the thought of losing her were driving him mad. This wasn’t the same as the silence of losing his people, this was the desolation of losing a part of his soul.

“Now I understand my father’s cry,” Drago said, running his hands through his hair. “I have to stop her. I can’t let her go. No, I must think of her needs before my own. I must – but, I can’t.”

His gaze swept up to the arched doorway and he froze in mid-stride. Standing at the top was Carly. Her hands were tightly clasped in front of her and her eyes were wide. A trembling smile curved her lips.

Impatient to gather her in his arms to see if she was real, he shifted into his dragon and launched off the platform with a single, powerful burst of energy. He soared up the mountain of gold and jewels before landing in a spray of coins. His body slid to a stop at the bottom of the steps.

Drago lifted his head and shook it, sending pieces of treasure scattering in all directions. He followed Carly with his gaze as she walked down the steps. She paused on the step above him. Reaching out a hand, she caressed his left nostril.

“Can I keep you?” she asked in a soft voice.

“A dragon never gives up his treasure,” Drago warned.

“But – I’m not a dragon. I’m just a girl who loves one very, very much,” Carly vowed, gazing at him.

Drago shifted and reached for Carly’s hand. Pulling her into his arms, he held her against his body and buried his face in her hair. It took several minutes before he felt in control enough to pull back and look down at her. A dark scowl creased his brow.

“You were supposed to go. I set you free once. I won’t be able to do it again,” he warned in a fierce tone.

“There is a saying where I come from,” she said in a quiet voice. “If you love someone set them free; if they come back, your love was meant to be.”

“And you came back,” he said, cupping her face.

Carly giggled. “I made a wish for the passage to be sealed so I couldn’t go through it. I guess it worked,” she admitted with a sheepish grin.

“I wished it as well,” Drago confessed.

Bending, he pressed his lips to hers in a deep, passionate kiss. She eagerly responded, tightening her grip around his neck and stretching up on her toes to get as close as she could. Their tongues dueled while their hands roamed in a desperate attempt to make sure that they were both real and together.

Drago pulled away to sweep Carly in his arms. Turning on the steps, he shifted into his dragon form. He spread his wings and pushed off the stone step. Drago murmured the spell to open the ground and swept upward through the quickly widening gap.

Outside, the tiny paper bird flitted up to greet them as they emerged. Carly clung to Drago as he swept up the side of the tower to the balcony of his living quarters. High above, both moons shone against a canvas of black ink dotted with brilliant stars.

“I love it here,” she said, resting her head against his chest.

“Good,” Drago replied.

A smile curved his lips as he transformed back into his two-legged form – Carly still nestled in his arms. The paper bird darted around them. The doors opened to his living quarters and the three of them disappeared inside. Drago left the doors open to the gentle breeze and the sound of the waves crashing against the cliffs.

“I really need to talk to you about what you mean when you say ‘good’,” Carly complained with a teasing laugh.

“We can talk later,” he stated, the flames in his eyes dancing with mischief.

“Oh… Good!” she breathed when he turned toward their bed.

The next several weeks passed in a blur for Carly. She went on the twice-daily flights he made around the isle. They often stopped and had a lunch of fish, fruit, and nuts that he caught and gathered for them. Each day he would show her a new region of the isle.

“Is there any way you can create a spell to protect the isle without anyone getting hurt?” she asked, leaning forward as they flew over the remains of a shipwreck.

“If they are not smart enough to stay out of the mist, then they deserve their fate,” he retorted.

“But… What if they can’t, through no fault of their own? I mean, accidents happen and they might not have meant to come through it,” Carly argued.

“They should not have accidents near my wards, then,” Drago replied.

“I just think it would be better to help people,” she insisted.

“The last time I opened my isle up to help someone, she turned my people to stone,” he replied in a somber tone. “Besides, it is only those that ignored the wards and insisted on landing that met with disaster – I’m sure a few escaped unharmed.”

Remorse swept through Carly at his reminder of the dangers this world posed. Magic was just as powerful as the weapons back in her world. Still, she felt a need to protect those who were unwittingly caught in the pull of Drago’s spells.

“Not everyone is like the Sea Witch, Drago. You didn’t harm the monster lady and I’ve heard you speak of this Orion guy with respect. Surely, that counts for something,” she said.

“Why do you care so much about those who you know nothing about?” he asked.

“Every life matters. You know what it feels like to lose someone you care about; well, think of the poor families of those who died here. They have no idea what happened to them. They could be someone’s father or brother or uncle or… partner,” she explained in a softer tone.

Drago was silent for several long minutes before he released a loud sigh. Carly couldn’t keep the grin from her lips when he muttered under his breath that things were much simpler when he was just sleeping. She ignored his grumbling. Over the last few weeks, she had noticed he might grumble and growl in response to some of their discussions, but he always listened and tried to see it from her point of view.

“I guess now that I am awake, it would not hurt to lift them,” he finally conceded.

“I think that is a brilliant idea,” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a hug.

Drago chuckled, the huge body of his dragon vibrating with his amusement. Carly grinned and straightened. Lifting her arms up into the air, she laughed with delight at the freedom she felt whenever they soared over the forests and along the cliffs.

Closing her eyes, she imagined what it would feel like to be a dragon. She would fly beside Drago over the forests and along the cliffs. Maybe one day, they would think of having children.

There was so much hope for the future now, and Carly wanted to embrace it all. Drago had not mentioned finding and killing the Sea Witch since the day the Empress of the Monsters came to visit. Hopefully, he had given up on his need for revenge and could look to the future.