Sir Danny hillith of kattegatt's Arc

Chapter 10 of 10

The dragon descended through pine trees and rocky slopes, her wings cutting tight arcs between the trunks. Danny followed on foot, half-running to keep her in sight. The mark on his ribs felt quiet now, settled like an old scar. By the time they reached the base of the mountain, the tower stood close enough that he could see the candlelight in the upper windows. The dragon stopped at the gate and turned her massive head toward him, her eyes reflecting the afternoon sun. Then she lowered herself to the ground and waited. Danny understood. She wouldn't come with him this time. This part belonged to him alone. The gates at the tower entrance blazed with flames shaped like dragons, their fire blue at the base and gold at the tips. He'd never seen them lit before. Two guards stood beside them, swords drawn and held upright in formal position. They wore armor marked with dragon emblems he didn't recognize. When Danny approached, they stepped aside without a word, but their presence told him everything. Someone else had arrived here first. Someone who required an escort. Someone the dragon mistress had been expecting. Danny climbed the tower stairs slowly, his boots echoing against stone. The door to her chamber stood open. He could hear voices inside—hers, and someone else's. A man's voice, low and steady, speaking words Danny couldn't make out. He stopped three steps from the doorway. The old Danny would have rehearsed an entrance, found a reason to interrupt, turned this into another moment he could control. But the mark on his ribs reminded him he'd given up that armor in the cave. He stepped through the doorway and saw the dragon mistress seated at her table. Across from her sat a man in traveling clothes, his sleeve rolled back to reveal a dragon mark identical to Danny's. On the table between them lay a page covered in dragon illustrations and text Danny recognized from the frozen book in the mountain. The dragon mistress looked up and met Danny's eyes. She didn't seem surprised. The stranger turned and studied Danny's face, then nodded once, as if confirming something he'd already known. Danny realized he had a choice. He could demand to know who this man was and why he carried knowledge from the frozen chamber. He could treat this as a threat to solve or a mystery to unravel. Or he could accept that the dragon mistress had been carrying this secret alone until now, and if she'd invited someone else to share it, that was her choice to make. Danny crossed the room and sat down at the table beside her. He didn't ask questions. He didn't explain where he'd been or what he'd seen. He simply placed his hand on the table near hers and waited. The stranger glanced at the dragon mistress, and something passed between them—recognition, maybe, or relief. She reached across the table and turned the page so Danny could read it. The chapter of his pursuing her heart through valor had ended. The chapter of carrying impossible weight together had just begun.