Violet Stormwing's Arc

Chapter 33 of 46

The wild dragon stood tame at Violet's side, but it had nowhere to go. Kira Plum watched from the flowers, still smiling. Violet's thoughts raced. She could not lead this huge beast back to the deep hollow. Her mother dragon and hatchlings hid there. One trail from this dragon would drag Kael's men straight to the brood she had sworn to protect. She turned the rose gold bracelet over in her hand, the map that had brought her north. It pointed here. It pointed nowhere else. "You need a place no one has walked," Kira said. "I know you have one hidden. Don't take it there." Violet nodded. She could not speak, but she knew the risk. She scanned the ridges. Then movement caught her eye. A large pale wolf stepped from the tree line, black tail low, lilac eyes fixed on her. It did not snarl. It watched, calm and sure. The wild dragon lowered its head toward the wolf and made no threat. The two knew each other. The wolf turned and trotted a few steps, then stopped and looked back. Kira laughed softly. "He guarded the sleeping one for years. He knows where it belongs." She met Violet's eyes. "Follow him. Not your hollow. His." Violet had to choose fast. She could force the dragon toward the deep hollow and risk everything. Or she could trust a wolf she had never seen. She looked at the bracelet, then at the pale beast waiting. She climbed onto the pink dragon's back and let the wild one walk beside her. The wolf led them west, over a low saddle in the hills. They flew slow above the wolf as it ran. The land folded down. Then the ground opened into a bowl ringed by gentle slopes. A waterfall spilled from the high rim into a pool. Grass and flowers filled the floor. No road cut into it. No path led out but the crack the wolf had used. It was a valley the world had forgotten. The wild dragon glided down and landed in the grass. It rolled once, then lay by the pool as if it had always lived there. The pink dragon settled beside it. The wolf drank from the water and sat, guarding the gap in the rim. Violet slid down and stood in a field of pale jade blossoms. She understood. The wild dragon had a home now, far from the hollow, safe. Her brood stayed hidden. She had solved it. Kira came down the slope behind her. "You kept your secret," she said. "But you woke this one, and it is bound to you now. You cannot leave it here alone forever." She glanced at the wolf. "And Odette will learn what you did. She always learns." Violet looked at the tamed dragon in the valley. She had a refuge. She had a broken oath waiting to catch up with her.