Dragon's Wings

Chapter 31

Vera lifted her head. She was on watch and it had been quiet. There didn't appear to be any night here, and so she had everyone beneath her wings so they were sheltered in the darkness and could actually sleep. She could feel Rashmi's mind resting and asleep. Her dreams felt turbulent, uneasy, but Vera could soften them with a light touch. She had to be careful, had to make sure she didn't wake Rashmi up, but it was the least she could do. She was sure they would all be having bad dreams tonight, with Tadeo gone from their grasp.

A lone wind slid across her scales and it felt... off. Somehow. It wasn't like the wind but it was. It ran down her scales, careful and cautious and somehow kind. This was far from the wind that had tried to stop her chasing Amor. This... This felt like home.

Vera sighed, a loud, shuddering thing. Somehow, this wind felt like home. It was the wind she learnt to fly on, the wind beneath her wings that kept her gliding, the storm that threw her forward as she rejoiced in its chaos. This was the wind that made Vera want to live like the dragons of old—those who flew and flew and flew and lived on the wind more than they lived on the ground.

The wind softened, somehow, like it knew what she was thinking of. Still... could this be a trick of some kind? Was some spirit playing a game with her? Vera would not let those under her wings be Taken. They would not be harmed on her watch.

She looked around but there was still nothing. Nothing except the wind. But if this was the wind, if it was like the wind from home, then Vera had to trust it. It would be folly not to trust the wind. She flew. The wind was hers as much as she was the winds.

In a way, the titles here weren't that strange to Vera. In a way, they called to her more. Names for dragons were often sensations and feelings and accomplishments, rather than actual names. She was Wind Over Mountains, Flight of Light, Wind Friend, Wingbeats Evermore, Explorer By Air. These titles made up Vera—and each one of them spoke of the importance of trusting the wind.

What do you wish to tell me? Vera asked the wind silently. This realm was odd. No matter what she said, if she wanted it said, it appeared that the others would understand her. Rashmi seemed to hear the spirits speak as if they were speaking her languages, but Vera felt like she was among dragons and conversing in their manner rather than the impossible words that humanoids spoke. She wondered how Shui was hearing the spirits, whether they saw the signs or if there was something else happening for them.

The wind brushed against Vera's face, slid across her wings like a memory, and it felt like a reassurance somehow. Vera thought it might be one.

A beat, then-

win lose win. table and cards laid flat. token tossed forward, chips laid out. bet bet bet. lose. win. win. a laugh on the wind. a kelpie's unhidden smile. laughter and happiness and safety. home. home. home.

Vera blinked and flicked her tail. The things the wind had told her—whispered to her—were things she did not fully understand. Some kind of gambling game. An important token? A trade hidden in a game of chance. A game engineered to lose.

The wind tugged on her wings, gently. And- And the game was happening soon. They needed to go. Needed to move. Vera lifted her wings and stood up, nudging Rashmi's mind as she did so. The wind tugged on her again, stronger this time, but Vera would not be moved even as Rashmi uncurled from where she'd been sleeping nestled against Shui.

"Vera?" She called, sleepy soft, and Vera hated to wake her, but this was important.

There's something happening that we need to go to.

Rashmi snapped awake. "Is everything alright?" She said, even as she shook both Shui and Shiori awake.

Something tells me we have a chance to get something important, Vera answered.