Three vast shadows swept across the ocean, gliding over the rolling waves like passing storms. The dragons flew in a loose formation, each one carving its own presence into the sky. Their riders leaned forward in their saddles, eyes fixed on the distant horizon where sea met cloud. Elise rode in the center. Wind tangled through her dark brown waves as she guided Lupa, the beige wyvern whose scales shimmered like sunlit sand. Lupa’s ridged whip-tail cut the air behind her, and the small, forward-curving horns on her head angled toward the wind. When she flew, her scales lay flat and smooth, turning her into a sleek arrow; but every so often, they lifted in a ripple of defensive spikes, a reminder of the fighter beneath the grace. To Elise’s right soared the navy wyvern, Dimbod, a streak of midnight slicing through the sky. His swept-back horns and sail-spined tail caught the wind like instruments tuned to the storm. Air curled and bent around him with every wingbeat, as if the sky itself shifted to make room for his speed. His rider with brown eyes and curly hazel hair, Kael, leaned low, a restless silhouette against the blue. On the left flew the oldest dragon, Rumrus, massive and iron-scaled, his wings beating with slow, deliberate power. Blue fire glowed faintly between the cracks of his spiked tail, and his crown of curling obsidian horns gleamed like polished stone. He carried himself with the heavy confidence of a creature who believed the world below existed merely to witness him. His rider with blue eyes and black and pepper hair, Darian, sat tall and unmoving, posture as rigid and commanding as the dragon he rode.

The dragons rose into the cloudbank, their shadows swallowed by mist as they sky around them grew strangely quiet.

Kael made a low chuckle. “Snuck in. Grabbed the egg back. Exited out smoothly and soundly without getting caught. Man, this was easy.”

Elise rolled her eyes as Dimbod snorted in agreement. “Whatever you say.”

Kael glanced at Elise and gave her a dramatic shrug. “What? Am I not wrong?”

“We almost got caught, Kael.”

“Still. They didn’t see us.”

Darian sighed. He checked on the egg he put in the carrier basket (mainly for carrying fragile things) that Rumrus was carrying. The gray egg seemed to be doing fine. He then checked the sky ahead, comparing the drifting clouds to the coordinates he memorized.

“If we keep this pace, we’ll reach base before sundown,” he muttered mostly to himself.

Kael didn’t hear him or pretended not to. “See? Easy mission. In and out. No scratches. No alarms. No—”

“Kael,” Elise said, her tone flat.

“What?” he grinned. “You’re just mad I was right.”

“You weren’t right,” she said. “You were lucky.”

“Lucky is still winning.”

Elise opened her mouth to argue, but Rumrus rumbled. A deep, low vibration that traveled through the air like distant thunder.

Darian’s head snapped up. “Rumrus?” his voice dropped. “What is it?”

Rumrus didn’t answer with sound this time. He simply lifted his head higher, nostrils flaring, pupils narrowing to thin slits. His wings didn’t change rhythm, but the tension rolling through his massive frame was impossible to miss.

Elise noticed first. “Darian? Something wrong?”

He didn’t respond. His eyes followed Rumrus’ gaze upward, scanning the thickening clouds.

Kael slowed Dimbod slightly, frowning. “What’s he looking at?”

Rumrus growled even louder now.

Darian finally saw it.

A shadow. No, more like a shape. Something massive drifting between the clouds, metal glinting faintly in the sunlight. A floating ship, silent and still, like it had been waiting for them.

Darian’s eyes narrowed. “Above us.”

Elise and Kael both looked up.

The underside of the ship split open. A hatch. Wide, mechanical, and unmistakably deliberate, it yawned open like a mouth. For a moment, nothing happened until something fell. The body of a dragon. Its wings were bound in heavy chains, its legs shackled, a metal muzzle clamped over its jaws. It plummeted like a stone, spinning, helpless.

Until every chain snapped at once, as if triggered by a single command.

The dragon’s wings tore open, greeting the fierce wind, then hugged tightly against its body for downforce. Like an angel falling from the sky.

Its body straightened, aiming directly at Rumrus with incredible speed like a missile.

“MOVE!” Darian barked.

Rumrus didn’t need the order. He roared, a blast of blue fire bursting from his throat as he tried to surge upward to meet the attack head-on. But his size worked against him. He was powerful, but not quick. Plus, the falling dragon’s speed (thanks to gravity) was monstrous. The two bodies collided with a thunderous crack of wings and scales. The impact sent a shockwave through the air, rattling Elise’s teeth and forcing Lupa to veer sharply to the side. Rumrus bellowed, the sound raw and furious, as he and the unknown dragon tumbled in a violent spiral.

For the first time, Elise got a clear look at the attacker.

The dragon was white. Not soft or gentle, but a blinding, unnatural white, like bone polished to a mirror shine. Its scales were flawless in color but ruined in shape: cracked, bruised, and dented where metal plates had been bolted into its hide. The places where chains had rubbed their wings raw showed as angry red streaks against the pale surface. Its eyes were the worst part. A bright, trembling silver. Beautiful, terrified, and completely wrong. The broken muzzle still hung from its jaw, swinging wildly as it snapped at Rumrus with a desperate, feral strength. Every moment was jerky, like a puppet being yanked by invisible strings.

Kael’s voice cracked. “What—what kind of dragon is that?”

Elise’s stomach twisted. “One that didn’t choose this.”

Lupa went into a steep dive. Dumbo folded his wings and drooped beside them, slicing through the turbulence Rumrus had left behind. The clouds swallowed them instantly.

“Elise, I can’t see anything!” Kael shouted.

“I know! Just stay close!”

Lupa hissed, her scales lifting in sharp ridges as she fought the shifting winds. Elise leaned low over her neck, eyes narrowed, searching for any break in the gray. A roar tore through the clouds below them.

“There!” Elise pointed as the two dragons burst out of the cloudbank beneath them.

Rumrus was struggling to keep his wings open, one of them dragging awkwardly from the white dragon’s relentless assault. The white dragon clung to him like a ghostly predator, its claws sunk deep into his shoulder, its jaws snapping inches from Darian’s leg.

Darian held onto the saddle horn with both hands, teeth gritted, trying to keep his balance as Rumrus bucked wildly.

“Darian!” Elise yelled.

He didn’t look up. “Get this thing off him!”

Kael was already moving. Dumbo’s wings flared wide, catching the air and twisting it into a spiraling blast. The gust slammed into the white dragon’s side, forcing it to loosen its grip for a split second. Yet, it wasn’t enough. The white dragon curled its lips, letting out a snarl and dug its claw in deeper, eyes blazing with that unnatural silverlight. Its tail whipped around, the hooked blade at the end slicing across Rumrus’ flank again, opening a line of blue-growing blood.

Rumrus roared in agony.

Elise’s heart lurched. “Lupa, now!”

Lupa folded her wings and dove, angling herself like a spear. Her ridged tail snapped behind her, scales flattening for speed. She slammed her shoulder into the white dragon’s ribs with a brutal crack. The white dragon was knocked loose, but only barely. It twisted mid-air, impossibly graceful for something so battered, and latched onto Lupa instead.

“Elise!” Kael shouted.

Lupa shrieked as the white dragon’s claws scraped across her scales, trying to find purchase. Her defensive spikes shot up instantly, slicing the attacker’s palms. White scales and blood scattered into the wind. But the white dragon didn’t recoil.

It smiled.

A thin, eerie curl of its lip, beautiful and wrong. A silver angel carved from moonlight, breathtaking enough to worship and dangerous enough to destroy, because beauty was the only mask his suffering had left.