Iris felt very out of place in a flight cavern full of dragons. Kelnor had a dominating presence, his intense red eyes scanning the rest of the men, his close-cut red hair unruffled by the chill wind from the open cavern entrance. He looked old enough to be the father to the rest of them, but he also looked just as strong and vital as everybody else. And they all looked strong and vital. Iris felt small and insignificant. Char and Rath stood on either side of her, chatting easily with the three other men she didn't know, all in their late twenties and early thirties, she guessed. She recognized Thrak from the telepathic impression she had of him during the battle against Micah. He was taller than Char, with a shock of forest green hair and eerie yellow eyes. Rork and Nost were twins and the shortest men in the cavern, though still taller than her. They were stocky, muscular men, with long black hair tied back in ponytails. Rork had orange eyes, and Nost had lavender.

"I'm here!" called a voice she recognized as Srot's. He jogged up to the group, his deep purple eyes matching his smile as he met Iris' eyes. "And I finally get to thank you."

"You're welcome," she said shyly.

"You're making a bad habit of being late, Srot," Kelnor interrupted.

"Ah, well, you know, had to say bye to Kara," Srot said, shrugging and running his hand through his dirty blonde hair. "They've got you bundled up pretty well," he said, turning back to Iris and surveying her. She had several blankets wrapped around her shoulders, and when they were ready to fly, she was going to hold the two packs within her cocoon, too.

"She gets really cold really quickly," Char explained.

"There will be time enough to talk while we're on the wing. Let's go," Kelnor barked.

Char wrapped an arm around Iris' shoulders and pulled her back against the cavern wall as an icy wind whistled past her. She gaped at the massive red dragon that made the enormous cavern seem suddenly small. Red talons scraped across stone as he headed for the exit.

"He's huge," she whispered.

"Biggest dragon I've ever seen," Rath concurred. "Better get you wrapped up. Things go quickly from here."

Thrak was next, transforming into a green dragon that was much more similar in size to Char, but no less intimidating than Kelnor. Char and Rath handed Iris the two packs, which were fairly light and easy enough for her to hold with one arm so she could hold the amulet with her right hand. The icy wind from each transformation bit her nose and cheeks. Srot followed Thrak, Rork and Nost took their turns after Srot, and then Rath stepped away from Char and Iris for his transformation.

"Are you ready?" Char asked her, checking that the blankets were secure around her as Rath raced for the exit.

She nodded hesitantly. "I guess so."

He leaned in to give her a soft, reassuring kiss. "Trust me." And then he transformed, towering over her in his black-scaled, muscular dragon form. She automatically closed her eyes as he reached a claw out for her, and then she was lifted into the air, cold talons wrapping tightly around her, and they were in motion. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably. She didn't think she'd ever get used to this. The feeling of being so completely vulnerable, the way her stomach lurched when he launched into the air - it wasn't exactly enjoyable. But the thinning air already had her feeling light-headed, and she knew it wouldn't be long until she passed out. The next time she woke up, they would be on the ground in human territory.

Iris.

The whispers tugged at her, and she reached for them, allowing her to pull her away as her body lost consciousness.

Iris, he is looking for you.

I know, she said, following the whispers as they led her west, ahead of the pack of dragons. She glanced back and saw herself, little more than a bundle of blankets in Char's claws.

You must shut him out, or he will find you.

How do I do that? she asked, facing forward again. The mountains bled into the foothills beneath her.

The shields you cast for others can also protect you, Iris.

She listened intently as the foothills smoothed into miles of thick forest. They were taking her to the crystal, reminding her of the route as they taught her how to cast her own barrier. The trees disappeared as the plains took over, and then the villages appeared, growing larger the closer they were to the capital. A distinctive snapping and crackling far down below revealed Micah's location, inside a tent surrounded by smaller tents and armed patrols. The battle would take place there. She swallowed her fear and continued on to the castle looming in the distance, its wall of huge cut and mortared stones filling her stomach with unease. They had to get through that wall and into that castle somehow.

Wait. She stopped the whispers just outside the gates, scanning the area to find all the guards. Most were obvious, standing still at their posts in their shining armor, or patrolling back and forth with loud clanking following their every step, but there were archers in black at the tops of towers that blended into the shadows until she found them. They were all in pairs; their movements were all rhythmic and structured. She hovered there for hours, memorizing every detail, noting the rotating shifts.

"Iris. Iris!"

It was well past sunset when she was wrenched back into her body by Char's insistent voice. She opened her eyes to see him crouched over her, silhouetted by the clear, starry sky above.

"Sorry," she said, sitting up and shivering. "I was training."

Rath was moving about in the shadows, setting up camp, she guessed. The packs were gone from her embrace. Char's fingers brushed her hair back from her face and drew her attention back to him.

"We had to wait until nightfall to land," he said. "Not much cover here on the plains."

She nodded. "I guessed that would be the case. How did the battle go?"

"You really messed that mage up," Rath volunteered.

"He seemed pretty distracted," Char explained. "Looking for you, I'm sure."

"That's what I was working on," Iris said, unwrapping herself from the blankets.

"Char, come start this fire," Rath said.

"It's too dangerous to start a fire," Char said, wrapping his arm around Iris' shoulder. "You're still shivering. Come on, get back under the blankets."

"Char. You couldn't have told me before I wasted all this time gathering all this kindling?" Rath asked, irritated.

"We're too close to the soldiers' camp to risk them seeing the smoke. I thought you would have realized that," Char replied sourly.

"I thought I was being helpful. You keep talking about cold she is, how much she's shivering-"

"Hold on," Iris said, shrugging free from Char and standing up. "Is this the center of the camp?" she asked, heading toward the pile of kindling.

"More or less. What are you doing?" Rath asked.

She closed her eyes and took the amulet in her right hand, breathing deeply as she remembered what the past bearers told her. The magic spread out from her like a soap bubble, expanding to encompass the entirety of the campsite. She opened her eyes again and released the amulet. The glistening white barrier shimmered in the starlight and faded from sight.

"It's safe to start the fire now," she said, shivering in the cool night air. "Micah won't be able to find us, and to anybody outside of the barrier, this is just an empty patch of grass."

"My labor has not been in vain," Rath said happily. "You heard her, Char. Get to it while I get the beds set up. Just two, I'm guessing?"

"Three," Iris said firmly, stepping aside to make way for Char.

Rath chuckled. "Come on, now. How much trouble do you think you can get up to with me right here?"

"The question is irrelevant, because we'll be sleeping in separate beds," Iris replied.

"Rath, leave her alone," Char intervened. "You didn't clear the grass properly," he grumbled, scraping a circle of dirt through the dead grass surrounding the kindling.

"Stop complaining. I saved you the trouble of finding enough sticks for the fire, didn't I?" Rath retorted, laying out blankets as makeshift bedrolls.

Char ignored him and leaned in to breathe a small puff of fire onto the sticks. The flames immediately caught, and he came back to Iris, sitting down on a blanket and pulling her down beside him.

"I didn't know dragons could do that," she said, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Char's the only one I know who can," Rath said. "Here." He came over with a canteen of water, some biscuits, and some strips of dried meat. There was silence for a few minutes as the three of them stared at the fire and ate.

"Do you two do this a lot?" Iris asked.

"Used to when Father was alive," Char said. "We haven't been out camping since he died."

"It sounds like you were really close to him."

"Yeah, he was pretty great," Rath said, sighing. "He took us out all the time. Together, or just one of us. But he only took Char when he was visiting his human friends."

Iris didn't miss the bitter edge to Rath's voice. She looked over at him, and his blue eyes were unusually dark in the flickering firelight.

"Well, every child is different," she said cautiously. "It can be hard figuring out how to give everybody the attention they need when they don't all like doing the same things." She hugged her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "I was the only one Jonah took camping with him."

"Sounds like you were pretty close to him," Rath said, his voice softer than before.

She shrugged. "He always made time for me, even though he was the oldest, which meant he was out working most of the time. I remember the first time he asked if I wanted to go camping with him. I was probably only four years old, and I didn't even know what that meant, but I was really excited about it. Father John wasn't. But Jonah reassured him that we wouldn't be far, and that we'd be back right after breakfast, so Father John agreed. I think we camped right beside the forest, within view of the church, actually. It was still fun, though. Jonah made a fire, and we had the bedrolls laid out like this, and then he just told me stories about his little sister, before she died." She exhaled deeply. "And after that, Father John let him take me out again, so we did that most Saturday nights until he left."

Char's hand rested lightly on top of her head, stroking down through her hair. Rath yawned and stood up, stretching.

"You take the first shift, Char. And try to keep it down."

Iris watched him cross over to the other side of the fire, keeping his back to them as he climbed into his bedroll. She turned and looked at Char questioningly.

"He asked me about Jonah yesterday," Char said quietly. "I told him that Father used to take Jonah and I camping."

"And he's upset about that?" Iris asked softly.

Char shook his head. "I think he's more upset with himself. He and Mother have always made it clear that they don't want anything to do with humans, and I think he's feeling guilty about what he missed."

"But your father did things with him, right? Just the two of them?"

Char nodded. "He'll work it out." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tugged her closer to his side. "Thanks for taking the first shift with me," he said teasingly.

She smiled up at him. "Well, I didn't actually get much rest during the flight here, so I can't promise I'll be up long, but I don't mind sitting up with you for a while."

"You're still shivering a little. Here." He pulled one knee up and coaxed her to slide into position in front of him, dropping his leg down and wrapping his arms about her waist. "Better?" he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Better," she said, hugging her arms around his.

He kissed her cheek, and they sat in silence like that for a long time, watching the flickering flames dancing in the night.