The last of the evening light leaving the sky, Josh and Alyson dismounted from Threnody. “When should I come back?” The big wyvern asked.
“Oh, sometime before dawn,” Alyson said, nonchalantly.
“Uh, are we going to be warm enough?” Josh asked.
“You have your ruby, don"t you?” she asked him, and then said to Threnody. “Right before the earliest light and not a moment before.”
“Yes, Queen Alyson,” the wyvern said, the smoke of her chuckle warming them briefly.
Josh scratched between the horns. “Thanks, Threnody.”
“You"re welcome,” Threnody said. “I was coming down here for a little fishing anyway.” He launched himself into the sky and climbed quickly to about a hundred feet over the water, then folded his wings.
Josh watched the wyvern plummet and put up his arm to ward off the splash.
