Chapter 27
Dinner that night was served in the dragonmaster’s house, in a dining hall large enough to accommodate every last ranger who worked inside the den. Rough-hewn wooden tables crowded the space, and a treasure trove of trophies, paintings, and tapestries covered the walls.
After dinner, Esme went up to examine some of the pieces, and Tristan and Daniel joined her there, pausing in front of a large banner that depicted Rowana’s regional emblem: a coiling dragon, wreathed in smoke. Beneath it hung a painting of another venerable dragon, fast asleep in a vast subterranean space. Rock walls glowed red around the scarlet-scaled beast.
‘That’s Kendra, Rowana’s oldest dragon,’ said Tristan. ‘Older dragons often end up retreating to caves under the sea or in mountains, where they slumbe
