After all the darkness she had faced, after all she had lost, she was more cold and alone now than ever before, even as she lay in Toport’s arms. While she hid in the comfort of his warmth, the reality remained that she was no closer to finding the rest of her Pearls and Ascending than she had been when she had left Eiskre with Sir Dieren and Tebanis. And yet the weight of the dragon moot Arais’kei had called loomed over her. Toport had suggested that they had looked for her Pearls. Would they have them at the moot? Would they give them to her, and then dump her somewhere alone so she could access her magic?
Whatever the fate the dragons chose to impose on her, only one thing resonated with all options: Toport would not remain at her side forever. As a dragon, he was antithetical to her m
