hair constantly trying to escape from her braids. Ellukka was a full head taller than the other girl, and she had pink-cheeked creamy skin and blond hair pulled into perfectly neat plaits that fell down in front of her broad shoulders. She was wider, heavier, and stronger than Anders’s sister. What they had in common was the same determined line to their mouths.
If Ellukka liked Rayna enough to know about all her harebrained schemes and still want to stand up for her, then the answer to his question was yes—Rayna had definitely found at least one friend here.
Perhaps he could too. He and Rayna had always found a way to live in Holbard, tucked into whatever attic or stable loft they could find, working together to keep themselves fed and warm. He’d managed at Ulfar, too, just as she had here. Now that they were together again, a team again, they could make another home.
He didn’t have time to dwell on that, though, because Rayna was opening the door ahead of him, and he was catching an impossible glimpse of greenery.
The sight before him made him think he must still be asleep back in the guest room, and that everything that had happened that morning had been a dream.
He was in a large cave, with an opening leading out
of the mountain, and a view beyond the cave mouth of snowy crags and dark rock stretching into the distance. But that wasn’t what caught his attention.
Inside the cave there was lush green grass underfoot, and plants sprouted from every inch of the walls and ceiling. Long fern fronds swayed faintly in the breeze; thick bushes with shiny, dark-green leaves crowded together; small purple flowers peeked shyly from the gaps in between. The air was as warm against his skin as a summer’s day, and the whole cave was just as bright as one.
Mikkel stood over where the cave opened out onto the mountainside, his tousled copper head together with another boy’s—perhaps this was Theo. He had the same light-brown skin as Viktoria—Anders felt a pang at the memory of his friend—and the same silky black hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was thin, but his slender frame seemed to hold a kind of barely contained energy, and he was bouncing on the balls of his feet as the two boys talked.
“Isn’t this place incredible?” Rayna asked with a grin as Ellukka strode toward the others. “It’s half mechanical invention, half artifact. There are artifact pumps that bring up heat from deep inside the mountain, and tucked in behind the plants are little tubes that carry water around,
and those mirrors by the entrance relay the light in. A famous dragon created it all.”
“Not all,” Lisabet said. “Not if there are artifacts here. A wolf must have helped as well.”
Rayna dismissed that with a shrug, and by then they’d reached the two boys.
“Made it through the Dragonmeet?” said Mikkel.
“Just,” Ellukka told him.
He mimed wiping sweat from his brow. “Anders, Lisabet, this is Theo, kidnapping victim and dragon, all in one piece as you can see.”
Theo pulled one hand from his pocket, wiggling his fingers in a slightly awkward wave of greeting.
“Were you scared?” Anders asked, wincing even as he said it. Of course Theo had been scared. But he probably didn’t want to offend the dragons by saying so.
“Terrified,” Theo replied cheerfully. “But I think my ma knew what was happening. I can’t be sure, but she kind of looked at me when they grabbed me, and I just—I could see it in her eyes. I think she knew why the dragons were there, like maybe she knew something about our family, or suspected. And then she was kind of distracted by the fire in the stables.”
“That was your house?” Now Anders’s eyebrows were
up high. “Last equinox? Everyone heard about that when it burned down.”
“That was an accident,” Mikkel said straight away.
“It was,” Theo agreed. “And everyone was safe, the dragons checked.”
“It’s a pretty serious accident,” Lisabet pointed out.
Rayna, in that forceful way she spoke when she wanted to change the subject, changed the subject. “Mikkel studies history, he knows all about this garden.”
Mikkel was diverted, immediately transferring his attention to the history of the place in a way that reminded Anders of Lisabet when she got her hands on a book about something interesting.
“It was created by a dragon called Flic,” he said, turning to look out at the gardens. “At least five hundred years ago, maybe more. It’s part invention, part artifact, part . . . genius. They say she had a special gift with plants, knowing exactly where they should go, or coaxing them to grow in the most unlikely places.”
“There’s a waterfall named for her over on the west coast,” Ellukka said. “I went there with Leif and my father once, and I’ve studied her in class. There are all kinds of things growing there, and they say she had her workshop out that way, long ago.”
“What kinds of classes do you all take?” Lisabet asked.
“They were talking about the Finskól just now, and it sounded like some kind of school.”
“You’re joining the Finskól?” Mikkel looked impressed, and Theo, pleased.
Ellukka nodded confirmation. “They were about to vote to throw them out or lock them up. Leif claimed them for the Finskól at the last second, it was all he could do.”
“Sparks and scales,” Theo murmured. “Pretty sure that didn’t go down well.”
“Not really,” Ellukka agreed, turning to the two wolves. “There’s twelve of us now, including you two. Rayna and I, Theo and Mikkel are all Finskólars. Leif’s the teacher.”
“The dragons don’t have big schools like Ulfar Academy,” Rayna explained. “Mostly their parents just teach them, and some dragons run small schools for groups of students they choose. They start schools because they’re particularly good at something, usually. And of course the Drekleid always runs the Finskól. Saphira and Mylestom—you saw them on the Dragonmeet—they graduated from the Finskól last year, and the younger dragons worked together to elect them to the Dragonmeet. The Drekleid is the only person who can decide who’s a Finskólar, and nobody can overrule him. Going to the Finskól is a sign
you’re going to really be somebody.”
Anders’s mouth felt dry. The last thing he wanted—the last thing he could imagine—was to be somebody. All he wanted was a safe place to live, and there was nothing safer than anonymity.
“Everyone in the Finskól chooses their own area to study,” Rayna continued. “Or has their own reason for being there. Leif chose me because he said I was quick-thinking, and I’ll have to choose what area to study in a little while, but right now I’m just working on my reading and writing.”
“I’m learning storytelling,” Ellukka said. “Stories are powerful. They can teach people, change their minds, make them laugh, or cry, or remember, or forget. So I’m learning about how to tell them, as well as learning as many stories as I can.”
“I’m history,” Mikkel said, with one of his smirks. “And there’s plenty of that.”