They flew vaguely towards the village. Having only been there once it was hard for Aytin to tell.

  That would have been a longer flight than he wanted to make. His wings were mostly finished healing, but the muscles supporting them had atrophied over the weeks without use. Thankfully, the huntresses were setting a relaxed pace, and Ness had assured him that their destination wouldn't be far.

  They had only just passed the keep off to their right when Attalee called out over the wind, "We wanted to talk to you about Rina."

  "Ah."

  In truth, Aytin had been trying not to think about her. His emotions had calmed since the night before, but they were like a bad tooth; fine when he could forget they existed, but painful as soon as he probed them.

  "She told us about what happened."

  "Yeah?"

  They weren't far from camp. He could always turn around. There wasn't anything they could do to stop him.

  But, maybe like a bad tooth, he couldn't keep ignoring the pain. Maybe he should face it, accept it, so that something new could grow out of the hole it left behind.

  Attalee veered over, so she was just off to his side. Ness followed her, flying a little above and ahead. And conveniently avoiding any implications that they were trying to box him in.

  "She cares for you," the older huntress said, as softly as the wind would allow.

  He didn't reply. His eyes were fixed on the horizon.

  "This is my fault. I told her that she should get close to you. If you need someone to be angry at, you should be angry at me. Not her."

  This time, he looked at Attalee. The huntress sounded sincere, and she was staring back intently.

  "Why?" He barely managed to choke the word out. He didn't trust himself to say more than that.

  "You were powerful. You had steel. Food. You traveled with a dragon. We thought-"

  "No!" Aytin shook his head violently and the wind tore tears from the corners of his eyes. "Why shouldn't I blame Rina?!"

  "Because I only told her to be friendly. Nothing else. Everything that came after was her decision."

  "Of course it was! There can't have been any other reason that she would want to get close to me!" He practically snarled at the end, his emotions settling on anger.

  "You know that she isn't like that."

  "Do I?"

  "Yes." Attalee's voice was firm. "Rina isn't the kind of person who would mate for power or gifts."

  "You would be saying the same thing to me if she was."

  "Really?"

  Aytin realized he was almost panting with exertion. He had been flapping harder and harder while the huntresses matched him beat for beat. It took an effort of will to hold his wings steady and glide for a few moments.

  "Fuck, I don't know. Faelon was right. I haven't even been able to talk to any of you for more than a week. I don't really know any of you."

  "I know Rina," Ness called out from ahead. "She wouldn't fall in love with things."

  "She would have taken a mate years ago if she would," Attalee agreed. "Huntresses have lots of options."

  Aytin didn't respond, focusing on the rhythm of his wings.

  "Has she ever done anything to make you think she wants you for what you have?"

  "Are we actually going to see Ness's magic or was that a lie?" Aytin snapped.

  "We're almost there," Ness insisted. "But answer her question."

  He growled in frustration. Mostly because he couldn't answer her. Not in the way he wanted to.

  "No. Not yet."

  "Then just think about that," Attalee told him. "You do know Rina. Remember that."

  "Fine."

  Thankfully, the huntresses didn't push any further. Although that might have been as much because they had arrived at their destination as they were done with the conversation.

  Their gentle descent angled towards a wide clearing in the forest. Judging by the blackened tree trunks among the tall grass, it was the remnants of a wildfire from the not too distant past.

  As soon as they landed, Ness produced a small sack from her pack and handed it to Aytin. It was heavy and... wet?

  "What is this?" His irritation was temporarily replaced with confusion. The white of his fingers was stained red and a quick sniff confirmed it to be animal blood.

  "Just hold onto it. And be ready."

  "For what?"

  But the young huntress was already disappearing into the brush.

  When he looked back towards Attalee, the older huntress said nothing. She just shook her head with a knowing smile.

  That left him alone with his thoughts. A very dangerous place to be, all things considered.

  At least his anger had cooled somewhat.

  'Was I being stupid? Paranoid?' Another thought struck him and he winced. 'Did I mess this all up?'

  He didn't get a chance to answer his own question as a rustling in the forest drew his attention.

  "Alright, Aytin," he heard Ness call. "Get ready!"

  "Get ready?" There were steps behind him and he turned to see Attalee had retreated several paces. "What?"

  She just pointed back the other way. When he looked back, he caught movement.

  At first, he mistook it for a shadow, or maybe a bush waving in the breeze. But there wasn't any wind to speak of among the trees. The dark shape crept forward, the dark green coloring of its low-slung form camouflaging it among the undergrowth.

  Aytin instinctively reached for his bow, only to come up empty handed. Too late, he remembered that he had given it to Attalee.

  'Attalee!'

  But the huntress was a dozen paces back, leaning against a tree trunk and watching with apparent curiosity.

  A growling hiss filled the air and the monster's green eyes flashed in the sunlight. It crouched, ready to pounce.

  "Give him the treat!"

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  Ness's shout reminded him of the bag in his left hand. Without thinking, he reached into the bag and pulled out a great big chunk of meat. A deer's heart, judging from the quick look he got before he tossed it at the beast.

  An emerald flash intercepted the meat before it could touch the ground. The monster had snapped it out of midair and was already tearing bloody chunks out of it.

  "Hey, he likes you," Ness called out brightly as she emerged from the forest.

  "Tha- that's a nauliker!" Coming from a southern island, he'd never seen one before. It fit the descriptions, though.

  A little under waist height at the shoulder, with ridged scales from flattened forehead all the way back along its whip-like tail. The beast had six legs. Or it did once. This one was missing its front left limb. But the rest all had more lines of thick scale plates and ended in wicked claws and backward swept spikes at the ankles.

  The nauliker snapped up another bite of meat with a pleased hiss and its long fangs glistened in the sunlight. Fangs that could pump a victim full of a nasty, caustic poison.

  And Ness walked over and crouched down to scratch its neck, deftly avoiding the patches of dark green spines that grew irregularly across the parts of its hide not covered by scales. Instead of biting her hand off, it let out a deep rumble of pleasure and leaned into the touch. Almost like some sort of tame pet!

  "His name is Stumpy. Because of the leg." Ness gestured towards the stump with casual indifference. "I found him last year and brought him food until he could hunt again."

  "So your magic. It lets you..."

  "I can... well, not talk to animals. But I can explain things to them. The smarter ones. His pack doesn't really like me, but I bring them food sometimes so they won't attack me on sight. And I told them to keep away from here."

  Aytin unconsciously scanned the woods around them, but there was nothing there. Nonetheless, he wished for a bow. Or at least his spear. "Is it safe?"

  "Sure!" she said, brightly. "Just, uh, don't come any closer."

  "Right. I won't." He eyed Stumpy with distrust. The nauliker had finished the chunk of meat and laid down at Ness's feet. But he kept his green eyes fixed on Aytin.

  "I was thinking that he could, you know, help."

  "Help? Like... help fight?"

  "Yeah!" Ness nodded enthusiastically. "He's helped guard the tribe before. He'll do what I tell him."

  He eyed the creature dubiously. It would be hard for any creature to look outright hostile, sprawled out like that. And it would doubtlessly be useful in any attack. Even the most alert sentry would be hard pressed to notice a nauliker in the darkness. But...

  "It- He won't mistake one of us for a meal out there?"

  "Uhh... I think I can keep that from happening."

  She didn't sound sure enough for Aytin's comfort. So he pressed, "And what will Stumpy think of Faelon?"

  Wildlife really didn't like the dragon. To the point a few huntresses had complained about having to fly further to find prey.

  "I still think we should bring him with us. We can make it work. And he will help."

  Aytin looked back towards Attalee.

  "She's managed to keep him under control so far," the huntress confirmed. He did note that she was well back from the nauliker. Well outside of the range of any leap. Nonetheless, she continued, "And I don't think it would be a bad idea to have him nearby."

  It wasn't an option that Aytin really liked, but he had been forced to face quite a few of those lately. Besides, the fearsome little beast might end up being useful. There were even stories about their bites being dangerous to dragons. Not quite as deadly as a green's venom. That stuff was terrifyingly potent. But enough of them working together...

  "Could you get the whole pack to move to the keep?" Even if they couldn't bring them to attack a dragon, they would be incredibly useful. That, and the image of Xantha being torn apart by the poisoned jaws of ten or twelve of them was oh, so satisfying.

  Sadly, Ness shook her head. "I told you that they don't really like me. Just because I can keep them away from here for an afternoon doesn't mean I can get them to move their den a day away."

  "But Stumpy will? He'll leave his pack?"

  "If I travel with him, sure. His pack... well, with his leg, he isn't the best hunter. They won't care." She searched down with her free hand and started stroking along the beast's back.

  All things considered, there wasn't much reason to argue. "How long will it take?"

  "A day, but I'll be back in camp tonight. It won't be a long flight and nothing out there will mess with Stumpy." She gave her pet's flank an affectionate rub and he nuzzled her arm in return.

  "Okay. You, um... do you need anything?" Suddenly he was all too aware that he was technically the one in charge here. She really was asking his permission.

  Luckily, Attalee was there to help. She pulled a couple of bundles out of her pack and set them down well away from the nauliker. "For your friend," she said. "And fly by camp at midafternoon. I'll come out searching for you if you don't."

  "Yeah, yeah, I'll be careful. And Stumpy will be here to protect me." She gave her pet one more affectionate pat and then rose. "Come on! We've got a long way to go!" She grabbed the packages of food, stuffed them into her pack, and took off.

  Aytin had just enough time to get clear before a green streak shot past, following the slow flying dragonette. Within the blink of an eye, it had disappeared into the forest, leaving him alone with Attalee.

  With the rest of the pack nearby and no Ness to keep them safe, neither had any reason to remain. They both took off, and quickly passed above their beast tamer. She waved up at them, but kept up her own low, slow banking path. It wasn't long before they left her behind.

  There wasn't any conversation on the short flight back to camp. Apparently, everything that needed saying had already been said, leaving Aytin alone with his thoughts.

  Those thoughts were a mess. He tried to concentrate on plans. On figuring out where to fit Ness and her ability. On plans for the upcoming fight. Or what would happen after Xantha and her band were dead.

  But no matter how hard he tried to concentrate, he always kept coming back to Rina. And to the sinking suspicion that he had messed everything up. That he had overreacted. Faelon, too, but... he didn't blame the dragon. Not anymore.

  'So, what if Faelon was right? If she's just with me for wealth or power? We gave almost the entire cache to the tribe, and who knows if we'll be alive in a week?'

  Rina hadn't known all the implications to start with. But she did now. And she certainly had that night at the village.

  Maybe it had all started as some ploy to win him over. If it had, he didn't think it was anymore.

  The ruined keep passed below as they descended towards camp. Even in its prime, the place couldn't have compared to the one that he had grown up in.

  He wondered what his family would think about this mess. There had been talk about finding someone for him in recent years. It was always worth cementing an alliance with the surrounding keeps. He remembered his friend Korbin teasing him about his crush on Nyssa back when Faelon stopped at their keep. As hard as it was to imagine, they might have ended up together if things had worked out differently.

  Uncle Cork no doubt had a list of eligible women in the capital. A marriage into a powerful merchant house would be an attractive prospect. Even better, a link to some noble family could make an enormous difference to their own fortunes. Just being the mate to the third daughter of a cadet branch of one of the high nobles was a position that could be leveraged.

  The Luffins weren't so desperate as to force him into a marriage against his will. He would be given options, and the opportunity to ensure that there was something between him and his prospective mate. But a wildling huntress on the edge of the frontier was certainly far from the future they had planned for him.

  Aytin didn't know how his mother would react to Rina. Maybe she would just be happy that he had survived. Lin would approve, though. Once they got to know each other, the pair would probably get along like lighting and thunder. And from all he had learned about the Bloodhorn, he was pretty sure that his father would have liked her.

  The view of the stone walls disappeared behind trees as they dropped below the hilltop. Moments later, he followed Attalee through a small gap in the canopy to land back in the camp.

  "Let me know when Ness comes back," Aytin said after they had landed.

  "She'll be fine."

  "I know, but I just want to know."

  The huntress shrugged. "I will make sure she goes to see you when she returns." Then she nodded to someone behind him.

  It was Rina.

  The wildling huntress was standing there, a few wingspans away, looking nervous.

  "Remember what I told you," Attalee whispered as she walked past him. To Rina, she gave a smile and a pat on the shoulder. If there were any words exchanged, he couldn't hear them.

  Within a few moments, the pair was alone. Conspicuously alone.

  "Rina..."

  Aytin's throat closed up. He had no idea how to say what he wanted. In fact, he wasn't even sure he knew what it was that he wanted. His guts were roiling and he didn't know if he was angry or terrified or nervous or about to break down in tears.

  Her ears were flicking up and down. Nerves? Trying to hide her feelings? He couldn't tell. She had her wings folded close and her hands clenched across her chest so tight that it was amazing her claws hadn't broken skin.

  He didn't know how long they stood there like that. It seemed like an eternity before he finally found the words, "Rina... I'm sorry."

  She blinked, and cracked a small smile. "Good."

  "Good?"

  "It means I don't have to say it."

  Aytin couldn't help it. He snorted a laugh.

  "Aytin, I... I thought... no. I didn't think." She shook herself before taking a hesitant step towards him. "I should have told you."

  "But you did tell me. And I didn't listen. I should have."

  Her smile grew, then faltered. "What about... what about Dragon Faelon?"

  "We talked. It's... he's okay. With us."

  Rina's ears lifted, but she still seemed hesitant. "And what about you? And us?"

  Aytin hesitated, taking a deep breath. But when the words came, they came more easily than he expected. "I want to try this again. Us, again." He looked at her hopefully and was rewarded with a huge smile before Rina closed the distance in a flash of white and blue to scoop him up in a bone crushing hug.