The army marched at a languid pace, as Alayse didn't want to push them too hard. Bodies were mended and injuries healed, but many carried the scars of seeing their brothers and sisters die. The Doan army may have been defeated, but it was nearly a disaster for Gersius. His quick thinking and tactics were all that kept them alive long enough for Alayse to arrive and save them. That close call left an impression on the hearts of the men and women who made up the army. The Dove shields were particularly rattled as they found themselves on the front line against the Doan when a flank collapsed.

Shadros now traveled with them, walking in his dragon form as the women marched in formation around him. He was seen as a savior for his actions in Calathen, where he protected the dove shields with his life. Now his presence among them was doing much to soothe their broken spirits as they marched ever closer to more battles.

Gersius rode on Lilly's back while Thayle and Rose rode with Sarah. Rose found the idea of riding on her mother's back shocking, but Sarah finally managed to convince her, and now they led the march, but they weren't going west.

It had been a brilliant idea of Alayse to do what the Doan would not expect, using the tunnels to gain surprise. Jessivel’s men had found the tunnels, or to be precise, one large tunnel cut at a gentle slope through the mountains. It made use of several passes and valleys in places, allowing the Doan to pass in the sunlight where it could. It twisted in some places, but the end result was a safe and easy passage to the wilds of the north. Alayse saw this as a gift and was determined to put it to use. Not only might it allow them to take this dragon fortress by surprise and capture the old Father Abbot, but it might give them total surprise on the Doan.

It was an intriguing idea, but not one without risks. Until they were through the tunnels and attacking from the north, Alayse could offer Gams no support. If, for any reason, his line broke and the Doan spilled into the empire, Alayse would have to turn her army around and march south, desperate to head them off. However, if she managed to take the Doan by surprise, she would score a massive military victory and sweep the front lines in a tide of chaos.

Gersius approved of her bold strategy and the way she showed uncharacteristic concern for the men and women of her army. It was her idea that Shadros should march with the dove shields and that the women of Ulustrah perform what they called a flower ceremony. She asked Thayle to lead the service as the women gathered in great geometric circles around the thousands of buried dead and then called to their goddess. The entire region was blessed by the power of growth and renewal, turning the churned and blood-soaked landscape into a garden paradise of colorful flowers. Alayse ensured the whole army was there to see the magic happening and addressed them to bolster their courage. She used Lilly's recent achievements as a symbol that the divines were with them, citing how Rose was proof that they were winning. This great battle had been the last time the Doan would ever achieve such success, and from here forward, they would face disaster as the empire ground them to dust.

Gersius had been touched by how Alayse had carefully avoided mentioning the dead dragons. It could have been used as another symbol of divine providence, but she knew bringing it up would affect Lilly. The order of Balisha had been put to the task of praying over the bodies of the fallen dragons and blessing them for their passage into Balisha's heaven. Lilly didn't see these dragons as enemies. Instead, they were blinded children, cursed, and chained to a belief that was not their own. They had suffered the greatest tragedy any dragon could suffer, dying before they knew the power of love. Lilly mourned that any dragon should pass from this world without knowing the joy of a kiss or the warmth of a hug. It strengthened her resolve to face this Gorromogoth and shatter his hold over the other dragons. Now that Rose had told them he had some power of command, they knew the dragons were not responsible for their actions. It still made them dangerous but blameless as far as Lilly saw it. Gersius supposed she was right, as Balisha had shown them images of dragons from ages past. They were noble and reclusive creatures but curious about humans who were so different from themselves. It was a small wonder why they were given the gift of a human form to try to bridge that gap between them.

“I hate to interrupt your thoughts,” Sarah said as she used the bind to speak to her family silently. “But I have been thinking about sending Rose to Calathen to wait out the war.”

“Why would we do that?” Lilly replied silently but turned her head to look up at the bigger dragon.

“Because she may be forced to face those she has recently betrayed,” Sarah explained. “She is not confident she has made the right choice in coming to us. I would hate for her to face dragons she knows and be called a traitor to her kind. The stress of having to confront them might cause her to question what she has done.”

“I still don’t see why she has to go,” Lilly insisted.

“Because Rose is wounded,” Thayle cut in. “She's had her entire belief system torn away and been thrown into a new one that seems strange and confusing to her. At least in Calathen, she won't have to face any challenges to her choices that might cause her to second guess them.”

“But I want her to stay with us,” Lilly insisted. “I know that sounds greedy, but she is our daughter and belongs here.”

Gersius smiled at how Lilly kept insisting that Rose was their daughter. She saw everything in terms of family, and the more people she could include in that title, the better. She loved to call Ayawa her wed mother and even teased Tavis by calling him father. Gedris was her mother's wife, so Lilly started calling her a mother-in-law. Gersius had tried to explain the incorrect usage of the term, but Lilly wouldn't hear of it. She wanted them all as family, and that was that.

“If you love your daughter, you have to consider what is best for her,” Gersius cut in. “Will it cause her more harm to make her face such trials so soon after her defection?” He could read Lilly's thoughts as she worked out her feelings and weighed them against the possible negative outcomes. He didn't need her to speak to know that she wanted to keep Rose close but knew in her heart she would be safer in Calathen.

“Maybe we should ask her,” Lilly said after a long pause, finding a third option to avoid sending her away. He could feel Lilly's anguish at having her family away from her, so he proposed another option. He suggested Rose could travel with the army but would be confined to camp during engagements. She would not be expected to fight or used in any offensive capacity, especially to deal with other dragons.

He could feel Sarah was against the idea, but he also didn't like the idea of Rose being alone in Calathen. She needed the support of her family if she was going to come to terms with the changes that were plaguing her life. She was, in many ways, a sign of hope. A dragon whose curse was broken without the bind to help it along. He was sure it had a great deal to do with the time spent in the dream where Rose was free of her curse and allowed to feel, but they never expected it to last. When Rose flew off to return to her master, they thought they had seen the last of her. Lilly’s dangerous plan managed to bring Rose back in a stroke of divine providence he would forever be grateful for.

“So I can assume none of you agree with me,” Sarah rumbled over the bind.

“It isn't a matter of agreeing,” Gersius replied. “You are right, she would be safer in Calahten, but she would also be alone when what she needs most right now is her mother. If Thayle’s egg has taught us anything, it is that sometimes family cannot wait for the war to be over.”

“That was you who wouldn’t wait,” Sarah countered. “But I understand your point. I suppose I want her close as well, but I am so afraid for her.”

“You are a mother,” Thayle replied. “It is only natural for you to worry about your daughter.”

“But is that distraction appropriate as we march to war?” Sarah asked. “You feel a tension inside whenever you think about your egg. We all sense it across the bind when you worry if it will be safe.”

“Of course I do,” Thayle said as she even now worried about the egg. “That is part of being a family. You never stop worrying about the ones you love, especially if you think there could be danger. What you are doing right now is perfectly normal. You have gotten your daughter back, and now you worry that you might lose her again by exposing her to what is coming. You have to remember that Rose is a grown woman, even more mature than Lilly, and she has to face these challenges. You can't protect her from everything; if you did, she would likely resent you for it.”

“We dragons do not have much parenting knowledge,” Sarah said as she considered Thayle's words. “Keep them warm, fed, and not fighting until they are old enough to leave the nest. We also do our best to teach them our language, writing, and other skills, but few show any genuine interest in learning until they are a few hundred years old. Of course, the curse complicates everything, making it much harder to teach them our history.”

“Another way Solesta's curse is destroying our kind,” Lilly said. “I wasn't interested in my mother's lessons. All I wanted was to get out and start hoarding metals to sleep on. What did I need to know the human language for? Or why would I care about the names of divines? She supposedly wanted to save us from the change humans would bring and preserve our way of life, but in the end, she destroyed it and left us even more worthless. Now our children rush out of the nest with half of what they should know or less. I knew almost nothing of the dream except that it existed, and we went there when we slept. Yet I bed my mother could have taught me so much more.”

“It is a terrible shame that dragon children are in such a hurry to leave,” Sarah agreed.

“And they grow quickly?” Gersius asked.

“A dragon is usually ready to leave when it is twenty years old,” Sarah replied. “Most stay until they are closer to thirty, but dragons are driven to seek their own lair where they feel safe enough to sleep. They find it hard to do that with a mother dragon or other siblings stumbling about.”

“It's hard to believe that a creature who lives to be thousands of years old grows as fast as a human does in the early years, then practically stops aging in the time to follow,” Thayle said. “I suppose that will make it easy for our children to blend into human society.”

“Assuming they aren't dragons or something in between,” Sarah reminded. “Have any of you considered that they might come out looking as your dragon forms do?”

“I had,” Gersius admitted as he reconsidered the point. He assumed that if they were born very dragon-like that they would have a human form as well. This would allow them to mingle in human society and enjoy a life that would otherwise be difficult to have.

“They will look human,” Lilly interjected, turning her head to look back at him. “I have seen it in your dreams many times.”

Gersius nodded as he knew the dreams she was speaking of and wondered if she was right. Was he seeing an image of their future with children from every wife? Even Sarah had provided a child in his most recent version of the dream, completing a dream as dear to his heart as his faith in the divine. Lilly still worried about her absence from it, but that didn't mean anything. Thayle wasn't present as well, but then why was he pointing to a distant star and telling his young daughter that it was her mother? He felt distress over the bind from Lilly and realized she was reading his thoughts as she always did and quickly put the thought out of his mind. He tried to think of happier things for the rest of the journey, doing his best to assure his wives that the end, one way or another, was approaching.

Alayse proved to be well-equipped to think ahead. She first sent Jessivel and the seekers ahead with heavy cavalry to secure the tunnel entrance. Then, when the army was in sight of the mountains, they dared to delve inside, pressing on until they reached a valley nestled between the peaks. They found the remnants of the Doan's passage, but it appeared that most of their army stayed in the tunnels. Gersius mused that this was probably where the army was hidden when Sarah flew over.

Hushed whispers spread over the masses of people as they began to enter tunnels that were tall enough for Lilly to walk in with her head high. Sarah had to take her human form and ride on Lilly's back with Rose beside her so they could continue talking. Gersius marveled at the work done to make these tunnels and how several dragons must have been digging for years. It was more proof of how long the enemy had prepared for this confrontation. With what they knew about the ultimate goal, the enemy had no choice but to start the war, but they never needed to push beyond the border keeps. That was why the Doan were truly waiting; they had already achieved the goal the dragons wanted. Everything beyond that point was to keep Gersius guessing and tie down his armies. These tunnels were dug to take him by surprise and force him to fight a bloody campaign inside the empire.

Tied down with such a war, the eclipse would come and go, and the enemy would triumph. What happened to the Doan after that would be meaningless to them. Balisha would likely be gone, Lilly and Sarah would have no human forms, and the divine order would be radically changed. So many traps were laid to try and keep him away from the prize, and yet they failed. He now knew what they were after and when; he just didn't know exactly where.

They used the woman of Ulustrah to hold up their magical water lights and illuminate the tunnels. For nearly three hours, they marched until coming out onto a mountain wide with a ledge wide enough for twenty to walk abreast. It was good for the people to see the sun and be out of the cave, but the trip outside lasted only forty minutes before passing into another tunnel. Alayse drove them a good thirty miles into a mountain valley where the bulk of the camp was made. Thousands were still in the tunnels, but the public spaces and meal areas were outside, so everyone had a reason to escape the cave.

That night was tense as they expected some effort to prevent them from using the tunnels, but no threat materialized. Rose ate with them, enjoying roast meats, seasoned vegetables, and a little wine. Gersius wanted to laugh at how much dragons enjoyed wine, coveting it like gold. Rose and Lilly drained a whole bottle, and the two began to tell stories of how they annoyed their mothers as Sarah rolled her eyes.

That night he sat in meditation as he heard a haunting song flowing softly on the wind. He knew the voice was Thayle's, so he followed it to her egg, where he found the woman sitting on the floor with the egg in her lap as she sang to it. The words were in the native tongue of the silver isles that he didn't understand, but he felt Thayle's knowledge of them over the bind.

“Come to the sun, oh little one; the stars are off to bed. Open your eyes and see the skies, and off to play again. Run in the rain and blowing winds; the days are yours to keep. Fear not the world, oh little child, for your mother is always here.”

Gersius felt a power in her words as Thayle promised her child a world where fear could not touch it. She would be the barrier between the darkness of the world and the child she loved, growing in her lap. She looked up when she felt his emotions stir and smiled to see him watching.

“It’s a silly old rhyme from my homelands,” Thayle said. “Every mother sings it a little differently.

“It is beautiful to hear it in your native language,” Gersius said as she knelt beside her and ran a hand over the egg. “And I am glad you became a mother. I can tell you harbored a desire for children.”

“All women think about having children,” Thayle replied with a smile. “But some of us are too afraid to plan it out and make it happen. Instead, we allow nature to take its course and hope that when it does, we will be ready.”

“Surely many women come to your order for fertility blessings,” Gersius suggested.

“Oh, they do,” Thayle smiled and rubbed his hand as it slid over the egg. “But a child is a big responsibility, and I think we fear it. No woman wants to be called a bad mother, and they worry they don't have the strength to be a good one. So they let their years slip away, telling themselves in one more year, they will be ready, and then they wake up one day and realize they waited too long. The flower of youth is passed, and their body is slowly changing.”

“You are still very much in the flower of your youth,” Gersius assured her.

“Oh, I love it when you lie to me,” Thayle laughed. “I am still young enough, but I wasted a few years.”

“So this is my niece or nephew?” came Sophia's voice as she strode up on the pair. She smiled to see the egg in Thayle's lap and politely asked if she could touch it. Thayle invited her to sit beside them, and Sophia ran her hand over the egg as Thayle explained how it happened.

“So you both are becoming like the dragons,” Sophia said.

“In many ways,” Gersius replied. “We hardly sleep. We don’t need to eat, and we find the darkness as bright as the day.”

“How very interesting,” Sophia said, taking her hand away. “And what will the child be? I assume dragon because of the egg.”

“Lilly says it will be human,” Thayle replied. “Gersius keeps dreaming about them, and she is always watching our thoughts. She has seen his dream several times and see's her daughter as well as my son.”

“How does she watch your thoughts?” Sophia asked with a genuine look of confusion.

Gersius sat down and explained how they were all bound together. As such, they shared one heart and heard each other's thoughts. If they were as close enough, they could even see vague images of what the other was thinking about. If they were touching, it was as if the thought was their own. They could watch a dream as if they were experiencing it themselves.”

“All four of you are bound by that silly old magic?” Sophia asked. “I always thought that was nonsense. All the stories about magic above and beyond the divine.”

“The divine shape is the weave that creates the world, but above them is a magic of a higher order,” Gersius said, repeating a lesson taught in most schools. Of course, nobody knew much of the ancient magic besides the old song of binding by a true name. True names were also something of the old magic, a power above and beyond that supersedes even the divine. It was learning his true name that made him aware that the old magic had to be real and sparked an interest in what was lost. Unfortunately, he was a soldier in the order of Astikar, and duty always took him away. He never had time to devote to wondering about the mysteries of the world or the legends of past glories.

“Some day you will,” Thayle promised.

“He will what?” Sophia asked.

“He was thinking he never had time to ponder the mysteries of the world. I was saying that someday he will have time to spare to ponder it all,” Thayle said.

“So you don’t need to speak to communicate?” Sophia asked.

“No,” Thayle replied and rocked her egg carefully. “We can feel each other's emotions and see the light that reflects them. We have no need to speak when we are near to one another, but we do for others' benefit.”

“So Lilly was telling you all everything that was happening?” Sophia asked.

“Lilly was far enough away that we could no longer hear her,” Gersius replied. “She was communicating with Ayawa through a magic the dragons call the dream. It is a world they enter when they sleep and live an almost second life. The older they get, the longer they dwell there until one day they stay, leaving this world forever.”

“That sounds very sad,” Sophia said. “So they will fade away on you, eventually?”

“Thayle and I will be long gone by then,” Gersius said. “We have been given many gifts from the dragons, but long years is not one of them. Sarah will go first, and Lilly will follow thousands of years behind. By the time she passes over, no one will remember the war we fought here or what was at stake. Time will have forgotten us.”

“You sound terribly fatalistic, and how terrible it will be for poor Lilly to be the last,” Sophia lamented. “But at least you will have children to carry on your blood.”

“Maybe they will live a little longer,” Thayle pondered. “After all, they have some of the dragon blood.”

“Perhaps,” Gersius agreed as he looked at the egg. “But I pray we will be together again in the heavens.”

“Of course, we will,” Thayle smiled. “We are one soul, and we cannot be divided.”

Gersius nodded in agreement and wished the two well. He then walked across the camp to find Lilly sitting with Rose as Sarah worked with Tavis on practicing the fire weave. Ayawa had her back against a rock as Gedris curled to her chest, the two women content to be together.

“Thayle feels warm,” Lilly said as he approached. “I could tell you were with her.”

“She is singing to her child,” Gersius said.

“Why do the humans sing?” Rose asked as he sat beside Lilly.

“They sing because it's beautiful,” Lilly replied, promptly leaning into him. “And because it stirs their emotions. There is a power in singing that I still don't quite understand, but I know it's there.”

Gersius could see Rose was watching their closeness as he put his arm around Lilly and held her tight. She was struggling with these displays of affection and wondering if she would like them.

“I wonder if dragons ever had a song of their own,” Lilly said as she closed her eyes. “I wonder what we would sing about if we did.”

“Probably gold and sleeping,” Gersius suggested as she smiled.

“I wish we could sleep for a week,” Lilly sighed as she nestled in. “I just want you to hold me until I feel rested.” Gersius wished that, too, and wondered if there would come a time when they could take that week and do nothing but sleep. He looked across the yard to where Ayawa and Gedris sat, both women sharing the same idea, as they slept in a warm embrace. The war had turned in their favor, and they were finally moving to take the offensive. One way or another, the war would end, and they would be faced with what comes after. Would they be able to lay in each other's arms, sleeping a day away as they played in the dream, or would those days be filled with tears as Lilly and Sarah cried over the loss of their human forms? He supposed they could always be together in the dream, but would that be enough?

“I want you with me here and there,” Lilly said softly. “I will die if I lose my human form.”

“Why?” Rose asked in confusion. “Why is this so important to you?”

“Because I love him,” Lilly replied and slipped into sleep, her breathing slowing as she drifted away. Gersius kissed the top of her head and looked out over a fire, smiling as he remembered this moment the day he set Lilly free. He was sure she would leave and go home, but instead, she came to his side and clung to him. She wanted to stay and be a part of his life, but she didn't know why. All she knew was she missed the connection they shared, and she desperately wanted it back. How had those painful, confused days led to this? How had they survived all that chaos to have two additional wives, eggs, and a dream of a home hidden in her valley?

He smiled and began to rock her gently. “Dream of our home,” he whispered to her. “Dream of the happiness we will have when all we do is live for each other.”

“I do not understand why a dragon and a human interact as you do,” Rose said.

Gersius smiled and looked her way before letting out a comforted sigh. “One day, when you least expect it, a man is going to make you so curious that you find it difficult not to think about him. Slowly you will discover that being with him is more important than anything you once thought valuable. Then, without warning, you will realize you are in love, and you will understand.”

“You think this could happen to me?” Rose asked.

“I know it will,” Gersius said as she rubbed Lilly’s arm. “And when it does, run to it and don’t look back.”

“Hmm,” Rose rumbled as she looked away. “I do not see the value in it, but I cannot deny that she has something I have not seen in our kind before.”

“And what is that?” Gersius asked.

“Happiness,” Rose replied. “And more than anything, I wish I could experience it as she does.”

“You will,” Gersius assured her. “One day, you will sit down to a meal with us, and we will talk about this conversation and laugh. You will be happy, and all will be as it should be.”

“But how do I begin?” Rose asked as a flare of fire flew into the air, lighting up the camp as Tavis practiced.

Gersius smiled as she showed genuine interest in being more than she was. Lilly had once again touched another by being an example of love and happiness. Now Rose wanted to find the path and walk it with her, tasting that sacred fruit. Soon Rose would find somebody who captivated her interest, and then she would begin the painful steps of trying to understand her new emotions. With some luck and a lot of help from Thayle, she, too, would find her way through the storm and come out asleep in the arms of the man or perhaps the woman she loved.

“You have already begun,” Gersius assured her and rubbed Lilly. “And you will never regret it.”