Hero

Peregrine reached down between her feet and pulled the back hem of her skirt forward and up, tucking it securely in the front of her waistband. “Voilà, pantaloons. Now, up!” He knelt, and she used his leg to launch herself onto Betwixt’s back.

Peregrine rested one hand on Betwixt’s back and vaulted himself up after her. “Let’s fly!” he a

“Wait!” yelled Saturday.

The mountain rumbled and roared again. More bits of the ceiling crumbled down into the lair. Earthfire crept slowly across the floor. A few fist-sized rocks rolled under Betwixt’s hooves and Peregrine worried about his friend breaking a leg. One of the rocks leapt onto Peregrine’s skirt and crawled into his lap. It shook off the dust to reveal the ginger fur beneath.

“A brownie?”

“Just let it come,” said Saturday.

There was little time to argue over the wisdom of saving a rodent. Peregrine urged the notch-eared brownie into his pocket and signaled to Betwixt that they were ready.

The pegasus broke into a solid gallop across the lair and up the pile of fallen rubble. Peregrine worried about their speed, the weight of them on the chimera’s back, and the sword at his side banging into Saturday’s leg. Then Saturday wrapped her arms around his waist, Betwixt spread his wings, and Peregrine worried about nothing at all.

Hot steam and the cold night stung his cheeks; he opened his mouth and breathed them in together. They tasted like freedom. Betwixt’s wing beats came slow and even, each one carrying them farther and farther away from the prison that had been their home.

Peregrine turned to look back at the mountain. It looked so peaceful at this distance, like a cake dusted with sugar on a midnight-velvet table. The vents of steam might have been birthday candles, just blown out. Ice crystals twinkled on the peak like the stars above would have, had they not been hidden beneath row upon row of brilliant ice clouds that shone down upon them, all the colors of the rainbow.

“The Northern Lights!” Peregrine called to Saturday, and she followed his pointing finger up to the heavens. He took in their beauty, closed his eyes, and memorized the view. When he opened them back up he saw Saturday smiling at him with those bright eyes he had loved for so long. He leaned into her slightly, hoping to steal one more kiss without throwing Betwixt off balance.

Behind them, the mountain erupted.

Earthfire spilled down the mountainside. Shards of ice flew past them, biting into their legs and Betwixt’s flanks. Despite the danger, the chimera spread his wings wide and rode the drafts of air, refusing to let them force him to the ground. They spun and spun, jumping from one draft to another until Betwixt found suitable purchase.

Peregrine’s stomach rolled over. Saturday’s arms tightened around his chest. Peregrine folded his arms on top of hers and curled into the wind, squeezing his legs against Betwixt and praying for them to stay balanced and airborne. He wished for a saddle, and then chuckled at the idea of wasting a wish on something so ridiculous.

They spun around again, and Peregrine watched as the tip of the mountain was blown high into the air. As if in slow motion, the giant crystal pyramid hovered before splintering into a million pieces. Those splinters didn’t fly out; instead, the pyramid expanded, growing wider and wider before it threw its head back and roared.

The dragon awoke from its sleeping death and took to the skies.

In his youth, Peregrine had heard stories about Lord Death and his angels with their wings of feathers and fire. This Death rode the chaotic currents on wings of ice and stone. The beast was alive, and it was not happy.

Saturday’s arms locked around Peregrine. Had he been able to manage it he would have told her not to look, not to turn her head and risk the dragonfear, but what mortal could resist gazing upon such a legend of dangerous beauty? The beast was magnificent; having slumbered so long inside the mountain, it was now truly a part of it. Its white horn and beak stood out prominently, but they were decorated with more small peaks where there should have been none, all across the dragon’s face and wing coverts. Its claws and primaries looked to be carved of pure, clear crystal, as did its eyes, though they burned red with rage and flame.

The dragon opened its mouth again. The belly of the beast rumbled like the mountain. Earthfire shot from its mouth and spewed across the distance in their direction. The flame glowed pink through the vanes of Betwixt’s translucent wings, outlining the quills and revealing just how little kept them all from tumbling to their deaths. Peregrine felt the heat of the blast on his face. Betwixt caught the updraft and let it carry them farther away from the mountain.

The chimera’s wing beats came faster. The dragon screeched after its prey. In his pocket, Peregrine felt the brownie’s claws against his skin as they seized up in fear. The weight of the rodent moved up his leg; Peregrine thought it might fall out of his pocket, but only a whiskered nose and two very pointed teeth poked through to witness the majesty of their hunter.

His hands twisted deeply into Betwixt’s soft mane, Peregrine turned to look back again. The dragon’s wings scooped the air and thrust it back, propelling it forward at a speed that cut the distance between them in half. This time, the dragonfear took him. His lungs turned to ice and his breath left him. The dragon was close, so close that Peregrine could make out the rows of its hungry teeth. The next fiery breath would consume them. His eyes wide, Peregrine gasped for air that would not come.

Saturday’s face moved in to interrupt his view of the dragon. Peregrine blinked. She planted a quick kiss on his lips that melted the dragonfear that gripped him, and he shuddered as he drew in a cold, misty lungful of life. Her eyes twinkled. They were about to die. Why was she smiling?

Between them, she held up her dagger, seized a handful of his long hair, and sawed it off. She muttered something into the dark bundle and threw it up into the air above her head, releasing it directly into the dragon’s path. The blue-green band on her wrist sparkled like her bright eyes. Peregrine watched as the hair floated peacefully on the wind, waiting. When the dragon was but a breath away, the strands turned into crystalwings. The mad black and blue flock of them flew into the face of the beast, attacking and confusing it. Peregrine thought he could smell blood on the currents as the sharp crystalwings bit into the dragon’s thick skin.

“DIVE!” Saturday yelled to Betwixt. Peregrine leaned forward and pressed his face into Betwixt’s mane, summoning the strength to hold on. The pegasus folded his wings, bent his head forward, and they plummeted through the atmosphere.

Peregrine could feel Saturday’s scream of excitement into his back. He cried out too, letting loose into the freezing night air all the frustration he’d been holding inside himself for so many years. The freedom was intoxicating.

Now that they were low enough, Betwixt played hide-and-seek through the clouds as they flew farther south, descending all the time over the peaks and valleys of pure white snow. The dragon fell back but did not tire, trumpeting in triumph every time it spotted them again and regained pursuit.

They might make it. Dear gods in the heavens, they might actually survive this!

To his left, Peregrine saw the morning sun peek over the horizon. But as the fingers of dawn rose to greet them, they also revealed another peril: what Peregrine had thought were snowy plains below them were waves on a vast ocean, whitecapped, beautiful, and deadly.

Peregrine had seen hundreds of maps, and at no point did he remember the ocean rising to meet the mountains. Worse still, there were naught but wispy, rainbow-hued clouds to hide them from the dragon. Nor was there any place to land once Betwixt grew too tired to fly.