As expected, Insoo took the lead with introductions and questions. He only gave his name and dragon first, before needing more information. “What are you doing out here?”

            “Helping Fantor keep control of their wild dragon population,” she answered easily enough. “At least before we found this place,” she added, gesturing towards the formation behind them. From the ground, it reminded Taekwoon even more of an aerie and he shivered.

            “How did you know we might be looking for you?” Insoo asked, glancing around the other riders warily.

            “Word gets around,” she smiled with a flippant wave of her hand. Maybe but not usually that kind of word.

            “Why didn’t you try to get in contact with any of the other wings that came through this area?” he continued.

            Chaerin shrugged and looked at her companions. “We only saw two and neither of them camped nearby. When we saw a third wing – all from Bahamut’s Aerie,” she gestured at them collectively, “we figured it might be a good idea to see what you wanted.”

            Insoo mulled over that answer. It was reasonable enough, if not entirely to his liking. “Any reason you didn’t show yourself last night?”

            “It was night and we didn’t know if we could trust you yet,” she admitted with a coy smile. “I am surprised you managed to notice I was there at all, though. Usually, I’m better than that.”

            “Okay. But why the setup? Why not just introduce yourself normally during the day?”

            “Would you have trusted me if I had?” she asked simply, chuckling low under her breath.

            “No, but I’m hardly inclined to trust you now,” he retorted, glancing around at the larger number of dragons and riders around them.

            “Oh come now,” she almost frowned. “I volunteered to become your prisoner since I knew it might make you feel more comfortable when you were outnumbered.”

            “Interesting logic,” he muttered back.

            “You’re still here. I’m still unharmed. And we’re talking,” she smiled, shifting her hands to rest on her riding belt. “So. Considering I’m the leader of this rather unique group, what might Bahamut’s Aerie have to offer us to make it worthwhile to help you?”

            It was not a question Insoo was expecting by the way his lips thinned and his brow furrowed. “I am not one to make such offers. If you are who you say you are and you are truly interested, for compensation, I would ask that you come with us to Bahamut’s Aerie instead.”

            Chaerin shook her head and took a half-step back. “That would be folly. I could not ask my friends to follow so blindly into what could very easily be a trap for those such as us.”

            On one hand, the answer made sense. It would certainly be easier to capture a group such as theirs at a stronghold. But on the other hand, if they had wanted to attack or capture them, chances were good they would have been trying a different approach here. Her response felt too much like an excuse to him, but it did make him look around at the other riders present. The dragons he had no ability to read beyond their body language. They were all fairly relaxed and confident. If it came to a fight, there was a reasonable chance they’d win and they knew it. Only Fei was still agitated and that was largely because her rider was still in possible danger. As a result, he wasn’t really worried about the dragons. His larger concern was with the riders as a whole. Chaerin alone really unsettled him, but as he looked at the others, there was something subtle about them too. Once more, he didn’t know what it was, but his gut was telling him something didn’t add up.

            “Like this could be folly for us?” Insoo prompted, glancing around the circle.

            “Only if you want it to be,” she shrugged. “You are free to go from here. We won’t keep you. But if you wish for our assistance, I feel it would behoove us to get to know each a little more first.”

            “Now that could be folly for us,” Insoo hedged. “How do we know you are not of Tiamat’s Aerie? It is not so difficult to choose not to wear obvious signs after all.”

            “Hence why I suggested we get to know each other better. I never said you had to give sensitive information,” she assured him with an easy smile. “Either way. You’re free to decide. We are going to continue exploring what was probably once an aerie,” she added, deftly turning away as if daring him to attack her.

            For one brief moment, Taekwoon almost wished Insoo would. He had no good reason for it though, and he was just glad when it passed. Shaking his head quickly, he watched their wing leader stay his hand and take a deep breath. He looked around at the other dragons and riders who were drifting apart as they wandered further into the complex, and then turned to his wing mates. They could all see he was conflicted. “I may be your wing leader but this affects all of us. Thoughts?” he asked, meeting their gazes individually.

            Wooyoung was the first to speak, albeit hesitantly. “If they were going to do something, they’ve had plenty of time to do it. At this point, we might as well look into it.”

            His statement got thoughtful responses all around. “I don’t trust them, but… if they are able to help us, it would make up for the wing we lost,” Taeyeon sighed, biting her bottom lip.

            “We could also try to get more information from them,” Jinyoung shrugged. “How many there are. How they bonded without Bahamut’s or Tiamat’s Blood. What they actually want to do now.”

            Insoo nodded at their thoughts and then glanced at the two who hadn’t spoken yet. “Jungkook? Taekwoon?”

            “I don’t know,” Jungkook shook his head and shrugged. “If they’re not going to hurt us, it can’t hurt to at least talk to them.”

            When Insoo glanced at him, Taekwoon just nodded, “What he said.” He couldn’t just say he didn’t like her because she unsettled him. Especially when none of them seemed to have a similar feeling. He suspected it was because of his dragon half but unless he had more to go on…

            “Okay. I guess we’ll stay and… talk,” Insoo hummed. “Pair up though. Don’t go anywhere alone. That goes for you guys too,” he added, looking at the dragons. “And if anything does happen, don’t try to be a hero,” he snorted with a wry smile, though his tone was completely serious.

            Not entirely surprisingly, they ended up pairing off like they had the evening before. It was just easier that way. While the humans headed further into the structure, the dragons remained behind to nose about with the other dragons. Taekwoon kept in constant contact with Jonghyun and he suspected the others were doing the same too.

            Wary. Curious. Wonder about Aerie. Tell them?

            General information. Taekwoon hid a smile as his dragons immediately had more success than he and Jungkook. Granted, it didn’t help they had further to go. Entirely against his better judgement, Taekwoon set a path that would lead them more or less to Chaerin. It wasn’t his intention to stalk her exactly, but he felt better when he could see where she was. When he could confirm that she wasn’t up to something.

            “You okay?” Jungkook asked as they made their way at a distance.

            Surprised by the question, Taekwoon glanced at the slightly taller man. “Sure. Why?”

            “You keep looking at her,” he answered with a subtle nod towards Chaerin.

            “I don’t trust her,” he admitted easily, glancing at the woman again.

            “I don’t either but you’re like really looking at her,” Jungkook explained with slightly narrowed eyes.

            Taekwoon grimaced and forced himself to take a breath and relax. “Sorry. I don’t like that she was able to get so close without us knowing. Even less that I couldn’t find her last night. At all.”

            “Ah,” Jungkook nodded in understanding. He could get that. After all, he’d experienced it too. His expression turned suddenly thoughtful when it was obvious he was listening to his dragon. “V says they’ve been a group for a little over a year now. Huh.”

            “Same people?” Taekwoon wondered with a sidelong glance at Chaerin. She seemed to be a bit closer than last time.

            “Some come and go, but this seems to be a pretty regular number for them,” he explained.

            “Interesting,” Taekwoon murmured, scanning the structure briefly. Whatever buildings might have been here had long since collapsed but along the back wall, he could easily see caves that might well have been able to house creatures as large as dragons. Didn’t look like there were any remains of a tower though. “We should go check the back out,” he gestured, frowning when he was almost positive Chaerin was closer this time.

            “Okay.”

            Walking together, Taekwoon’s back prickled like he was being watched. He had to fight the urge to turn around, but he was pretty sure if he did, she would be looking. Caves. Maybe an old well. Building remains. Maybe aerie, he sent to Jonghyun.

            Mate find old animal pen. Bones. Many, he responded, voice proud.

            “Strange,” Jungkook frowned, his thoughts inward. “V says all the dragons here have been raised from the egg.”

            “Eh?” Taekwoon chirped, looking at his companion in confusion.

            “Indeed.” He flinched when Chaerin’s voice appeared nearby. “My apologies for listening in,” she bowed a few paces away. “I was merely curious.”

            Both Taekwoon and Jungkook glared at her slightly. Her ability to sneak up on them notwithstanding, they had no excuse not to speak to her now. “How did you get a dragon egg?” Taekwoon asked darkly. Everyone knew it was next to impossible unless you killed the mother. Even then, raising a wild was said to be incredibly difficult.

            “It was a gift from my father,” she answered without hesitation.

            “Okay, but how did you raise her? The babies are wild and without Bahamut’s Blood to give them intelligence in the binding…” Jungkook trailed off.

            “They’re not unlike pets in the beginning,” she confirmed with a nod, “but in time, they can be taught. They are very smart creatures,” she promised, her voice genuinely earnest. “And very loyal.”

            “What about Trance and speaking with your dragon?” Taekwoon asked with narrowed eyes.

            Chaerin’s smile was disarming. “Any human can enter Trance with a dragon if both will it. It just took me quite some time to earn that trust with Fei,” she shrugged, blinking at the memory. “As for the connection I’ve heard most riders share… we don’t really have it. At least not with words. I can feel what she feels and vice versa, but I have to be listening for it. What about you? I believe you were talking with your dragon just now?” she gestured towards Jungkook.

            “Yeah,” he answered hesitantly, glancing at Taekwoon. “We were speaking. Not complex sentences but enough to get the point across,” he explained. Taekwoon knew that was because shorter bursts of information were better for dragons. Like when they spoke in their natural form, many ‘words’ were left out in lieu of the actual important information.

            “You too?” she asked, gesturing at Taekwoon.

            “Yes,” he answered, guarded. His response seemed to amuse her while Jungkook was mildly embarrassed. It was rude, he knew, but he did not owe her politeness yet.

            “Gentlemen,” she smiled, her eyes crinkling in a way that was strangely familiar to Taekwoon. “You have me at a disadvantage. You know my name but I have yet to learn yours.”

            Jungkook looked at Taekwoon with a shrug. When Taekwoon shook his head just a bit, the other rider raised a brow and snorted softly before he looked at Chaerin again. “I’m Jungkook and this is Taekwoon,” he introduced, earning a sidelong look from Taekwoon and a smile from Chaerin.

            “Nice to meet you,” she bowed slightly, glancing between them. “If I remember right, you both have blues, yes?” she prompted, pointing them between them.

            Again, Jungkook was the first to answer. “Yes. I have V and he has Jongup, though one of the coppers is his too.” Taekwoon wanted to step on the other man’s foot.

            “Oh?” Chaerin hummed in thoughtful surprise. “I was wondering. How is it that you ended up with two dragons, Taekwoon?”

            He hid his frown and looked at Chaerin. In calling his name, she was directly asking him and while he didn’t mind being acceptably rude, blatantly ignoring her now wasn’t really an acceptable option. “It just happened. I was trying to bind one then the other showed up and I had no choice,” he explained, purposefully being vague. Oh, there was a lot more to it, but he wasn’t about to go into it with her. She’s prying. You? he sent curiously to his dragon.

            He got an immediate response, as if the other was keyed into their conversation. Wing mates being friendly. New riders smell… strange.

            Why? Taekwoon had to school his features not to react and focus far harder than normal to appear as if he was paying complete attention to Chaerin instead.

            Unsure.

            “Fascinating,” she murmured during his exchange, taking a step closer with obvious interest in her eyes.

            Taekwoon wasn’t exactly positive about the kind of interest it was and he didn’t want to know. Forcing his attention to the remains around them, he stepped around Jungkook to put space between him and Chaerin and pointed at the structures nearby. “What made you stop and check this place out?”

            Undeterred, she drew close to Jungkook with a reassuring smile. “We were originally seeking shelter from a storm,” she explained, leaning around the taller man to peer at Taekwoon. “But when it cleared, we saw these were not just normal caves.”

            “Right. Those would be the sleeping caves and that could have been the Training Hall,” Jungkook gestured, his voice a little higher than usual as he explained.

            “Agreed,” Chaerin nodded with a warm smile. “And we think those stones over there might have been the dorm but there’s also another structure inside the mountains, like an open cave that we aren’t sure about,” she pointed, drawing both their gazes towards the low peaks ahead.

            “Oh. Maybe we can check it out a bit later,” Jungkook offered, glancing between Chaerin and Taekwoon eagerly. By the looks of it, Taekwoon had the feeling he was slightly enamored with the young woman. There was no denying she was attractive – for a woman – and she certainly had charm, but none of that helped Taekwoon get over the fact that she made him uncomfortable.

            “Maybe. Perhaps you and your aerie dragons might have a better idea about what it could mean,” she suggested, once more looking between the two with open interest.

            “Sure,” Jungkook offered, blinking when he realized he answered fairly quickly. “I mean after we check back in with Insoo,” he covered, glancing at Taekwoon with the hint of embarrassment, though the slight flush in his cheeks could have meant something more.

            “Your wing leader,” Chaerin nodded in clarification. “How does that work? You only have six dragons but wouldn’t a larger number be better?” she wondered, clearly comparing their current forces.

            Before Jungkook could put his foot in his mouth again, Taekwoon answered, “Like any combat force. We look to our wing leader for guidance and when joined in a larger squad, we act as one as needed under the squad leader.”

            “Huh. It all sounds so severe,” she shrugged, stepping around in front of them. “I mean, I’m technically the leader of our group, but I’m not a combat strategist.”

            Dragons trained for formation fighting? he sent to Jonghyun quickly before asking Chaerin directly. “So can you fight then?”

            “Some,” she shrugged, letting her hand drop to the daggers at her waist.

            A little, came the less than reassuring response.

            “And your dragons?” he asked, seeking confirmation.

            She shrugged and gestured to the remains again. “Dragons are natural combatants in the air. And we’ve a large enough force here not to have to worry about strict formations,” she added, wandering a bit closer. “That’s not to say we couldn’t be trained appropriately. If it’s agreed that we should join forces, I mean,” she backpedaled quickly with a flippant wave of her hand.

            Taekwoon wasn’t that eager to take the bait, but Jungkook was far less wary. “From what I’ve heard, it sounds like you – your group, wouldn’t be a bad addition to the Aerie,” he murmured a little too eagerly. A thought did occur to him though and he frowned. “Can you control your dragons?”

            At least Chaerin was surprised by the question as well. Something about her response made Taekwoon take notice and he frowned slightly at the hint of tension that ran through her. Fear maybe? It was gone almost before he could really say he saw something and she forced a laugh with a dismissive wave. “Of course not. Why would we need to?”

            Jungkook shrugged, having completely missed the brief shift. “In case you need to keep your dragon from doing something they shouldn’t be doing.”

            “Like what?” Chaerin asked, honestly curious.

            Jungkook seemed at a loss for an immediate answer, but Taekwoon had a dry response to offer. “To keep one from killing a trainee in a Trial.”

            Jungkook nodded at the response but Chaerin merely frowned in thought. “With our dragons, we face no such trials,” she explained, motioning back towards where all the dragons and riders were. “We have earned their trust and respect from the egg. I would hope that after eight years, Fei would trust me enough and me her, for just about anything.”

            “Eight years?” Jungkook murmured in surprise, echoing the thought Taekwoon had. “I’ve only been with V for just over two now.”

            “And you?” she wondered in Taekwoon’s direction.

            He frowned but answered, “Only a few moons now.”

            “Strange,” Chaerin hummed. “You seem so close for such new bonds.”

            “It’s the Symbiosis,” Jungkook explained knowingly, making Taekwoon want to bite his tongue as if it would stop the other man.

            “I’ve heard about that,” she responded with interest as she stepped closer to Jungkook. “But most people don’t know and there aren’t many that will explain it to an outsider,” she added almost wistfully.

            “Because you’re an outsider,” Taekwoon answered deftly, remaining where he was. “The Trials are the business of the Aerie and the dragon and riders undergoing them.”

            “But she doesn’t have to be,” Jungkook reasoned with a shrug and a smile at Chaerin. “If they help us, we should be able to explain, right?” Chaerin’s smile was bright at his response.

            “If they help us, maybe,” Taekwoon confirmed reluctantly, his expression still wary as he met Chaerin’s gaze. He could see that she was getting at least a little frustrated with him. Good. Her charms might work on Jungkook, but he wasn’t so ready to just welcome them into the fold. “Which reminds me. We should probably check back in with the rest of our wing to see how their progress is going.”

            “Yeah,” Jungkook nodded with a look at Taekwoon. “Good idea.”

            “Indeed,” Chaerin hummed thoughtfully. “We should probably start thinking about the afternoon meal anyhow,” she added with a gesture towards the sky where the sun was steadily making its way above them.

            Taekwoon nodded in agreement and motioned for Jungkook to follow him as they retreated to the beginning of the structure. Chaerin followed closely along and again, Taekwoon had to resist the urge to look over his shoulder to watch her. He didn’t like her where he couldn’t see her. It mattered little when they regrouped with the rest of the wing and the other riders in the vicinity.

            Not surprisingly, they separated into their individual groups first, convening with each other about what they’d learned no doubt. They all confirmed essentially the same thing. All the riders had raised their dragons from the egg and most eggs had been gifts from a rich or powerful family member, though none were eager to name them.

            “Sounds like most of the people here might be half-caste,” Insoo murmured thoughtfully. “The egg’s a bribe to remain silent about their parentage.”

            “That’s a bit too convenient wouldn’t you think?” Wooyoung offered warily.

            “Maybe, but it would sort of match the idea of Nobles creating the false bonds for the most recent dragonrider pairs that are not of Tiamat or Bahamut,” Jinyoung suggested. “And it would explain how they’re bonded without using the Blood.”

            “They’re not combat oriented though,” Taekwoon reminded them softly. “The dragons can fight as dragons do but they have little to no actual training.”

            Insoo frowned but nodded. “I had suspected as much, but that’s not to say they can’t be taught. And really, they do at least have a working relationship, unlike rogues or wild dragons.”

            “And none of them seem to have any connection to Tiamat’s Aerie either,” Taeyeon added with a shrug. “Or aerie life for that matter. It really is like they’ve been raised outside of one their whole lives.”

            “So are we gonna ask them to help?” Jungkook asked, looking over at the other riders, not unlike several of his wing mates were doing too.

            “We’ll see,” Insoo commented, eyes narrowing when Chaerin started heading their way.

            She held her hands up as she approached and spoke first, “We were going to start a fire for the afternoon meal. There’s a nice valley on the other side of the mountains with good hunting for the dragons too, if they’re hungry.”

            Insoo glanced at his wing mates and then the dragons. They did need to feed in earnest soon. If they were all going to be in the same location and there was good hunting, it might be a good time indeed. “Are you offering to share your meal?” he wondered aloud.

            “We are,” she agreed with a gesture back towards the larger group. “We are interested in your predicament and would like to hear a little bit more over food, if you wouldn’t mind,” she suggested, giving a small, polite bow in the process.

            “Very well. What can we do to help?” Insoo asked as he stood up, taking responsibility for their stay.

            As a group, they broke up to help with the hunting for the humans first and once they’d gathered enough food for their fire, they allowed their dragons to follow after the new ones over the mountain. By the time they were able to start eating their prepared food, the dragons were already returning, happy and sated and content to nap in the sun around them. Content to let Insoo – or whoever in their group wanted to – do most of the talking, Taekwoon accepted his food and retreated to Jonghyun’s side where he could watch and listen warily without being disturbed. Next to his dragon, he felt more settled, but underlying that, there was still a sensation of being off kilter and it bothered him.

            Looking around at the new riders, they didn’t seem bad. They were not that different from his own wing mates, laughing and joking together as they exchanged stories and gave up little tidbits of information. Most were men but there were a couple of women and they all seemed content enough in their current situation. Every now and then, one would look his way curiously and sometimes ask someone nearby about it. He wasn’t so far away that he couldn’t hear the answers, even if it was hard to make out in its entirety.

            While the new riders were indeed mostly half-caste, the aerie riders were all orphans, given up, or promised away at a young age. Most were unpaired which brought them to the topic of Paramours. They were fascinated by the idea and wondered if they were similar to how the brothels worked in the cities. Yes and no. Paramours could choose who they paired with and no money was exchanged. Of course that prompted a round of asking who had been and the majority volunteered information. One of those questions was directed towards Taekwoon but a wing mate answered for him, explaining his partner.

            At that admission, eyes turned to him again but he was more interested in the weight of Chaerin’s gaze. Glancing at her in his periphery, he could see she might have been troubled. Why, he didn’t know, but her body language said she was more closed off than before. She was uncomfortable about something. Well good. At least now they were on the same page.

            He was just glad when they were finished eating and would have liked to have been on their way, but Chaerin suggested they stay and help them try to excavate the remains. “We’ve made some headway but aren’t you at least a little bit curious?” she asked. “An aerie from the old days. Before there was only Bahamut and Tiamat’s Aeries,” she went on, her face coming alive with real excitement.

            Even Taekwoon couldn’t deny he was curious. Especially if her statement was true. Records didn’t say much about the Aeries of old other than that they were generally aligned with one dragon or the other. The remains here called to him with what their secrets might be. The fact one still remained, even in ruins, was almost unbelievable. And if there was anything left in the library – if they could find it, might have a treasure trove of information. Especially because of what he had been able to learn from the new tomes in their own library.

            “Help us for the rest of your patrol duration, and if we don’t find anything, perhaps we can fly with you to your Aerie,” she suggested vaguely.

            Taekwoon was so intrigued by the idea that he almost missed the fact that it seemed as if her companions weren’t expecting the suggestion. Odd. It wasn’t anything obvious, but they had uncertain or blank expressions, though some were indeed eager like she herself seemed to be. This whole situation kept becoming less and less clear to Taekwoon, compounding his previous misgivings. On the other hand, the lure of a possible breakthrough in a library was hard to ignore as well.

            Part of him was glad when Insoo agreed with Chaerin’s suggestion and offer. Their time was already spoken for and since part of their patrol run had been intended to try and find this group of riders, they could safely spend a sevenday here and return to the Aerie by the end of another. The other part of him felt that nothing good could come of it and he was desperately trying not to buy into it. No one else seemed bothered and it reminded him of not that long ago when he felt he was going crazy.

            Not alone, Jonghyun surprised him, offering a solidarity he hadn’t expected.

            Oh?

            Riders smell strange. Dragons uneasy. Gold tense, he explained, exhaling slowly behind Taekwoon. Mate agrees.

            Chaerin? he wondered curiously, letting his gaze flicker to her again.

            Smell strange, was all the copper could seem to come up with. More like dragon. Not dragonrider, he eventually added, a statement that was only more confusing than enlightening.

            Well that was interesting. Keep watching, he encouraged, reaching up to pat Jonghyun’s side gratefully.

            Be careful, his dragon countered, one wing twitching.

            That he would be. After they broke their camp, they moved as a group towards the remains once more. True to their word, it did look as if someone had tried to clear away a bit of the rubble, but they hadn’t made much headway. Almost by wordless consent, dragons and riders drifted apart in small groups, tackling different remains in teams. Taekwoon was determined to see if there was a library so what he thought was the training hall would be the best place to start.

            Both Jonghyun and Jongup helped to start pulling larger pieces of rubble away at his direction. They had to drag some of the larger pieces back, which left space for someone else to join in nearby. He wasn’t entirely surprised, albeit uneasy, when a gold dragon joined in, grabbing a piece of debris and dragging it away so that Chaerin remained in her wake. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and then resumed his work without saying anything.

            “You don’t seem to like me very much,” she finally spoke, pushing a smaller piece of stone out of the way.

            “I don’t trust you,” he added without looking over, waving at Jonghyun to come help him with a larger piece.

            When it was gone and the dragon had stepped back, she asked, “Why?”

            “Let’s just call it a gut feeling,” he countered, lightly glaring at her from the side.

            She actually laughed at his explanation. “I have a feeling about you too,” she added, turning to look at him more fully. “You feel different from your wing mates,” she went on when he didn’t say anything. “More like a predator,” she explained, laughing once when he turned a very predatory look on her. “See?”

            “Like I said,” he murmured softly. “I don’t trust you.”

            Chaerin waved at Fei to help with another piece that proved too large and then looked at Taekwoon expectantly when another piece of rubble threatened to shift in turn. With a sigh, he gestured for Jonghyun to help while Jongup took another piece on the other side. As they left, she went on, “It’s more than that. You watch closer than your wing mates do. And you seem to actually sense things before they can.”

            Taekwoon’s gut clenched at the description. He knew that behavior was related to his dragon half but he wasn’t about to say as much. Frustrated, he grumbled, “What do you want with me?”

            “To talk,” she answered.

            “Why?” he snapped back.

            “It can’t hurt to get to know your next possible allies,” she admitted, though her eyes dropped to the stone without holding his gaze.

            “Then perhaps you should go speak with Insoo,” he suggested coldly. “As one leader to another, you’d likely be working with him more anyway,” he explained before turning away and resuming his task.

            She didn’t respond for a long moment and he was almost grateful for the silence. It let them work in earnest for a short time. At least until she spoke again. “You’ve only been with your dragons for such a short time and yet you seem so close already,” she sighed, the sound almost wistful.

            “Your point?” he asked without looking over.

            “What would you do to protect your dragons?” she asked, the sound so quiet he almost didn’t hear it.

            Taekwoon paused and turned to look directly at her. “Is that a threat?”

            “No. An honest question,” she promised, meeting his gaze evenly.

            He could see she was waiting for his answer, a strange sort of hope and determination looking back at him. It made him uncomfortable in a different way. “I would do whatever I had to,” he finally answered just as softly, hands balling into fists. “Why?”

            “Just curious,” she answered, the answer too flippant to be true. “We feel the same way about our dragons. Though it makes sense as we raised them from the egg,” she explained, reaching up to caress Fei’s jaw tenderly.

            Taekwoon was conflicted. That much was true. Even a blind man would have been able to see that she truly cared for her dragon. But he did not trust what she was asking about any more than he trusted her. It all made him feel even more uneasy. As he had nothing else that he could say, he didn’t say anything and focused instead on removing rubble. At least he could see a sort of opening becoming apparent.

            By midafternoon, they had managed to clear a path into the ruined building, though it would take more time to get further with the way it had collapsed. A couple other places had been somewhat opened as well, and the group was generally in good spirits about what they had found. They called a break shortly after and then agreed to do a little more later before they gave up for the night.

(a/n: Apologies for the delay. I hit a bit of a snag in moving forwad, but I'm finally getting around it. lol This chapter and the next might feel a bit weak as a result, but I am at least making progress. I've had to move in a different direction and this isn't a bad thing, but I do keep writing myself into temporary corners. lol Thank you for being patient and I hope that you enjoyed the update all the same. Also, please look forward to the next. I'm hoping to have it out sooner than this one. Thank you!)