When Fia saw the island, she was so happy that her limbs stopped working. Can it really be? Did I really make it home? she feared that it might be another shadow island. Fia floated for a moment before her wings and tail drooped too low, and the whole dragonette bobbed under the water.

"Whoa there," Mahi stuck out his wind to scoop Fia back up to the surface. "Yep. That's really it: Carlinoa Island. Go on." He nudged Fia to get started on the final stretch of her journey. Her home was within sight.

"Ah!" Fia gasped with her mouth hanging open from excitement. The salty spray spattered her tongue. The dragonette paddled fiercely with her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

Viliant hastened his pace to keep up with her. "It's not that close," he cautioned her. "You're just going to tire yourself out." Although Viliant expressed a realistic concern, his enthusiastic voice broke without any intention to dampen her spirits. The black dragonet's wings were angled out of the water with an irrepressible smile of his own. He was going to set his paws on the sandy shore of his new home too.

Fia slowed at the same time as she crested a small wave. The pink dragonette tossed back her horns to glance at Mahi who lingered behind them. "Aren't you coming too?" Fia echoed back at him.

"No! No," Mahi hemmed and hawed. "Go ahead without me. I can't get any closer than this. That island is full of fire dragons."

"I'm a fire dragon. Of course, you can come with me," Fia invited him. Her eyes wavered with a plea for Mahi to see them all the way to Carlinoa Island. "We promised to give you fish."

You promised, Viliant clarified, unwilling to catch any more fish for Mahi. When they reached the island, Viliant wanted to collapse in the sun until the last drop of water had dried from his scales.

Mahi swayed his head from side to side. "I don't know…."

"You're the reason that we're here now!" Fia insisted. "You helped me get home. You're a hero!"

As Fia piled more praise onto Mahi, his chest swelled with pride. "Aw, stop. You're making my tail curl."

The more that Fia complimented Mahi, it made Viliant wish that the slush dragon would get out of here already. I'm the hero. I'm the one that saved Fia, he thought fiercely. Viliant wanted to bask in everyone's admiration, like the sailors had done after he had saved Tacuma. He imagined how it would feel even better, coming from fellow dragons. Viliant did not want to end up cast in Mahi's shadow, who might get all the credit just because he was an adult.

Viliant grumbled when Mahi trailed after them. At a slower rate, the three dragons pressed closer to land.

The ocean, which had once seemed endless in its depth, had its water become clouded by stirred-up sand. The elongated waves rose upward when they hit the sandbar. "We can totally ride these all the way to the beach!" Mahi shouted. The slush dragon swam parallel to their destination, trying to put himself in a good position to leap onto a powerful wave.

Before a wave arrived of satisfactory height, another adult dragon flew out to intercept them. A scout from the Carlinoa Clan had noticed the wanderers who had erred too close to the island.

Fia tipped back her head and whistled, signaling him to come closer. "Over here! It's me: Fia! I'm home!" When the dragon warrior flew into range, she reached out over telepathy.

Her request was accepted, and the mind of a familiar dragon connected with hers. The youngest flying ace of the Carlinoa Clan greeted her in a jubilant roar. "Fia!" called Evander, the older brother of Arenis. The warrior swooped in his descent, his guard lowered now that he knew that Fia was in the company of foreign dragons.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Well, well, well," Mahi said when he recognized Evander. "Look who it is."

Evander hovered over the waves. Each downstroke of his vast wings directed the water away from his tail in ripples. "Fia," he breathed, "I can't believe it's really you. Welcome home!"

Fia squirmed to and fro, unable to contain her excitement in the water. Steam hissed from every crack between her scales, and embers alit like sparklers across her scales above the water. "I'm home. I'm home!" she cheered. Quickly swimming around Viliant to include him, she emphasized, "We're home!"

"Who's your friend?" Evander asked. A smile curled into his tail even as he hovered in place.

"This is Viliant!" Fia brandished a wing at the shiny, black dragonet. "He saved my life. And this is…."

Without needing to introduce Mahi, the slush dragon locked eyes with Evander. "So, we meet again." Mahi's voice caught halfway between a chortle and a growl.

"Not you again," Evander snapped. His amber eyes, shaded with disbelief, looked between Fia and Viliant. "Where did you find this guy?"

Before the dragonets could answer, Mahi sprung at the chance. "The ocean waves whisper in my ear. It told me about the tears shed from two, lost dragonets!" Mahi rolled onto his back and paddled himself around Fia and Viliant like an otter. "I saved them from boiling alive over the heat vents. I stopped them from drowning from exhaustion. I kept them from being tempted by the Wraith Isle…." Mahi paused before he boasted about his final, most important feat. "I even kept them from getting whacked in the face by flying fish!"

While he gave his spiel, Fia tossed a surprised glance between Mahi and Evander. "You know each other?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Evander replied.

Mahi stuck out the tip of his forked tongue.

The adult dragons spurned their telepathic link, leaving the dragonets to follow their vocal conversation.

"You have to thank me, whether you like it or not," Mahi told Evander.

"Thank you… Mahi," the fire dragon droned.

Mahi narrowed his eyes. "Say it like you mean it."

"Thank you… Mahi Mahi."

"Louder!"

"Thank you, Mahi Mahi Mahi!" Evander shouted, the edge of his voice shredding into a growl.

While Fia watched this exchange, she had a hard time telling if Mahi and Evander were friends or enemies. Since Evander had repeated the slush dragon's name three times—which Mahi reserved for his bestest buds—Fia could only assume that they were on good terms.

"I was promised fish for bringing Fia back," Mahi informed Evander.

The fearless warrior of the Carlinoa Clan had sheer terror flit into his slitted pupils for the first time. "How much?" Evander asked.

"A lot." Mahi started spitting out the types and amount of fish that he expected, negotiating with Evander who chuffed in disbelief. Ultimately, they settled on a number that Mahi accepted. "Sorry, Fia. The price is right. I'm selling you."

Evander glared at the slush dragon who had a poor taste in jokes. Don't listen to him, Fia. In a strict tone, Evander ordered Mahi, "I thank you on behalf of the Carlinoa Clan for returning one of our dragonets. However, I cannot permit a dragon from the Avuazu Clan to come any closer to our island. I will deliver your fish to the neutral zone."

"You'd be lucky if you had a neutral personality. No fun." Mahi refocused on Fia and Viliant, the new friends that he had made on this trip across the ocean. "You dragonets were pretty fun. Even you, Viliant. Especially you, Fia! Laters!" The slush dragon flipped himself over a wave and zoomed into deeper waters.

"Bye, Mahi Mahi Mahi!" Fia called after him. Once she finished waving her wings, they stayed upright in a massive grin. Her sparkling, blue eyes looked up to Evander who landed in the water.

The orange dragon lowered his neck and invited Fia to ride. "Hop on! I'll take you home, straight away."

Fia trilled from sheer excitement. She clambered onto the back of Evander's head so that she could get the best view from the flying ace.

"What about me?" Viliant asked

"I'll carry you." Evander pounded his wings with a splash against the water. The big dragon reentered the air, but before he ascended any higher, he grabbed Viliant under the ribs with his forelegs. Like this, Evander spirited the two dragonets toward the mountainous island.