The being flared its wings as it moved into the light. Deep blue scales glinted under the mixed light of the forest. A mouth full of terrifying teeth opened, letting out a cross from a hiss and growl.
A dragon hatchling! Zerine thought in shock and fear. Her instincts alerted her to potential danger, while another part of her was full of fear, so much so that she simply couldn’t move.
The dragon moved menacingly towards Zerine, still letting out that bone chilling sound. Zerine’s heart was racing as she took a step back. The dragon flared its wings again, nearly doubling its size.
Varino whistled and chimed, completely undercutting the tension of the situation. She jumped off Zerine’s shoulder, then ran up to the dragon, looking up at it, her silver and blue eyes shining. She whistled brightly, giving the creature a wave.
The hissing growl stopped as the dragon blinked down at the peculiar spirit. It titled its head, eyeing the spirit as it folded its bat-like wings along its back. That was when Zerine realized the dragon had large, beautiful blue eyes. Its overall size was a little larger than an average dog.
The dragon was curiously observing the spirit, who pointed at Zerine and whistled. Several squeaks came from the cave. The dragon turned its head to the cave and made an assortment of squeaks and other sounds. Varino also added her own opinion to the conversation that Zerine was too stunned to fully comprehend. When two more hatchlings joined the first, Zerine just sat on the ground in shock.
One dragon had light blue scales, while the other had green and blue. The two newcomers eyed Zerine suspiciously, but focused on the first dragon and Varino, who whistled, burbled, and chimed.
From the parts that Zerine figured from Varino’s conversation, she was … was introducing them!? Varino didn’t know them, did she? No, that would be insane. Varino only knew Willow and her when they met. Then why was she so open to them? Clearly, the dragons didn’t intend to hurt Varino, which was a relief because Raith had told them that creatures would go after her if they could.
A peep made her refocus. Varino and the three other dragons were all staring at her.
“Umm, hi?” Zerine said, unsure what else to say.
The three dragons blinked, then turned to look at one another, sharing a glance. The first dragon moved closer to Zerine. This time, she didn’t feel any danger as it approached. She saw its nostril flare as it sniffed the air.
Breathe, no sudden movements. Oh Gods, I hope my instinct is right that it’s not going to attack, she thought as the Dragon moved around her. She totally didn’t have a moment where her gaze was locked on to the incredibly sharp looking claws. Definitely not. In fact, she was absolutely calm.
The dragon released a puff of smoke over her shoulder. The hot air shot past her cheek, making her flinch. She let out a shaky breath, forcing her panic down.
There is no feeling of danger. No feeling of danger at all, just curiosity. That’s right, no need to panic. Varino seems thrilled to be here. Just act normal, that's all, she thought.
Her gaze went to the little spirit who was whistling and chiming talking to the other two dragons. Focusing on Varino’s voice, Zerine felt it soothe her panic. Then she felt a presence touch her mind. She could feel that it was a connection needing her permission.
Here goes, Zerine thought before accepting.
“Human friend of spirits, why are so weak?” came a startling feminine voice. The dragon sounded around her own age.
“Umm,” Zerine blinked, “That’s mean. But I guess I am weak compared to three dragons. Also, I am not a human but a Celarian. I think my dad said Celarian’s are some sort of offshoot of an elf and human hybrid? As for my strength, I’m ten and don’t have a crest, sooo I’m as weak as you can get,” Zerine thought back. She tried not to let what the dragon said get to her, but it still did a little.
The dragon chuffed, releasing more smoke.
“Crest? You're not born with them?” The dragon titled its head, confusion coming across the connection. Now Zerine was confused.
“We aren’t born with them. We get them eventually, but that can take time,” Zerine sighed, which made Varino look back at her. But with a casual wave, she went back to happily chiming to the other dragons. “I don’t know when I will get mine, but it could be years from now,” Zerine replied, hoping that it wouldn’t be years, but fully expecting fate to be cruel.
“What is your name and that of your spirit friend? We didn’t quite get everything that it spoke,” the dragon thought to her, embarrassment coming across the connection.
Zerine smiled. “I’m Zerine and the spirit is Varino. what are yours?”
“The light blue scaled one is my sister Octralamoz. The blue and green scaled one is my brother, Fulguramoz. And mine is Terrinixis.”
“I like those names, but they seem just a bit long…hmm, do you mind if I call you Terri?” Zerine wonder. At this point, her fear was pushed back, being replaced with curiosity.
The dragon tilted its head, eyeing Zerine curiously, but its tail swished behind it. “That’s…I like that. Can you tell me more about the area beyond the forest?”
Zerine happily told Terrinixis about the city, her home, and more. During their conversation, Varino and the other dragons played what seemed to be a version of tag. Varino chased the other dragons on her little cloud. Soon, the two joined the playing group and played for a time. They only stopped when Varino pointed out they had been gone for some time.
“We have to get going. My aunt is probably worried,” Zerine said. which got disappointed looks from the dragons. “But we will be back. Right Varino?”
Varino peeped in affirmation.
“Promise? And promise to keep it a secret?” Terri asked telepathically, while making a squeaking sound echoed by the others.
“Yes, we promise. I have class in a few days, but I can come by on training days,” Zerine said out loud. “But we should get going. Bye Terri, Octra, and Fulgur, be safe!”
A chorus of farewell sounds followed them as they left, heading the way they had come.
***
“Where were you?” Raith asked sternly.
A guilty Zerine and Varino were looking at the sand.
“Varino thought she saw a spirit, so we followed. When we didn’t find anything, we just played in the forest for a bit. Sorry,” Zerine said, echoed by a Varino.
Raith sighed, letting her anger go. She and Umbra had tried to pass the rock that Zerine and Varino had been playing on but couldn’t. So, it wasn’t truly their fault, but still, she would have to ask Ava and Cal about it.
They said they set up things for the dragons and fairies. But we should be able to pass it. Unless the fairies, or worse, the dragons, changed whatever they did, she thought. She sighed again.
“Alright, let’s practice more ambient magic control then finish up with weapon training,” Raith said. Zerine and Varino perked up and went to go join Naro and Shara. Raith watched the two go and couldn’t shake the feeling that Zerine was lying to her.
I swear if she befriended a fairy or something and it just shows up someday, I’ll…probably be in as much shock as I was before, she thought, exasperated.
“Dammit,” she muttered. Raith would get to the bottom of the strange barrier.
The rest of the day was tough training. Zerine passed her limit again when trying to mimic what Naro and Shara were doing. They had already out paced her in ambient magic control and were working on creating a simple mana barrier. It was difficult for them and practically impossible for Zerine.
Naro was the one to actually succeed. A silver and blue pane of glass, the size of a plate, appeared in front of him. Zerine, meanwhile, bled from her nose, breathing hard, having failed at the barrier and failed at levitating her rock. She then focused on her sword and hand-to-hand practice, where she was making steady progress. Finishing the day, tired but happy with the hard work she had put in. She looked forward to tomorrow’s training. Her anticipation for tomorrow only grew when she thought back to seeing her new friends, her new dragon friends.
***
A few hours earlier.
Falkor watched the two leave his hatchlings. At first, he had only noticed the spirit when it crossed the barrier. When he had looked, he was surprised to find two had crossed the barrier instead of one.
A strange existence entering his barrier was merely intriguing but turned out to be a rather unique being. To have an elemental with affinities for more than the core elements that had created it was a rare occurrence. The spirit was clearly still young, purely based on its magical power. It had even spotted Octralamoz, who had gone to the beach, so the spirit was a perceptive one too.
When the spirit and the Celarian met his hatchlings, he watched curiously to see how it would play out. Terrinixis was protective of her siblings, being the oldest by a few months, and was wary of strangers. But the spirit simply acted without fear and rather adorably, he admitted. The spirit’s words and behavior won the trust of the dragons. As for the Celarian…well she wasn’t much, or so he thought.
He had written off the Celarian. She didn’t have much of any magic or even an aura. He assumed her soul hadn’t fully awakened yet. But when the child clearly understood the spirit and, despite her fear, relaxed and even played a game with his hatchlings, he looked closer. She had even given his hatchling nicknames, something only hatchlings would do or accept. Truely an odd one.
Falkor peered deep into the child’s soul and found…well he found quite a lot. The soul was partly awakened but dormant. There was quite a lot of potential just waiting to be unleashed as well.
How peculiar? he thought. The impression he got from the child’s soul was a storm of power. Simply feeling it put pressure on him. What a strong soul. Very peculiar, and here I thought this era would be boring.
***
“So, you said a barrier starting at a rock outcropping,” Ava said, pulling out a map from her spatial storage.
“Yeah, Umbra and I couldn’t get across, which was weird and worrying when Zerine and Varino played in the forest near the ocean,” Raith said.
They were in the study, sitting at Ava’s desk.
“Hmm, let’s see,” Ava said, placing the map that covered the entire top of her desk.
Raith saw symbols and sections marked off covering all to the way to the mountains. She raised an eyebrow.
“You were in contact with lunar fairies, dragons, and powerful natures spirits!?” she asked. That wasn’t normal at all for outsiders of those communities.
“Hmm, yeah, it helps that the queen and Cal know people. Oh, and when your best friend is helps with her own fairy kin,” Ava said absentmindedly. She was running a finger over the map.
Raith chuckled. “I knew about my group. I didn’t hear about the lunar fairies or about the dragons.”
“Then you need to catch up with the Shadow Legion, because they knew.”
“You know, if anyone had the connections that you and Cal have, they would practically run half a country, if not their own country. Or at the very least, be far more prominent and influential.”
“Now that just sounds like a nuisance,” Ava said, looking up from the map with a grin.
Raith shook her head. “You really are a Trevel. All about the adventure and not the rest.”
“Cal had to be forced to take the Baron title. My family wasn’t happy about it. But hey, it fits that a Trevel would come along and fix centuries of ruining a once powerful and magically influential place. Ah found it. That is Falkor’s flight area.”
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
“Who the fuck is that? Just because I’m a fairy doesn’t mean I know dragon flight leader names,” Raith said, leaning over the desk to see where Ava was pointing.
“Right sorry, the name you would know him by is Lord of Water. From what Cal said, their barrier won’t allow anything above a certain magical power to cross it,” Ava said. Raith just stared at Ava.
“Why aren’t you more worried that Zerine was there?”
“Because of a magically enforced contract that hatchlings and dragons won’t attack unless provoked. And they will tell us and share memories about any incident. If they scare away intruders that attacked or did something bad, they will also notify us,” Ava said, leaning back in her chair. “So, no word, no worries. With your scolding, I’m sure she will stay closer. If not, with dragons in the area, there won’t be anything that Varino can’t handle, so why worry?”
“Because she could piss off a dragon that could eat her?” Raith said incredulously.
“You and I both know that dragons aren’t mindless beasts. They won’t attack a child and I trust Zerine’s judgement. Hell, I bet her odd instinct thing allows her to communicate with dragons without magic,” Ava said, then chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she somehow came home one day and said she made friends with a dragon. Cal would be ecstatic if that happened.”
Raith laughed. “I thought that too. You brought up Varino reminds me, she is mid E-rank now, so she-”
Ava placed a pyramid shaped crystal on the map. Magical energy filled the room, making Raith raise an eyebrow. The crystal contained thunder clouds and swirling water as if containing part of the ocean. As she watched, lightning arched through the clouds.
“This should cover the next few years and help her get to mid D-rank. Which lines up with when she can use the natural treasure, we bought from you all.”
Raith grinned, picking up the crystal. “Varino will work extra hard for this, that is for sure.”
Ava chuckled. “We will have to add an enchantment to hide its energy so Varino can absorb it without attracting storm aligned creatures from all around.”
Raith nodded, mesmerized by the shifting storm within the crystal.
***
The next three days, Raith would watch Zerine and Varino through Umbra as they went into the dragon’s area. They came back around the same time each time. Since it didn’t impact their training time, and even seemed to rejuvenate Zerine and Varino, Raith let it go. If they were safe and sound, then it was fine. It also helped that she would only allow Varino to absorb the natural treasure energy after their little play session, which probably kept their play time consistent, as the spirit wouldn’t want to miss a chance at that.
Raith was in the city. She had helped heal some adventurers and guards that had a nasty fight with several monsters. When she was done, it was time for Zerine and the others to get out of class, so she went to the temple district.
She arrived in time to see Zerine run up to Bernard, her arms outstretched. A delighted chime came from Varino, who lept into the Zerine arms, giving her a hug.
You would think they hadn’t seen one another in days, she thought, amused, but happy for the two. She noticed several of the other children giving Zerine and Varino weird looks as the spirit burbled and whistled to Zerine.
“Miss, I wasn’t aware you would walk with us home today,” Bernard said.
Raith smiled. “I was in the area and thought it would be nice.”
“Auntie, wait till you hear about class,” Naro said, running up with Shara in toe.
The group walked, heading home; the children telling her and Bernard about their day. Raith just enjoyed the company and the cheerful atmosphere.
Zerine stopped suddenly, Naro nearly walking into her.
“What's wrongs?” Naro asked, a little annoyed.
Zerine was looking around warily. “Something feels…I don’t know…off?”
“Do you hear that?” Shara wondered her cat hears detached.
“No wha-” Bernard asked, but Raith had already moved.
A barrier appeared around them just as an explosion rocked the area. The children screamed in fright, but Raith noted Zerine seemed frighten, but hadn’t screamed. Varino was quivering in Zerine’s arms, who held her close.
All around the city, auras released as alarm bells rang.
“We’re under attack, Miss. I need to take them home. They will be safe there,” Bernard said.
“Willow, help those in the area. Umbra, find out what is going on and take out or capture those taking advantage of chaos,” Raith said. wisps appeared in the hundreds, then vanished in motes of light. Shadows rippled as clones of umbra shot out.
Raith could feel magical fights going on throughout the city. Many focused on the defensive arrays. Her rage was ice cold. She would hunt down the mage arbitrarily, sending out attacks. More auras released, gold-rank ones that washed over their group.
Zerine’s legs crumpled as the force of clashing auras slammed into her. She fought to remain conscious as the forces threatened to snuff out the flickering candle of her aura. This didn’t feel like normal suppression. It felt like a force was crushing her under foot.
I-I will not give in, she thought. She heard almost from a distance Varino’s worried chimes. Darkness was encroaching around her sight. She had fallen and wasn’t sure when, but all she could see was the cobblestone road.
Then the pressure was gone, replaced by Raith's comforting aura. Zerine started. Had she passed out? One moment she was on ground the next she was in Raith's arms. Raith was looking relieved down at her.
“That was too close. Bernard, will you be able to fend off auras for the others and Zerine? They can’t handle any of this,” Raith said.
“I-I can do the other two, but protecting Zerine from all of this would take more away from the others,” Bernard said, sounding ashamed to Zerine. She was slowly coming to her senses. Varino was sitting on her chest and would shake as the distant sounds of spells and explosions went off.
“Fucking idiots doing a full-on aura clash in a populated area,” Raith snarled, scaring Zerine. Raith had always seemed kind and in control. This side was…scary. Zerine could feel the killing intent from Raith making her shiver.
The intent vanished as Raith realized what she was doing. “Sorry, all of you. We-”
The ground rocked under their feet as several spells smashed into their barrier. Raith sighed and the world around them went silent. Zerine couldn’t hear anything, that sense was entirely cut off. Based on how Naro and Shara acted, they too couldn’t hear.
Zerine saw several beings standing in thin air, looking down at them. One gathered energy into their hands, then sent a torrent of flames that slammed into their barrier scorching the surrounding area.
Raith said something calmly to the two floating people who attacked in consort this time. Raith seemed to sigh. Lances of light appeared floating around them. Zerine blinked. The floating people were just gone, along with the lances of light.
***
Raith had cut off the children’s hearing to help them cope with the chaos unfolding all around them. It was only temporary but should let her and Bernard talk freely and lower the chance of further trauma, or at least she hoped.
“Silver-rank,” Bernard whispered.
Raith’s red eye glowed.
“You all have one chance to leave this city, or will you die,” Raith said, projecting her voice to the floating pair. They didn’t answer, preparing a far more powerful spell.
“So be it, die,” Raith said, releasing her spell. Lances of light shot out wholly, annihilating the two in an instant.
Raith released her aura at that moment, dwarfing every aura in the city. She broke a crystal at the same moment. Soon her aura was joined by Gary’s who was defending the city’s defense arrays based on where it was concentrated. A second later, a distant clap of thunder reached them, followed by an aura that sent a chill through Raith even though she knew who it was. After all, she had broken the emergency crystal summoning her back home.
"Based on that aura, Ava is back, Bernard, and she is pissed," Raith said with a smile.
“We should get to the household. They probably set the defense array off, so teleporting there is impossible,” Bernard said. Naro was on his shoulders with Shara in his arms. Raith looked down at Zerine, who was looking around confused and frightened, with Varino cradled in her arms.
“Yeah, drop them off and then I go hunting,” Raith said, which got a confirming nodded from Bernard.
With a blast of air, the two shot through the city. Raith stopped several times to kill either bandits or pirates, she didn’t care which. They were attacking civilians or adventures, so fair game. She could tell adventures were out in force based on the badges she could feel marking them, which was good because she could tell this was a rather large coronated attack.
The emerald sky was clear, but for arching neon purple lightning.
Ava was floating above the city, wings made of lightning holding her aloft. She analyzed the chaos below. Occasionally she would release a bolt of lightning that descended from the heavens, killing her target or targets.
Raith suddenly appeared next to her. Ava saw below wisps were practically flooding the streets, beams of light or barriers shooting out, either killing the attackers or protecting civilians caught up in the fighting.
“I didn’t know you had reached the peak of gold. Why haven’t they made you one of the guardians for the country?” Raith commented idly.
Ava glanced towards Raith but refocused targeting a cluster of silver-rank mages attempting to attack the adventure’s guild. “Are they safe?”
“Yes, they are home, a bit traumatized, but safe. They did suffer being in an area affected by an aura clash between two golds.”
Ava’s aura raged at the last part.
“Easy, the guild master killed the gold, and I hope scolded the gold adventurer for doing that,” Raith said.
Ava took a deep breath and her aura relaxed but was still suppressing at least twenty golds throughout the city.
“I didn’t know Willow could do that,” Ava said, gesturing to the rampaging familiar.
“Weeell, Zerine didn’t do so great when the aura clash occurred, and it enraged my familiars. So yeah, they are going all out. The city will be safe and sound in bit if they have any say in the matter,” Raith said.
Ava pursed her lips. In the distance, several bolts of vibrant lightning cracked down.
“I knew we created enemies, breaking the status quo with how we are handling this intersection. But this,” lightning ripped over her body from ill contained rage.
“When money and power are involved, it more often than not brings the worst out of people,” Raith said sadly.
“I’m just happy Gary and Cal’s plan with the defense arrays worked so well. When I got here, they were just realizing they were fighting for nothing and had to go to the real target, to only find Gary and the city golds waiting for them,” Ava said.
“That was a stroke of genius, especially from those two.”
That got a laugh out of Ava, easing the tension that had quite literally filled the air. But both stiffened as new auras from the ocean's side flared.
“There are their reinforcements,” Ava half snarled, but then smiled. “It seems Cal came home early, too.”
Raith looked the direction Ava was. There were four ships. Each vessel had no markings and was rather plain looking. The sleek vessels were all panted shades of grey, resembling more modern warships than the classic masted vessels.
On the horizon, a massive wave was heading towards the vessels, who shot a barrage of spells at the wave with little impact. The more powerful gold, from what Raith could tell, blasted a wall of wind. The two spells collided, creating a massive explosion.
Right after the spells collided, a beam of blazing blue light parted the ocean bearing down on the vessels.
“Hmm, it seems Cal doesn’t want to take prisoners,” Raith said.
“No, he does. But this will draw out that gold,” Ava said. The battle in the city was already dying down, so they both kept their attention on the fight in the ocean.
Sure enough, a figure emerged in the beam’s path, blocking the spell with a powerful barrier. But another person appeared behind the mage. A glinting blade flashed, and the enemy's aura vanished.
“And it’s over. Let’s go help him capture those vessels,” Ava said. The two flew off.
***
Zerine had waited in the large dining room anxiously for Raith and Ava to return home. Varino eventually convinced her to play a board game using ambient magic control, which served as a distraction. Another pleasant distraction was when Bernard brought some warm tasting drinks and snacks for the children and adults. The household had also brought people from the street to have the place act as a shelter, which meant there were quite a lot of people.
“Everyone, I have been just notified that the fighting has subsided. It is safe to go back out,” called Bernard. “If your home was affected by the fighting, you are free to stay here. The temples have also opened their doors. The adventurer and magic guilds will aid in rebuilding efforts along with Baron’s household.”
There was muttering among the adults, but people slowly left. Usually, the parents left to check if their home was intact, leaving their children behind. But eventually, a majority of the people left.
Zerine was moving a piece when she heard. “We will have plenty of evidence. But really, paying a mercenary group from another nation to show up and cause havoc. For what? To hopefully kill specific groups or scare them? That has to be the most dumbas-”
“Mom!” Zerine said, getting up and running to Ava, who stopped mid-sentence while talking to Bernard.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Ava wondered after hugging Zerine. Naro came over and got his hug.
“It was scary, but Auntie and Bernard were there, so it was fine. And I’m better now your home,” Zerine said.
“Yeah, Zerine is right. It was scary, but also kinda crazy,” Naro said.
Ava chuckled. “It was certainly crazy. But I’m glad you two are doing alright. I have some news that classes are canceled. The city is entering mourning for a while and rebuilding. We will be busy but will have training and work for you to do. But now I have to go talk to the others, no nightly training, alright.”
“K,” the two said and went back to what they had been doing.
***
Later that night Callahan and Ava went to the dragon's beach.
“What a fucking mess,” Ava was saying.
Callahan sighed, running a hand through his dark teal hair. “Yeah, at least the total damage isn’t that bad. And the number of deaths was rather low compared to what we feared.”
“Raith is out healing and running around. She will give us better numbers, but still this far past any line,” Ava said, still angry.
“We have the information and will pass it on to the queen and let the guardians handle it. Keep our names off it and maybe we will catch some more idiots during this intersection.”
“We do that, and assassins will show up going after our allies and family,” Ava replied. Callahan put an arm around her shoulders.
“After this, Gary and I will add more defenses. And backups for the children to escape,” he said, then kissed her head.
“That only covers part of it, but I guess we both knew what it meant when the Emerald Sky began.”
Callahan was about to respond but was interrupted by a man calling to them. “Little Cal! Ava, great to see you two again!”
The man was rather tall, with elf-like pointed ears and light blue hair. His eyes were shining in the dark and had no pupils, but appeared to contain the ocean itself. He stood next to an equally tall woman with similar features.
“Falkor! Thanks for the heads up on those ships. I got back in time,” Callahan said. He and the man embraced.
“When they attacked several vessels along the way, I thought it was important. I’m glad it worked out, though,” Falkor said.
“Sithera, good to see you're well,” Ava said, embracing the women.
“Same to you. I see you have reached the mortal peak. Congratulations,” Sithera replied.
“Oh, congrats. We already said ours to Cal when we saw him earlier,” Falkor said, giving Ava a hug.
“Thank you,” Ava said. Callahan was pulling out a small table and chairs. Then a keg appeared along with cups.
Several squeaks made Ava turn and gasp.
“Aren’t you three adorable,” Ava said, crouching down as three hatchlings peered up at her.
Sithera and Ava talked, watching as the three dragons played around in the water.
“See anything interesting sense the last time we talked?” Callahan wondered, pouring them drinks. Falkor sniffed the drink and smiled. “Yep, the good stuff. I personally need it after today.”
“Understandable. If someone attacked my nest, I would annihilate them, too. Along with wanting to relax afterwards,” Falkor replied. “As for interesting. Hmm, a peculiar spirit and Celarian entered the barrier. My hatchlings and them got along and they keep talking about what they want to do next time they visit.”
Callahan choked on his drink, which got looks from Ava and Sithera.
“Does the spirit happen to be a strange storm elemental? And does the Celarian have hair similar to Ava?” Callahan asked, his voice a bit horse.
“Hmm, yep,” Falkor said cheerfully. “Why? Do you know them?”
Callahan broke out into a grin. “The Celarian is my eldest daughter and the spirit…well, is pretty much our newest daughter.”
Falkor laughed. “Perfect! This is absolutely perfect. My hatchlings told them to keep it a secret, but hey, now you know.”
Callahan saw Ava face palm in the background, then laugh as well.
“We can let them think it’s a secret for a while. I’m glad they’re friends now,” Callahan said.
“Yes, now your other little ones have to meet them,” Falkor said with a big grin.
“Let them get a little older,” Ava said, half pleading.
“Yes, older would be better. Or was just let the three only know Zerine. She seemed to understand their sounds and get along easily, something that very few do,” Sithera said.
“Hmm, ah, just let them figure it out on their own,” Falkor said.
“Well, I’m sure it’ll get figured out. But cheers to our families and a new era,” Callahan said, lifting his cup, which was mimicked by the others.
“Cheers!”