Caldor tried to keep his glares to himself as he did his best to wrap cloth that used to be a tunic around Idri's already half-healed wounds. It didn't matter that Idri had assured him a dozen times that he would be perfectly fine within a day or two, or that the fact that he was wearing his robes again made him look like his old, strong self. It still made Cal furious when he saw what Augerill had done to him.

Augerill....

They'd not had time to talk about what had happened yet. Idri had landed bear a forest not too far from the castle, which was also thankfully fairly close to a village, which was where Kyra had gone to get something to dress Idri's wounds.

Caldor had wanted to go instead, but he couldn't bear the thought of leaving Idri right now with how tired and in pain he was, so they'd just sat together with Cal holding Idri's hand in silence.

But now they were all together again, which meant that they needed to talk. And there was a lot to talk about. Caldor wasn't even sure where to start. Thankfully, Kyra took it on herself to start the conversation.

"What...happened?" she asked as she handed Idri a full waterskin. Cal watched the dragon with concern as he gulped down half the water before answering.

"Augerill is a half-dragon." Idri shook his head, subtly squeezing himself closer to Caldor. Despite his shock and confusion, Cal in turn put an arm around the dragon's shoulders, kissing his temple before saying anything.

"I thought that was impossible." Idri had said something like that to him, hadn't he? Not that Cal was an expert at dragon reproduction. Nor did he want to be one.

"It is," Idri replied. There was a bite to his tone. "It shouldn't be possible. I don't understand."

The way Idri's voice turned upset made Cal hug him tighter. The dragon looked so confused and borderline distressed by the fact that he didn't know what was going on that it kicked in Cal's protective instincts.

"But the evidence is undeniable." With that Idri went silent, putting on his brooding thinking face as he pulled his wings around him and Caldor like a blanket. A tense silence filled the air as all three of them pondered what this meant.

If Augerill really was part dragon, then that made him infinitely more dangerous than Caldor had ever thought. There was no telling what he might do, and his interest in Idri made Cal more than a little worried.

"Thank you for rescuing me," Idri said, looking briefly at Cal before turning his gaze to Kyra. "For rescuing both of us. If you hadn't, Augerill would learn how to use magic, and while he does have my spellbook, that is still preferable to the alternative."

Cal grimaced, remembering that Idri had gotten his spellbook stolen again. But there had been nothing they could have done to get it back. Idri was right, though—it could have been much worse. Though Idri bringing attention to Kyra saving him did bring up a few questions.

"Changed your mind about dragons?" he asked her, half joking, but he was genuinely curious why she'd chosen to save Idri first. After what she'd said, he would assume that she'd rescue Cal first, and then they'd have an argument about saving Idri, too. Caldor was very happy that hadn't been the case, but he couldn't help but wonder what had changed.

Kyra gave them both a small but genuine smile. "I went to drag you out of there, but I was too late. So I stuck around to see where they'd take you, and I heard everything." She looked directly at Idri, her eyes full of remorse. "You wouldn't let them hurt Cal, no matter what. You really care about him, don't you?"

Idri gave a firm nod, pulling his wings around Caldor even more tightly. Cal smiled at him. He'd really missed the warmth and comfort the wings provided, even though they'd been gone for only a few days. "Yes, I very much care. I am devoted to him for as long as I shall live."

Caldor felt his face grow warm. It wasn't that he was embarrassed, not at all, but the intensity in that statement, enhanced by how causally Idri had said it, was overwhelming.

"That is, as long as he wants me to be," Idri added after a small pause, sending a wave of concern through Caldor, despite the rather matter-of-fact tone the dragon had used.

But as soon as he looked him in the eyes and saw the affection in them, Cal understood what Idri had meant. This wasn't Idri being insecure about their relationship, but rather the dragon acknowledging that they might not be together forever and that it was okay.

While Cal couldn't imagine splitting up now or at any point in the future, and in fact, the idea made him almost upset, he appreciated Idri saying it. When they'd met the dragon had been very insistent on the idea that being together until they both died was essential, so Caldor was glad that Idri didn't see it as that important anymore.

Worrying about things like this just caused pointless grief, and Cal didn't want Idri to feel like that. Enjoying each other's company in the now was much better than worrying that one day they might not have it anymore.

"I'm sorry. You know, for turning you in," Kyra said, bringing their attention back to her. She was avoiding Idri's gaze, which was understandable, seeing as this being a very awkward topic. Cal threw a look Idri's way, expecting him to be annoyed at the very least, but surprisingly, the dragon seemed completely unbothered.

"You did it to protect Caldor. It was the right call. His safety is my chief concern."

Cal narrowed his eyes at him. It seemed they would need to talk about this. He didn't like that Idri was apparently this ready to sacrifice himself for Cal's wellbeing. But he'd bring it up later, once they were somewhere safe.

"Um, okay." Kyra was now frowning, looking from Cal to Idri in confusion. "Well, I'm still sorry. For that, and for assuming the worst when I found out you're not human."

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Idri lowered his gaze. "Again, understandable. I misled you about my true nature. And my people do not have the best of reputations."

Cal groaned, running his hand over his face. It was clearly time to cut in because he couldn't continue listening to Idri blame himself. "Dammit, Idri. You deserve an apology. Yeah, Kyra had her reasons, but that still doesn't make it all right." Caldor looked at Kyra again. "And for the record, it was me who told Idri to lie."

Kyra's eyebrows rose before once again forming a confused frown. "What? Why?"

Cal sighed. He felt like such an idiot just thinking about that entire debacle. "I was scared you'd get upset if we told you, so I wanted some time to.... I don't know, figure out when and how to approach it."

Kyra pressed her lips together, looking away and saying nothing.

"It didn't work out very well."

This time Kyra smiled. There was still regret in her eyes, but at least it was something. She shook her head, running a hand through her hair. "What are we going to do?"

That was a great question. Running far away from here, somewhere no one would recognize them felt like the correct thing to do, but not yet. "I say we track down whoever from our guild is still alive, starting with Aelin."

Kyra's gaze snapped to Idri at that, tentative hope lighting up her eyes. "Can you really find her? Cal said you could."

"If she is alive, then yes, I believe so," Idri replied with a nod. "There are several spells that can be used, but I only know one of them by heart, and given that my spellbook has been stolen again, I will have to perform that one."

Cal grimaced at the reminder that he'd stolen Idri's spellbook originally, even though he knew Idri hadn't said it to make him guilty.

"I will need something of Aelin's, a few ingredients, and my crystal ball," Idri continued, sighing. "Which means we need to return to the fort."

Cal blinked. "You have a crystal ball?"

"Yes," Idri replied, frowning at him. "Did you not see it in the library?"

No, but to be fair, Cal had been too busy staring at Idri the entire time he'd been there, so if he'd missed it, he wasn't surprised. "Uh, no, I guess not."

"And we'll know where Aelin is? Just like that?" Kyra looked a bit dubious, which was fair enough. She was probably still a bit overwhelmed with everything she'd been told and seen over the last few hours.

"Well, we'll still need to get to her once we have a location," Cal pointed out. If Aelin was stuck somewhere hard to get to, finding her might be the least of their worries. But Kyra didn't seem put off by that at all. She just looked relieved as she breathed out, her body becoming a bit less tense.

"That is a problem for later," Idri said, narrowing his eyes in thought. "We should go."

Cal's eyes widened. "What, right now?" Idri opened his mouth to reply but Caldor cut in before he could say a word. "You're injured. And it's dark."

He glanced briefly at Kyra, knowing that she was the one who would want to hurry the most, but she seemed to be on his side. She nodded, a resolute look on her face. "Cal's right. After what happened, you need to rest."

Idri narrowed his eyes, looking with mild annoyance at both of them, but then he sighed, both his shoulders and wings sinking. "Very well. We will leave in the morning."

Cal wanted to argue that the next morning was still too early for Idri to start the journey all the way back to the fort, but he decided against it for now. They could discuss it again when they were less tired.

"And in that case, I would like to sleep now," Idri added, yawning, and making Cal snort. Gods, he was adorable.

"Me too," Cal said, chuckling. He was dead tired after all of that, and being in Idri's embrace like this was so damned calming and comfortable, it was hard to fight his exhaustion.

He let Idri pull him to the grassy ground with him, smiling as Idri hugged him from behind and nuzzled his neck. Idri seemed to like doing that, and Caldor certainly wouldn't complain if he did it even more.

"I'll get something to make a fire," he heard Kyra say, a hint of amusement in her tone as she walked away, leaving him and Idri alone for the moment. Cal hadn't even realized it was cold with Idri warming him up.

"I was really worried about you, Idri," Cal said quietly. He wasn't sure why he'd felt like he needed to say that at that moment, but it felt important. Idri didn't say anything for a few seconds, only tightening his embrace.

"I am okay, beloved," Idri replied simply, kissing the back of Cal's neck softly. "I am...very touched you came to rescue me." Cal was about to laugh and say that it had been nothing, but Idri continued. "It was very foolish, but also very brave. It almost backfired horribly, but that does not matter now." He paused, kissing his shoulder this time. "Thank you. No one has ever done something like this for me before."

Caldor glared at the grass right in front of his face, trying to keep his anger at the reminder of how the other dragons treated Idri to himself. But it didn't matter. Cal would do his absolute best to treat Idri well, like he deserved.

"I'd risk my life to help you any day," Cal replied, turning onto his back to flash a grin at Idri. "But let's try to avoid mortal peril for a while, huh?"

Idri smiled. Cal loved that smile so much. "Yes, that would be ideal." Unfortunately, then his smile soured as buried his face in Cal's shoulder. "I am not certain that is realistic, however. Augerill is not going to stop."

Cal sighed, brushing the dragon's hair off his forehead as he felt an angry sort of determination burn within him. "Then we'll go somewhere safe. Somewhere far away, where the bastard won't find you."

"It's not me I am worried about, beloved," Idri mumbled, his eyes still closed. Caldor smiled to himself, kissing Idri's forehead. He must have been really tired to be having this talk half asleep. Not that Cal was surprised—Idri was perfectly entitled to an entire week of rest if he wanted it.

"Well, I'm worried about you." Cal sighed again, shaking his head. How wonderful would it be to transmute enough gold to buy a nice house in Redreach and then just live their lives there in peace. But even if it was safe, maybe doing a house in another city would be for the best. There was so much pain, grief, and anger attached to Redreach, Cal wasn't sure he could ever be there without thinking about it.

"We will find your friends. And then we will leave."

Cal let his head fall back against the grass beneath him, brushing a hand through his hair. Finding his and Kyra's guildmates was going to be dangerous. Augerill was probably looking for them, after all, and if the lord had agents all over looking for Idri, then it was more than likely they would find him. "You know, maybe you could just use magic to find out where they are. And me and Kyra could handle the rest."

Idri scoffed. "As if I would ever let you go do something like this alone."

Cal chuckled. Well, it had been worth a shot. He didn't want to be apart from Idri, anyway, and having him come with them made traveling much, much easier and faster, too. And, as much as he didn't want to think about it, maybe there wouldn't be many of their friends to find. It was a miracle Kyra was still alive, after all.

He probably shouldn't get his hopes up too much. But it was hard not to.

Cal couldn't help but smile when he heard Idri start to softly snore. His wing drooped lower, brushing Caldor's chest, and his grip lost some of its intensity, but it was still firm and inescapable. Even in his sleep, Idri was overprotective. It would be annoying if it wasn't so endearing.

Cal closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. His mind was still reeling too much for him to hope to fall asleep anytime soon, but when being held by Idri like this, he felt safe. He wasn't used to feeling that way, but by the gods, he wanted to be.

Tomorrow they'd start heading back to the fort, and once they got there, they were going to find their friends and find a new home far away from here. And Caldor would be damned if he let Augerill stop them from any of it.