Aeris wasn’t sure what to do next. Her plan had failed in the worst way possible. No way could she go back to Logan without revealing her true intentions or making him more suspicious of her. Now she couldn’t get the notebook to give to Sareen.

The next several days were spent finding a way to salvage the situation. Taking it by force was an option but the notebook was something precious to Logan. It would devastate him if it were stolen. It wasn’t her problem, but it still didn’t feel right.

She could ask Janine or Windor to do it. Windor would likely agree without hesitation, but Janine would refuse especially if she learned it was to help the Dracaena. She couldn’t bring them into this.

The stress gnawed at her. She spent many sleepless nights going over the possible scenarios and horrifying outcomes.

Stealing was the only way. Except she had no clue how to do it. She “broke into” the mansion she used to live in several times, but that was due to a secret passage she discovered years ago. It seemed doubtful Logan would have a similar setup. She didn’t dare hire someone, so it had to be her.

But she was no thief. She had been taught stealing was wrong. Maggie would be so disappointed if she found out.

Well Maggie isn’t here, her mind told her. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. If she got caught, she would be going to jail. Then Janine would be alone.

Stealing was out of the question. No one was going to swoop out of the sky and produce the notes for her and he wasn’t going to simply hand them over.

Using her Call had crossed her mind, but that plan was risky as well. She hadn’t practiced using it on a human and if things didn’t go well, she would be in a deeper hole.

That was when she suddenly remembered Nesse from the party. She knew Logan, so maybe she had some advice on how to smooth things over with him. It was worth a shot.

She snuck out without telling the others. It would be too much trouble to bring it up to them now and explain why she kept it quiet for so long.

Any dragon she passed, bowed to her and a few humans as well but most seemed to avoid her.

Finding Nesse’s house was easy. The dragoness mentioned a mark being left on the door, but Aeris found it simpler to ask for directions. The dragon she asked was too happy to oblige and “help the Dracaena’s friend.” He then went on for a long while about how she gave him hope things would improve until she politely pulled herself away. The encounter, as nice as it felt, left her with the nagging feeling that she had done something wrong. The last time dragons put their faith in her, it didn’t end well.

She shook off the trepidations and knocked on the door. Almost immediately it opened to reveal a portly brown-haired woman. Her face lit up at the sight of Aeris.

“Oooohh, you’re her, aren’t you? The Celestial?”

“I am,” Aeris replied slowly. “I’m sorry. I was looking for—”

“Oh, yes. Dr. Nesse, right?” The woman stepped aside and beckoned Aeris inside. “You came to the right place, please come in! Do you want anything?”

“No, thank you.”

The house looked different from what she expected. Every wall was lined with long desks and tables, each one covered in books, loose papers, and ink wells. There was more than enough room to maneuver but she pressed her wings tighter to her body. One breeze would make a mess she didn’t want to think about.

The woman continued to stare at her starstruck. Aeris’ tail wrapped around her legs.

“I can’t believe I’m actually seeing you in person!” the woman said, bouncing on her toes. “A real Ardelle Celestial! I have to say, it is truly a privilege to meet you. Oh, my manners!” She bowed low. “My name is Brandy King.”

“Um, Snowflake,” Aeris replied. It was rude, but she was off-balance by the woman’s high energy. “Are you Dr. King? Nesse mentioned you.”

Brandy snatched her head up. “Yeah, she does that. When we’re in the Human Territories, she likes to pretend that I’m the head scientist and she’s my ‘lovely and helpful dragon assistant.’ Her words, not mine.”

“Oh. Why would she do that?”

Her smile faded. “Well, it’s no secret that many of humans here still think of dragons as stupid beasts. It’s just easier to pretend than to deal with them. Besides, Dr. Nesse likes the look on their faces when she proves them wrong.” She giggled at some unknown joke.

“Okay. Well, where is Nesse now?”

“She’s out. We pretty much live alone so when we get to populated areas, she likes to go out and ‘have fun’ if you know what I mean.”

She didn’t but also didn’t want to ask so she nodded and sat in the middle of the room to avoid knocking anything over.

Brandy skipped across the room and sat in the only chair that didn’t have a stack of papers in it. But her legs were still bouncing as she sat up straight. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon, so in the meantime, I’ll gladly handle any questions you have.”

“So what do you do here?”

“Me? I’m so glad you asked. I do the things Dr. Nesse can’t like write down her notes, or open jars without breaking them, or act like her human caretaker so no one gets suspicious. You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t believe dragons can be intellectuals.”

“No, I can,” Aeris mumbled. She then asked, “Does that mean there are more dragons out there who are smart?”

“Well, it depends on what you mean by smart. After all, there are many forms of intelligence and different ways of measuring it. But that’s getting way into the weeds so to keep it simple, yes, many dragons are smart.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. There’s a whole community where dragons go to pursue higher education. They don’t have colleges or schools like we do—oh, sorry. Humans. So when a dragon wants to learn something beyond basic survival skills, they have to join a special clan called a coven. There they can learn about other things in the world and discuss topics with one another.” She squealed in delight. “It sounds so fun and fascinating! But they’re also suuper picky and don’t let just anyone in.”

Aeris was surprised she hadn’t heard about this. Thinking back her conversations were often focused on Matriarchs and clan life. It never occurred to her to ask about education.

“But didn’t Nesse join a coven? Can’t she tell you what it’s like?”

“Dr. Nesse is sworn to secrecy. They may have different rules than a typical clan, but it’s still a dragon clan. And dragons are stubborn. In fact, every dragon who joins the coven has to take an oath not to share knowledge with those outside the coven. So a lot of dragons know about them, but only the ones who join know what they actually do. And they’re not allowed to tell anyone.”

“That sounds a bit extreme. What’s stopping a dragon from lying and doing it anyway?”

She laughed until she saw Aeris was serious. “Snowflake, you won’t find a dragon anywhere in Geolga who would break an oath. They take that kind of thing very seriously. If Dr. Nesse went back on her word and they found out about it, they’d rip out her tongue and blind her.”

Aeris cringed then thought back to Olyvia. It was quite the same, but it made her wonder how the dragoness lost her sight.

She was brought back to reality by Brandy’s voice. “Funnily enough, not many dragons can read and even less can write so it’s fascinating how these covens have lasted so long. They must have amazing memories.”

“Wait, dragons don’t read?”

“Not many; reading is seen as a human thing so many dragons don’t even bother. Personally, I think it’s because reading and writing are kinda a pair and dragons don’t write much. I mean, their paws can’t exactly grip pens or paper too well.” She stuck out her chest and added proudly, “But thankfully Dr. Nesse doesn’t care about that. She relies on me to write things down for her, but she always there are no barriers in the pursuit of knowledge except the ones you place.” She leaned back in her seat and cracked her knuckles. “Yep, these hands are pretty quick. It takes a special kind of talent to be able to keep up with Dr. Nesse when she’s enlightened.”

Before Aeris could ask anything else, the door opened and Nesse came inside. She froze when she saw Aeris.

“Oh, I didn’t expect to see you here. Glad to see you took me up on my offer.”

Brandy was quick to rush to the Genial’s side. “Welcome back, Dr. Nesse. As you can see, Snowflake has come here to visit you. I’ve kept her company while you were gone. So did you have fun?”

“Actually, I did. One thing I’ll give the humans credit for is the invention of beer. Best thing ever.” She belched loudly before stretching and joining Aeris in the middle of the room. “I’m pretty sure my assistant has been…excitable so I want to apologize if she’s been a bit overwhelming. I’m sure you’ve noticed that she’s really into dragons.”

“It’s fine. She’s been a wonderful hostess.” She tried to hide her embarrassment upon seeing Brandy pump her fist behind Nesse.

“Glad to hear it. She knows how to behave around dragons, but sometimes she lets her eagerness get the better of her. Speaking of which, would you mind making us some tea?” Brandy grinned broadly and hurried out of the room. Nesse looked around and snorted. “I really should’ve cleaned up before I invited you over. I’ll admit, filing systems are still new to me.”

Aeris thought about waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask, but she decided it would be better to come out and ask about Logan. She had heard from Sareen that dragons prefer directness.  “It’s fine. It’s all right, can I ask you a few questions about Logan?”

“That brat? Why? Anyway, I can’t tell you much because I haven’t seen him in decades, but I’ll tell you what I can.”

“I’m curious.”

“Well, before you ask your questions, you should know now that you’re better off staying away from him.”

Aeris tilted her head why?

Nesse motioned for Aeris to follow her and led her to a smaller room. There wasn’t much inside except for a large bed next to a smaller one and a wardrobe Aeris assumed contained Brandy’s clothes.

Nesse laid down on the large bed. “Excuse me, but I’ve been standing all day and would like a rest.” Aeris sat on the floor and nodded and Nesse continued. “Like I was saying before, Logan is dangerous to be around, especially for you. After we talked, I got to thinking about something. You see, Jefferey was obsessed with finding your kind. It was all he ever talked about; his entire career and fortune sunk into pointless expeditions. He was determined to find you.”

“But why?”

“Who knows? I thought it was an ego boost. Finding an extinct species? That would make anyone’s career. But thinking on it now, I was the egotistical one. He was already the authority on dragons and no one else believed your kind was alive so it wasn’t a competition. Besides, he was the ever the type to care about that.”

Aeris edged closer to the bed. She had no idea what any of this had to do with now, but it was also too fascinating to interrupt.

Nesse continued. “One day, he just stops. He went quiet, stopped raving, and stopped searching. I just assumed he finally learned his lesson and wanted to spend his remaining days with his family, but now I have a new theory. He found them. He discovered the Celestials, but whatever he learned along the way convinced him to shut his mouth and hide it from the world.”

Aeris’ eyes widened. “He did?”

“I don’t know. This is all theory, mind you. I can’t prove any of it. But this is why I think you should stay away from Logan. He’s obsessed with proving your kind is alive and clear his grandfather’s name. But what I really think he’s going is destroying exactly what Jefferey was trying to protect.” She sighed heavily. “Honestly, what was he thinking showing you off like that? You might want to lay low or get out of the city.”

Now Aeris really wanted to know what was in that notebook. If it contained the location of other dragons like her, she would finally learn of her past. But now another thought had joined the bunch: Did Logan read it? “I can’t do that yet,” she said. “I’m waiting for someone to come back.”

“So what did you want to ask?” Nesse asked.

“It’s not important.” She bowed slightly. “Thank you for the advice.”

“No problem. Now if you don’t mind, may I continue the interview?” When Aeris nodded, she shouted, “Brandy!”

Within seconds, the woman appeared in the doorway, brushing strands of brown hair out of her face. “Yes, Dr. Nesse?”

“I need you to take notes.”

The woman hurried across the room and pulled out a pen and a pad then sat at attention. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, is it true that you’re not a firebreather?”

That shocked her. No one ever asked about that. “Yes, I use ice instead of fire.”

“Fascinating. I would love to see it and examine it. But not here. It’s not a controlled environment. Do you know how it works? It can’t operate under the same functions as our flames.”

Aeris was too enraptured by Brandy’s furious writing to respond. The way her hand glided across the page with almost no perceptible movements in her wrist looked unreal. It wasn’t until Nesse poked her with her tail that she responded. “Actually, I don’t know how it works. I just know it’s really cold and dangerous.”

“Would you mind showing me? Not in here of course. We’ll have to go outside.”

Aeris nodded and followed the pair out the back door. There wasn’t much of a yard, not that she was expecting much.

“This isn’t really the ideal environment for this kind of thing, but beggars can’t be choosers as the humans say. Just fire a quick burst at that patch of grass in the corner. Nothing too serious, mind you. We don’t want to get in trouble.”

Aeris exhaled a burst of ice at the designated spot. She grimaced afterward. Using her ice breath always left a nasty aftertaste.

Brandy quickly ran over with a large container and a pair of tongs. She put several pieces of ice in the container then rushed back inside.

Nesse stayed outside and examined the ice chunk. “This is very different from how our flames work. You can’t be producing the ice directly in your body, so it has to be some kind of liquid that freezes on contact with the air.” She leaned closer and flicked her tongue dangerously close to it. “Doesn’t really smell like much. I’m curious about what it could taste like, but I also like having tastebuds. Do you have any control over whether or not it freezes?”

“I never tried. I don’t think I do.”

“Damn. I’ll have to dissect you then. Oh, I’m kidding!” she added to the dismayed look Aeris had. “It’s a little scientist humor. Although, no one seems to find that joke funny.”

Aeris frowned. The idea of being cut open was not amusing.

“Do you feel anything different when you do it?”

“It kind of feels like I’m throwing up.”

“So similar to what other dragons feel then. And what about taste?”

“I can’t quite place it. It’s a strange oily taste mixed with rusted metal. Do other dragons taste the same thing?”

“Sort of. It’s more like rotting fish though. Yeah, it’s an awful aftertaste.”

For the rest of the afternoon, Aeris answered questions to the best of her ability about her unique ability. She had never been allowed to use her ice and had to keep it a secret so her knowledge was limited. Everything from what it felt like to whenever she used it, to how it tasted, to how long it took to melt. Nesse even asked Aeris to do it again while she was pressed against her to see if her body temperature changed. It did not and Aeris was glad that uncomfortable exchange was over. Aeris also wanted to know what would happen if she used her ice on dragon fire, and Nesse thought it was a fascinating idea as well but pointed out that the clashing of such extreme temperatures wouldn’t end well.

Still, she was happy to help out. It felt nice being able to ask questions and learn about herself without hiding it or feeling ashamed. Sadly, they didn’t learn much other than that Aeris produced a material inside her body that froze on contact with the air. Nesse pointed out it technically made her more dangerous than a typical dragon as what they produced was only dangerous when ingested or encountered a spark. She suggested Aeris might even be able to take it further, but they would need more time to experiment.

The idea sounded fascinating and Aeris couldn’t wait to experiment and learn her limits. She remembered the things she read about with extreme temperature changes and its effects. She never had a chance to test these theories herself, but now there was a way.

Aeris had learned more about herself in that afternoon than in the last few months. She had never tried to understand her physiology, how and why her body worked the way it did. She was simply told this was how things were and she accepted it.

But Nesse had a natural curiosity that she shared and didn’t make her feel used. Brandy, as strange as she was, helped put her at ease. The woman’s odd nature and energetic spirit helped Aeris feel more like she was chatting with friends than being interviewed by a scientist.

They continued to experiment and talk until it became dark then went inside. Aeris was surprised to find Brandy had begun dinner long before then and it was ready and waiting for them. The scent of the seared steaks made Aeris’ mouth water.

“That’s my assistant for you,” Nesse said, pulling a plate of meat closer and taking a large bite. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Brandy bowed, her long dark hair blocking her face, but between the strands her blush was noticeable.

“Thank you for having me for dinner,” Aeris said.

“It’s not a problem. You are a guest and you’ve been very helpful with my research. It would be rude to send you home hungry.” She swallowed a large chunk of meat and added in a neutral tone. “Listen, about what I said before about you needing to lay low for a while. I have a place in the Dragonlands. It’s not much, but it’s private. You could always stay there if you want.”

Aeris was silent for a moment. Brandy stared at her, wide brown eyes filled with hope. “Thank you for the offer,” Aeris said. “But I can’t leave yet.”

Nesse lazily waved her tail in the air. “I know, I know. You’re waiting for someone. Just bring them with you.”

It sounded like a good idea and it solved several of her problems. She would no longer need to fear for Janine’s safety, and it wasn’t as if she couldn’t visit Sareen if she really wanted.

“If it’s okay for me to step in here real fast,” Brandy said. “But you don’t have to answer right away. I promise Dr. Nesse isn’t trying to pressure you or anything.”

Nesse nodded, steak juices dripping from her chin.

They finished dinner sharing funny stories of their travels. It turned out they traveled a lot and saw many different things. Places Aeris didn’t even know existed. She hoped for a chance to see them someday.

On the trip back home, she thought of nothing except what she would tell Janine about the things she learned today. She planned to leave out details about the meeting with Logan and the warning to get out of town to avoid worrying anyone.

She was making plans about whether they should go and see the world together after she finished her task for Sareen when she reached the front of the house and froze.

The front door was ajar.

Her first thought was her former master had finally found her and cursed her complacency. With everything going on, it never occurred to her that her former master would still be looking for her. She looked around, expecting to be surrounding. But she was alone on the dark street. She sampled the air to be safe. There was no one was nearby. Her muscles tensed, holding her in place. No one would just leave the door open like that. She would have run away except she had left Janine and Windor inside.

She needed to make sure everyone was okay.

It was hard to breathe as she slowly approached. Thoughts of the horror that awaited filled her mind. She pushed the door open and peered inside, flicking her tongue rapidly to get a sense of the area. She sensed the place was a mess and caught the scent of blood and humans. Unfortunately, none of the scents were fresh and the only smells she recognized were Janine’s and Windor’s. She went the rest of the way inside. Blood splattered the walls and floor along with deep gouges. Furniture had been broken and turned over.

“Janine?” she whispered. There was no reply. She stepped further inside, her body trembling at the idea a gunshot could ring out at any moment. “Windor?”

The light sound of her claws as she slowly moved throughout the house made her anxiety worse. Images of Janine’s mangled, bullet-filled body kept flashing before her. Several times she stopped and took several breaths to get her senses before continuing. But she needed to know. She had to see Janine’s corpse before believing the young woman was dead.

She poked her head inside the last room which was Maxis’. It was just like the other rooms, completely untouched.

Aeris sank to the floor and gave a sorrowful whine.