Ever since learning of Milan’s demise, things quieted down. Aeris no longer went to visit Olyvia, as much as it pained her. The risk was too great; even if she didn’t want to leave the dragoness alone, she couldn’t bear to have anyone else dragged into the conflict.

Despite the worry over Olyvia’s well-being, Aeris’ training went much more smoothly. It didn’t take long before she was giving advanced directions to multiple dragons almost perfectly. Sareen mentioned it wouldn’t be long before Aeris finished her training.

Aeris didn’t tell anyone she was researching the Call in secret. Now that she knew it worked on other creatures, she was curious to test its limits. She tried asking Sareen about it, but she was told it was too soon for that. So during her off-days, she trained herself by tested it on birds flying by the temple. It turned out affecting other creatures was harder than she thought. It took more effort to get her thoughts through and most of the time it didn’t work.

Soon the cool crispness of autumn began to permeate the air. According to Sareen, she should be finished with her training before winter came.

With her training nearing completion, it dawned on her that she had no idea what to do next. Going back to Diamus was always an option, but part of her considered staying in Amethyne with Sareen. She had little reason to leave and nowhere better to be. The biggest problem would be getting Janine on board.

After learning of Milan’s fate, the young woman locked herself in the library during her free time. Aeris would join her when she wasn’t training. They spent hours pouring over every book that caught their eye. There wasn’t much except history books and other learning tomes. When asked what she was looking for, the reply was, “I’ll tell you when I find it.”

Aeris decided to give her space, but Terran promised to keep an eye on her. It set her mind at ease so she could focus on her training.

After another great training session, Sareen asked her to stay behind. Aeris’ thoughts immediately went to Janine. The others also looked worried, but they left the two of them alone.

Her fear must have been worn on her face because Sareen said, “Calm yourself. There is nothing wrong.” She looked uncomfortable as she sat down. “Aeris, there is something I require from you. Are you familiar with the name, Jeffery Jackman?”

Aeris tilted her head. “No. But Olyvia asked me that, too. Who is he?”

“So Olyvia told you about him? That meddling--” A terse growl escaped her before she took a deep breath and turned back to Aeris. “It matters not any longer. You know and nothing can be done. As I’m sure she explained to you, Jeffery Jackman is considered among the humans to be a...‘dragon expert’.” She frowned at the term, a streak of light running across her scales. “Regardless of the legitimacy of his skill, he has compiled a great deal of information on dragons, and while it pains me to admit it, most of his information is quite accurate. Which is why I must enlist you to recover his notes.”

“His notes?”

“Decades ago, he made a deal with a dragon for information on our kind. This contract is what propelled him to the top of his field.” She paused for a moment. Aeris noticed the tension in her claws. “However, there is a great deal of information on our kind he never published. Why I cannot say. Now that he is dead, I do not expect his grandson to fully honor his grandfather’s wishes.”

Thinking back to her meeting with Logan, he didn’t seem to like dragons much.

“But if he hasn’t published it all this time, why would he do it now?”

“I suspect he knows not what the notes contain, but why do humans do anything? Perhaps he simply didn’t see the value in it until now. Perhaps he was biding his time. The reasons matter not to me. What does matter is that those notes are recovered and brought to me.”

“Okay.”

“Just like that? Given your penchant for disobedience, I never imagined you to be so agreeable.”

“After all you’ve done for me, it’s only fair I help you, right?”

Sareen blinked, seemingly taken aback by her words. “I underestimated you, it seems. Thank you. You know not what this means for the lives of dragons as a whole.”

“What do you mean?”

With a small smile, she answered, “When you return with the notes, I’ll tell you.”

Aeris started to leave but then stopped as something crossed her mind. “Um, can I ask you something? These notes, is that why you were in Diamus?”

“It was one of my reasons for visiting, yes. However, I quickly realized that as Dracaena it would draw more attention than I would like.” She smiled and added, “But then I found something even better: you.”

“Me?”

“In time you will understand. Just remember that your Call is not what makes you a strong Matriarch. It is a useful tool, but not something you should be reliant on.”

Aeris nodded then hurried off to find the others and tell them the news.

****

The trip back to Diamus didn’t take nearly as long as expected. Since there were only two humans with them, they agreed to fly back. Aeris wanted to see more of the land, but after realizing that Sareen wasn’t going with her, she decided to take in the view from above.

Diamus felt different than her last visit. She couldn’t quite place it, but there was a shift in the atmosphere. The city felt tenser than before.

“I wonder what happened while we were gone?” Janine asked. “Sareen made us feel more welcome.”

“Watch your tongue, girl,” Maxis said. He shot a nasty look at a pair of dragons nearby. “I told you--”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

“Let’s get back to the house,” Terran said. “Let’s get some rest before you two start going at each other.”

Aeris wanted to go see Logan, but she was also tired from all the flying. Unfortunately, there was no exciting temple to explore to help her forget her exhaustion. She hadn’t told the others about Sareen’s request and part of her didn’t want to. Janine would only argue it was some setup and she suspected Windor would agree. Terran and Maxis likely wouldn’t care either way.

When they got to the house she went straight to her room and flop onto the mattress. It didn’t take long before she fell asleep.

She awoke the next morning, ready to get started on her task. She quickly ate breakfast then hurried off to see Logan.

On the way there, she went over what she was going to say to him. Just outright asking for his grandfather’s notes seemed rude; he would never agree to that. She would have to get him to open up to her first and trust her before she could ask for something so precious. Her time spent observing human nobles taught her that interactions like this were all about leverage and standing, two things she lacked.

Finding the house was easy even after all this time. As she drew closer, she heard voices. Judging from the tone, they didn’t sound happy. Part of her wondered if she could come back later.

The front door opened before she could make up her mind. A thin human stormed out. Whatever he was occupied with, he nearly walked into her.

“Oh, excuse--” his eyes widened as he stared at Aeris.

Logan appeared in the doorway. “I see you met the dragon. Here she is again to save the day.”

The sarcasm in Logan’s voice went unmentioned by the thin human turned back to Logan then to Aeris. “I can’t believe it. You’re real.”

“I’m sorry?” Aeris said.

“I didn’t mean any disrespect, of course! I only meant when Logan sent me a letter claiming he found an extinct species of dragon, I was beyond skeptical.”

“And now you can see that I wasn’t lying. And neither was my grandfather.”

Aeris wasn’t sure what was going on, but she stepped around the thin human and approached Logan. “Mr. Jackman? I need to speak with you.”

“Actually, Ms. Dragon, if you have a few minutes--” the thin human began.

“She’s busy,” Logan interjected curtly as he stepped aside to let Aeris in. He slammed the door behind her. “Damn leech.” He turned to Aeris. “Now what are you doing here?”

Aeris hesitated. She hadn’t figured a good excuse for coming here. Just telling him she wanted to see him would be too suspicious after all this time. “I wanted to ask some questions about your grandfather.”

He scoffed and pushed past her. “What makes you think I want to talk about him to a dragon?”

“Maybe I think you owe me one.”

He stopped and whirled around. “Owe? You? It’s because of you, my grandfather went insane! That he became the laughing stock of the scientific community! He lost everything and you magically show up after all these years and think I owe you anything?”

Aeris exhaled slowly and stepped forward. She had only one shot at this; if she chose her words poorly, she failed Sareen. That couldn’t happen. “It’s only because I showed up that the human outside believed you. I doubt other humans will take you at your word. I’m not some trophy to show off at your leisure. But I am willing to help you.”

Logan was silent. Part of her was annoyed at his rudeness but she still needed his help. It was nothing new to her. For years she dealt with humans and their snide remarks.

Finally, he broke the silence. “What’s your game, dragon? I know you’re not here out of the goodness of your heart.”

“I just want you to answer my questions.”

“I already told you: I don’t know anything about Matriarchs.”

“I don’t have questions about that anymore. I want to ask about your grandfather.” Everything aside, she was genuinely curious about the man. She wanted to know why a human was looking for a supposedly extinct species, why other dragons don’t like the dracology field, and why she had never heard of this man before.

“Fine. You have a deal, dragon.”

“Snowflake. My name is Snowflake.”

“Excuse me. Snowflake, you have a deal. Now I know you have questions, but I want to be alone right now. Your presence is...I have a lot I need to process. If you could, can you come back say 3 days from now at noon? I’ll answer your questions then.”

Aeris nodded then left. The thin human wasn’t waiting outside for her as she feared. Since it meant she wasn’t going to be stared at or bombarded with questions, she didn’t mind.

There wasn’t much else to do now, so she figured she would drop by the Dragon’s Den and see Mr. Thomas and the others.

****

“What do you mean, he sold it?” Aeris asked. Something felt off when she approached the restaurant, but the last thing she expected to hear was that Mr. Thomas had sold the building he put so much time and work into.

The large ramscale standing guard over the door shrugged. “I mean he doesn’t work here anymore, so he’s not here.”

“Well, do you know where he is?”

“Why would I know that?”

She rolled her eyes. “Can I go inside? I need to speak to Caroline.”

“Get in the back of the line.”

The line reached around the corner. Even if she stood in line, it would likely take all day and that was assuming she was would even get a chance to go in. Sareen mentioned not relying too much on her Call, but it seemed necessary if she was going to get in.

Before she could do anything, Shai stepped outside. “I got this one.”

The ramscale nodded and went back to standing watch over the long line of dragons. Shai motioned for Aeris to follow her inside. Immediately crossing the threshold, Aeris noticed the changes. The first being the lack of humans inside. Even the scent of the place was predominantly dragon instead of the mingling of human and dragon she was used to.

She looked for her co-workers as she followed Shai into the back but didn’t see anyone familiar.

“What happened to everyone?” Aeris asked.

“You’ll get your answers soon enough.”

They continued through the kitchens into another short hall before reaching a large office. Aeris was saddened to notice no traces of Mr. Thomas’ scent remained.

Shai closed the door then turned to her. “So you’re back. The Dracaena didn’t kill you after all.”

The bitterness in her voice at “Dracaena” didn’t escape her notice just as she still remembered the warning Shai gave her before. “Why do you hate her so much? What did she do to you?”

“Before I tell you anything, I need to know if I can trust you.” She moved closer. Aeris held her ground and looked the dragoness in the eye. “I want your word that you did not come here as my enemy.”

Aeris tilted her head. “Why would I be your enemy? I don’t know you and you’ve done nothing to me.”

“That’s not what I asked you.”

“I did not come here as your enemy. I just came to see everyone, that’s all.”

The horntail studied her for a moment, spiked tail stiff beside her. Soon, she said. “All right. I believe you.”

“Really? Just like that?”

“Dragons don’t give their word lightly, and the Dracaena would never deal with a dragon who would break her word.” She backed away and sat down. “So I’ll answer your questions. He sold his restaurant because I asked him to.”

“Why would you do that? He loves this place!”

“Simple. The Dracaena put him in a bad position, and I pointed this out to him, he wanted to get out. I gave him one.”

“I don’t understand. She never mentioned any of this to me. Why would she want this restaurant?”

“Think about it. You started off bussing tables, then one visit from the Dracaena and you’re practically co-owner. It makes him look like a dragon worshipper.”

She didn’t understand why that mattered either, but she figured asking why all the time would be rude. “But why did you send the humans away?”

“Had to. After you left, the dragons blamed the humans for chasing you away. Some fights broke out and a man died. Had to split everyone up to keep the peace. After that, the dragons wanted me in charge.”

There was more to this story than what had been revealed to her, but she didn’t want to dig any further. Her question had been answered and that was good enough for her. Whatever was happening between humans and dragons, she wanted no part of it having learned her lesson from the last time.

She bowed before heading for the door. “Thank you for your time. I have to be leaving now.”

“Do you plan on staying?”

Aeris didn’t turn around. “No, I don’t.” She didn’t want to stay. With the situation as tense as it was, staying seemed like a bad idea.