By the time they arrived at the Heights Emine had gotten used to seeing dragons in the sky. This was good, considering the bright red dragon was there to greet them before they could even pass by the entrance into the valley.

“You’ve brought new blood, I can smell it. Show me.”

The words were creepy, but the tone was far too smooth. It actually made it a bit more creepy, that Emine didn’t feel as bothered out by the words because of the tone. She hid behind Sanni, who appeared to be waiting on whatever it is the man behind the reins said.

The horses didn’t appear to have any problems with a dragon right next to them. Emine squeezed her bag to her chest.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Sanni called forward.

Emine could feel her heart in her throat as the long neck snaked over. The face of a dragon wasn’t what Emine had imagined. The feathers became smaller and smaller, to the scales that surrounded the eyes and mouth. On this dragon, the smaller feathers were gold. Her eyes were not serpentine, as Emine had thought they might be. They appeared to have several pupils that were not black, but white against a ruby backdrop, moving independently of each other.

A hand appeared in front of her face, breaking her concentration for a moment. “Please, Ramar. Don’t make me warn her not to look into your eyes. They’re so beautiful and I’d hate for her to have this first time spoiled.”

“Flatterer,” the dragon called Ramar said.