Dawn was rising again, gold and blue, when Dorvin saw it ahead, and tears filled his eyes.

At his side, Alina gasped and wept. Behind them the other dragons whispered, cried out in joy, and sang prayers.

"King's Column!" they said. "Requiem! Requiem is real."

Gliding on the wind, Dorvin could barely breathe. He had always thought himself strong, a vicious hunter of beasts, a man with no weakness inside him, yet now tears streamed down his scaly cheeks.

"It's real," he whispered.

The pillar was still distant, ten marks away or more, a mere sliver from here. Yet its light shone across the world. The column rose from a forest, taller than any tree, gleaming white and silver. A sunbeam fell upon its capital, breaking into many rays like the fabled lighthouses said to exist across the sea. Birches spread around the pillar, and blue mountains rose behind.

Requiem. Our home.

All around Dorvin, the dragons sang prayers—singing for their stars, singing for Requiem.

Twenty-one banished, lost, hurt souls, the dragons glided upon the wind, tears in their eyes and songs in their hearts, flying toward their new home.

* * * * *

They spiraled down, twenty-one lost dragons. Dorvin landed first between the birches, and the others landed around him, their claws sinking into the forest floor. Before them it rose—the Pillar of Requiem. King's Column. Even standing in dragon form, Dorvin felt smaller than a mouse. The pillar rose to the height of fifty men, its capital shaped as rearing dragons in the sunlight. A circle of marble tiles spread around its base, and spring grass grew between the tiles. The birches rustled around the column, their leaves fresh. It was a spring for the world and a spring for dragons.

And before the column they stood—more dragons. The children of Requiem.

"Requiem," Alina whispered at his side. The lavender dragon knelt and bowed her head. "A home for dragons."

A silver dragon, Dorvin tilted his head, a sudden tightness in his chest. "Is . . . this it?"

He narrowed his eyes. He had expected cities. He had dreamed of hundreds of dragons—thousands of them. And only four stood here before him! Surely they'd come to the wrong place. Surely this couldn't be the kingdom of dragons. Dorvin took a step closer, snorting out fire.

"I am Dorvin! A leader of dragons. We seek the fabled Requiem."

One of the four dragons ahead—a burly, copper beast—stepped forward. He blasted out smoke and bowed his head. "You have found Requiem, my son." The dragon's eyes dampened. "Welcome."