As Drock drew near, Simber detected who his riders were. Despite his concerns over seeing Drock without the other dragons, he let a rare smile escape and refrained from announcing the identities of the passengers to the others, thinking they would be more delighted to discover them with their own eyes. Soon the six mages on board stood up in the hollow of the dragon’s back, peering anxiously around the beast’s neck at the group gathered on Warbler’s shore.

Kaylee shaded her eyes with her hand, then exclaimed, “Oh my God! Aaron! It’s Aaron!” She dropped her plate of food and ran for the surf. The dragon glided down and skidded across the water. Then his tail began to churn, propelling them forward. Kaylee turned back and hollered, “Everybody! Henry’s here too, and Sean! And Scarlet! And Ibrahim and Clementi! I can’t believe it!”

The battered people from Thisbe and Fifer’s group felt new energy surge through them. Thatcher, Carina, and Seth all exploded to life and ran into the surf to greet their loved ones. Crow, straining to catch a glimpse of Scarlet, followed a bit tentatively, then abandoned his shyness and broke into a run when he saw her dive off Drock’s back and start swimming toward him.

The two people in the slowest-moving relationship ever recorded reached each other, waist deep in waves. They faced one another for a second, then relinquished all decorum and embraced, holding each other like they never wanted to let go. Then Scarlet pulled back, took Crow’s face in her hands, and as seawater streamed down them, she planted a kiss firmly on the young man’s lips. Crow looked shocked for a second. Then he gathered Scarlet up in his arms. With a grin he kissed her back.

Fifer cheered at the sight of her beloved former caretaker looking so perfectly happy. But Thisbe’s eyes were elsewhere. She caught Aaron’s eye, and a lump formed in her throat. Aaron put his hand to his heart in silent gratitude at seeing her. Then Thisbe and Fifer ran into the surf and skirted Crow and Scarlet, who were kissing again, and joined Kaylee in hugging Aaron. Thisbe couldn’t stop her sobs, and after a moment Aaron let go of the others and picked her up as if she was a little girl. He held her as they cried together. Fifer watched her brother and sister, her eyes filling with tears. But she didn’t worm her way into the embrace. It had been a very long time since Thisbe and Aaron had seen each other.

Thatcher tackled Henry and their children in a huge group hug. They staggered through the water to Lani, who’d gone as far into the water as her magical wheeled contraption would take her. Henry broke away and threw his arms around his sister, and they all continued slogging to shore.