Thisbe and Drock took off speeding over the water. As the two went toward the Revinir, Thisbe told the dragon what she’d talked about with Aaron. When she finished, she said tentatively, “So, what do you think?”

“That’s what I’ve been thinking too,” said Drock. “The Revinir’s most recent call gave me the idea. We should go with her and play it as though we are under her mind control. Then we’ll see what we can do to break the connection between her and the others and get my family and your black-eyed friends to safety. And restore our land.”

“Do you think you can . . . you know . . . kill her?” Thisbe cringed. In spite of everything, she still hated talking like that because of how much evil the Revinir had told her she possessed.

“If I can get close enough without other dragons around, I might be able to,” said Drock. “She’s smaller than me. Hopefully she hasn’t gotten any stronger than when we saw her last.”

“I’m afraid to find out,” said Thisbe grimly. “She’s probably continued guzzling the dragon-bone broth.”

Drock was silent. He seemed to focus for a moment on a spot in the distance, and he sampled the air. His neck stiffened, and his scales shifted. “She knows we’re coming,” he said over his shoulder. “They’re slowing down.”

Thisbe swallowed hard. She couldn’t see them in the dark, but her scales had been raised for quite some time. The only things she could see were pinpricks of burning lava coming from the Island of Fire, way off in the distance. “How far away?”

“Not far now.” The dragon shivered and shook for a moment, then calmed down.

They talked through their plans to infiltrate the Revinir’s operation. And how they’d each go for it if they had a chance to take her out of commission. They discussed how to behave the right way so that the Revinir would be convinced they were under her spell. Even if that meant doing things they didn’t want to do. Thisbe knew Drock would have a hard time with that, but he promised to do his best. However, that was the least of Thisbe’s worries. She feared he wouldn’t be able to withstand the Revinir’s roar for much longer. Especially if he was right next to her. Maybe she’d stop roaring once Thisbe and Drock were with her—Thisbe could only hope.

•  •  •

After a time, flying over the sea, Drock began to slow down. Thisbe could see the shadows of dragons against the sky ahead. It made her feel very small and completely useless, and she crouched on Drock’s back, hugging her knees and peering over his shoulder. She wondered seriously if they were making a huge mistake.