They soared through the sky, roaring at the darkening sun, skimming through the water where the gods used to be. Others carried people still, circling as though lost without land to navigate by. And more just flew higher and higher, dropping back down when the air became too thin to breathe.

Oh, no.

They were trying to get to the stars. They were trying to get to their gods.

I ached for them, and maybe I should have stopped to explain how humans had ruined everything, but I couldn’t stop searching. LaLa was out there somewhere, and our time was short.

Through dragons’ eyes, I saw ships all across the water, packed tight with people clutching anything stable just to stay upright; the sea shifted madly beneath them, rolling with the loss of the islands. Water roared in grief, just as loud as the dragons.

Then I saw the fleet where I’d left Aaru and the others, sailing east like I’d ordered. Hristo and Ilina were hugging each other, both crying, while Mother and Zara stood at the rail and stared out at all the nothing. Gerel and Chenda struggled to create some kind of order out of the chaos, calling out instructions and working together like they’d been born for this day.

Aaru, too, was busy, tapping with Safa and the other Idrisi girls, but the silence was gone. The gods had taken their gifts up into the sky. Now great waves rolled unimpeded across the ocean, ready to swallow the ships whole.

Light shifted as the moons slipped across the sun; the first was almost gone, just a dark blot on the edge of a yellow crescent. And swiftly, that blot vanished, leaving only the second.

Finally, through the tangle of dragon minds—all their grief and shock and determination—I found LaLa. She and Crystal were nuzzling Kelsine, comforting their friend after all she’d been through, but when LaLa sensed me reaching for her, she didn’t hesitate. She shot into the air, flapping as hard as her tiny wings would take her.

I surged toward her, my heart pounding wildly with hope. I’m coming, I thought. I’m coming.

My wings were huge, and I could fly faster than any other dragon on Noore. Even so, time was short, and no matter how I willed the space between us to fold and bring me to her sooner, the world wouldn’t move just because I asked.

Wings straining, lungs heaving, I flew for her, and she flew for me. I could feel her, pushing harder than she ever had in her life, just as determined to reach me in time.

Ocean rolled beneath, and the sky darkened around, but my heart was an arrow pointed straight for LaLa. Even as light squeezed around the second moon—long enough for me to make out ships in the distance—I strained my entire body, human and dragon, to get to her before the eclipse was finished.

Everything went dark.

I flew faster.

Even now, I could feel her pulling closer, her wings beating frantically, her heart racing. We could find each other in the dark, my precious dragon flower and me. We could.