Granna whispered in her ear. "You can't just force your dragon out like that. You'll kill yourself first."
"Nothing else has worked," Tressa protested. "I just want to be like everyone else."
"You are nothing like the others," Granna said as they coasted to the ground, Mestifito landing with a jarring thump. Tressa tumbled off his back and onto the hard ground. Her head smarting, she sat up. Granna slid off Mestifito, landing next to Tressa. "You have a death wish."
"I only want to be able to control the dragon inside me. I see nothing wrong with that," Tressa snapped. "If you hadn't caught me, I might be flying right now."
"If I hadn't caught you, you would have broken your neck on the landing. I'd be asking the men to bury you." Granna turned on one heel and stalked away.
Tressa rubbed the back of her head and stood. She wandered over to the bank, pulled her boots off, yanked up the bottom of her pants, and waded into the water. The water nipped at her toes, cooling her off quickly. She took a few deep breaths and looked to the northwest. Out there was the island that made the hair stand up on Fi's arms. No matter. She turned back to the east. Their true enemy lay hidden in the hills, secreted away in a castle Tressa hadn't even glimpsed in Malum.
Fi had shown her a map of the city. It was the largest in the Dragonlands, even dwarfing the size of the Ruins of Ebon, under the Charred Barrens. The castle itself was inaccessible without a dragon, built into the crags of the hills. They'd have to fly in and confront the queen. Tressa wanted to kill her after what had happened in Malum during the Descent Festival.
No one wanted peace. They all wanted to fight. To dominate the other, even in the Black, when they supposedly wanted nothing to do with the rest of the Dragonlands. Tressa could see the bloodlust in their eyes. Hear the ferocity of their speech when they spouted rhetoric at war meetings.
They wanted to control the dragons. Rule the realm.
Tressa only knew what she wanted: a world of quiet and peace. Unfortunately it seemed less and less like the Black wanted the same.
She looked toward the sea again. A light breeze drifted over the water, swirling around her body.
"Tressa."
She looked around, but no one else was near. They were all working to set up the camp for the night.
"Tressa."
It wasn't coming from behind her. No, the voice was coming from the sea...and it sounded oddly similar to Jarrett.
Chapter Twenty-Three
As night fell, the Black dragons and their riders settled down for the night. Three dragons and their riders remained in the sky, circling and watching. Granna curled up with Mestifito in the center of camp. Tressa laid out her bedroll next to Fi, who was in her human form and already snoring. The fires had died down. There were no more quiet murmurs in the night. Everyone had fallen asleep.
Tressa snatched her black cloak and pulled the hood over her head. Carefully she tiptoed around sleeping people. No one stirred.
Tressa made her way to the shoreline. She sat on the rocky beach, just above where the waves lapped. Slipping her feet into the cool water, she closed her eyes and waited again for the voice that had sounded so much like Jarrett's. Even the gulls were quiet. Tressa let out a long breath and looked up at the stars.
They'd offered her healing when she'd been trapped on the water. Perhaps tonight they would guide her toward her destiny. Toward that dragon form she wanted so desperately to regain. Tressa untied the cloak from her neck and let it drop to the ground. She took off her tunic and pants. Then her leggings and underthings. Standing naked in the half-light of the moon, Tressa walked into the water. It bit her ankles, then her knees, and then her thighs. Still, she didn't stop. She didn't recoil against the freezing water. Instead she embraced it, walking until the water kissed her chin.
Tressa closed her eyes and pursed her lips together as she continued on her walk. The water lapped against her cheeks and forehead, then covered her completely. She blew out the breath she'd been holding and opened her eyes.
Tiny fish swam around her body; seaweed blanketed the sea floor. Tressa's hair floated up like the tentacles of the squid she'd seen in one of Granna's old books. Her chest ached. Her lungs burned, and her lips opened. Water rushed in. Her vision wavered, black and gray merging with the moonlit sea. Her brain became foggier than the veil that had once surrounded Hutton's Bridge.
Tressa's arms floated to her sides as her body collapsed in on itself. Surrendering. Her last thought was of Jarrett's voice calling to her from the sea.
Then it happened.
Her body convulsed, limbs breaking into the form of a dragon. She stretched her wings and burst free from the cold grip of the underwater grave. A burst of fire from her mouth dried up the water she'd swallowed.