Chapter 30

Climbing through a snowstorm past Moltenmaw burrows, Raeve reaches the ledge where Rygun drove Líri. Three exhausted riders stumble out, scorched and slashed, warning that Líri is savage and refused to let them remove her saddle. They depart, calling Raeve’s intent suicidal.

Raeve edges into the burrow and finds Líri coiled, trembling and furious. As Raeve speaks softly, Líri charges. Kaan seizes Raeve from behind, his dominance halting further attack. He quietly tells Raeve that Líri perceived her sudden absence as abandonment, and that the dragon survived near death largely because of Raeve’s kindness.

Líri erupts skyward, circling above the village. Under Rygun’s watchful gaze from the cliff, she breathes pale-blue fire that whitens into structure, forging a hexagonal nesting perch above the river island. Kaan notes she is not broody—she wants height and distance, a place Raeve cannot easily reach.

Watching the saddle still clamped between Líri’s wings, Raeve reflects on coercion and the necessity of choice. She resolves to pursue Líri’s wellbeing over her own wants, to earn trust rather than force a bond. Accepting the danger, Raeve decides to prepare—food, soft-soled boots, and a careful plan—to approach Líri on Líri’s terms.