Moonfall, #2
The Ballad of Falling Dragons
by Sarah A. Parker
Contents
Chapter 33
Overview
Before a watching village, Kaan quietly aids Raeve by sculpting a new bridge, then honors her demand to let her face Líri alone. Raeve scales the glacial perch, launches onto the Moonplume, and unbuckles Rekk’s saddle, freeing Líri from her past torment. The saddle—and Raeve—fall away into the clouds, leaving Líri liberated and Raeve’s fate uncertain.
Summary
In a snow-stilled northern village, Raeve prepares to approach Líri’s high perch as villagers watch. Kaan arrives, offers quiet devotion, and, without undercutting Raeve’s trial, sculpts a sturdy clay bridge to the eyot. He vows not to intervene and departs, leaving Raeve to earn Líri’s trust on her own terms.
Raeve crosses, studies the blast-frozen pillar, and climbs, focusing on calm breaths and careful holds. Passing through cloud, she finds Líri asleep atop the plinth, scars from Rekk’s torture stark in the light. Regret steels Raeve’s resolve to honor her promise to protect Líri, even from herself.
Líri wakes as Raeve crests the rim. The dragon surges skyward while Raeve hurls herself after her, snagging a saddle rope and clinging through brutal climbs and rolls. Timing movements with Líri’s wingbeats, Raeve hauls to the girth, unthreads the straps, and meets Líri’s gaze as she works the last pin.
Declaring, “Be free, Líri,” Raeve yanks the final pin. The girth and Rekk’s saddle fall away, severing the last tangible hold of the tormentor. As the tack drops, so does Raeve, slipping into the cloud layer while Líri keens—a liberation achieved at the cost of Raeve’s sudden plunge and unresolved fate.
Who Appears
- RaeveDetermined to earn Líri’s trust; scales the perch, leaps onto Líri, removes Rekk’s saddle, and falls into the clouds.
- LíriMoonplume dragon; scarred from Rekk’s torture, startled awake, ascends skyward as Raeve frees her from the saddle.
- KaanSubtly aids Raeve by sculpting a bridge; vows noninterference and declares devotion while fearing for her life.
- Villagers of the northern villageWitness Raeve’s perilous climb and Kaan’s earthcraft bridge, murmuring as the confrontation with Líri unfolds.
- RekkAbsent tormentor whose saddle and girth on Líri are removed, symbolically severing his lingering hold.