Epilogue: The siblings decide to act

When Rhaegal saw the river, the first thing he did was admire the extraordinary landscape beyond it. The crystal clear water flowed placidly and didn't appear to be deeper than a meter; from the bank where the dragon was, the ground was barren and covered with a light blanket of grass; on the other bank, the grass became less and less until it disappeared, giving way only to an immense expanse of sand.

They had succeeded. After many vicissitudes, they had finally reached the Yuthia Desert. Had it been normal circumstances, Rhaegal would have cheered. But those weren't normal circumstances. They had gotten this far, but at a serious price: their family was missing a member. And his absence could not be ignored.

After Haku was captured, the sixteen dragons cheered that he was still alive. They thought their brother was dead, but he survived once again. Haku really had tough skin. However, he was now a prisoner. The sixteen dragons had immediately worked to free him, but unfortunately they hadn't dared to approach the human military camp: since the invisibility rune didn't seem to be able to totally hide them, they had preferred to wait to formulate a plan. Unfortunately there hadn't been time: the following day Haku had been carried away by some wyverns, headed who knows where.

Rhaegal, as well as all the others, would have wanted to chase him, but fortunately rationality (or rather the voices of reason that were Kotaru and Sisna) had brought them back to reality: they had no way of reaching the flying creatures, and there was no it was way to follow Haku's scent in the sky. What's more, they had to get away from that area as soon as possible, since there were still humans around. So they had set off in a northwesterly direction, away from the human army. Luckily, after the poisonous vapor had dissipated and they had been able to recover the hydra's corpse, the humans had also departed, in the opposite direction to that of the dragons.

Not knowing what else to do, the dragons continued on. And so, finally, they had arrived. The wood had given way to a grassy plain and the weather had grown warmer by day and colder by night, and finally the river had appeared in their field of vision. And beyond it, the desert. Their goal was ahead of them, but they weren't as happy to have gotten there as they should have been.

When they reached the bank, the dragons plunged into the river. After all their ups and downs, they needed a bath. The current wasn't strong and was actually quite pleasant. The cool water refreshed and relaxed them, and helped them clear their heads.

They remained soaked for almost two hours, until Darbi asked the fateful question: "So... what now?"

The sixteen dragons had heard that question before, months ago, when they'd been driven from their mother's territory. Simply put, when their entire world was turned upside down. And this time was no different: their world had been turned upside down, their way of life had changed. For the first time, they had truly lost someone, and didn't know what to do to help them. All of them were in the midst of despair. But this time, there was no one to cheer them up.

When their mother kicked them out, Haku was there with them, and he knew exactly what to do. He had given them hope and encouraged them to continue, not to give up, to believe in the future. He had a plan and he had a strategy. It had allowed them to get food and shelter. He had given them a chance to move forward.

But this time there was no one who knew what to do. Haku had been taken away and had no idea how to get it back. They didn't even know where he was, what they were doing to him, or if in the end they hadn't decided to eliminate him anyway. They didn't know if he was injured, sick or malnourished. They didn't know if they were torturing or threatening him. They didn't even know where to start looking to solve these questions.

The sixteen dragons detested each other at the time. They hated that their bodies were so weak. They felt helpless, unable even to help their brother. Rhaegal, in particular, also felt guilty. He should have been the one captured: he should have convinced Haku to make him the sacrificial victim, force him if necessary. If he, Rhaegal, were captured, Haku would know what to do. In a short time, he'd be hatching dozens of plans, trying to save him, or at least finding a way to get information. Surely he wouldn't have been totally helpless and wouldn't have wasted time in self-pity.

Rhaegal hated himself for letting him be the one captured. It should have been the other way around. Why did Haku choose to be the sacrifice himself?

Actually Rhaegal knew it well: Haku loved him. He loved them all. He couldn't let one of them die. He would not have survived that realization. He too would have died of a broken heart.

Rhaegal also loved Haku. All of them loved Haku, despite everything that had happened between them. The love between siblings couldn't cease. It was a bond they had built so well that it was now impossible to break. Therefore, Rhaegal was in no doubt what he had to do. "I go to the Jurao Kingdom"

His siblings looked at him with no surprise in their eyes. All of them evidently had thought the same thing. "Before he sacrificed himself for us, Haku asked me to take our family to the desert" Rhaegal continued. "Therefore, I can't go any further. Our family hasn't fully arrived at the desert. It won't be until all family members are here. So I will go to the Jurao Kingdom to look for Haku"

"You don't even know which way to go" Sisna pointed out. "You don't know which city they took him to, or which palace. It would be no different from walking with your eyes closed"

"It doesn't matter. It means I'll have to look under every stone" Rhaegal replied. "You don't have to come with me, you can continue if you want. Haku would like you to go safe. But I can't leave without him, my promise prevents me. And then... I don't want to. So I'll stay here and I will search, even if it takes me a hundred years. When I find it, it will be then that the two of us will join you at the oasis"

"You mean the three of us" Darbi said, standing up. "I'm not pulling myself out of the picture. You and Haku will need someone to keep your spirits up. Don't expect to get rid of me"

Darbi had no intention of falling behind. He too felt guilty: if only he hadn't been so reckless, the hydra wouldn't have knocked him out, and could have stopped Haku and taken his place. He could have been the sacrificial victim, not his beloved brother. Therefore, he could not hang back and wait. He had to act, or he would go mad.

Rhaegal smiled. "Are you sure, brother? It's a long journey"

"That's exactly why you'll need someone to entertain you" Darbi laughed. "Besides, I don't think you'll mind having someone to have your back"

Rhaegal nodded with a knowing look. "I guess there's no way I can convince you to stay with our sisters"

"Obviously not. Alone with all these females? I'd be bored. I need you guys if I'm going to reach adulthood without going crazy" Darbi said, and both dragons burst out laughing. After five seconds, however, they were hit on the head by two stones the size of a human fist. Even if it couldn't hurt them seriously, it still hurt a lot, and in fact they both emitted a sound of pain and rubbed their heads on the affected spot.

They turned around and saw that it was Kialandì the one who had thrown the stones, who was staring at them with reproachful eyes. Eyes shared by all their sisters. "Have you finished playing to be the alpha males?" she grumbled. "No one abandons anyone. We will save Haku together. You two alone would last three days to be optimistic"

"Hey! We can take care of ourselves!" Darbi exclaimed offended.

"An impulsive guy all brawn and no brain, a guy with more traumas than scales on his body and, if we add Haku, a guy unable in social relationships. Sorry, but the males of our family are definitely all idiots" Malchia said without any sarcasm in the voice. "So excuse us if we don't have so much confidence that you'll be able to manage on your own"

Darbi and Rhaegal huffed in annoyance as their sisters burst out laughing without even trying to hide it. Those comments were particularly hurtful… though eminently accurate.

"Kialandì is right. We all come. Haku was the brother of all of us" Kotaru said. "We can't leave him behind. None of us want to leave him behind"

"He wouldn't leave anyone behind. We won't leave him behind" Tikka said. "Remember what he said? Whoever gets in our way, we'll show them the true power of a pack of dragons! I think it's about time! Who agrees?"

"Do you need to ask?" Corgorin murmured sarcastically. "We all agree! Haku has always wanted to protect us. Very good: let's show him that not only we don't always need his protection, but that we can be the ones to protect him!"

"Wise words, sister!" Finiar exclaimed. "Let's go and get him out of whatever trouble he's in now, and then stick it to him to the death!"

The dragons burst out laughing, and even Rhaegal and Darbi couldn't help but chuckle. The thought of having something to tease Haku with was exhilarating. When they released him, their brother would probably want to go back to prison. Perhaps he would have gotten himself recaptured on purpose to escape the shame.

They laughed for at least five minutes. It was good to laugh. For a moment, finally, everyone forgot their difficulties. Haku captured? It wasn't a problem: it was enough to save him. They would have saved him and then teased him about it. They would go back to being the family they were, and they would all leave together for the Thul Oasis. They'd show it to the humans and screw them big time, just like they screwed the faeries and ogres and everyone else they'd met in their lives. They were dragons after all: the strongest, smartest and smartest creatures in all the world. There was no being that could stand up to him. United, they were unbeatable.

By the time they were done laughing, Rhaegal was decidedly more determined. "Very well. So what's the first step?"

"As Haku would say, gather information" Keita said. "We need to find out where they took him. Let's find some humans and interrogate them"

Everyone agreed. Yes, that was exactly what Haku would be, since it was the most logical thing to do.

"Actually..." Maldor murmured hoarsely. "Maybe I have a better method"

Everyone turned to her, and she seemed to back away a little. Maldor had always been the most taciturn sister of all of them, even more than Haku: she spoke very little and often her siblings worried that she was actually silent. She had never expressed her opinion in decisions, except now.

However, she didn't have time to explain himself: a familiar smell penetrated the nostrils of the sixteen dragons, who immediately snapped to attention. Rhaegal scrambled up a rock and looked into the distance, where he could clearly see a group of humans. "I think they are adventurers. I count at least five of them" he said. "What do we do?"

"Let's question them, of course" said Darbi. "We are sixteen against five. It will be easy to submit them"

"Wait!" Sisna stopped him, with a determined look. "Don't hurt them. Let's talk to them first"