After hanging up the phone, North sat on the bed with his back against the headboard as he stared at the paper he’d made his notes on. There was an overnight train that would put him in Munich first thing in the morning. He didn’t need to go back into town. He could pack and chill at the hotel until it was time to head to the train station.
But this was Brussels…
At Christmas time.
When in the world was he going to be out this way again?
Possibly never.
If he didn’t find the dragons, there was no doubt in his mind his parents were going to force him home. That entire idea of running away to hide in Brussels and become a professional chocolatier was a little insane and a lot impossible.
Even if he did find dragons, he didn’t know what would happen next, but he doubted it would include fun trips to Brussels for the Christmas market and tree lighting celebration.
It was silly to pass up this opportunity. Those two assholes couldn’t have been after him specifically. Didiane had likely scared them off, and he’d be able to disappear into the massive crowd at Grand Place. He’d go, have some fun, eat some waffles with strawberries and chocolate, and then jump on the train to Munich.
Easy as pie.
Gunter flew to his right, just below Warin’s wing, following him in. The Royal Researcher yelled out, “Are we close?”
Perhaps it was only in Warin’s mind, but those words sounded eerily reminiscent of a child asking plaintively, Are we there yet?
Granted, Gunter had cause to be curious and impatient. They’d been in the air now for hours. Unless Warin missed his guess, they were likely over Belgium and possibly near Brussels at this point. And still, he had no idea if this was too far. Or not close enough. It was cold in the air, even for a fire dragon, and only the exertion of flying kept his body warm enough to avoid shivering. Gunter likely wanted to land and find dinner. Warin certainly felt that urge.
“I don’t know!” he called back to his friend. “I haven’t felt the tug since the last time!”
Gunter didn’t look all that thrilled with the answer. “Land, let’s regroup?”
Warin had his mouth open, ready to agree, when he saw something glint strongly off in the distance. Narrowing his eyes, he stared harder. It was a little difficult to see between the snow and the clouds, but…was that a distress beacon? The pure white shaft of light shot through the air, but it wasn’t steady. It jittered and moved, as if the person holding it was also moving.
“Is—distress beacon?” Gunter’s words were half-lost in the wind because he didn’t project it strongly enough.
He hadn’t seen one in hundreds of years. In fact, Warin had forgotten he knew what that looked like until just now, upon seeing it again. “Mage in trouble.”
Gunter gave him a worried look, and Warin nodded before sharply diving. If a mage was in trouble, of course they’d go. And if it was a trap by the Jaeggi, then they’d deal with it. Not that he actually expected that. No one knew where they were going, as Warin had been following a feeling most of the time. It was impossible to move ahead and set up an ambush. No, this was likely a mage.
Unless Warin missed his guess, it was Brussels spread out below him. That made this rescue much harder. They had few clear spaces to land in their dragon form and shift without drawing attention to themselves. He swore mentally as they came in closer to the city, using the snow as cover of sorts. This had been so much easier when the world still knew they were alive. He could just land and be done with it.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a flat roof to a large building, what looked like a shopping mall. If he landed gently, it should hold him. Warin dove for it, slowing his descent as much as possible, all while keeping a weather eye on the beacon. It still bounced around, running in—curse it, the exact opposite direction from him.
Warin landed in a crunch of snow and lost no time in shifting, doing it quickly out of fear for the roof, certainly—always rough when the roof collapsed under you, nasty business—but also because he feared losing the mage. If there was a distress beacon, and she ran with it, then odds were something chased her.
With another crunch, Gunter landed beside him, also shifting quickly. Warin didn’t wait for him. He adjusted the strap of his bag as he ran, changing it to something easier for his human form to carry. Once he reached the edge of the roof, he tossed himself over it, tucking and rolling as he landed on the snowy patch of ground below, coming up smoothly to continue running.