Two phoenixes were perched on the branch of a tree that was overlooking a cliff. One of the phoenixes turned to face the other. “Emile?”

Emile clacked his beak and narrowed his eyes at his sister. “What?”

Susan smacked his head with her wing. “Don’t snap at me.” She snorted and placed her wing back at her side. “Are we lost?”

Emile shook his head and smoothed out his face feathers with his wing. “You don’t know where we are?”

“Should I?” Susan asked and tilted her head. “I don’t remember being around a place like this.”

Emile nodded twice. “That settles it then,” he said. “If you don’t know where we are, then yes, we’re lost.”

“Oh.” Susan turned her head towards the horizon beyond the cliff. “We seem to be getting lost a lot.”

“That’s perfectly natural,” Emile said. “This is our second time leaving the nest ever. I’d be more surprised if we didn’t get lost.”

“That’s a fair point,” Susan said. She sighed. “I bet if we didn’t wander off and stayed near Tafel, we wouldn’t be lost though.”

“There’s no fun in not being lost,” Emile said. “If you’re lost, you get to experience so many things.” He pointed up at the sky with his wing. “Like two dragons flying overhead. Look at that blue one. It’s so fat!”

Chills ran down Susan’s spine as the two dragons flying overhead paused, hovering above them. “I think they heard you…,” she whispered and inched closer to the trunk of the tree.

Emile snorted. “Nonsense,” he said and shook his head. “Look at how far away they are. We can’t hear them talking, and everyone knows phoenixes have better hearing than dragons.”

“Maybe they aren’t talking,” Susan whispered, practically hissing. “Keep your voice down!”

Emile rolled his eyes. “Do you think I’m afraid of a fat, blue dragon and a skinny, green dragon?” He shielded his eyes from the sun with his wing and squinted up at the sky. “Hmm? They’re getting bigger?”

“They’re coming closer!” Susan said, her voice cracking. “Shut up, you dumb brother! You’ll get us both killed!”

“I—”

Susan leapt towards Emile and knocked him off the branch. The two phoenixes tumbled past some branches and onto the ground. Susan planted her stomach directly on top of Emile’s face, smothering his beak. She gathered fallen leaves and branches and covered herself with them, but her red feathers were quite obvious compared to the rest of the muted forest floor. A shadow covered her, and she looked up just in time to see a mass of blue scales crush a few trees beside her.

The blue dragon looked around before knocking over a few trees with her tail, creating a clearing in the forest. She tucked her paws underneath her as she lay on her belly. “This looks like a good place to stop, don’t you think?”

“Any place you pick is a great place to stop, dear,” the green dragon said and landed next to his mate. He pressed his cheek against hers and draped one wing over her body.

Susan cringed and hunched her shoulders. She lifted her belly a teensy bit, and there was a gasping sound as Emile took in a deep breath. Then Susan sat back down, covering her brother’s face. He kicked and thrashed, but Susan pinned his wings to the ground with her talons and pecked at his feet until they stopped kicking.

“Did you hear something?” Sharda asked, looking off the side.

“It was probably a rabbit having a heart attack,” Nova said. “You know how easily those things die of fright.”

“I’m going to check,” Sharda said and climbed to her feet.

Susan’s heart thumped in her chest as the ground shook beneath her. A moment later, there was a large crashing sound, and she nearly screamed. What happened? She turned her head slowly to avoid making even the slightest sound and squinted through the leaves of a bush. The green dragon had pulled the blue dragon back to the ground.

Sharda rolled over and frowned at her mate. “What are you doing?”

“How could I let you check?” Nova asked and chuckled. “What if it’s dangerous? I’ll be the one to check.”

Susan swallowed, staring at the rising green dragon without blinking. The ground shook as the dragon stomped towards her. She craned her neck up to follow the dragon’s face, and a pair of slit eyes met her gaze from above the treetops. The green dragon stared at her, and she stared back. Susan’s wing trembled as she raised it and held one feather in front of her beak in a shushing motion.

“Did you see something?” Sharda asked.

Nova scratched his snout, breaking eye contact with Susan. His head shifted from side to side, sweeping his gaze over the forest floor. “Nope. It was probably just a fallen branch.” He made eye contact with Susan and winked at her, giving her a knowing smile before pulling his head back from the treetops. The ground shook as Nova chuckled and paced around Sharda before settling down, snuggling next to her. “There was a reason why you thought this was a good place, right? We could’ve flown all the way back to the nest, but this place is far enough from the kids, am I right?”

A throaty laugh was the only response before the ground shook as the two dragons entwined.

Susan’s eyes widened at the scene beyond the bushes, and she forgot to lift herself to allow Emile to breathe. It was only after the moon rose, and the dragons had long left that Susan waddled off of her brother. She shivered and hugged herself with her wings, crouching down into a ball of fluffy feathers. Emile’s body twitched, and his eyes shot open as he gasped for air. He rolled over and hopped onto his feet before shaking his body like a wet dog. His brow furrowed at his sister. “What happened after I passed out? Don’t ever do that again, by the way.”

Susan shook her head. “I don’t think we should wander anymore—there’s some very scary things out in the world.” She shuddered and sank her head further down, hiding her beak from view. “Let’s stay by Tafel’s side from now on.”