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They varied their hunting grounds over a wide range, but every ten days or so, Icefyre led them back here. They would spend their early afternoon soaking in the sun-warmed waters of the oasis to cleanse the blood from their hides and then rolling luxuriantly in the rough sand to polish their scales. Even in winter, the depression cupped the day’s warmth. The water rose from the depths of the earth to form a wide, still pool. Just before the brushy ridge was a hidden oasis, in a wide, sandy basin, surrounded by a scatter of trees. Stunted trees and gray-green brush populated its jagged edges and rough gullies. Not too far away a rocky ridge erupted above the sand.

Out of the corners of her eyes, Tintaglia admired her glittering wings.Īs if he sensed her lack of attention to him, Icefyre banked abruptly and began his circling descent. The smaller injuries to his body were long gone, but the tears in his wings would knit more slowly, and the welted scars of their healing would always be visible.

His larger wings still had rents in the heavy webbing between the finger ribs. His long encasement in ice had taken a toll on his body, one that was taking years to heal. Her featherlike scaling glittered a scintillating blue, but he was an even black all over.

His torso was thicker and heavier than hers, his body longer. His long body flexed as he shifted his weight to catch and ride the wind.

Now, smeared still with the blood and offal of the hunt, the two dragons had another goal in mind.Īhead and slightly below her, Icefyre was a gleaming black shape. They had made their separate kills, as they always did, and spent the morning in feasting and then sleep. Tintaglia thrummed deep in her throat, a purr of pleasure in the day. On the undulating desert sands below, her rippling shadow showed her as a serpentine creature with batlike wings and a long, finned tail. She rode the air currents easily, her legs sleeked tight against her body, her wings spread wide.

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