Chapter 22

The Expanse, The Gullington, Scotland, United Kingdom

Gen hardly had a moment to process everything that had transpired when a great murmuring broke out behind her. She turned, thinking that someone was praising her dragon. To her surprise, she found Quiet hurrying in her direction. Behind him, Hiker and Mahkah were exchanging words, both of them looking stressed as they looked between Gen and her dragon.

"What is it?" Gen asked, turning to her dragon, knowing he knew what was happening.

He peered down at her with timeless wisdom. "I'm not who you thought I was…"

"What does that even mean?" Gen said as the crowd broke out in quiet muttering, all of them wondering what was happening. "I didn't know your name before I met you. I didn't know that you were the emperor of dragons. What else don't I know?"

"You think that we're here to help the world," Emperor said, his voice low and mostly in Gen's ears and in her head.

She nodded, noticing the stirring in the crowd. People were moving away. They were panicking. "Of course. I'm a Beaufont. I'm meant to do just that."

He shook his giant head, looking at her intently. "What if your purpose is to fix it… To save it…"

Confused, Gen glared up at him. "What does that even mean? Are we talking semantics?"

"Gen, you need to decide what you want," Emperor said, giving her a deadly serious look. "Because I don't just pick you. You pick me. And if this is not the life you want, then you have only now to decide."

Everything was stirring around Gen. The commotion was building. She didn't know what all this meant. And then she felt a tug on her arm. She looked down and saw Quiet standing meekly by her side.

He mouthed words she couldn't hear over all the noise. But she suspected that she wouldn't be able to hear them, anyway.

Kneeling down, Gen brought her ear closer to the gnome's face and looked straight at him. "What? What's happening, Quiet? What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," he replied and for the first time she heard the man who was so much more and the protector of the Dragon Elite. "It's just that your dragon, the emperor of dragons, doesn't belong here."

"What?" Gen asked, gawking at the gnome before her. "What do you mean?"

"He is a demon dragon," Quiet replied. "You are a demon dragonrider. You don't belong here at the Gullington with the Dragon Elite. Your job is not to fight for justice. Your job is with the Rogue Riders. You aren't meant to help the world. You are not in charge of creating peace. You are meant to fix the world. You are in charge of criminals."