“We knew we’d find you here.”

I turned around and looked at Robert and Edmund, who were climbing the final rungs of the ladder that led to the castle tower’s roof; I gave them a nod of acknowledgement, and they stepped up beside me, leaning against the parapet, gazing over the countryside, which was painted in the muted colours of late fall.

“The view from up here is amazing,” Edmund said.

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s even better from higher up.”

Robert smiled. “I’ll bet.”

We didn’t speak for a long time; we simply enjoyed each other’s presence in companionable silence.

“So this is it, then,” Edmund said, finally. “You’re really leaving.”

I nodded again. “We put the country’s affairs in order. Gave the Empire…” I frowned. “It’s not an Empire any longer, is it? Anyway, we reduced taxes, started getting the serfs involved in governing. I stayed as long as I was needed, but most of the work is done now. It’s time for me to go.”

“You don’t have to, you know,” Robert said. “You can stay. Stay, and take the crown for your own.”

I laughed. “You and the other Knights were kind to offer, Robert, but I happen to believe that ‘I killed the Emperor, so I get to be the Emperor now’ is a very poor basis for a system of government.”

“Not as ruler, then. You could just stay as you are: simply Adrian, the Egg Knight.”

“I’m not the Egg Knight any more, remember?” I replied. “It was one of the Emperor’s final acts. This young lad is the Egg Knight now.”

I nudged Edmund’s shoulder, and the lad blushed and smiled in response. “Still don’t know what I did to deserve that. And why you didn’t want your title back, Sir Adrian.”

“I have better things to do with my life than being a Knight now,” I said. “And I have full confidence that you will be able to handle the responsibilities. You’re a good man, Edmund.”

“And you’re a good… um,” Edmund said, and then paused, unsure as to how to continue.

I chuckled. “It’s okay. You can say ‘a good woman,’ kid. Or ‘a good person.’”

He grinned a cheeky grin at me. “A good dragon?”

I looked at him for a moment, and then shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine too. And, speaking of which, it’s one of the reasons I’m leaving.”

“What do you mean?” Robert asked, giving me a curious look.

“I mean that, considering what I am now, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets into their head that I’m a beast to be slain. Dragons have a reputation, after all.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I get it,” he said. “Even though you got rid of the Emperor, some prejudices you just can’t get rid of.

“Right,” Edmund agreed. “But it’s a shame.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, looking up as a winged shadow passed over us. “I promise I’ll come visit.”

I stepped away from the parapet, and was surprised when Edmund flung himself at me, wrapping me in a hug. “You better,” he said.

“I will,” I said. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

Edmund nodded, but I could see his eyes were moist. “Safe travels, Sir Adrian,” he said.

“Goodbye, sister,” Robert added.

I nodded at them. “Take care of yourselves,” I said; I stepped back further from them, and I closed my eyes and concentrated.

Despite having done it several times before, turning into my dragon form was still a weird feeling; Kyros had said I would get used to it in time, and I believed him.

I opened my eyes again, looked down at my friends, smiled, and with a few wingbeats I took flight.

Gaining height was difficult at first, but then I spread my wings, started gliding, and hunted for the thermals – Kyros had taught me how to locate them – and I let the current carry me higher and higher, until I was soaring over the countryside.

No matter how many times I saw it, the view was still amazing, the light of afternoon glinting off rivers and lakes, the snow-capped mountains far in the distance. I’d never dreamt I could see something this beautiful in my life, and I doubted I would ever get used to it.

“Have you said your goodbyes?” Kyros asked, tilting his wings, taking position beside me.

“I have,” I replied. “It was a bit sad, leaving them behind, but it was no longer a place for me. And besides, I can come back to visit any time I want.”

Kyros inclined his head slightly in what I knew was the equivalent of a nod – you have to avoid large movements while flying, it’s a precise balance. “So where do you want to go?” he said.

“Anywhere, really,” I said. “The world is so vast and beautiful.”

“Yeah, it’s full of wondrous things, and I can’t wait to show them to you.”

“Where do we start?”

Kyros was silent for a moment, as if he didn’t know what to say, and I gave him a glance out of the side of my eye: there was a weird expression on his face.

“Well…” he began, then paused.

“Well…?” I queried.

He coughed, and cleared his throat with a rumbling sound. “We could go see my parents.”

My head snapped to the side to stare at him – that was a mistake, since it broke my flight line, and I lost a few hundred feet of height before I managed to stabilise myself. “Your parents?” I said, once I’d regained control. “Wait, I seem to remember that you’re not supposed to meet them again until…”

Kyros glanced at me, and I didn’t think it was at all possible for a dragon to blush in embarrassment, but he somehow did it. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah.”

I grumbled deep in my throat. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, brat. We’re not like that yet.”

Kyros grinned. “Yet, you say,” he replied. “Which means there’s a chance, right?”

I sighed. “Kyros, so many things have happened all at once lately, all I want is a chance to catch my breath, and figure out what I want to do.” I glanced at him, saw the plaintive look he was giving me, and sighed again. “Look, I’m not saying no, just… not yet.”

“Alright,” he replied. Then, after a moment, he added, “But we still could go see my parents. I bet they’d love meeting you.”

“What about the tradition?”

He clicked his tongue. “Tradition is just bullying from your dead ancestors,” and I smiled.

We kept flying together in silence for several minutes, and then I sighed deeply once again.

“Alright. Let’s go meet your parents.”