As Abel slept, he dreamt, and the dream was a vision . . .

Thousands of years ago, Eve and her beloved mate Adam were embarking on the Dragonae Marriage Quest in preparation of their wedding. Each dragon pair who was betrothed was required to set forth from Eden and retrieve something for their Dragonae Clan. Eve and Adam were supposed to find a shiny red fruit called an apple that the daughter, Abigail, of the clan leader desired. Abigail had only heard of these mythical fruits from legends told to her by her nanny. She was obsessed with the idea of finding an apple and believed it would bring her eternal beauty and immortality. Thus she demanded day and night that her father get her an apple. Believing that the two young lovers, Eve and Adam, were the only ones with enough courage, intelligence, and tenacity to find an apple that would please his daughter, the Dragon King of Eden bade them go forth and capture a specimen of the elusive and medicinal fruit. The Dragon King told them of their mission at the Matching Ceremony as the village initiated the dragons who were newly of age into the pack of Elite Warrior Dragons. . . .

"Who do you think we will be matched with?" Eve whispered to Amos as they stood in line together before the female and male dragons divided up and entered the Great Hall through separate entrances.

"I don't know," Amos mumbled. His eyes shifted nervously among their peers. Eve reached out and smoothed his scales. "Maybe each other," he said in a low tone, his voice slightly cracking on the final word.

Eve and Amos had been friends for fifty years, ever since she had rescued him from the bullies who harassed him. She knew how sensitive he was to criticism, and so she had to tread lightly, even though the thought of marrying him twisted her stomach in an icy cold knot.

"Maybe. We'll see. You never know how these things will work out," she said, trying to sound upbeat.

"Eve, whatever happens, I hope we can be friends. I need you," Amos said, finally meeting her eyes. Eve looked away instantly in spite of her promise to herself seconds ago that she would be careful around him.

"Nothing you could do would ever stop me from caring about you," Eve said, hoping that she had placed enough emphasis on "about" so he would not hear it as "for."

"Okay, Dragonae, it's time to meet your match!" an ebullient female dragon called. "Line up! Line up!"

Eve lined up so she was sandwiched between two gorgeous female dragons. Immediately self-conscious, Eve rolled back her shoulders tried to look more polished and put together than she really felt. She could feel someone's gaze on her from the male's line, and sure enough when she looked over, Amos was staring at her with a weak smile. He gave her a half-hearted wave, which she returned before looking straight ahead as the doors opened onto the Great Hall. The latest inductees into the Dragon Clan of Eden waltzed into the room, passing through candlelit hallways, with each of the young ones carrying a torch. Looking over at Amos one last time, Eve noticed his torch had gone out. No surprise there; Amos was incapable of controlling fire. She tore her gaze away once more and focused on her role.

It was less easy to ignore Amos's uncontrolled and lingering fury over the rejection of Eden's Dragonae when, later that night, the young dragon Amos was deemed unsuitable for marriage to any of the other dragons. It was the last night Eve would see Amos for many years.

But Eve would know that for some time, because she and her new fiancé immediately set off on their quest for the mythical apple.

As Adam and Eve soared over the clear blue tropical waters, Eve watched the dolphins and wondered how she had been lucky enough to get here. Most of the Dragonae were paired off to a mate with no choice in the matter, but Eve had had her eye on Adam since they'd been children.

***

Years earlier . . .

A young Eve paid selective attention to Elder Deborah's warnings as the old woman told her a truth, a terrible, painful truth.

"You will find love, child," Elder Deborah said. Eve sighed deeply and let herself imagine what that would be like: love. Would her heart pound in her chest? Would she feel weak in her knees? Would she accidentally exhale fire in a passionate moment?

"But," Elder Deborah continued, brushing Eve's glistening white scales. "But. You will lose him, my poor girl. And you will be powerless to help him. You will bury him one day and as the years go by, you will never love another with your full body and soul like you will love this dragon."

Dazed, Eve realized she had begun to cry. She crawled away from Elder Deborah and stood up. Although she was not yet full grown, she towered above the ancient dragon.

"What are you trying to do? Why would you say that?" Eve spat, suddenly enraged. Her face was flushed and her claws clenched. Her chest heaved violently. "What do you know of love? You sit here with your prophecies, one in every thousand of which actually comes true, from the safety of your home. It's no wonder the whole clan thinks you are crazy! And I was lucky enough to end up your surrogate daughter! Well, I won't let you fill my brain with false belief in magic and visions!"

Eve felt as if she had been divided from her body and was floating above it. She could not explain where her fury had come from or why it was targeted at this harmless, wrinkled, and stooped-over dragon who had been nothing but kind to her. Now the elder looked at her with pity, her eyes filled with the certainty that she was correct. Eve had seen her regard her customers that way over the years as she told them that their children would fall suddenly ill and never recover or that one day the dragons would perish at the hands of one of their own. Usually these people stormed out and never paid Deborah and never came back. But the gossip of the clan always confirmed that Deborah had spoken some version of the truth.

Now Eve had an inkling of where her anger had come from, for when Deborah had told her of the man she would love, and lose, one face filled her dreams-the face of one dragon who had always regarded her kindly and with a shy smile. A dragon who could rescue failing crops simply by whispering in the plants' leaves and coaxing them to grow. Adam.

And the thought of losing him before she even had him was devastating.

***

Eve flapped her enormous wings more aggressively and reached for Adam's forepaw. He took hers and squeezed it. Eve wished she could relax around him. After all, he was all she had ever wanted, the one whom she had pined for over the decades.

Elder Deborah's warning swam around in the back of her mind, haunting her as it always had.

She looked over at her fiancé. They smiled at each other. His green eyes were the color of the vibrant leaves that grew all over the island of Eden, and they glowed with the intensity with which the dragon lived his life. Adam never did anything halfway. He was committed to his mission of caring for the plants of Eden and now also of caring for the dragon who was to be his wife.

"Do you see the creatures below?" he shouted over the wind that they soared upon high up above the water. His deep voice carried to her though the beating of their wings thundered in her ears.

Eve nodded. "I do. I have heard that the Water Dragons could speak to them," Eve replied.

"Have you never tried yourself?" Adam asked, clearly shocked and, with the corner of his mouth turning upwards, amused.

Eve shook her head. "Of course not. We are not to mix with the other elements. You know that!" she cried.

"Follow me," Adam said, and dropped altitude abruptly.

Surprised, Eve had no choice but to follow him as they glided downwards. Adam guided them until they were but six inches above the surface of the warm water and then let go of her forepaw.

Eve let out a loud exclamation of terror. She looked to the left and right but could not see Adam. She was taken aback by this playful side of her fiancé.

Eve felt a weight on her back as Adam settled his body on hers. He caressed her cheek and then took each of her forepaws in his own. Their enormous wings beat in harmony, rising and falling together. Eve felt his warm hands on hers and allowed him to guide their fingers until they were trailing in the water below. Eve watched the water spray up in the wake of the two dragons' claws as they dragged behind their owners.

"Hello, sea creatures!" Adam bellowed. "I command you to rise up and pay your respects to my beautiful bride!"

Eve could not help it; she burst out laughing. Her hair whipped behind her, obscuring Adam's voice. She was filled with exuberance and a rush dominated by a trust in the dragon who had coaxed this fun side out of her.

She never gave a single thought to Amos.

Much to her surprise, Eve saw two gray dolphins rise up out of the water and swim beside them. The magnificent creatures dove in and out of the water and made joyous clicking noises. A baby dolphin stuck close to its mother and wiggled its tail. A school of flying fish burst out of the water and danced in a half-circle, their bodies following the same synchronized movements. A gigantic orb glowed on the horizon, the sun setting amongst a palette of pink, orange, yellow, and red clouds. Eve glanced up at the sky above her and gasped at the brilliant stars above. As she looked up she felt Adam kiss the back of her neck.

Afraid of what it meant if she spoke it out loud, Eve whispered, "I love you."

"And I love you," she heard Adam reply, his breath tickling her ear.

He would be dead within a month.

***

That night, Adam and Eve stopped to rest on a deserted island. Adam reached the shore first after playfully dragging his feet in the water so a light spray kicked back and flew in Eve's face. Although Eve had voiced angry protests out loud, they both knew that the water was refreshing. The climate was almost intolerably humid, and they had been flying for twelve hours already; a cool splash was just right.

Adam lightly skidded as he reached the white sand of the beach and turned around to face her. Eve followed his lead as she glided through the increasingly more shallow waters. Taking Adam's outstretched forepaw, Eve smiled nervously. This would be her first night alone with her betrothed and indeed with any male other than Amos-though as he was practically her brother, the ice dragon hardly counted.

Adam led her ashore.

"I believe this is Ricos," he said to her. She noticed that his voice was hoarse, no doubt from making the silly error of shouting to her throughout their airborne journey. Eve, suddenly shy, did not say anything in return, but nodded.

"Come, let us have something to eat and drink, and then we can sleep for the night," Adam told her.

"All right," Eve replied.

Adam led them up a hill into a dense tropical forest. Strange bugs clicked from hidden places amongst the huge leaves, and Eve heard the rustling of bird wings as they made their way through the foliage, branches smacking them in the face aggressively as they struggled through the darkness.

Throughout the whole time since they had left the beach, Adam's hand never left her own. Remarkably, his rough and calloused paw was decidedly cool, and indeed he seemed totally resistant to the muggy temperatures with humidity so thick Eve could slash it with her talons and very nearly make a dent.

"Ooh! What was that?" Eve cried in response to a low nearby growl.

"It must just be wildlife of some kind," Adam replied without a hint of worry. "Nothing that could possibly hurt a dragon. Eve, have you really never been away from Eden before?" His tone was more curious than taunting.

Though her companion would not be able to see it, Eve's facial scales turned a flushed pink.

"No. I have never had a reason to leave," she answered, deciding to begin their relationship on a foundation of honesty.

"I wonder why they chose you for this mission," Adam pondered out loud.

"I have often wondered that myself," Eve confessed. "Maybe it's just because they also chose you."

"Well, I am sure the King of Eden and Princess Abigail had their reasons," Adam mused. Privately, Eve thought she detected a hint in Adam's voice that he had theories of his own. "In any case, I have been away from Eden on countless missions myself. Prince Josephander was close to me, before he passed away."

Eve knew this. She knew everything there was about Adam, having watched him from afar for many years.

Or she thought she knew everything. But at the same time, it felt like she knew nothing, and that there could never be as much time to say or do everything they wanted to.

Not if Elder Deborah's prophecy was true.

Never one to crack her shy facade, Eve maintained silence as Adam led them through a windy path where the foliage had been cleared enough for people to pass through with relative ease. Instead of making idle chatter, which she was sure would put how nervous she was on full display, Eve chose to listen to the sounds of the forest, lulled by the rhythmic hum of frogs and distant coos from birds. The melodic symphony of sounds mellowed her mood, and she felt a degree of calm and sleepiness settle in against the backdrop of wildlife. Eve had always felt a strong connection to the creatures that lived in Eden, and the ones she heard on Ricos brought her back to the nights she had wandered through the forests of her homeland trying to quell her fears and anxieties.

Adam respected his fiancée's decision not to say anything and filled the silence with whistling, not wanting to pressure her into doing anything she did not want to do. Finally, he stopped and led them to a grassy hill.

"Step up, Eve. Here, follow me," he said looking back at Eve and noting her twitching, awkward smile. "Watch your footing," he advised. "It is a little uneven here, but I took a quick glance at the map and this appears to be as soft a place as any to sleep."

Eve tried and failed to suppress a yawn, quickly covering her mouth with a fist and silently damning the tears that leaked out of the corners of her eyes. In preparation of their mission, Eve had been trained to fly long distances at a time, but never twelve hours straight. She was now grateful for those beautiful and exhilarating moments when Adam had wrapped his forelegs around her stomach and flew for the both of them.

"You're tired," Adam said.

"I am. I am," Eve agreed.

Adam plopped down at the top of the hill. Eve followed him and sat down noting how uncomfortable and sore she was. Before today she had prided herself on her athleticism and endurance. This mission was truly testing her.

Suddenly aware of a nearly deafening rushing sound coming from the other side of the hill, Eve crawled up the mound on her hands and knees. As she got to the peak she realized they were in fact setting up camp on a ledge that overlooked a powerful waterfall. The mist from the pounding water drifted up and kissed her face, leaving it dewy and soft. Eve closed her eyes and let the cool precipitation dust her cheeks and forehead. She licked her lips unconsciously and savored the taste of chilled water on her tongue.

By this time Adam had followed her and witnessed her discovery. He leaned over and put his hand on her back. He breathed in deeply, and Eve opened her eyes to look over at him. It was the most relaxed she had been in days. Ever since the night before the mission, when Eve had been housed at the palace, Eve had jitters in her stomach. A wife belonged to her husband and must do what he pleases. Even if they were only engaged, she was still his and he could do what he liked with her.

Yet the breeze and the relaxing vapors from the waterfall caused Eve to ease into the night and her fiancé's presence. After a few minutes they sat up and crawled back to camp where Adam had taken a crusty, shiny loaf of bread and a container of hearty vegetable stew out of the bag. He opened a large flask of hot herb water still warm from when it was packed hours ago by a kitchen maiden from the palace. Ever the gentleman, Adam offered Eve food first. Famished, Eve devoured the food and tried not to feel embarrassed for her ravenous behavior as her fiancé nibbled the food carefully and chewed slowly, savoring the nourishment. He had obviously understood that they only had one night's rations packed as they were to reach their destination tomorrow. Once they were there they were on their own to forage for food and prepare it themselves. Fortunately, both dragons were skilled with plants and the gifts of the Earth's bounty.

Eve savored the lingering sensation of food and took a deep breath. Adam had settled down on his back, his legs stretched out and his hands folded behind his head.

"Hey, why don't you lie back and relax? We should get some sleep before tomorrow," Adam said.

"Do you think we are far from the apples?" Eve asked him while following his lead to lie back on the grassy knoll. The thundering current of the waterfall was so powerful that a light breeze drifted over the edge of the cliff and lifted up the loose strands of her hair.

"We should be there by mid-day tomorrow, I expect. Especially if we push it. However, we cannot do that if we do not get a good night's sleep," Adam replied. He shifted in his position.

Eve wondered silently what he meant by "sleep" and if he included activity between them as part of it. She gulped and decided to voice her question. Better than going through another half hour shaking, she thought.

"Adam, when you say sleep, do you mean-"

"I mean sleep. I will not deny it. I do want to love you. I mean, with my body, but there is time for that after we get married. I can certainly wait. After all, I have pined for you from afar for years and years," Adam said quietly.

Eve looked over to him.

"Really?" she said.

"Well, yes," Adam said. "I've loved you since the moment I saw you break up the bullying of your friend. The, uh, ice dragon. Amos."

Eve's eyes widened. "You were there? You saw that?"

"I was walking by in passing. I felt uncomfortable and left after you intervened. I would have stepped forward myself but you beat me to it."

Eve was shocked into silence. That day . . . she had put it behind her. It had certainly been pivotal in her young adolescence.

"I must ask you, Eve. There is no comfortable way to do it. Are you aware of Amos's affection for you?"

If Eve felt unable to vocalize her surprise earlier she felt it even more so now. After a few seconds, she pulled herself together. "I don't know what you're talking about," Eve answered, contradicting her motto of honesty.

Now it was Adam's turn for disbelief. "Really?" he said, then turned over on his side so he could see her up close. Eve mimicked his movements so she was facing him. She pulled at a strand of her hair.

"I cannot believe it. But now that you say it, he has never talked about another female to me. I always thought that was because he was meant for . . . others," Eve said, measuring her words carefully.

"Well. It does not matter now. You're mine. And I'm yours," Adam added softly. After a long moment in which they each contemplated their past, present, and future together, Adam turned over on his back.

"Do you know how to read the stars?" he asked her.

Eve herself flipped over on her back and opened her eyes. She realized that the clearing they had camped on was sparsely populated with trees so that there was a clear sight to the stars. Few branches obscured her view into the heavens. Eve gasped as she saw a shooting star, and she unconsciously reached her foreleg up and tried to grasp the celestial body.

"That one tells you how to go north," Adam said, pointing to a large, bright star that seemed to Eve to be as big and pulsating as a minor planet. "And that one shows you how to go west. You just follow the trail up over that little cusp and then down to the right."

As much as she wanted to stay up to listen to Adam, Eve felt her heavy eyelids drooping. The sound of the water behind her, the animated clicks and calls of the nearby forest, and the whispers of the breeze serenaded her along with Adam's low voice. She could he was getting tired himself.

Just as she was about to lose conscious and slip into much-needed sleep, Eve felt Adam nudging her gently. "Eve. Eve," he whispered, suddenly urgent. "I need to show you how to get back home to Eden. Are you awake? Are you paying attention? Sweetheart, can you just stay up for a minute or two longer?"

Eve nodded and failed to stifle a yawn. Her head was buzzing.

Adam reached over and grabbed her foreleg, then put his paw on hers in such a way that he wrapped his pointer finger around hers. He made a slow circle in the sky, slowly outlining a shape that puzzled Eve.

"You've heard of a ladybug, right? I mean, have you seen one? The little red bug with the spots on its back, a white and black head?" Adam asked her.

"Yes," Eve said, confused.

"They can fly. Just like us, though we are much better about it," Adam said, chuckling slightly. "So the stars make a ladybug. I know that it's a stretch, obviously, but you have to use your imagination. Follow those dots, hopscotching up the back of the ladybug, until you get to its head. Draw a diagonal line from each eye"-Adam used her fingers to trace a hazy arrow-"And then follow that direction back to Eden. It's foolproof. Works every time," he said, clearly proud of his little lesson.

Eve, however, was so close to delirium that she could barely take the information in.

"So if you ever find yourself away from home and you need to get back there, look for the ladybug," Adam said. "You got it?"

"Yes," Eve said, more to appease him than to be honest.

"You can always go home, Eve. No matter what," her fiancé said. But his assurances fell on deaf ears as Eve had slipped into dreamless sleep.