Chapter Fifty-Five
Reign
The majestic falls came into view like a secret whispered by the forest. Tucked deep into the folds of the Whispering Groves, the cascade shimmered like liquid sunlight. Pooling into a crystalline basin below, steam curled from the surface in lazy spirals.
Oh, Noxus, yes, we needed this. Especially after what Phantom had just alluded to.
I touched down in the glade first, my skyrider’s massive form landing gracefully in the clearing. Sol followed moments later, wings folding in with a snap of wind and tension.
Aelia dismounted with fluid ease, her eyes already drinking in the serene beauty of the place. She turned to me, smiling with something soft and rare. Not the ferocity of battle or the weight of duty, but lightness. That alone was worth the temporary shirking of our duties.
We’ll be nearby. Phantom’s voice whispered through my mind. Solanthus and I have much to discuss.
Let us know when the decision has been made.
Her head dipped before she and Solanthus turned toward the grove, moving deeper into its shadows.
“We shouldn’t be here,” Aelia said, tugging off her jacket, “but I’m so glad we are.”
I shrugged off my cloak and stepped toward her, letting the shadows slide off my skin like silk. “We’ve earned an hour, I’d say.”
Her boots hit the mossy bank, and without waiting for another word, she slipped out of her leathers. Heady desire pooled low in my gut at the sight of my radiant cuoré. Before I lost all sense, I followed suit, tossing my tunic aside until I stood bare beneath the open sky.
The cuorem pulsed, strong and frenzied between us.
After a heated glance in my direction, she turned and stepped into the pool, a soft gasp escaping her lips as the warm water lapped at her thighs. Her wings shimmered behind her, ethereal and radiant even in the shade of the forest, a vision crafted of flame and starlight.
I followed her in, my feet urging me forward of their own accord.
The moment I touched the water, something shifted. My skin tingled. Not just from the heat but from her. From the bond. The cuorem stirred deeper, vibrating through every cell, tugging me toward her with an urgency that was almost primal.
She felt it too. I could scent it in the air, her arousal, her desire.
The cuorem flared brighter as if answering an ancient call. It vibrated beneath my skin, the line between dragon and rider, lover and mate, blurring with every breath. It wasn’t just desire, it was something older. Something sacred.
Her breath hitched as I reached her, my hands sliding around her waist. “Do you feel that?” she whispered.
I nodded. “It’s the cuorem… but something more.” My thumb brushed over her bare hip, and she shivered.
Aelia arched against me, her lips brushing my jaw. “It’s like something else is weaving through it. Amplifying it.”
Scorching desire raced through my veins, heating my blood into a frenzy. Gods, I needed to touch her. To be inside her. Now. I couldn’t understand what was happening. Wanting to be with my mate wasn’t new, by any means—it was pretty much our normal, really—but this, this was more.
“Solanthus,” I murmured.
“Phantom,” she said at the same time.
The dragons weren’t within view, but they were close, close enough for their lusty resonance to ripple between all four of us.
The skyrider bond I’d always known as singular and sacred was now colliding with the cuorem, and gods, it was electric.
Their presence surged through the bond we shared, magnifying every sensation, every breath.
I lowered my head, brushing my lips over hers, barely restraining myself. I wanted to devour her. Aelia sighed into my mouth, her fingers threading through my hair, her wings flaring slightly behind her. Droplets of warm water flicked into the air, spraying across my heated skin.
“You’re sure they aren’t watching?” she asked, laughing breathlessly against my lips.
“Right now, I couldn’t care less if they were,” I rasped, completely distracted by the feel of her body against mine. The way she fit so perfectly. “They’re arguing now,” I muttered against her lips. “Phantom’s practically vibrating with rage.”
“Sol’s too calm,” she whispered. “He only gets that way when he’s trying not to start a fight.”
Our uneasy laughter mingled, but the tension underneath, gods, it burned.
Unable to resist, I trailed kisses down her neck, my shadows curling in a frenzy across the water.
She pulled me closer, our bond humming like a drawn bowstring, and I knew she felt it too.
Everything was heat and light and the unspoken need to lose ourselves in each other, to drown in something holy before reality took it away again.
“Aelia…” I breathed against her lips. “I need you. Now.”
“Then take me.” Her legs parted for me, and a growl rumbled deep in my chest. I slipped my hand beneath her thigh, wrapping it around my waist before positioning my arousal at her center.
She groaned as I effortlessly slipped inside her.
“Oh, Noxus, starlight. This feels… incredible.”
“Even more than usual,” she groaned as I thrust deeper, “and that’s pretty impressive.”
The earth trembled beneath our feet, not a violent tremor, but rather quiet reverence. The trees fell silent, and even the waterfall’s roar seemed to hush.
Then a sharp voice slammed into my thoughts. Reign.
I groaned aloud, resting my forehead against Aelia’s. “We’re in the middle of something, Phantom,” I growled aloud, and my mate chuckled, still breathless.
This is important. Phantom’s tone was clipped. Solanthus and I have made our decision. We are completing the dragon bond.
I blinked, stunned, still in Aelia’s embrace. You’re certain?
Yes. It’s time, despite the risks. The war demands more from us than we can give as we are now. Together, we can be more. And so can you.
My heart thudded.
Aelia pulled back slightly, looking concerned. “What did she say?” Apparently, Sol had yet to impart the news.
I met her gaze, awe sparking beneath the shadows of my thoughts. “They’re doing it,” I whispered. “Phantom and Solanthus… They’re completing the dragon mate bond.”
Her eyes widened. “Now?”
“No, not exactly.” I shook my head, still dazed, and still buried to the hilt inside my mate. “They need to speak to us.”
She reached for me, breath catching as she rocked her hips against me once more. “I suppose it’s too much to ask for them to wait a few more minutes?”
A rueful chuckle slid past my lips. “It’s been decades, what’s another half hour?”
The water shifted as a low rumble echoed through the trees. Phantom and Solanthus appeared through the thicket, their heads raised, eyes glowing and wings slowly unfurling as if stirred by some ancient instinct.
I muttered a curse before pressing a quick kiss to Aelia’s mouth. “To be continued…” Then, reluctantly, I slid out of my mate, freeing myself of that intoxicating hold and turning toward our dragons, still semi-covered by the deep water. “Well, then, don’t keep us in suspense. Now what happens?”
The ground trembled again, stronger now.
My arms shot out on instinct, reaching for Aelia and tucking her into my side. Only, it wasn’t from an attack. The rumble below the earth was deeper. Older. As if something buried in the marrow of the world was beginning to stir.
Phantom turned toward me, her obsidian eyes glowing brighter than I’d ever seen them. It was a tethered storm straining at the edge of release.
We must leave. Her voice rolled through me, thunder against bone.
Aelia pressed closer, instinctively seeking my hand. Solanthus watched her, but his body was rigid with restraint, muscles quivering like he was barely keeping himself rooted to the earth.
“What do you mean, ‘leave?’” I asked aloud, my fingers tightening around Aelia’s as I tugged her out of the lagoon. After fetching her clothes, I slid into my leathers and glanced up at our dragons. “Now?”
Phantom nodded, dipping her massive head.
There is a place hidden from time. An isle born of fire and the blood of the gods.
The Ancients of our kind called it Aekorith.
It is where all true dragon pairs must go to seal the mate bond, to undertake the Rite of Syneris.
We’ve made our decision and now have been summoned.
“Aekorith,” Aelia breathed, awe coloring her voice. Solanthus must have been echoing Phantom’s words in her mind.
It is sacred. And secret. The island only appears to bonded dragons ready to complete the ritual. It calls to us, and we must answer.
My gut twisted. “But what about the war? We’re on the brink, Helroth could strike any day. We need you. Both of you.”
Phantom lowered her gaze, shadows flickering off her wings. We know, which was what we were discussing. But without this bond, we will never reach our full potential. The strength we hold alone is a fraction of what we could become together. All of us.
Aelia blinked. “What do you mean?”
The bond between us and you, it is deeper than rider and mount. It is soul to soul. When Solanthus and I seal our bond, yours will change too. Strengthen. The cuorem and the skyrider threads will fuse. You will gain more than just power.
I swallowed hard. “And the risks?”
Phantom looked me dead in the eye. The ritual is dangerous. We must face the Trials of Aekorith. There are three in total: one of flesh, one of flame, and one of soul. If we fail… She hesitated.
Aelia’s hand clenched mine. “What happens if they fail?”
If we fail, we perish. Together. And the magic that binds us to you dies with us.
Silence fell like a blade between us.
I couldn’t breathe.
We could all die.
After everything? After what we’d survived together? The thought hollowed me out.
Aelia stepped forward. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”
“They never planned on completing the bond…” I replied, echoing Phantom’s answer. Gods, no wonder the call of the dragon mate bond is so relentless, lasting through lifetimes.
“We can’t allow you to do this just for us,” Aelia continued. “It’s too much of a sacrifice.”
It isn’t only for you. Phantom’s voice faltered. Solanthus and I love each other. The mystical tethers drawing us together were never severed, and the pull is as strong today as it was all those years ago. We want this for us, too.
A beaming smile split Aelia’s lips, and I could feel her happiness surging through our connection. “Then we’ll come with you.”
You cannot. Phantom’s voice rumbled low, regretful. The island won’t allow it. The ritual must be done in secrecy. In trust. In sacrifice. We go alone. And we return stronger or not at all.
My dragon turned her massive head toward me again. You must let me do this, Reign. For you. For her. For Aetheria.
Tension clawed at my chest, sharp and unwieldy.
“I can’t protect you there,” I whispered.
You never could. Her voice softened. That was never your job. But you gave me purpose, Reign. You gave me something to fight for. And now, I must become what I was always meant to be.
Aelia swallowed, her voice shaking. “How long?”
Time moves strangely in Aekorith. It could be days. Weeks. Perhaps, longer. But we’ll come back. If the gods are just, we’ll come back stronger than you’ve ever dreamed.
I stepped forward, pressing my forehead to Phantom’s sleek obsidian hide, the warmth of her scales anchoring me in this terrifying truth.
“I’ll wait as long as it takes,” I murmured. “But you better come back to me, old girl. You hear me?”
I will. She nuzzled my shoulder. You’ll know when it’s done. The whole realm will.
Aelia moved to Solanthus, a tear sliding down her cheek. She pressed her hand to his chest, and the golden dragon leaned into her touch with a rumble like distant thunder.
The sooner we go, the more quickly we can return. Phantom’s final words thrummed across my mind.
At that, they turned as one, wings spreading wide like twin banners of war and legacy.
I wanted to stop them. Gods, I wanted to shout. But I didn’t. Because this was the only path forward, and we all knew it.
So, we stood at the edge of the water, the falls still whispering behind us, and watched them rise into the sky—Phantom and Solanthus, obsidian and gold, night and flame—soaring toward the unknown.
And though I’d never felt more hollow, I’d never been more proud.