Chapter Sixty
Reign
The grass beneath my back pulsed faintly, as if the land itself hadn’t quite settled from what we’d just done.
A tempest of rais, nox and zar still crackled in the air. It was almost too much, too bright, too alive. But for the first time in what felt like an eternity, I wasn’t weighed down by fear or fury. It was just breathless awe.
Aelia lay beside me, her chest rising and falling in soft, rhythmic waves, her hand loosely laced with mine.
Strands of dark hair, streaked with platinum and moonlight, clung to her dewy brow.
She was glowing. Not just from the starlight scattered across the dragon isle’s endless sky, but from something deep within.
The bond between us shimmered like molten starlight. Changed. Amplified. Whole.
Above us, Solanthus and Phantom still streaked through the clouds, twin meteors dancing in a sky that blazed in impossible hues of violet, obsidian, and duskfire gold. I didn’t know where the isle ended, and the heavens began. Maybe that was the point. Maybe here, there was no end. Only eternity.
Solanthus and Phantom flew with the others now, more dragons than I’d ever seen together, even those written about in the ancient tomes of Aetheria.
The enormous beasts seemed as old as the mountains, wings whispering forgotten songs.
And I could feel all of them. Their power rushed my veins, the heady sensation like nothing I’d ever imagined.
That was more… than I expected. Phantom’s dry voice licked across my mind like smoke and satisfaction.
You nearly exploded, Reign. Sol’s thoughts were more amused than concerned as they drifted through my thoughts next.
Even though I’d expected it, hearing his deep voice rumble through my mind still came as a shock.
Sol! Don’t say that. Aelia’s enraged cry tore through our mental conversation.
Very funny. I shot the thought back to Aelia’s dragon, finding the shimmering golden strands that now connected me to him. I suppose there will be no secrets between us any longer.
Now I can really keep my eyes on you, Shadow-Night Prince. Solanthus’s growl was laced in menace.
Enough, Phantom cut in.
Aelia groaned beside me. “Tell them to keep it down. I can barely feel my fingers.”
I laughed under my breath. “They both can hear you now, you know.”
Her eyes cracked open, lashes fluttering. “Of course they can. We’re all in each other’s heads now. Forever.”
My hand flexed in hers. “That part will take some getting used to.”
But even as I said it, I felt it.
Not just her thoughts. Her rais.
For so long, I’d known her rais only as light. Beautiful, radiant, pure. But now, it sang through me. Like a symphony etched in stars. It curled around my shadows, not consuming them, not even battling them, but folding into them. Completing them.
I drew in a shaky breath, chest tightening. “Gods, Aelia… I can feel it. Not just you. But your rais.”
Her head turned, eyes wide, searching my face. “You can?”
“It’s like every piece of you is humming inside me now. Not just the cuorem. But your light. I didn’t know—” I broke off, swallowing hard. “I didn’t know it would feel like this.”
Her fingers tightened around mine, and her voice went softer than I’d ever heard it. “I’ve always felt your nox. Like velvet and iron, coiling through me. But you’ve never felt my rais?”
I shook my head slowly. “Not like this. Not completely. Before it was just warmth. Now, it’s a burning star inside me. It’s like a sun, scorching through the dark. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes, and it was something beautiful. It was wonder and gratitude all rolled into one.
Solanthus’s voice swept gently across our thoughts. This is the gift of the Tetrum Cordis. There is no longer separation. Not between dragon and rider. Not between mates. You are of one breath. One power. One soul.
And gods help anyone who stands against that. Phantom’s voice was a growl of approval.
Aelia laughed softly, then turned toward me, half-draping her body over mine. I wrapped my arm around her instinctively, needing to anchor her. Or maybe needing her to anchor me.
“I missed you,” she whispered, burying her face in my neck.
“I was right here.”
“You know what I mean.”
I did. We lay in silence, wrapped in each other and the hum of a bond newly reborn. Somewhere high above, Solanthus roared, and Phantom answered with fire and shadow, light and thunder.
I smiled faintly, eyes drifting closed. I wasn’t ready to leave this idyllic place just yet. But soon…
Let Helroth come. Now, we were ready.
The moment my boots touched stone, I felt the shift. My wings of shadow flared across my shoulders. The Fortress, so often cloaked in silence and shadows, was alive with tension. The air pulsed with it. A ripple in the atmosphere like a warning carried on smoke.
Looks like we’ve returned just in time. Sol’s voice rumbled in my head as I crossed the courtyard.
Or perhaps too late. Phantom’s grim reply came nearly instantaneously as she circled overhead.
Wait a minute. I sent the thought to Phantom, despite the guilt. I knew very well that the newly mated pair desired some time alone. I not only knew it, I could feel it. Their animalistic craving for each other rushed our mutual connection, spurring my own base instincts to life.
Fine, we wait. She all but growled back her response.
Aelia landed beside me a moment later, her eyes narrowing, wings tucked tight to her back. “Do you feel that?”
I nodded grimly. “It’s time we found out what we missed while we were in Aekorith.”
Solanthus and Phantom circled once more before landing with thunderous force in the outer courtyard, their presence drawing every eye. Whispers erupted along the ramparts. Soldiers dropped to one knee. And for the first time, it wasn’t just awe that filled their gazes.
It was fear. And urgency.
Ruhl emerged from the arched gates, dust coating his leathers, a long gash trailing down his arm, half-sealed but still angry and red. Mordrin followed close behind, his silver scales dulled and scorched in places. His wings beat the air in agitation, his eyes a swirling storm.
“Reign,” Ruhl called out, his voice hoarse, but still strong.
I met him halfway across the courtyard. “What happened?”
Aelia was at my side in a blink. “Feywood. Did they breach the border?”
Ruhl’s head dipped. “Some of them, yes. We held them back as best we could, but it wasn’t easy.” He gave a short laugh devoid of humor. “Mordrin’s wing caught fire. Twice. He’s not thrilled about it.”
Mordrin snorted behind him, shadows rippling off his flanks like waves of heat.
“But that’s not the worst of it,” Ruhl continued, although I wasn’t sure his skyrider would agree with his assessment. “Your dragons completed the bond, didn’t they?”
I exchanged a glance with Aelia. “They did. How did you know?”
“Mordrin nearly dropped me mid-flight,” he muttered. “Said the entire mountain screamed with it, of the Twin Tempests. Any dragon across Aetheria must have felt the power resonate. Who knows who else could have too… That kind of ancient magic doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Aelia’s voice dropped. “The Twin Tempests?”
“Your bonded dragons, duskling.” He smirked.
Her brows puckered as she regarded my brother. “So what are you saying, exactly?”
“I’m saying”—Ruhl’s tone sharpened—“that the world shifted and others sensed it. Those others possibly being Elian.”
My stomach turned to stone. The prophecy.
“The Light King is moving?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Ruhl nodded. “I saw the banners myself. Elian’s Royal Guardians are on the march. Not toward the Wilds, toward here. Our Court, our castle. The fool likely thinks the two of you have grown too strong.”
Aelia’s jaw clenched. “He doesn’t realize what’s truly coming. That we need to fight Helroth, not each other.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Ruhl said. “But Helroth does. And if I’m right, he’ll let Elian thin us out before striking.”
A perfect storm.
Two fronts. Two enemies. One fortress.
I turned toward the nearest guards, the ones that lined the gates. “Sound the horns. Ready every battalion. Call the scouts back. I want the outer perimeter doubled.”
“Yes, my prince,” the pair of Umbral Guards replied in unison, saluting before racing off.
I looked back to Ruhl. “How bad was it in Feywood?”
His shoulders sagged slightly. “Worse than I hoped. Not as bad as I feared. But we need reinforcements. A lot more if we want to keep the Kin safe.”
“You’ll have them,” Aelia bit out. “I’ll go myself if I have to.”
“No,” I growled, my voice firmer than steel. “We don’t split up again. Not ever.”
Her eyes searched mine, full of stubborn fire, but she didn’t argue. Not yet.
Ruhl watched us both, something like approval flickering across his soot-streaked face. “Well, I’m glad to see the bond didn’t break you.”
“No,” I said quietly. “It made us whole.”
He gave a nod, then turned back toward Mordrin. “Then let’s make sure we don’t lose what we just gained.”