18. Calista
18
CALISTA
Khazmuda and Talon were gone—and it was just Inferno and me.
The enormous bonfire had flames twice my height, and they burned if I stood too close. My chin had to tilt back to regard the imposing dragon because he didn’t lower his gaze to my level, not the way Khazmuda did.
Now I realized how thoughtful it was.
YOU FACE ME ALONE. YOU MAY BE SMALL—BUT YOU’RE brAVE.
“You can only be brave if there’s something to fear. You told me I would be safe, so I don’t fear you.”
He stared at me, his red eyes surrounded by black depths. TELL ME YOUR STORY. ARE YOU TALON’S MATE?
“No…we’re friends.”
A BEAUTIFUL MAN AND A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ARE NEVER FRIENDS.
“Well, we’re closer to friends than we are to mates.”
AND YOUR STORY.
I wasn’t sure what I should share and what I should omit. “I was a prisoner in the Arid Sands when King Talon came for a visit. Once he realized I had the gift, he took me with him. Told me his story and asked for my help to reclaim his kingdom and save the dragons. There are more details than that, but those are the important points.”
HOW DID YOU END UP A PRISONER?
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and his scouts took me.”
YOUR FAMILY?
“They’re dead. My mother got sick. My father has been gone ten years now.”
I’M SORRY.
I didn’t expect any sympathy from him. “Thank you. I’m sorry about yours.”
SO YOU CHOOSE TO SERVE THE MAN WHO IMPRISONED YOU. THAT’S INTERESTING.
“He didn’t directly imprison me.”
HOW LONG WERE YOU THERE?
“Seven years.”
SO, NOT LONG AFTER YOUR FATHER DIED. THAT MUST HAVE BEEN TRAUMATIZING FOR YOU.
He didn’t know the half of it.
AND YET, YOU SERVE HIM .
“It’s complicated.”
BECAUSE YOU’RE MORE THAN FRIENDS?
“That’s part of it. But not all of it. I pity him…I guess.”
YOUR EMPATHY IS GREATER THAN YOUR ANGER. YOU HAVE A KIND SOUL.
“I don’t know about that. I struggle sometimes.”
YOUR ANGER WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. IT’S JUST BEEN BURIED ALIVE. BUT IT’LL RISE FROM THE DIRT WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT. UNTIL IT’S TRULY RESOLVED, IT’LL ALWAYS ENDURE, ALWAYS SURVIVE.
My eyes dropped, thinking about what he said. “I want to tell you something…but can you keep it to yourself?”
YOU ASK ME TO HOLD A SECRET.
“Yes.”
YOUR SECRET WILL REMAIN HIDDEN BEHIND MY HARD SCALES.
I didn’t know why I wanted to tell him. The only friend I had was Khazmuda, but I could never share how I truly felt, not when he was loyal to Talon. “I come from the blood of kings. My father was the king of Scorpion Valley, and once I became of age, I was to have wed and become queen. But Talon, the Death King, came to our lands and conquered it with his mighty dragon. My father took his own life, and I had to flee.”
His intelligent eyes watched me. AND TALON KNOWS NOTHING OF THIS.
“No.”
He turned quiet, thinking. NOW YOUR COMMITMENT TO HIM IS EVEN MORE BAFFLING.
“Like I said, it’s complicated.”
He looked at the fire for a while. YOU’VE ENTRUSTED ME WITH A POWERFUL SECRET. I THANK YOU.
“I guess I like you.”
He turned away from the fire and looked at me again. NOW, CAN I TELL YOU A SECRET OF MY OWN?
“Yes.”
IF I WERE YOU, I WOULD DESTROY HIM.
My heart started to race, the pulse hard in my neck. I swallowed even though my throat was dry.
YOU LOST EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF HIM.
“I know. But I know he’s sorry. And nothing will fix what’s already come to pass.”
HOW CAN HE BE SORRY FOR SOMETHING HE DOESN’T KNOW.
“He’s sorry that I ended up in the Arid Sands, and I know he means it.”
I JUST FIND IT INTERESTING. HE’S DESPERATE TO MURDER THE MAN WHO DID THIS TO HIM, BUT HE DID THE EXACT SAME THING TO YOU.
I suddenly felt cold, even colder than I did when I suffered from hypothermia. The feeling was so icy, it stopped my lungs from working for a second. A rock dropped into the pit of my stomach and splashed acid everywhere.
He stared at me, waited for a reaction.
I broke contact, unable to accept what he’d just said.
He let it pass. I SAID I WOULD KEEP YOUR SECRET. BUT CONSIDER WHAT I HAVE SAID.
My eyes remained locked on the fire, unable to look away. “What’s your story? How did you escape?”
I ESCAPED BECAUSE I WAS SMARTER THAN THE OTHERS. I NOTICED THE SHAMANS IN OUR LANDS, AND I WARNED THE KING OF THEIR PRESENCE. I WARNED HIM THAT SOMETHING WOULD COME TO PASS. BUT HE FAILED TO HEED MY WARNINGS. I WAS THE FIRST TO LEAVE. FROM WHAT I CAN PIECE TOGETHER, THE ATTACK HAPPENED SHORTLY AFTERWARD. MY SISTER REFUSED TO COME WITH ME—AND I LEFT HER BEHIND.
“I’m sorry.”
YOUR WORDS RING TRUE, CALISTA. I’VE OCCUPIED THESE LANDS ALONE AND FREE, BUT WHEN I’M ISOLATED FROM MY KIN, UNABLE TO MATE OR HAVE HATCHLINGS OR HUNT WITH MY KIND…I DON’T HAVE A PURPOSE. THE DAYS BLUR TOGETHER, AND THE ONLY JOY I PARTAKE IN IS MY MEALS. IT’S NOT LIVING…ONLY EXISTING.
“So, you’ll help us?”
NO. I’LL FREE MY KIN. AND YOU. I HAVE NO INTEREST IN HELPING KING TALON WHEN HIS FAMILY IS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR MY GRIEF—AND YOURS.
“I don’t think we have a choice. We need him.”
THERE ARE ALWAYS OTHER WAYS, CALISTA. I TOLD YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT I’VE SAID, AND I SINCERELY HOPE YOU DO. IF THERE ARE FREE DRAGONS SOMEWHERE IN THESE LANDS, WE COULD RECRUIT THEM OURSELVES, SAVE MY KIN, AND THEN USURP KING TALON FROM THESE LANDS AND RULE IT TOGETHER. YOU’LL REGAIN YOUR CROWN—AND I’LL REGAIN MY KIN.
I stared at him. My breaths increased, palpitations in my chest.
YOU’RE A LOYAL PERSON. I CAN SEE THAT. BUT YOU OWE THAT MAN NOTHING.
My breaths continued to grow faster. They started to hurt.
I’LL SUPPORT WHATEVER YOU DECIDE. I HAVE NO ISSUE WITH KHAZMUDA, BUT FOR AS LONG AS HE’S LOYAL TO TALON, I CAN’T TRUST HIM. SO, IT’S YOU AND ME, CALISTA. TOGETHER AS ONE.
“Does that mean…you’ll fuse with me?”
YES—IT DOES .
I sat upon the back of Inferno, having to grip the spikes along his back because I didn’t have a saddle to hold me in or Talon to squeeze as an anchor. Inferno slowly rose from the ground and left the top entrance to the cave. The second we were free of the mountain, the cold air blasted me in the face. It was sunset because an entire day had passed.
Inferno left the mountain and moved into the trees, quickly swallowed by the mist.
I noticed he moved differently from Khazmuda, that no two dragons were alike. Their wings took to the air in unique ways, their weights changing their flight.
He slowed then glided through the trees, moving below the mist and then coming in for a landing.
I gripped the spike hard and prepared for the powerful shake that would vibrate through my body.
But he was gentle, so gentle that my body barely rocked when we hit the earth. I unclenched my eyes and loosened my hold on the spike. The first thing I did was look at the ground—and I felt a pair of dark eyes stare back.
Talon stood there in his armor and cape, looking at me with an intensity he’d never expressed before, moving his eyes all over my body to make sure a scratch hadn’t ripped through my clothing. Despite seeing me in the flesh, he still looked concerned.
I began to climb down, having to grip the scales one by one because there was no rope for a saddle. I eventually made it to the bottom and dropped down, my boots hitting the wet soil that absorbed the mist.
His hands were immediately on me. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
He turned me around and his hands automatically cupped my cheeks, his eyes hard on mine as they shifted back and forth. The concern was genuine. I could see it in that hint of gold.
“I’m okay.”
He withdrew his hands and stepped away. “You’re different.”
“How?”
He looked me over again. “I can’t explain it…”
Khazmuda walked up to Inferno, and the two seemed to be engaged in conversation because their heads were close to each other.
“You fused.” He said it quietly, more to himself than to me.
I nodded.
In disbelief, he stared. “How? You only spent hours together.”
I started to walk away from Inferno, choosing to have this conversation out of his earshot.
Talon picked up on my intentions and walked at my side.
“We just connected. I can’t explain it better than that. Sometimes you meet someone, and it just…clicks. That’s how it was for us.”
“I propositioned him for a week, and he was too stubborn to listen. But you just changed his mind?”
“I probably wouldn’t have succeeded without that groundwork. He admitted that spending all this time alone was no way to live, so I think he became introspective after your conversation.” I stopped where our campfire had been, the burned logs and rocks in the center of the clearing.
“I’m still surprised. But I guess I shouldn’t be.” He looked at me, a long and hard look, his eyes so focused, it was like he could see through me. “The moment I saw you in the Arid Sands, I knew you were different.”
The look was too much, so I looked at the fire.
But he continued to stare.
“What now?” I wanted to change the subject because of the sweltering guilt. If I hadn’t told Inferno my secret, I wasn’t sure we would have connected so profoundly. His words sat in the back of my mind, and it felt like they had a hard grip on my throat.
“It’s late.” Talon looked up at the sky, but there was no brilliant sunset. It was just gray. “It’ll be dark soon. We’ll camp tonight then return to the castle in the morning. Only one more night and we’ll be home.”
Home. I hadn’t had one of those in ten years. “Yeah.”
“Make a fire. I’ll handle the tent. The dragons can hunt.”
“Alright.”
We separated in our tasks, and I worked to get the campfire lit. It was harder this time because the wood had turned damp from the moisture in the air. I had to replace them with newer logs, low-hanging branches I cut from trees that stayed dry since they didn’t touch the ground. I got the fire going, and it immediately lit the clearing.
It made it easier for Talon to build the tent.
I sat on the log and waited, listening to the sound of the fire and the silence. Sharing my secret out loud somehow made it truer than it’d been before. I’d never spoken it to a living soul, and now Inferno knew my truth.
When Talon finished with the tent, he sat on the log across from me. “How do you feel?”
The palpitations started.
“Now that you’ve fused.”
“Oh…” I’d been dreading this interaction so much, I hadn’t considered it. “I feel the same. But I guess my body feels lighter, the armor isn’t so heavy. Or I’ve just gotten used to it. I’m not as cold—that’s definitely true.”
“It’s because fire burns in your blood now. That’s why I don’t get cold the way others do.”
“I guess I don’t have to worry about hypothermia anymore.”
“You shouldn’t need as much rest either.”
“That’ll be nice too.”
The conversation died. Talon continued to stare at me.
I kept my eyes on the fire.
“Is there something wrong?”
My eyes immediately flicked to his.
“You seem off.”
“It was all a whirlwind, and I guess I’m overwhelmed.” I lied through my teeth. Lied to throw him off my scent. I needed a moment to myself, a moment to gather my thoughts and bury them…alive.
He seemed to buy it because he looked at the fire again.
“So, what’s the next part of the plan?” I asked. “You said you believed there were dragons in these lands. How do we find them?”
He looked at me before he stared at the fire again. “I’ve been looking for these dragons ever since I came to these lands. I believe they’re here, but I don’t know how to find them. They’re very well hidden.”
“But they’re so big and they fly. I don’t see how they can stay hidden.”
“That’s the great mystery,” he said. “I’d heard rumors of these dragons in my travels, so I came here to investigate. I questioned your king, and he told me to investigate Scorpion Valley. I traveled there, but before I could question that king, he chose to be a coward and take his own life. There’s no doubt in my mind that he had the information I needed, and the only way to make sure I didn’t get it was by poisoning himself so that knowledge would die with him. I guess it was the right move, but I’ve gotten no closer.”
My heart pounded so hard in my chest I almost fainted.
The edges of my vision turned red and black. My surroundings blurred because he was all I could see. The warm fire lost all its heat.
I was immediately aware of my body, aware of the tightness that squeezed my spine, the way my fingers curled into loose fists. My stomach suddenly felt three times smaller and overstuffed with food I hadn’t eaten. It made me feel sick. His words made me feel sick…like they were poison.
Seconds passed, but it felt like minutes. Felt like hours. I was aware of the sweat that evaporated from the back of my neck, sweat from the intense heat my body suddenly produced.
Inferno’s voice was instant. I FEEL YOUR DISTRESS.
I need you.
ALMOST THERE.
Talon shifted his gaze from the fire and looked at me. His stare wasn’t possessive and intense. Now it was guarded but absorbed, reading the expression I worked so hard to hide. The golden sparkles in his eyes were gone, replaced by the black abyss that he normally emitted.
I hadn’t said a word and I did my best to look normal, but something told me he knew.
That he could feel it.
He got to his feet.
I mirrored his movements.
His arms were at his sides, but his posture was different. Tense. Angry. His guarded eyes watched me without blinking.
I stopped breathing at some point.
Then he spoke, and though he didn’t raise his voice, the words were still so loud they could shatter my eardrums. “That’s how I know your face.”
My heart dropped into my stomach like a boulder falling into the bottom of the lake. The sickness was profound, so intense it now made me break out in a cold sweat. My palms were so slippery, I wasn’t sure if I could wield my sword if I needed to.
Reliving the past hardened his expression, made him look exactly as he had that night—like a heartless murderer.
The sight of wings came from the dark sky. Then the earth shook as Inferno hit the ground. I’M HERE.
I stepped back.
Talon moved forward. But instead of a single step, he booked it.
I ran for it.
Inferno lurched forward and opened his powerful jaws, releasing a roar so mighty, it nearly snuffed out the campfire. “ Roooaaaaarrrrrrr .” It shook the entire world, blew the air from the campground, made trees nearly bow in the wind.
But it didn’t slow Talon down.
I jumped onto Inferno’s side and grabbed the scales I could grip. Go!
Talon tried to rush me.
Inferno moved sideways and blocked my path with his magnificent head. His powerful jaws lurched for Talon, about to snap him in half, but he rolled out of the way in time.
Don’t hurt him. Please .
HOLD ON. Inferno pushed off the ground in a rush, powerful wings opening and taking flight from the earth. He wasn’t gentle the way he’d been last time. Now he rushed off like speed was of the essence.
I closed my eyes while I clung desperately to his scales, knowing if I looked down, I would let go and plummet. The wind rippled through my hair and made it smack against my chest. My fingers were slippery and barely hanging on.
Inferno turned on his axis, making me lie flat against him. CRAWL AND I’LL TURN. He began to turn back over as he glided, and I pulled myself forward and moved to his back as he turned parallel to the ground. I grabbed on to one of his front spikes and held on for dear life. I can’t believe that just happened.
IT’S NOT OVER.
A jet of fire came from behind, so hot it felt like a reddened coal right at the back of my neck. I instinctively ducked, but there was nowhere for me to go. It was up to Inferno to get us out of there.
Khazmuda appeared at my side in the dark, Talon on his back, his cape billowing behind him, looking like the king that he was. His eyes were on me, his face livid. You think you can run from me?
IGNORE HIM.
I can’t do that.
CLOSE YOUR MIND. PRETEND HE’S A CAVE AND YOU’RE SEALING IT WITH A BOULDER.
Land. I want to talk about this ? —
I didn’t want to hear his voice, so I clenched my entire body and cut him off.
It must have worked because I didn’t hear his voice, and he looked pissed.
Khazmuda suddenly lunged, hitting Inferno in the side and knocking him off-balance.
“ Roooaaarrrrr.” Inferno turned his body directly into Khazmuda’s path, knocking him so hard he disappeared.
Don’t hurt them .
YOU REALLY THINK THEY WOULD SHOW US THAT MERCY?
I think we’d be dead right now if they didn’t.
YOU UNDERESTIMATE ME.
It’s not you. He’s a necromancer. I’d never witnessed the full potential of his powers, but I’d heard the stories. I knew he was capable of so much more.
HE MAY CONTROL THE DEAD, BUT I CONTROL FIRE. He flew hard into the darkness, the wind in my hair the only measurement of speed. We flew faster than I’d ever experienced, far faster than Khazmuda had ever taken me.
Then something hit us, hit us hard. The collision was so powerful, I was nearly knocked off the spike and sent into the darkness, my body spinning uncontrollably, my vision a blur until I hit the ground and was dead.
But then enormous talons encircled me and caught me in midair. My body stopped spinning. I searched for Inferno, but it was too dark. Inferno? Are you okay?
No response.
Inferno!
I felt us descend lower toward the earth, the talons so strong they were like iron bars from a cell. I knew it was Khazmuda who had me, that he would get me to safety and not drop me.
I’M HERE.
My heart almost burst in relief. I’m so glad you’re okay.
BUT THEY WON’T BE SOON ENOUGH.
Stop. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.
Inferno didn’t answer.
Inferno?
Khazmuda suddenly dropped from the sky, like Inferno had pounced on his back and forced him down. I couldn’t see the ground, couldn’t see anything because the world was too dark. Roars sounded, and then with a heavy hit, we were on the ground. Everything went still, and the talons opened. “Khazmuda, are you okay?” I crawled out, and the second I was free, he was on his feet, fighting Inferno on the ground. We were in a clearing, and the starlight glinted off both of their scales.
A stream of fire unleashed from one of the dragons and torched the surrounding trees. The fire set the world ablaze, turning it from dark to a lit stage. I could see their silhouettes as they fought each other, swiping with their massive claws and trying to bite each other’s necks.
This was not what I wanted.
I got to my feet, and that was when I felt it.
That heat. That anger. That rage.
He appeared, sword in his hand, coming at me as he spun the blade around his wrist.
I turned to run, knowing I was no match for him, not even with my vitalized dragon’s blood. But I was immediately stopped…by the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen. It was a skeleton, but it didn’t belong to a human. It belonged to an animal…a bear or a mountain lion, I wasn’t sure. It swiped at me with his bony paw. “Fuck!” I fell backward on my ass then jumped back to my feet, trying to run in a different direction. This time, I ran into the skeleton of a man, holding its own arm as a weapon, swinging it at me. I cried out again and backed away.
The dragons released another stream of fire, and it caught the tops of more trees. Soon, the flames surrounded the entire clearing on all sides—and I could see it all.
See the army of dead that surrounded me.
We were locked in a circle, Talon and I, the dragons fighting their own battle a distance away.
I faced him, my heart about to burst in terror.
He stopped before me, his face devoid of emotion, and spun the sword. The flames danced in the reflection. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
I looked around at the dead as they stumbled forward but never crossed an invisible boundary Talon had created. Their objective wasn’t to hurt me, but to block my escape. I had no other choice but to face the man who had taken everything from me.
“I want no more of this. Surrender.”
“And then what? I return to your castle as a prisoner?”
“Better than death, isn’t it?”
My life had been so miserable, I wondered if death would have been the smart choice from the start. “You let me go, but I wish you had killed me.”
He stilled when he heard my words. His eyes narrowed.
“I would have preferred death to all of this.” I felt the tears burn my eyes, remembering how I’d felt in that bathtub in the Arid Sands, how I wished I were brave like my father and just made it end. Made the suffering go away.
“I’m sorry.” Despite the viciousness in his eyes, his words seemed sincere. “I’m fucking sorry?—”
“Fuck you.”
“Don’t do this. Don’t make me hurt you. Fuck, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then let me go.”
He gripped the hilt of his sword but didn’t sheathe it. “You know I can’t do that.” He looked at me, sorrow in his eyes. “You’ve been planning this the entire time, and I didn’t see it.” He seemed to say it more to himself than to me, self-loathing in his voice.
“No. I changed my mind when you called my father a coward.”
His eyes narrowed. “He was a coward?—”
“He gave his life to protect those dragons. That makes him a hero.”
He stepped forward. “He abandoned you.”
“He had his lieutenant escort me through the secret passage, but then Khazmuda collapsed it and I had to turn back?—”
“He shouldn’t have left your side.”
“His duty was to his kingdom?—”
“ His duty was to his daughter .” He stepped forward again. “Fuck the kingdom. Family is everything. I would have burned the place down before I left my daughter’s side.” His fanatical eyes started to moisten with unshed tears. “The only way she would have been left alone would be if I had died because a thousand swords had pierced my armor. Only fucking then.” He breathed hard, gripping his sword as it started to shake. “I’m sorry for everything—but I stand by what I said.”
I stared him down, seeing the emotion burn in his eyes, his breath escaping as vapor because the air was still cold despite the raging fires. I reached for my sword and unsheathed it, never taking my eyes off his.
He gave a slight shake of his head. “Don’t do this.”
“You killed my father.”
“I did not. He did that himself.”
“But if you hadn’t come to our shores, none of that would have come to pass. My father would live. I would wear the crown of my people as their queen. I wouldn’t have ended up digging in the sand for seven years while a madman raped me. You took everything from me.”
His patience started to pass, and his anger returned. “You have no idea how horrible I feel?—”
“ Fuck you .” I launched at him, swinging my sword with a speed I hadn’t thought I could produce.
He stepped back and parried it effortlessly, his eyes widened in surprise.
I was surprised myself.
“Please don’t make me do this.” His cape billowed in the breeze, and his handsome expression hardened into a vicious stare.
I lunged at him, striking my sword down to take advantage of his opening.
He moved quickly, his sword slicing through the air and meeting my steel with his strength. He was fast, faster than he’d been in our training sessions, and he showed me his full potential for the first time.
My reflexes were sharper than they’d ever been. I could see assaults quicker, anticipate attacks before they happened, dodge out of the way when normally I’d be too slow and take the hit. I blocked his hits and returned with my own. My muscles didn’t scream in agony, like they were three times their size even though my appearance hadn’t changed at all.
Back and forth we went, our swords dancing through the air and striking each other. I felt invigorated, felt like I actually had the ability to defeat him, to make this end for good, to avenge my father.
But then he made a flurry of movements so fast I couldn’t stop them—and my sword went flying.
His boot hit me in the chest, and my back hit the dirt.
The breath left my lungs, and when I opened my eyes, his sword was at my neck.
He stood over me, boot on my sternum, the blade touching my flesh. He looked the same as he had that night—like he lacked a heart.
I lay there, defeated.
“Yield to me, and I’ll spare your life.”
I pushed myself up on my elbows, not feeling the blade touch my skin because he reduced the pressure until I stopped. He removed his boot. I looked up at his angry eyes and stared.
“Do you yield?”
I’d yielded to General Titan to stay alive, but it wasn’t worth the cost of my dignity and my innocence. “No. I’m done being owned. I’m done being treated like a prisoner. I’m done being a pawn. There are worse things than death. So kill me.”
He kept the blade at my throat, his stare pulsating with anger.
“You’ve dedicated your life to reclaiming the throne that was stolen from you. Avenging the people who lost their lives to your conquerors. You used your trauma to justify trauma against others—trauma that you inflicted on me. You did the very thing to me that they did to you, but you expect me to accept it. Let me tell you right now— I will never accept it .”
He pressed the blade harder into my throat, almost drawing blood.
I didn’t flinch.
“Do what you must. I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same.”
His eyes were locked on mine as he held the sword in place. His stare was long and hard, and the anger spread from his mouth to his nostrils like a disease. The hand that gripped the hilt started to shake.
Then he abruptly pulled away and stepped back.
I released the breath I was holding, watching his cape billow behind him.
The dragons suddenly broke apart—their war coming to an immediate halt.
I didn’t know what was happening.
Khazmuda flew over to Talon and made a quick landing.
“What are you doing?” I asked, sitting up and feeling a dribble of blood from the small cut on my neck.
He stopped before he climbed up Khazmuda’s side. “I spared your life once. But the next time we meet, I won’t spare it again.” He grabbed the rope and climbed into the dragon’s saddle. “And for what it’s worth…I did care for you.” Khazmuda opened his wings and launched into the sky, disappearing into the blackness immediately.
I remained on the dirt, the circle of the dead immediately retreating into the earth from which they had come. The fires continued to burn all around me, Inferno silhouetted in the distance. I sat there, free for the first time in my life, but with no idea where to go…or what to do.
***
She got what she wanted but will Calista truly be happy on her own? Find out in Blood of Dragons .