41. Mina
Mina
Before the attack…
Sleep wraps around me, soft and warm, pulling me under. Memories flicker like scenes from a twisted movie, my life before the academy unraveling with a clarity that’s both brutal and sharp. For the first time, I see things as they truly were—Dad didn’t raise a daughter; he bred a weapon. All those doctrines he forced on me about our lineage, the endless hours drilling me to understand … but thinking back now, none of it seems right. My parents’ species were never meant to mix, not in any natural way. And my sister—she’s … different. No green dragon traits, not a single one. My stomach tightens, the realization sinking in like poison. Could it be … was Mom with someone else? Is she even truly my father’s?
A sudden burn slices through my thoughts, a fierce pulsing through two of my bonds—one tinged with anxiety, the other seething with anger, so intense it nearly chokes me. Something is wrong, terribly wrong. My mind claws through the haze, struggling to shake off whatever they’ve dosed me with. I can feel Abraxis’ anger, a fiery thread thrumming with barely contained rage. He’s fighting. Against what? Or who? A sharp stab of panic jolts through me. Klauth’s egg … I need to wake up. Now.
I focus, straining, but my limbs feel chained, locked down by something I can’t see. My dragoness slumbers deep within me, her presence dim. I grit my teeth, summoning every ounce of my willpower, screaming inside my head. ‘Wake up. Our mate, our egg—they need us.’ My voice rises in desperation, echoing through the hollow silence, but the fog clings to me, thick and unmoving.
Then, I hear it—a distant rumble, low and dangerous, like the start of a storm. Lightning cracks through the dreamscape, a blaze of fierce, electric blue tearing through the darkness. Relief floods me. She hears me . My dragoness stirs, her power bleeding through, splintering the chains around me. A blinding white light ignites on the far edge of this darkened realm, and I know it’s her—my dragoness, my salvation.
Without hesitation, I bolt toward it, my heart pounding with every step, ready to tear through whatever holds me back.
Blinking, my eyes slowly adjust to the dim, eerie glow in the egg chamber. The familiar obsidian coils of Balor’s basilisk form enclose me and the egg incubator, their weight pressing into the cool stone floor. My heart races as I shove at his massive coils. “Let me out! Abraxis needs me!” I scream, my voice cracking with desperation, tears almost spilling over. If it’s my father’s people, their acid breath, or poison gas will kill everyone here who isn’t immune. I have to reach them—before it’s too late.
Balor shifts, his towering form melting back into his human shape, his face shadowed with sorrow. “I can’t do that,” he murmurs, his voice tight. “I promised to keep you here and safe.” He tilts his head, looking at me with an intensity that makes my breath catch. Pain flickers in his dark eyes, words he doesn’t dare to say out loud. I can feel it—he cares. Maybe more than a mere bodyguard should.
“If you feel anything for me…” I pause, my voice softening as I watch the faint shift in his expression, the way his gaze wavers. “Let me out. They will die if I don’t do something.” I move closer, placing my hands on his chest, tilting my head to meet his gaze. “Please…” I never beg. I never ask twice. But this—this is different.
“I can’t…” His hands find my shoulders warm and hesitant. “I swallowed the key. Abraxis told me to do it if we were attacked.” His brows knit together as he holds my gaze, struggling with his instincts. But it’s clear—he will not win this internal battle. I can feel his resolve crumbling, but the magic still binds me some.
“I understand,” I whisper, stepping back, eyes fixed on the heavy door blocking my path. “Forgive me for what I’m about to do.” Without Iris close, I can’t fully harness my lightning in human form. But I can shift. Gritting my teeth, I let the familiar burn crawl over my hands and forearms, scales, and talons emerging. The static crackles along my skin, sparking at my fingertips.
It’s time to break free.
I slam my fists into the door again and again, feeling the wood splinter under the force, until the first crack spiders across its surface. Outside, I hear the scrape of stone shifting. My voice echoes with the edge of my dragon’s growl as I scream, “Let me out!”
Without hesitation, my talons extend, tearing into the wood, ripping it away chunk by chunk. I don’t stop, my claws shredding through what’s left of the barrier between me and the courtyard beyond. Every second Abraxis is out there without me, my rage builds, thick and molten, in my veins.
“Mina, stop! You’ll hurt yourself!” Balor’s voice is close now, but I barely hear him. I snarl, “Abraxis needs me!” My talons tear through another board, bigger pieces falling away.
On the other side of the door, Vaughn’s voice cuts through the chaos. “Balor, why aren’t you unlocking the door?”
A bitter laugh bubbles up, almost unhinged. “He swallowed the damn key!” I yell, clawing at the remaining wood with even more ferocity. Another fierce strike and a large portion of the door crashes down. Finally, a gap big enough for me to squeeze through. I force my way out, Vaughn catching my arm to help me down.
He tries to pull me close, to steady me, but I shrug him off. “I need to get out there. Now.” I press a fierce, fleeting kiss to his lips and break away, sprinting through the halls.
This fortress, once my prison, now feels like a maze that separates me from my mate. I take every shortcut, cutting corners and shoving past barriers until I burst into the courtyard.
My heart stops at the sight. Abraxis and his kin are holding off a brutal assault, my father’s soldiers pouring through in wave after wave, dragons thrashing and roaring. The heat in my blood turns to pure fire as I see him, surrounded by four green dragons, their breath weapons poised to strike.
With a final, shuddering breath, I let my dragoness rise fully, my bones shifting and stretching as scales erupt across my skin. In one burning, violent moment, I’m in my true form, ready to tear apart anything that dares to lay a talon on my mate .
As my last foot lifts from the earth, a surge of lightning blazes through my veins, crackling over every inch of my scales. I roar, letting loose the most powerful lightning attack I’ve ever summoned. It tears through the air, and three green dragons in its path drop like smoldering heaps to the ground.
The black dragons whirl, their heads snapping back just as I dive into the heart of the battle, my focus locked on the chaos unfolding around me. Acid and poisonous gas splash against my scales, sliding off me like rain on stone. Their fear—the look in their eyes as they see me charging—it stirs something deep within my dragoness. She revels in it, savoring the way they shrink back. Today, I’m a nightmare they can’t outrun.
I pursue the green dragons relentlessly, scorching them one by one, leaving no room for mercy. I roar again, my strikes landing with deadly precision, cleaving through each invader. As the final green dragon falls, Abraxis and his father appear, flanking me as we eliminate the last of the attackers together. When the battlefield finally stills, I can see the toll it took on both sides. Some of Vox’s lesser dragons lie motionless, casualties of the green dragons’ acid.
We land in the courtyard, and I stay shifted, my dragon hefting the fallen bodies of our enemies over the cliff’s edge. There will be no graves, no honor, for those who dared attack us today. I inspect my scales—scored with burns and marks from their attempts, but nothing that threatens any lasting damage.
Abraxis and his parents stand at the courtyard’s center, coordinating the cleanup, and I watch them from a distance, my gaze drifting to the horizon. My gut twists, a deep, certain pull. My father’s legion has likely moved, and I can sense it. They’re on the other side of the mountains now, lying in wait somewhere in the northern territory, just before the valley that leads to the veil .
“Mina?” Cerce’s voice pulls me back from the edge, and I turn, bowing my head to her. Her hands glide gently over my scales, inspecting each one with care. “Your cycle is over, and by the looks of it, you don’t have a scale out of place.” The warmth in her smile quells the rage simmering inside me, like water cooling embers. I shift back to my human form, and she wraps me in her arms immediately. “I am so proud of you,” she whispers close to my ear, her voice trembling. I feel her tears against my cheek.
Gently, I pull back and search her eyes. “Why are you crying?” I brush her tears away with my sleeve, trying to make sense of the emotion filling her.
“If it wasn’t for you, I would have lost my son and husband today.” Her voice wavers as she holds me tighter, pulling me into her warmth.
“They were in danger because of me,” I mutter, stepping back. “I don’t deserve thanks of any kind.” The words come out cold as I turn and start back toward the fortress, needing space, needing to breathe.
“Mina.” Abraxis blocks my path, and his eyes are intense as he cups my face, tipping it up toward him. He kisses me deeply, his emotions flooding me. Love, anger simmering low, worry, and finally, a fierce gratitude. I can’t help the small smile that creeps onto my lips as I return the kiss, nipping at his bottom lip.
“I felt you,” I say, pressing a hand over my sternum where his emotions still echo in me. “Felt your rage, your worry. It’s what woke me.” A small laugh escapes, lightening the weight I feel pressing down.
“It’s always concerning when a female laughs at a serious time,” Vox teases as he steps closer, his gaze wary but amused .
I shake my head, feeling the lingering humor bubble up again. “We need to replace the door to the egg chamber,” I say with a raised brow. “I destroyed it on my way out. Balor swallowed the key on your order.” I glance at Abraxis, watching his reaction. “Good luck getting that back.” Laughter ripples around us, filling the air with a release we all need.
Abraxis raises a brow, mock-exasperation on his face. “I wasn’t serious about him swallowing the key! I told him, ‘I don’t care if you have to swallow the key. Don’t let Mina out of this chamber.’ Apparently, he took me a bit too literally.” He shakes his head, and a laugh escapes him too, pulling us all into its warmth, grounding me for the first time today.
As we slip back into the fortress, the atmosphere grows darker; the shadows stretching with the weight of our victory. The path down to the egg chamber feels heavier with each step, and when we reach the remnants of the door, I catch sight of Balor on the other side.
“We won,” I call out, poking my head through the hole I ripped through the wood. A faint smirk tugs at my lips.
Vox chuckles, glancing at the mess. “Looks like someone shredded a door to escape.” He nudges Vaughn, motioning for him to clear the statues away.
I shrug, slipping back through the jagged opening I carved. Balor’s hands catch me as I step through, his grip steady. “Yeah, well, someone had to save your asses.” I turn, peering back at the broken doorframe. My gaze fixes on the lock, an obstacle I’m more than eager to obliterate. With a wicked grin, I let my talons extend, digging into the wood around the lock, slicing through it with ease. Once it’s carved up, I lean through the gap.
“Vaughn, shift and hit the door with everything you’ve got,” I command, retreating to the rear of the chamber with the egg cradled close to me.
Balor shifts, his powerful coils wrapping around me, forming an impenetrable shield. The distant gleam of his scales presses against me, and I feel the safety of his embrace as Vaughn slams into the door. The crack of splintering wood fills the air, each fragment scattering like shattered bones across the stone floor.
When the thuds finally fade, Balor shifts back, and I take in the carnage. What remains of the door hangs limply from the hinges, mere slivers, and scraps left clinging to the frame. The path is open, and the victory tastes even sweeter with the destruction lying in our wake.
Abraxis kneels by the spot where the cursed egg had once rested, his fingers sifting through the nesting material. He carefully pulls out a piece of the shell and holds it out to me, a rare, warm smile lighting up his face. “This was part of your egg,” he murmurs, reverence in his tone. From his pocket, he produces a small, curved disk—another fragment of my eggshell. But this one has been transformed into a talisman, its edges smooth and gleaming. “Mom had this made for me,” he explains, his voice softer, “to remind me of what was waiting for me back home.”
I glance up at his mother, who gives him an approving nod, pride evident in her eyes. Then I look back down, studying the talisman and the piece he’s placed in my palm. It’s surreal—I’ve never seen my eggshell before. Iron-gray scales ripple across the surface, woven with veins of green that shimmer like embers in low light. “My dragon’s coloring…” I whisper, piecing it together, “…it matches my eggs hell.”
Holding Klauth’s egg, I see it clearly now—his scales will echo this same crimson and silver pattern. A fierce wave of protectiveness fills me.
Before I can process further, Abraxis pulls me close, wrapping his arms around me, a silent promise in his touch. The others quietly slip out of the chamber, leaving us alone in the icy silence of the room. He talks, sharing fragments of his life since the day I hatched. His tone is steady, but there’s a thread of darkness to it—confessions of mistakes, nights spent burning off anger and pain. “It meant nothing, Mina,” he assures me, his gaze steady, almost pleading. I tell him about my life, every brutal detail laid bare.
When I finish, his face twists with fury, hands clenched tight enough to crack bone. I feel the heat of his anger rolling off him, intense and unrestrained, and it doesn’t scare me. It fuels the fire in my chest. What they put me through, everything I endured…
It pisses me off, too.