43. Epilogue – Mina
Epilogue – Mina
The mountains loom above us, silent and knowing, like they’ve been watching for centuries and now hold secrets I’m just beginning to uncover. We’ve been here, in my mother’s nest, almost two months, yet it still feels foreign to me. I’ve purged everything that reeks of my father—six bonfires in two weeks, all at my insistence. But no matter how much I burn, how many rooms I cleanse, it doesn’t feel like mine. My eyes keep drifting up to the peaks, sharp, and haunting, etched against the sky.
“What’s caught your attention?” Ziggy’s voice pulls me back. He steps up beside me, his warmth a slight comfort.
I point to the three jagged peaks. “Those are the three from my vision—Iz, Jurel, and Starlet. That’s where my nest will be. See between Jurel and Starlet? That small valley will be the courtyard.”
I sigh, caught between wanting and doubt, staring up from down here. Everything inside me yearns to claim it, to leave this borrowed place and build something of my own .
“Do you want to go look?” Abraxis’s voice, low and steady, rolls over me from behind.
“I do, but it’s too small for both dragons to land up there.” I shrug, feeling the familiar ache in my chest.
Ziggy turns to me, his eyes dark with understanding. “I can move all of us up there.”
I nod slowly, a surge of determination rising with my dragoness’s restless desire. “Let’s bring the entire nest. I want everyone to see where I belong.”
Something deep within me pulls me to those peaks, a force stronger than my mother’s legacy, louder than any bond to this hollow place. I know, in my bones, that this isn’t home. It’s her nest, not mine. And my dragoness won’t be satisfied until we have our own—wild and untamed, high above, where no shadow of my father can reach us.
I watch as Vaughn and Callan walk out together, their heads bent close in conversation. Balor and Leander trail behind, taking everything in with their usual calm. Balor’s lips curl into a grin as he catches sight of me. “We’re nest hunting?” he asks, his tone teasing.
“Yeah,” I sigh, a shudder rippling through me. “Every time I’m in Mom’s nest, it feels like my skin’s crawling with a million ants. I don’t know how she managed in my grandmother’s nest all those years.” I shake off the thought, only to be surprised as Callan pulls me into his arms.
“Then let’s find a place that actually feels like yours.” He presses a warm kiss to my cheek, his eyes softening. “Though from what I can tell, the dragons won’t fit. But the smaller flyers? They could.” He tilts his head, a mischievous gleam in his eye .
“Ziggy, can you get the others up to the site?” he says, nodding to the rest. “Vaughn and I will handle getting Mina up there.” His confidence is contagious, but I can’t help but remember how quickly he fatigued the last time he tried to fly with me.
“Are you sure?” I ask, glancing at him and Vaughn, who’s already shifting into his gargoyle form.
“If I falter, Vaughn’s got you,” Callan says, his tone firm before he shifts. His gryphon form is imposing, feathers dark and powerful, his size larger than most of his kind.
He moves in close, lowering his head so his beak brushes against my leg. A gentle reassurance. “Okay, let’s do this,” I murmur, running my fingers through the feathers along his neck, feeling their softness and strength.
“Here, let me help you.” Abraxis lifts me by my hips effortlessly and sits me on Callan’s back.
Abraxis’s hands are firm yet gentle as he lifts me effortlessly, setting me atop Callan’s back. I feel the shift in his muscles, the way they move beneath me, and I settle in, finding the place where I won’t burden him. Callan stretches his wings wide, a ripple of anticipation coursing through him as he adjusts to my weight. He glances back, giving a subtle nod, and I take a steadying breath.
“I think I’m ready.”
In a heartbeat, he charges forward; the ground falling away as his wings slice through the air. With a powerful kick, he thrusts us skyward. The wind rushes past, pulling at my hair and clothes as we climb higher, his wings beating in a rhythmic cadence that syncs with my pulse. As we glide onto the thermals, something shifts inside me—a warmth unfurls, spreading slowly, until I feel our connection solidifying. Peace, deep and anchoring, washes over me. In this moment, everything feels … right. Like we’re finally in sync, our bodies, and souls aligned.
Vaughn’s gargoyle joins us, gliding just behind as we gain altitude, the peaks looming ahead like silent guardians. Abraxis waits at the edge, his stance alert, eyes fixed on us as Callan dips into a graceful landing. His steps are lighter, almost a prance, as if he’s carrying more than just me—something between us has settled, a thread of understanding woven tight.
Abraxis reaches for me, lifting me off Callan’s back with ease, pulling me into a fierce embrace. His hands roam briefly, checking for injuries or discomfort, and then he presses a soft kiss to my forehead. The warmth of his presence is like a summer storm—intense, comforting, brimming with power.
The moment Callan shifts back, I feel the pull between us, and I can’t stop myself from running to him. My arms wrap around him, holding tight. For a heartbeat, he’s rigid, but then he sinks into my embrace, like a breath he’s been holding has finally released.
“Are we better?” he murmurs against my neck, his breath warm and familiar.
“I think so. I feel you here,” I say, placing a hand over my heart. Where Abraxis feels like the force of a storm, Callan is something quieter—like gentle waves lapping at a lake’s edge. His gryphon’s energy balances the raw, unrestrained power of Abraxis’s dragon, grounding me in a way I didn’t realize I needed.
The valley stretches before us, wild and untouched, and though we’ve combed through most of it, there’s something about that one shadowed corner that pulls at me. Abraxis senses it, too. He shifts without a word, his powerful talons digging deep, marking the stone with long, jagged scores as a reminder. I study the mark, feeling the quiet hum of something ancient and waiting beneath the surface. We will return here, but for now, it’s time to rest and regroup.
The nest leaves the site and we return to the main chamber in the Risedale nest. We need to figure out what year two will hold for me. As the others discuss what’s unfolding back at Shadowcarve, I retreat a little, sitting cross-legged with a canvas in front of me. Klauth’s egg, warm and alive, rests on my thighs, pulsing softly as if in sync with my heartbeat. My brush moves in steady strokes, colors blending into a vision of the home I imagine. Shadows and hidden paths, a stronghold nestled in the peak of Iz. There’s strength in it, safety, a place of refuge and strategy.
“It looks beautiful, Mina,” Leander’s voice pulls me back, and I feel the weight of his gloved hand resting gently on my shoulder. I glance at the leather, my chest tightening with the reminder. Without those gloves, without their leathers, just touching me makes them sick. I miss the days when it didn’t, when my touch didn’t come with consequences. I take a deep breath, forcing myself to focus on the brush in my hand.
“It’s hard to explain what I see,” I murmur, adding another stroke. “It’s easier to paint it.”
The guys gather around, their quiet presence a comfort. Abraxis points, his eyes narrowing in on the painted peaks. “It’s hidden by the peak of Iz,” he notes. “There’s Jurel and Starlet close by. Strategically … it’s brilliant. ”
He grins, but just as he does, his phone vibrates, flashing in quick succession. The others follow, a storm of notifications breaking the calm. Callan’s face shifts from calm to tense, and I catch Vaughn’s wary expression as more phones join the chorus. Something’s wrong.
I feel it before anyone speaks—a prickle in the air, an unspoken warning. Klauth’s egg flares in my lap, pulsing harder, mirroring the quickening beat of my heart. My stomach twists as the realization settles in.
“What’s happening?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper, but in the silence that falls, it feels like a shout. We have most of Shadowcarve’s senior staff here, in my nest, and the academy…
“Firedrakes and ambush drakes have been randomly attacking the academy,” Abraxis says, his face emotionless. But the bond burns bright, too bright. Something is churning beneath his calm exterior.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I shift my gaze to Callan. Out of the two of them, he’s the one who’ll crack first, the one more likely to tell me everything.
“They destroyed your old room in the tower,” he says slowly, watching me. “And broke into the cursed egg chamber in Malivore. They stole the black dragon egg.”
Time stops. The surrounding air thickens, dull and weightless, and suddenly, I’m elsewhere, in a place I’ve never seen—a dark, enclosed chamber, colder than stone and silent as the grave. The black egg lies nestled in strange materials, dormant, pulsing faintly with power. A figure hovers over it, cloaked in shadows, hands reaching but stopping short, unwilling to touch it. Whoever they are, they know the cost of a single wrong move. One touch, and they’d be dead .
I try to push the vision forward, to see their face, their intention, but it won’t move. Frustration gnaws at me. Gripping Klauth’s egg in my hand, I draw strength from it, letting it fuel me, pushing through the haze.
The scene shifts, and suddenly I know where this is—the chamber is within Arista’s territory. But she isn’t holding the egg herself. My vision sharpens, zeroing in on a female ambush drake handling the egg with metal tongs, careful not to let it touch her. Her face comes into focus, and I know her—I killed her mate. Her eyes glint with rage as she spits out her plan, rambling about using the black dragon to destroy me. The egg must hatch for her. But she still won’t dare touch it.
And then, just as quickly, I’m ripped back to reality, gasping, the vision snapping like a cord. My breaths come in shallow bursts as I clutch Klauth’s egg tighter, grounding myself. “The female ambush drake from Arista’s nest has the egg,” I pant, still trying to catch my breath. “I killed her mate, and she wants the black dragon to kill me.”
The room stills, all eyes on me. “You know where the egg is?” Callan and Abraxis speak in unison, voices sharp with urgency.
I nod, holding Klauth’s egg in my hands and tracing the patterns on the shell with my fingers. “I know the general area. It’s dormant, though. Right now, it’s not a threat.” My gaze drifts down to the egg, feeling the quiet strength inside. “He’s … not ready to hatch. There’s a kind of … timer, if you can call it that. He needs to be active for over two years before his egg can hatch.”
“So, during your third year then,” Balor says, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. His eyes don’t leave me, studying me almost as intently as Abraxis does.
I give a slight shrug. “Something like that.” I glance down at the egg again, feeling a strange warmth pulse beneath my fingertips. “But if he’s needed sooner … I think he can force the hatching. But only for his mate if her life’s in danger.” I feel that warmth bloom, spreading through my chest, a reminder of the bond between us, the purpose he holds. My gaze shifts to my other three mates, who look ready to tear through anything that stands in our way. Their tethers pulled tight, vibrating with anger over everything that’s happened.
Then I find Vaughn’s eyes, and my tension eases slightly. He’s mad too—his thread a faint wisp in my mind, a gentle swirl of emotions reaching out to ground me even as anger simmers beneath his steady exterior.
It hits me all at once—the warmth, the deep-rooted sense of safety pulsing from the egg. This isn’t just my feeling; it’s coming from him, from Klauth. I know my mates have picked up on it too. They’re no strangers to the way a tether feels, that faint but unmistakable pull. Deep down, I sense it forming, and I know that soon enough, it won’t be faint. Dragons choose strength, a powerful dragon male, before anything else. It’s ingrained in us, a primal instinct for survival. And by the way Leander watches me, with that unreadable gaze, I know the nightmare senses it, too. They see beyond the surface, past all the obvious things others miss.
I clear my throat, breaking the heavy silence. “So … what’s the plan for Vaughn and me this school year?” I ask, hoping to shift the focus.
Callan and Abraxis exchange a look before their eyes return to me. “You’re testing out of all your standard classes,” Callan says, his gaze firm. “Except anything involving poisons and weaponry.”
Abraxis nods, his expression serious. “From here on out, one of us will be with you in every class. Lysander’s been briefed on what you just shared.” He lets out a slow, dark smile that makes my pulse jump. “If they think they can plot against you, they’re forgetting what happens in the second year.”
A wicked gleam flares in his eyes, and I feel my heart pound in response. He’s right; they’ll soon be reminded why they should fear us. “What happens this year?” I search the faces of my nest mates, looking for anything they might know but haven’t told me.
“A lot of sparring, two more required gauntlets, and … well, people tend to die this year,” Abraxis says, sending off another message with a quick flick of his fingers. “If they make it to next year, the war games start.”
“We have a month—well, a little less than a month,” Callan adds, his voice thoughtful but sharp.
Vaughn pulls up a chair beside me, studying a painting on the wall with that calm, calculating look he always has. “We have a lot going on. There’s Mina’s father out there somewhere, Arista and her nest causing problems, and now this third party stirring things up.” His voice is steady, but I feel the weight of it settle over us, and I almost see the pieces laid out like a chessboard.
I hold Klauth’s egg to my chest, feeling its warmth. “Dad and the black egg are our biggest threats,” I say, my voice firm. “The black egg ignited for me once. Will it respond again if I call to it?” I glance over at Callan and Abraxis, searching for any hint of an answer.
Abraxis nods, looking serious. “I already asked Lysander. It’s unheard of for two eggs to ignite, but there’s a chance it will respond to you again. What are you thinking, mate?” He tilts his head, eyes fixed on the soft, pulsing glow of Klauth’s egg.
“Rescue the black egg. Either keep it with me or return it to the egg chamber.” I stare at Klauth’s egg for a heartbeat too long, sensing a quiet, steady acceptance from within.
“What does he think?” Leander asks, his voice edging on impatience. I bite back the urge to snap at him, keeping my focus.
“He’s … not opposed to the idea.” I meet each of my bonded mates’ eyes, then look at Vaughn, Balor, Ziggy, and finally Leander. “We need eyes on Arista’s nest. I need more information.”
Second year, and I’m already fighting a war that wasn’t supposed to start until the third.
Then again, I’ve always been an overachiever.
Year two starts soon: Guardian of the Cursed Egg