Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Hein nudged Kaelith with the tip of his snout—gentle, subtle, a wordless gesture that said Tone it down. But Kaelith turned her head, her eyes narrowing into violet slits. Then she snapped at him, a sharp crack of teeth and warning.
“Shit,” Zander muttered beside me.
Before I could even ask what the hell was happening, Kaelith roared. Not loud. Not deep. But scathing. She reared back and breathed fire directly into Hein’s face.
He took it like a soldier.
The flames washed over his scales and sizzled out harmlessly, but that wasn’t the point. It wasn’t about injury. It was dominance.
Hein’s wings flared wide, and he let out a guttural snarl, deep and vibrating through the soles of my boots. Kaelith responded with a hiss, her tail slicing the air behind her like a blade ready to sever something precious.
The squads scattered. Cadets dove for cover as the massive dragons began circling each other—Kaelith with her measured, predatory steps and Hein with that tight, calculated pacing that said he knew exactly how dangerous she was.
Their scales brushed once, then again, sparks igniting where they touched.
What is happening? I asked, trying to get through to Kaelith, but her mind was locked tight, coiled and simmering with energy.
“They’re fighting,” I breathed aloud, disbelieving. “But they’re already mated.”
Zander crossed his arms, watching with a grimace as Kaelith snapped her wings and Hein responded by lunging just enough to make her flinch.
“And married couples don’t fight?” he shot back with a humorless edge. “They’ve both been through hell. This is just... post-bond dominance.”
“This is just?”
He shrugged. “She’s evolving and probably wants more control. Hein… isn’t great at sharing.”
Kaelith bared her fangs and let out a deafening screech, fire swirling in her throat again as she lunged—
—and Hein bowed his head, finally conceding.
Her fire sputtered out. She loomed over him, tail lashing once before swatting his jaw with a warning, then turned and prowled away.
Hein didn’t follow immediately.
He just watched her walk, quiet, as the tension left his broad shoulders one slow breath at a time.
Zander exhaled beside me. “Well. At least we’re not the only ones with issues.”
Kaelith prowled away like she owned the ground, her wings still half-spread, her scales catching the late sun like polished amethyst set aflame. Hein remained crouched for a moment longer, chest still, eyes unreadable. Then, he turned to follow her—more a sentinel than a mate now.
“Why didn’t he do more?” I asked quietly, my voice barely above the hush that had fallen over the grounds.
Zander sighed beside me, arms crossed over his chest. “He can’t. If he uses his size or strength against her, she’ll fight him to the death. That’s how dragon mating works, at least as best as I understand it. Hein tries to explain, but... it’s complicated.”
My brows lifted. To the death?
Zander continued, his voice certain. “Females get the final say. Always. A male has to win her, keep her happy, protect her—without making her feel like she’s lesser. It’s about dominance, but also respect. With Kaelith, it’s harder.”
“Because she’s changed,” I murmured.
“Because she’s powerful,” he echoed. “Hein might be stronger in combat, but her magic... it’s evolved. She’s possibly the most powerful dragon alive now.”
I glanced back at Kaelith, who now stood regally near the edge of the field, her tail coiled with unsettling precision. “Does Hein know what her new magic actually is? What the changes mean?”
Zander shook his head. “No. Not even close. And it’s driving him insane.”
Before I could ask more, the thud of boots on packed earth caught my attention. I turned, and found Major Ledor approaching, his eyes locked on me with unreadable purpose.
“Cadet Rebec,” he said evenly. “A word.”
I glanced at Zander, his eyes narrowed in concern as he watched Major Ledor approach. Don’t follow, I whispered through the bond. It’s fine. He gave me the smallest nod, but his jaw ticked.
I stepped away from him and met the major halfway, Kaelith’s presence behind me like a storm held in check.
“She seems… more,” Ledor said, eyes still trained on my dragon.
I followed his gaze to Kaelith. She was standing proud and luminous, her scales practically humming with restrained energy. Even Hein was keeping his distance now.
“I believe our bonding made her stronger,” I said carefully.
Ledor’s keen eyes cut to mine. “And you? Do you feel any changes in your magic?”
I shook my head. “No. Same magic. I haven’t developed any new powers, if that’s what you’re asking.”
His gaze lingered on me too long for comfort, assessing, dissecting. I didn’t flinch.
“I think we should test that,” he said finally. “Take the center of the grounds. With your dragon.”
A knot tightened in my stomach. “Is this a punishment?”
“No,” he said, already turning. “It’s a trial.”
Then he walked away, leaving me to stand in the gathering tension that buzzed like lightning beneath my skin.
Kaelith lifted her head, and her voice entered my mind like silk through steel. What does that annoying human want now?
A trial, I said, stepping toward her. But I’m guessing they don’t know what they’ve just asked for.
Kaelith’s tail twitched, and her violet eyes glowed. Then let’s show them.
Major Ledor’s voice rang out across the Ascension Grounds. “Iron Fang, you’re up. Engage Cadet Rebec. Treat them as if they were Blood Fae. Lethal force is not authorized.”
A wave of murmurs swept through the watching squads, but Iron Fang didn’t hesitate. Perin stepped forward, his smirk lazy, dagger already spinning between his fingers like he couldn’t wait to carve a victory.
Pretend they are Blood Fae, I relayed to Kaelith.
Oh, she purred into my mind, her tone practically gleeful. Can I kill just one?
No. I ground my teeth. Kaelith, do not kill them.
Just one, she insisted, and I felt her attention narrow in like a predator scenting blood. Perin.
He grinned up at me, clearly underestimating us.
“Begin!” Major Ledor barked.
They charged, but I was already calling the wind.
My magic surged from Kaelith’s core through mine, flaring out with a sharp, commanding cry.
I lifted my arms, and a concentrated funnel of air ripped across the ground like a cyclone compressed into a whip.
It struck the advancing Iron Fang members mid-sprint—lifting them off their feet and flinging them back like dolls tossed by a tantrum.
Perin was quicker. He ducked under the blast, blade gleaming as he rolled and came up on one knee, only for Kaelith to rear back.
Kaelith—I warned, but the pulse of her power had already ignited.
A burst of fire roared from her throat, white-hot and furious. Perin barely managed to dive behind one of the ancient stone statues lining the edge of the grounds. The flames scorched the side of it, licking at the carved runes as smoke curled into the sky.
The crowd went silent.
Kaelith growled low and wicked in my mind. He moves well. Maybe I’ll try again.
Try it and I’ll tell Hein you’re planning to run off with Katama.
Her rumbling snort was amusement and defiance blended into one.
Major Ledor raised a hand to halt the fight. Several Iron Fang members groaned on the ground, others stood stunned, and Perin peeked out from behind the statue with soot across his cheek and a scowl carved deep into his face.
I met the major’s gaze, breath steady, wind curling around my boots like a living thing.
Major Ledor’s hand swept outward. “Crownwatch, you’re next.”
The movement was clean. Commanding.
He turned his head slightly, eyes flicking to Zander like a hammer finding its nail. “Except you, Prince Rayne. Your dragon is compromised. He will sit this one out.”
Zander’s jaw flexed, tension straining through his shoulders as he stood motionless. But I felt the heat in his stare, the frustration simmering behind his silence. Hein, who had been pacing restlessly behind him, let out a huff that stirred dust across the stone.
The rest of Crownwatch stepped forward. Not as many as Iron Fang, but gods, they were sharper, colder. These weren’t brutes. These were tacticians. Magicians with battlefield precision.
“Call your dragons,” Major Ledor ordered.
Kaelith was already crouched behind me, her claws digging subtle grooves into the stone. Her wings unfurled like twin banners of violet fire, casting a shimmering hue across the grounds. Her magic was already thrumming, crackling under my skin like a heartbeat made of storm.
The Crownwatch riders formed a loose circle around me. Cade took a position directly across, his gaze thundercloud dark. I could feel his fury. Not at the trial, but at the major. At what this trial represented.
He wasn’t the only one who looked uncertain. A few of the others exchanged glances, as if unsure if this was still a test or something else entirely.
Kaelith, stay alert, I told her.
I’m always alert, she murmured, fire coiling in her chest.
One of the Crownwatch riders summoned a wall of mist. Another called down a fine rain that hissed when it hit the ground—acid, maybe.
I let the wind build again, swirling around my legs and dancing through my hair. Kaelith’s power surged beneath me, blending with mine.
They’re stronger, I warned.
Then burn brighter, she answered, her tail slamming into the earth like thunder.
“Begin,” Ledor called.
The world exploded into light and smoke.
The air was alive, hot, loud. I braced as Crownwatch closed in, my fingers curling to pull the wind to me. A shield first. Something to hold them back. But the moment I summoned it, Kaelith’s magic surged through the bond like a living storm.
It didn’t blend.
It devoured.
My breath hitched as her power latched onto mine, not to support, but to feed. Like she needed it to evolve. Like she was evolving.
“No,” I breathed, but the wind in my lungs tasted scorched. “Kaelith, stop—”
Too late.
I spun, desperate to refocus, but a cadet from Crownwatch sent a shadow ribbon slicing toward me. I dropped, rolled, then whipped a gust of air toward him. It knocked him back, but not far enough. Two more Crownwatch members were already closing in, casting binding sigils between their hands.
I tried to reach for more wind, but my control slipped and my magic buckled beneath the weight of Kaelith’s. A shimmer pulsed from her scales, violet light bleeding gold around her tail as she lifted her head and let out a sound like thunder breaking through glass.
Kaelith—don’t do this.
But she didn’t hear me.
Or maybe she did, and didn’t care.
Because she turned, eyes blazing, and I saw it.
Her tail.
The end was arcing upward, shifting, splitting.
“No!” I screamed.
Pain lanced through the bond like a whip, and the world exploded. A burst of air rippled outward from my chest—too fast, too much. It slammed into the trial circle like a shockwave.
I was thrown off my feet, the stone under me cracking as I hit it hard enough to rattle bones. Everything blurred, sound, motion, breath, but I heard the gasps, the stammered cries of riders being flung off balance.
I rolled onto my side, blinking against the dust in the air. Standing back up unsteadily.
Kaelith scanned the crowd with her eyes. Unbothered. Unmoving. Her wings flexed once, beautiful, terrible, and her eyes locked on me like she barely recognized me.
Her tail continued to split down the center, a second blade beginning to form—a perfect mirror to the first.
The major was yelling something. I didn’t hear it.
Because I was too busy realizing I wasn’t in control anymore.
Kaelith had just begun to show the world what she really was.