Chapter 31
Chapter
Thirty-One
Lightning split the courtyard as I hurled the storm at him, the arcs jagged and screaming like tearing metal.
Veralin raised his hand lazily, and a blood-red shield shimmered into existence before him.
My lightning slammed into it with an earsplitting crack, sparks ricocheting across the courtyard stones.
The shield rippled but held, his mouth curving into a smile too cruel to be human.
“You’ll have to do better than that, Granddaughter,” he sneered.
I gritted my teeth, summoning the storm again.
Bolts speared down from the mottled sky, shattering stone and sending cracks spidering toward him.
He countered with a blast of black flame that devoured the air itself, forcing me to throw up a wall of lightning just to keep from being incinerated.
The two magics slammed together, sparks and shadows colliding in an unnatural storm that shook the ruined castle around us.
Push harder, Kaelith urged, her voice hot and fierce in my mind. He’s not untouchable.
I roared and sent the lightning forward, weaving it with wind so the air screamed with the force of it. Veralin braced, his crimson shield flaring brighter as he absorbed the blow—and then sent it back. A wave of power like a hammer slammed into me, rattling my bones and stealing my breath.
All around us, more black dragons descended from the clouds, their wings blotting out the weak sunlight.
Their riders leaped down, Blood Fae blades gleaming, and rushed my friends.
Hein’s roar split the air as he tore into them, fire blazing; Narvea struck like a shadow, snapping one fae clean off his dragon’s back.
But there were too many. The courtyard filled with steel and screaming, the clash of dragons, the thrum of power.
I forced myself to focus on Veralin, but panic gnawed at me, distracting me with the shouts from my squad. I drew my storm too quickly, too recklessly.
His lips curled, sensing an opening.
A whip of black energy snapped from his hand—so fast I didn’t even see it until it struck me square in the chest.
Agony ripped through me. I staggered backward, air leaving my lungs in a broken gasp as my knees buckled. The world blurred, my magic sputtering as I dropped my sword, sparks scattering across the stone. My chest burned, every breath shallow, and I realized too late that I’d underestimated him.
Veralin’s laughter cut through the battle like a blade.
The air shifted, subtly at first, a tremor beneath the chaos.
I thought it was another of Veralin’s illusions until the rustle of boots on stone reached my ears.
From beyond the shattered columns, they came.
Dozens of warriors, their long white braids whipping behind them like banners of war, armor glinting with runes older than memory.
Their lavender eyes burned with ancient fire, and their swords gleamed as if forged from captured lightning.
The Light Fae had come.
My chest tightened, not with fear but with hope so intense it ached. For the first time since setting foot on this cursed isle, I let myself believe we might survive.
Veralin turned, his red eyes narrowing with pure, unmasked hatred. His lips pulled back, a snarl that made him look less king and more beast.
I smiled, teeth bared, my storm still crackling at my fingertips. “It looks like your reign is over, Veralin. Stand down… or die.”
His laugh was harsh, grating, like bone scraping stone. He raised his hand, shadows thickening into a spear of darkness that pulsed with killing intent. It hummed in the air, a thing of pure death, and Kaelith’s voice ripped through my mind—hot, frantic. Ashlyn, that will kill you. Move!
I ducked, throwing myself to the side. The spear screamed past, so close it seared the air, and when it hit a broken column it dissolved instantly, leaving nothing but smoke curling from the stone.
My heart pounded as I scrambled back to my feet. Veralin’s smile spread wide, jagged, unholy.
“Let’s try that again,” he purred, summoning another spear, its edges jagged with shadow, darker and sharper than the first.
The clash of steel rang across the ruined courtyard as Light Fae warriors descended on Veralin’s dark riders.
They moved like water, every strike precise, every movement purposeful.
Unlike their shadow-bound cousins, their blades didn’t waver or hesitate; their discipline was terrifying in its beauty.
Blood Fae fell in waves beneath their white-braided onslaught, but still, I knew the truth—these warriors could not fly.
And in the skies above, our dragons were locked in a battle that couldn’t last forever.
“Destroy the chest!” one of the Light Fae bellowed, his voice carrying over the chaos.
Veralin’s head snapped toward the artifact, his eyes igniting with fury as Kaelith prowled closer, fire flickering dangerously in her throat.
His hand lashed out, shadows twisting into another spear—this one longer, blacker, humming with such concentrated malice it felt like the air itself recoiled.
The weapon hurtled toward me. My stomach seized, but I didn’t panic.
I pulled. Wind surged at my call, slipping under the spear’s deadly trajectory, curving it midair with a shriek of displaced air.
It arced upward, swirling around in an unnatural path as Veralin’s shield flared around the chest, layers of blood wards igniting in crimson light.
He never saw it coming.
His attention was fixed on Kaelith as she reared back, her maw blazing with molten fire. He snarled, focusing everything on protecting the chest, dismissing me as nothing more than a distraction.
But Kaelith wasn’t the one he needed to fear.
I held the wind taut like reins, guiding the spear until it spun overhead. Only when Veralin saw Kaelith step back, her fire stilled in her throat, did his head jerk—too late. His eyes widened in sudden, dawning horror as the spear whistled down from above.
He spun, shadows flaring, but not fast enough.
The dark spear slammed into his chest with a crack like thunder. His scream ripped through the battlefield, high and feral, as black ichor sprayed the stone. The impact sent him staggering backward, his shield faltering, the wards around the chest shuddering as if they, too, had been struck.
The scream didn’t just tear from Veralin’s mouth—it ripped through the very bones of the island.
The ground bucked beneath us, a low, unholy vibration that rattled the stones and made the air shiver.
Veralin crumpled, his body slamming against the cracked flagstones as black ichor pooled beneath him.
Then the earth split.
A jagged seam yawned open at our feet, the courtyard trembling as dust and fractured stone cascaded into darkness. The rumble grew louder and louder, until the fissure spread wide enough for stairs to reveal themselves—carved, ancient, spiraling downward into a massive cavern below.
I ran to the edge, my heart hammering, and what I saw nearly stole the breath from my lungs.
Cages. Dozens of them, carved from blackened iron and ruined stone, each holding a massive black dragon. Their scales glimmered with muted shadows, their eyes dull, chained and bound by glowing wards that clung like parasites. The air reeked of despair and fire suppressed too long.
“What is this?” My voice cracked as I gripped the stone rail, staring down at them.
Around us, the battlefield shifted. The Blood Fae froze as if struck by the same shock.
Slowly, weapons clattered to the ground, one after another, as they dropped their blades and bowed their heads.
In the sky, the clash faltered—then ended altogether.
Our dragons circled back, unharried, as the remaining black dragons broke off their attacks.
The leader of the Light Fae stepped up beside me, his white braids swinging as he peered into the abyss. His voice was heavy, edged with sorrow.
“Dragons grow stronger as they age. Stronger than the bonds that enslave them. The Blood Fae could not kill their own source of power… so they imprisoned them here, locked away until replacements could be bred. They consumed the young to sustain themselves and caged the old when they became too dangerous.”
A hiss of rage burned through Kaelith’s mind into mine, her fury vibrating in my bones.
Below, one dragon shifted. Unlike the others, it thrashed violently against its chains, wings battering the cage walls until sparks flew. Shadows oozed off its hide, but its movements were jerky, faltering, unnatural.
“It’s dying,” the Light Fae whispered grimly.
My throat tightened. “Why?”
The warrior’s gaze swept toward Veralin’s crumpled body. “Because as its captor dies… so does it.”
The dragon screamed, the sound raw and guttural, a wail that rattled my bones and echoed through the cavern like a requiem.
Its body slammed once more against the iron, then collapsed, trembling.
Its scales flickered, shadows giving way to a shimmer of color I couldn’t name, before it gave one final, shuddering breath.
Then it was still.
Kaelith’s roar shook the heavens.
The sound ripped across the battlefield like a clarion call, scattering dust and rattling the broken stones beneath our feet. Every dragon, ours, theirs, even those still chained in the cavern below, lifted their heads to answer.
Light blazed off her scales, as dazzling as molten metal. One moment she gleamed violet, the next a deep-gold, then the two merged until her entire body shimmered like a living prism. Her eyes ignited with gold flame, and the sight made my knees weaken.
I gasped, clutching my shoulder as the silver mark burned, then vanished entirely. “Kaelith?”
The surge of magic between us has sped up my final evolution, she hissed into my mind, her voice rich in both fury and reverence.
Are you in pain? What is it doing to you? My heart clenched at the pulse of her power.
I will be fine in a moment.
Her scales rippled again, colors chasing one another across her hide—violet melting to sapphire, sapphire to emerald, emerald to gold. She was everything, every lineage of dragon in one magnificent, impossible form.
Gasps rose from the Light Fae, awe thick in the air. Whispers spread like fire. They hadn’t realized. None of them had. Kaelith was a Shiftling.
Her tail lashed, splitting at the tip into two scythe-like blades, gleaming and lethal. The ground trembled beneath her claws as another roar split the air, one I knew as well as the nightmares it carried.
Severeth’s dragon.
It swooped from the dark clouds, obsidian scales swallowing what little light pierced the ruined skies. Its wings cut through the air with thunderous force, talons outstretched as it dove straight for Kaelith.
I screamed her name, but she needed no warning.
Kaelith surged upward, her body a kaleidoscope of shifting light, and met the black dragon mid-air with bone-shaking force.
Their clash cracked like a storm, wings and tails tangling as they clawed at one another.
Severeth’s dragon snapped at Kaelith’s throat, its fangs scraping scales that shimmered gold one moment, then hardened into brilliant sapphire the next.
Kaelith twisted, a sinuous roll that tore her free, and her split tails lashed out. For an instant, they scythed like Strikers, slashing deep into the beast’s shoulder. Its scream rattled the clouds.
But she wasn’t finished.
Her tails twisted again—shifting, solidifying, until they thickened into massive, spiked clubs. With a roar that shook the heavens, Kaelith swung both down with devastating force.
The blow connected with the black dragon’s skull, the impact echoing like stone struck by thunder. It reeled, eyes rolling back as its body went limp, wings folding awkwardly as it plummeted.
The ground shook as it crashed, unconscious.
Kaelith hovered above the ruin, her body blazing with living light. She roared again, and this time it wasn’t just defiance. It was a declaration.
Ferrula darted across the shattered courtyard, Narvea shadowing her as she skidded to a stop beside the fallen black dragon. She pressed a hand to its massive side, listening, then shouted, “It’s alive, but where is Severeth?”
Every gaze swept the ruins, tense and searching. The Light Fae commander barked an order, his voice carrying authority. His warriors fanned out immediately, blades in hand, scanning every shadow, every broken arch, every curl of smoke. But in my gut, I already knew.
You won’t find her. My heart sank as certainty washed through me. Severeth was too skilled with glamor to be caught like prey. She was here, or she wasn’t, but either way, we wouldn’t see her until she wanted us to.
A steady weight pressed on my arm, grounding me. I turned to find Zander at my side. His face was pale beneath the grime of battle, Dark Fire still flickering in his eyes. His hand covered my forearm, and only then did I notice the thin line of blood trailing from a cut across his knuckles.
He didn’t seem to feel it. His gaze was locked on me. “What do we do about the chest?”
My eyes flicked to where it sat, half-hidden among the broken stones, the key still gleaming where I had turned it.
The artifact pulsed like a heartbeat, dark and light magic tangled together in its veins.
The ground beneath it hummed with a low vibration, as though the island itself was waiting for my answer.
I swallowed, my pulse pounding in my ears. “If it bound the dragons to Veralin, if it fed him their life… then destroying it might free the rest.”
“Or kill them all,” Zander finished softly, his thumb brushing against my arm like a tether. His eyes searched mine, steady even in the wreckage. “This is your choice, Ashlyn. Not mine. Whatever you decide, I’ll stand with you.”
I drew in a breath, my gaze falling back to the chest. Every scale of Kaelith’s body glowed in the corner of my vision, her gold eyes locked on me, waiting.
And for the first time since setting foot on the Blood Isle, the prophecy echoed in my mind. The destroyer. The savior.
Could I be both?