24. Death & Dragons
Keira
It’s a strange thing to see your tombstone. Little letters and simple dates etched into stone represent a lifetime of pain and sadness and love that no one will ever truly understand.
“They fucking misspelled my name,” Arcane grunts as he lowers down to the black headstone that glitters in the morning sunlight.
I look from my pretty stone to his, and . . .
ARANE DESES
CAPTAIN OF THE DEATH RIDERS
1151-1171
“Arane? I’m going to forever be remembered as a fucking Arane?”
“Well, they did a lovely job on mine, Aaron,” I taunt, and narrowed eyes look from my stone of perfection to his typo-filled rock.
I haven’t stopped smiling since I saw it on the outskirts of the academy courtyard. There are no pretty trees or flowers but I can hear the ocean. The place they’ve given us to be remembered is peaceful. My gravestone shimmers darkly in the sunlight and I wish I could feel the engraving beneath my fingertips but it doesn’t really matter. It’s perfect. It reads rather simply:
KEIRA
Arcane shoves away from his headstone to look up at the academy looming above us.
The glossy windows are vacant. Everyone is out here with us, or they’ve already left.
We searched for Clawd. It’s all Arcane would talk about after everything happened. He was obsessed with finding him and a part of me worried what my ghostly Fated mate intended to do with him when he found him.
But he was gone.
Dozens of students mill about the courtyard as Professor Correll instructs them on which ship to take to get home. The King of Attika left days ago with fleets of dragons that we saved from imprisonment, sailing off for a brighter future.
I hope.
“Think they’ll close it down?” I ask him.
He shakes his head hard.
“No chance. The kingdom will never let our dragons rest until there are none left.” Honesty and sadness mingle in his words. “I heard Lila say they’ll be back next semester. The King of Attika has stepped in to reform the school to continue to protect the dragons from the Raiders at Dragon’s Lair. Supposedly, he’s asked Correll to take over, but she hasn’t agreed yet.”
I turn and follow his line of sight to find Aelix standing at the edge of the ocean, looking out at the dark crashing waves that rake over the rocky shore. Hades lays quietly at his side like an old dog soaking up the sun on the rocks of the shoreline. Arcane takes a single step forward, hesitation lining his spine for a moment before he goes to his brother.
The morning sunlight casts over them, shading Aelix into a dark silhouette while the bright light of his twin stands at his side. Hades’ big head lifts, and he stares with a mixture of fondness and confusion at Arcane for several long moments. A heaviness pulls at Aelix’s shoulders. His brother stares right at him, willing him to see him there at his side. From a distance, I watch the two of them in silence, not daring to interrupt.
I see it when he senses him.
Aelix’s head tilts slowly to the side with uncertainty. He looks at Arcane for a long unending moment that breaks every part of my heart with more emotion than I can bear.
They never truly had a chance to love one another.
Until now.
The End.