Chapter 25
Hemlocke
Something is off about today.
I can’t put my finger on it, but the air feels charged with tension, like the moment before a thunderstorm breaks.
It’s been a week since the dragons’ yearly gathering ended, and we have an entire month before school resumes.
The campus feels strangely empty without the constant presence of supernatural beings going about their daily routines.
Part of my tuition obligation is to take care of the warhorses and other horses on the campus grounds. I take them out in small herds to run across the rolling fields, then return them to their paddocks where they stamp and snort with contentment.
Titan is still here , and part of my duty today is to escort him to the lands to the north where Raven’s parents’ nest. The old warhorse has been restless since arriving, his dark eyes constantly scanning the horizon as if searching for his beloved rider.
I’ll get to see my mate again.
The thought sends warmth flooding through my chest, chasing away the morning’s unease. It feels like it’s been forever since I last saw her, though it’s only been a few weeks. The mate bond pulls at me constantly, an invisible thread connecting my heart to hers across the miles.
Callan and Leander warned me that the guard drakes have been starting trouble for Raven since the gathering.
Since I am an unclaimed mate of hers, they may target me next.
Or worse yet, they may target Titan, knowing how much the massive warhorse means to her.
The thought makes my jaw clench with protective fury.
By midday, I’ve finished my chores and shifted to my unicorn form, feeling my human skin transform into armored hide that gleams like polished obsidian. I wait for Titan to join me for the journey to the Sovereign nest, my hooves pawing impatiently at the packed earth.
We walk slowly along the dirt road leading north toward the lands of my mate’s birth.
The path is lined with wildflowers that release their sweet fragrance as we pass, and birds call from the trees overhead.
Titan teases me in his deep, rumbling voice about seeing Raven again.
He knew I had feelings for her long before I understood them myself, and he allowed her to ride him specifically to keep her in my orbit.
Titan is not just a warhorse—he’s a really good friend.
His one question plagues me, echoing in my mind with every step: what if she rejects the bond? Males will remain tethered to the female forever, while the female will break free and feel nothing. Until he mentioned it, I hadn’t given the possibility any thought. The idea sends ice through my veins.
What if she rejects me?
What if I’m not worthy of a dragon?
A branch snaps sharply to our right, the sound cutting through the peaceful afternoon like a blade.
Titan sidesteps quickly, the white showing in his dark eyes as he snorts loudly through flared nostrils.
Something is there, watching us from the shadows between the trees.
I can smell the acrid scent of aggression and malice on the wind.
I encourage him to move faster, our hooves thundering against the packed earth. There’s an open field just ahead where we’ll have better visibility and room to maneuver. If we can reach it, I may be able to turn and fight off whatever is hunting us, giving Titan time to escape.
We make it to the field and immediately position ourselves back to back, covering the small blind spot all equines share.
My heart pounds against my ribs as guard drakes and ambush drakes slowly step out of the tree line in a calculated semicircle.
Their reptilian eyes gleam with malicious intent, and the smell of sulfur clings to their scaled hides.
Corvis had warned me that Mina kicked them out of the gathering because one of them had tried to spit acid on Klauth.
Now they’re here for revenge, and we’re their chosen targets.
Slightly changing the angle of my head, I can see the distant mountains that Raven’s family calls home, their peaks purple against the horizon.
I encourage Titan to bellow for help. Raven knows his call and will come if she hears it—I have to believe that.
Titan throws back his massive head and lets loose with his danger bellow, the sound echoing through the valley like a war horn.
The desperate cry carries on the wind, and I can only hope it’s enough to reach her ears.
The drakes fan out and surround the field completely. There are no escape routes left for us, and the circle tightens with predatory patience. Titan stands tall beside me, his muscles coiled like springs, and tells me confidently that his Raven will come.
My only other hope is that Leander hears the call and sends the dragons to help us. The minutes stretch like hours as we wait, tension crackling in the air like electricity.
Suddenly, the thunderous beats of massive wings fill the air, and something enormous blocks out the sun. A shadow falls over the field like a dark cloud, and I don’t hear the dragon land, but I feel the intense heat radiating from its body behind us.
‘I told you my Raven would come,’ Titan says smugly, his mental voice carrying satisfaction and relief.
I tilt my head back and see her—a massive black dragon with silver horns that catch the sunlight like polished metal.
She’s magnificent and terrifying, easily twice the size of any dragon I’ve ever seen.
She stands over us protectively, looking down at the drakes with sapphire eyes that burn with fury.
When she rumbles deep in her chest, it sounds like a thunderstorm gathering overhead, making the very ground vibrate beneath our hooves.
One brazen ambush drake rushes forward, either too stupid or too arrogant to recognize the death sentence he’s just signed.
Raven moves faster than I thought possible for a creature her size, her neck striking like a serpent as she snatches the drake up in her massive jaws.
In a move that shocks me to my core, she swallows it whole, the bulge visible as it slides down her throat.
She lowers her enormous head and roars at the remaining drakes, the sound splitting the air and making my ears ring. Those that survived scatter quickly, disappearing into the forest like the cowards they are.
The sound of approaching hooves catches my attention, and I see Leander’s nightmare galloping toward us, its red eyes glowing and fire writhing around its hooves.
He offers to escort Titan to the nest lands while I go flying with Raven.
Leander explains that it’s just as important for her to fly with me as it was for my stallion to carry her—a bonding ritual between mates.
Raven lays down gracefully after Leander and Titan leave, and she tilts her huge, horned head to look at me.
I notice several white scales scattered across her muzzle like stars against the night sky.
As far as I know, only wyrm-level black dragons develop white scales, and she’s far too young for that kind of power.
She sniffs at my unicorn form with gentle curiosity, her breath warm against my armored hide, before shifting back to human form. The transformation is fluid poetry, shadows, and starlight condensing into the woman I love.
“I got here as fast as I could.” Raven looks radiant with the way the afternoon sun catches in her obsidian hair, creating highlights that shimmer like oil on water.
Laughing to myself with relief, I shift back to human form and look around the field where scattered drake scales glitter in the grass. “Hopefully, they won’t be back anytime soon.”
She looks around us and breathes in deeply through her nose, testing the air for lingering threats.
“I don’t believe they will come back. That is, if they want to live.
” She says it so calmly, with such quiet confidence, before stepping closer to me.
She hesitates for a moment, uncertainty flickering across her beautiful features, before reaching out and touching my arm.
Her fingers are warm against my skin. “They didn’t hurt you, did they? ”
Her sapphire eyes scan every inch of me for injuries, then she looks up into my face with such concern that my heart clenches.
“I’m safe because of you.” Leaning forward, I press my lips to her forehead, and she purrs—a deep, rumbling sound that vibrates through both our bodies.
It’s interesting how safe I feel next to an apex predator like her.
Other dragons set my nerves on edge with their barely contained violence, but my mate makes me feel protected.
“Where would you like to go?” she asks, looking up at the white clouds drifting across the blue sky like ships on a calm sea.
“The plains to the west. I want you to see the wildflowers in bloom this time of year.” They are the lands I ran as a child with my herd, my happy place where memories of freedom and joy still linger in every blade of grass.
Raven nods slowly, then shifts her eyes to look directly into mine.
The sapphire blue transforms into something deeper, more intense — a brilliant crystalline sapphire.
It’s now that I remember what Leander told me—across species, we have to shift our eyes for the bond to ignite fully for the dragon side.
I shift my eyes to my unicorn’s magenta gaze, and the most beautiful smile crosses Raven’s lips like sunrise breaking over the horizon.
She leans forward and kisses me, her lips as soft as the velvet on my nose when I’m shifted.
There’s a warmth to her touch, and I swear I can feel the scales moving just beneath her human skin, ready to emerge at a moment’s notice.