Chapter 27 Corvis
Corvis
School has started back up again, and from what Hemlocke told me, it’s a week before he can claim Raven as his.
The cryptic nature of his statement puzzles the hell out of me, so I head into the main building at Shadowcarve.
My boots echo against the polished stone floors as I walk toward Leander’s office, the familiar scents of old leather and parchment filling the corridors.
I knock at his heavy wooden door and wait until I hear the muffled “Come in” from within.
“Hey, Corvis. What brings you to my office this early?” Leander sits his fountain pen down with a soft click and motions to a leather chair in front of his desk. The morning sunlight streams through his tall windows, casting geometric patterns across the worn carpet.
“I have a question, and you may be able to answer it.” I sit down and draw in a deep breath, tasting the lingering scent of coffee and something that might be pipe tobacco. “Why is Hemlocke waiting until the full moon to claim Raven?” I tilt my head, truly puzzled by the seemingly arbitrary timing.
He nods slowly, understanding immediately what I’m asking, and pulls out a thick tome from a drawer in his desk. The leather binding creaks as he sets it down, and there’s a silk ribbon marking a specific page. “Read this section,” he says, opening to the marked page.
The heading reads “The History of Black Unicorns,” in elaborate script. I scan the text quickly, but Leander saves me the effort. “The short version is that it keeps his unicorn from overpowering his human side and breeding Raven while shifted.”
I drop the book with a heavy thud and stare at Leander in shock, my silver scales along my neck prickling with alarm. “What?”
“Seriously, it’s an issue with their kind when breeding outside of their species. It’s why, unless it’s a true mate situation, it’s forbidden.” Leander leans back in his chair with a smug look on his face, clearly enjoying my horrified reaction.
An icy chill runs down my spine at the thought of my poor mate being mounted by a massive unicorn with its enormous.
.. The implications hit me like a physical blow, and suddenly I feel lightheaded.
Blood drains from my face as my mind tries to process the logistics.
“She... he... There’s no way!” My voice cracks as I try to put the pieces together.
Every mental image ends in disaster and Raven being seriously harmed.
“Exactly why he’s waiting for the full moon.
They’ll need to be outside for the moonlight to bind his unicorn side and keep it controlled.
” Leander says this calmly, as if discussing the weather, while tilting his head to look at me with barely concealed amusement.
“Don’t worry—Mina is having that talk with Raven as we speak.
” His smile tells me he knows full well he’s shot my day to hell.
A frantic banging at his office door draws our attention, the sound echoing through the room like gunshots.
Within moments, Raven bursts in and stares wide-eyed at both of us, her sapphire eyes wild with panic.
“I’m gonna die...” she gasps, rushing over to me and diving into my arms like I’m the only solid thing in a world gone mad.
Mina comes waltzing in slowly behind her, a knowing smirk playing on her lips.
“You are being so dramatic. You are not going to die. Once you are fully mated and have exchanged bites, it becomes a non-issue.” Mina shakes her head and winks at Leander with the confidence of someone who’s survived similar circumstances.
“Easy for you to say—you don’t have a black unicorn for a mate,” Raven huffs against my chest, her breath warm through my shirt.
“No, I have a nightmare,” Mina replies casually, leaning against Leander’s desk and crossing her arms under her chest.
Raven goes deadly still in my arms, every muscle tensing like a bowstring.
She turns so slowly to look at her mother and nest father that I can hear her neck creak.
The color drains from her face until she’s pale as parchment as she stares at the two of them.
She opens her mouth to say something just as Hemlocke walks through the door.
Her attention snaps to him, then back to her parents, and she simply... faints. I move as fast as I can, catching her before she slips off my lap and hits the hardwood floor.
“Raven!” Hemlocke yells, immediately kneeling beside my chair while I cradle our unconscious mate. His pink eyes are wide with concern and confusion. “What happened?” He looks from Raven’s pale face to Mina and Leander.
“I explained to her what might happen if she doesn’t wait for the full moon,” Mina says matter-of-factly while Leander rolls his eyes and shakes his head in exasperation.
“Oh, shit... I left it as ‘it’s tradition.’ I didn’t want to scare her half to death.” Hemlocke’s voice carries regret as he brushes a rogue strand of black hair away from Raven’s face with gentle fingers. “An equine’s member is quite... considerable.”
The clinical way he says it makes my stomach churn all over again. “She was planning on hunting you down and completing the bond tonight,” Mina tells us with a casual shrug. “It was better for her to know what’s at risk if she rushes.”
Hemlocke goes pale, the color draining from his face as he looks from me to our unconscious mate, then back up at Mina.
“Thank you for intervening.” He leans down and kisses Raven’s forehead tenderly before standing back up.
“I need to lead the ride-out this morning—the new cavalry is useless on horseback.” He shakes his head with professional frustration as he moves toward the door.
“I have three healers on standby, and everyone signed the waivers.” He looks over at Leander, who nods his understanding before Hemlocke leaves.
Raven slowly comes to, her eyelashes fluttering as consciousness returns. She looks around disoriented, her sapphire eyes unfocused and confused.
“Shhh... take your time, sweetheart.” I kiss her forehead, tasting the salt of nervous sweat on her skin, and help her sit back up in my lap.
“I have to get to the politics class Klauth enrolled me in. Then after that is royal protocol, and finally back to Shadowcarve.” She says this while pulling out her phone, the screen’s glow illuminating her still-pale features. “Oh, I almost forgot.”
Raven reaches up into her hair, and I hear the soft whisper of a blade cutting through strands.
She pulls down a long braid of her obsidian hair—easily two feet long and thick as my pinky.
Without hesitation, she reaches up into my white hair and begins braiding her dark strands into mine with practiced efficiency.
The obsidian tresses stand out dramatically against my platinum locks, creating a striking contrast.
She kisses me softly, her lips warm and reassuring, and smiles with recovered composure. “I’ll see you this afternoon.” She stands up gracefully and hugs Mina, breathing in her mother’s familiar scent, then embraces Leander with equal affection.
“Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. Love you, everyone.” With a flutter of her black wings that stirs the papers on Leander’s desk, she turns and leaves the room, her footsteps fading down the corridor.
I pull her braid from my hair and hold it up to examine it in the morning light. The strands catch the sunlight like spun obsidian, and a smile creeps across my lips as I stare at this piece of her she’s given me. The gesture feels profoundly intimate, more personal than any jewelry.
“All that’s left is the scale exchange, if you choose to do it,” Mina says as she moves closer to inspect the braid with maternal interest.
Leander unbuttons his shirt and shows us a scale embedded in the skin over his heart—green and silver like Mina’s dragon form, but somehow alive and pulsing with faint light.
“Her scale will live on her other mates if she chooses to gift it to them.” He smiles as he touches Mina’s scale with reverent fingers.
“It strengthens the bond and makes it possible to sense each other better across distances.” He buttons his shirt back up, hiding the intimate marking.
Nodding, I head toward the door, my mind already racing with additional concerns. “I have a weapons class with the third years to help Abraxis with.” As I walk out into the corridor, my thoughts drift in a thousand different directions.
Who severed the drow’s head and left it for Raven? Will she be safe completing the bond with Hemlocke under these dangerous circumstances? Mina mentioned five mates total—who are the other three, and what other challenges await us?
The braid in my hand feels heavier than it should, weighted with the significance of belonging to someone so precious and complicated. Whatever comes next, I’ll be ready to protect her through it all.
Something has Abraxis pissed off with the way he’s conducting the class today.
His usual controlled demeanor is replaced by sharp, clipped commands and an edge to his voice that makes even the most confident students step carefully around him.
The afternoon air is thick with tension that has nothing to do with the weapons training taking place in the courtyard.
When I have the chance, I step closer to him and bump his shoulder with mine, the contact brief but supportive. “What happened?”
He arches a scarred brow looking at me, his dark eyes carrying the weight of someone bearing bad news. “Figures you’d figure it out. Lily drew a cursed egg card this morning.” The words hit the air like stones dropped into still water.
“Which class is that happening in?” I watch two of the blink hounds sparring while trying to process this information.
Their movements are fluid and predatory, but I’m barely paying attention.
The third blink hound, Keir, is sparring with Balor, their wooden practice swords creating sharp cracks as they connect.
“Politics. There are five eggs left—only two of them I’m concerned about.
The orange egg and the green one. The others are not as problematic based on species.
” Abraxis’s voice carries the weight of someone who’s seen too much ancient history firsthand.
We watch as Keir disarms Balor with a particularly clever feint, the older warrior’s sword clattering against the stone.
“If I had to suspect someone...” I leave the implication hanging in the air between us, and Abraxis nods grimly.
“Same, but we can’t prove it.” He lowers his voice as we both look toward the courtyard gate, which opens unexpectedly with a groan of ancient hinges. Thauglor comes walking through with Raven and Lily in tow, his expression thunderous.
“Shit... This can’t be good,” I mutter under my breath as the girls stop at his side and look at us with matching expressions of resigned dread. The family resemblance is striking—all three of them have the same set to their shoulders that speaks of barely contained violence.
“Okay, let’s start with the important questions,” Abraxis says, exhaling roughly as if bracing himself for impact. “Are either of you hurt?” Both girls shake their heads, their black hair catching the afternoon sunlight. “Is anyone dead?”
Lily says no with conviction, but Raven tilts her head thoughtfully. “The day is still young,” she replies with such casual menace it earns her an approving smile from her father. She really is a chip off his scale—the resemblance goes far deeper than just their matching sapphire eyes.
“As much as it’s fun to watch Abraxis squirm, I’m going to get to the point. Both girls drew cards to the cursed egg chamber. As statistically impossible as it is, it’s happened.” Thauglor’s words fall like a death sentence, and I can feel the blood drain from my face.
The implications hit me like a physical blow. Mina had mentioned it would be best to have another drake in the nest with how strong Raven is becoming. Two cursed eggs mean two potential ancient dragons awakening—creatures of power so immense they could reshape continents.
“When do we go?” The question leaves my mouth before I can think it through, catching both fathers off guard. My protective instincts have overridden my sense of self-preservation.
“Tomorrow afternoon. As Raven’s mate, you are permitted in the chamber with her.
Abraxis, I will allow either you or Mina to go with Lily as her support.
” Thauglor’s voice carries the finality of a royal decree before he leaps into the air, his powerful wings propelling him skyward.
The wind from his departure stirs dust across the courtyard.
Raven turns and watches her father’s massive form fly toward Malivore, growing smaller against the blue sky.
She flexes her wings several times—a nervous habit I’ve noticed she has when processing information.
Then she looks over at everyone still sparring, their practice seeming suddenly trivial compared to what we’re facing.
Without a word, Raven turns and heads into her suite, her footsteps echoing off the stone walls. The silence she leaves behind feels ominous.
“Raven being quiet is never a good thing,” Lily observes with the wisdom of someone who’s grown up with a sister capable of spectacular violence. She turns and follows Raven inside, probably either to comfort her or to prevent her from doing something catastrophic.
I hazard a glance at Abraxis, and he looks like he’s aged several years in the past few minutes. The lines around his eyes seem deeper, and his usual confident posture has sagged slightly under the weight of this news.
“There are two ways to look at this,” he says, his voice carrying the exhaustion of someone who’s fought too many battles.
“The first—hope no eggs respond to their songs. The second—hope any egg that responds goes dormant early on.” He reaches out and rests a heavy hand on my shoulder, the grip firm and reassuring despite the circumstances.
“Either way, we’re gonna have our hands full.
Odds are one of them will get an egg to ignite just because of their bloodlines. ”
Abraxis’s words send an icy chill racing down my spine, making my silver scales prickle with alarm. The thought of possibly two cursed eggs and possibly two more ancient beings awakened in the next two years makes my mouth go dry with fear.
Ancient dragons aren’t just powerful—they’re primordial forces of nature barely contained in physical form. The last time cursed eggs hatched, it was Thauglor and Klauth. We got lucky; they were not the monsters the stories told. Though, the ones about Thauglor are pretty spot on.
And now we’re walking my mate directly into a chamber designed to test whether she’s worthy of commanding such power.
This is the worst Monday in the history of Mondays, and the afternoon hasn’t even started yet.