It bobbed like a pleased sparrow, catching the lantern light along its filigree. When I reached for it, heat licked my fingertips.
It wheeled once above my palm, then zipped forward, and I followed as it stitched a line of light down the corridor. We were past the known parts of the Academy now, past classrooms and dorms and the banquet hall, past my ordinary life. The stone here was older.
The key hovered, and I took it with a familiarity that warmed me.
When the door opened, the air smelled of smoke and thunder, and something sweet, like cinnamon bark, snapped in two.
My shoulders dropped. There’s only one place that smelled like this.
The dragon den hummed like a heartbeat, its stone walls trembling as though the Academy itself was uneasy. Crystal veins along the ceiling pulsed with light, scattering reflections over the dragons gathered in the cavern’s center. Their scales shimmered, gold, silver, deep red, and their eyes, ageless and knowing, pinned me where I stood. I pressed my hand against the cool wall to steady myself.
The largest of the dragons lowered its massive head until its golden eyes blazed in front of me. Its voice poured into my thoughts like fire in the veins.You come seeking strength. But strength alone is never enough. Sacrifice is the marrow of this magic, I’m afraid.
A shiver rippled down my spine.
“I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”
The silver dragon, long and sinuous as a river, stirred. Its voice was softer, but no less powerful.The Hunger Path cannot be closed without sacrifice. Malore cannot be unmade without it. Each who stands will be asked to give something, some more than others. Do not mistake sacrifice for loss. It is the price of balance.
My throat tightened.
“So someone has to…” I faltered, the word tasting like ash. “Die?”
The red dragon’s scales flared, glowing like embers fanned by wind.Not always death. Sometimes it is the surrender of anger when it is easiest to hate. Sometimes it is choosing forgiveness when vengeance would taste sweeter. And sometimes… yes. Sometimes a body falls so that others may rise.
The cavern shook, a low groan rolling through the stones. Dust sifted from the ceiling, and all three dragons lifted their heads at once. Their eyes gleamed brighter, their bodies taut.
He calls,the silver one murmured, a chill curling through the air.The one who wears hunger as a crown. Malore presses against the walls. He seeks you.
My hand shot to my chest, where the Flame Ward’s heat pulsed hot and sharp, like it wanted out.
“He knows I’m in the Academy planning.”
The gold dragon leaned closer, its heat enveloping me, steadying me.Then let him know you are not afraid. He feeds on fear, on division. If you stand in unity, if you carry courage even when it costs you, you are already stronger than he can imagine. Some may falter. Some may perish.
The trembling deepened; the roar outside the den grew louder and nearer. I staggered, but the dragons’ warmth steadied me, their voices wrapping through my bones like a promise.
I forced my spine straight, though my knees shook. “Then I’ll stand. I’ll fight. Whatever sacrifice comes… I’ll carry it.”
The dragons’ voices rose together, resonant, endless.So be it.
And as the den shook again, I knew I would soon see what sacrifice truly meant.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The banquet hall shimmered with its usual warmth, and the enchanted lanterns glowed like jars of fireflies, long tables crowded with students in their summer dresses. But I knew differently. The voices rising weren’t bright and carefree; they worried. They saw the shadow and felt the darkness pressing in upon them.
I knew the decisions I made tonight could change the fate of Stonewick forever.
Whoever I sent to guard Gideon might not come back. Whoever I asked to stand against Malore beside me could be lost. Even those left behind to protect the Academy might not survive.
The thought pressed against my ribs until my breath grew shallow. This was my burden, the vow I had made when I stepped into the Academy, when I took up the mantle I never thought I wanted.
Stonewick. The Academy. The dragons.
I would protect them all, even if it meant breaking the law in the process.
Sacrifice.
