The both of them holding each other in a loving embrace.
“There…” The Ascendant crooned in her ear. “You have made peace with your power at last. Yet this final conflict is not truly resolved between you. To do so, you must go to its source.”
“Hunter.” Layla spoke softly, loving the sweet intimacy of having her own power coiling around her at last, warm and soft and forgiving, though this last argument between them was not resolved. “Hunter is the source of our final conflict. My drakaina and I will never decide our argument one way or another until we understand him – and why we want to heal him so much.”
“Yes.” The Ascendant spoke to her, cradling her as she spiraled back down from the immense sensation of universal love, though her Dragon and the golden luminousness of the Star Bind had not faded from Layla’s veins. “To understand Hunter, you must know him, and learn his heart.”
“And to learn his heart,” Layla understood, “I need to go to him. Spend time with him. Even if we don’t… mate.”
“Is this your decision, Layla Price? To go to Hunter so you may understand him, and heal your final inner conflict that keeps you and your Dragon at odds?” The Ascendant asked her as dawn rose high above the canyon now. Layla had returned from the universe and her eyes blinked open to see mist evaporating in the new day, exposing massive sigils on the canyon walls just like the one she lay upon. The holiness of the space breathed all around her as her ancestors pulled back, waiting in a ring near the canyon’s sacred walls. It left Layla in a clear space as she cuddled her Dragon, loving it and embracing it as the Ascendant held her.
Thinking about his question.
“What about Adrian and my other men?” Layla breathed as sun brightened the sky to the exact same color of Hunter’s eyes. “What happens to them if I go see Hunter?”
“I give you this choice now.” The Ascendant spoke as he held Layla, insubstantial, though Layla could still feel him close to her. “When you leave this place, I will put you through to one destination and one destination only. You may go back to your men, with your Dragon restored in your veins and begin the process of re-Binding them. Or you may go to Hunter, to sit with him and understand him… and finally resolve the deepest conflict that devours your heart.”
“If I go to my men…” Layla paused, thinking about the choice, “they would never let me return to Hunter to resolve my last conflict, especially not alone. My deepest inner conflict with my Dragon would never get resolved.”
“No.” The Ascendant spoke quietly, as if he understood the weight of Layla’s choice.
“But if I go to Hunter, alone and unprotected…” Layla breathed, feeling a terrible sensation inside her, “my men might never forgive me.”
“Perhaps.”
Laying very still, Layla stared up at the dawn sky, weighing her choice. She could feel her Dragon all through her now; so high in her veins with the vast golden light of the Star Bind that she felt flooded with it. Moved by the power of her Dragon, Layla coiled with it, writhed with it – until it sat her up on the stone and pulled her out of the Ascendant’s arms. He wasn’t there with her in the flesh, but she could feel him stand just off to one side, watching her as she rose and walked to the middle of the enormous Dragon-sigil. Taking a slow turn, Layla saw the beauty of the canyon with its bone-sigil walls rising to the early morning sky. It was breathtaking, and it filled Layla with strength to feel her ancestors all around her.
Watching her come into her own power at last.
Fire filled Layla’s veins as her drakaina moved within her, but it was a golden-star fire flowing with ether and the bold power of the elements all at once. Layla felt wind and water, fire and crystal swirl in her veins with that beautiful blaze. She felt all the elements join into one powerful blazeinside her as her ancestors looked on. And when she faced the Ascendant, she knew her decision could only be made one way.
From this fire within her heart.
“Take me to Hunter.” Layla spoke clearly as the new dawn rose.
With a deep bow, the Ascendant straightened, and Layla thought she saw his blue eyes shine in the new day. And then she was traveling in a flash of light as he put her through to her last destination.
A ruined palace with tiny white flowers coating the mossy floor and high mists whispering through the soaring vaults.
CHAPTER 23 – GOLDEN
As Layla stood in Hunter’s domain, breathing in the scent of tiny white flowers carpeting the ruined hall, she heard birds. Winging their way through the highest vaults, red cardinals with long tails like peacocks fluttered past, chirruping a sweet song. All around, the ruined palace was just as Layla had seen it in her vision; blasted-out frescoes of Dragons upon every wall, half-hidden by flowering vines and the twisted roots of trees. Trees imposing as redwoods towered to the vast heights, sunlight slanting in through the canopy. Mist curled through the vaults, creating a haunting shimmer upon the gold-inlaid floors, visible here and there through the moss.
All of it breathed of quietude, and Layla became still for a long moment, absorbing the place Hunter called home. Just then, she saw a presence glide in through a broken arch across the hall.
And stop.
Hunter stared at her. From across the ruined hall, he stared at her; his perfect lips fallen open as if he couldn’t actually believe she’d come. His golden waves of hair were pulled half-back today, his tall, perfectly masculine body clothed in casual garb of 1700’s Europe. Tan breeches clad his strong thighs with tall russet leather boots. A white silk shirt was underneath a fitted russet leather vest with crossover buckles in a military style. Leather bracers clad his wrists, though Layla saw they were inlaid with a complex pattern of platinum and fire-opals. His golden-tan skin shone in the sun as a breeze blew through the canopy, his beautiful hair and golden stubble shining as much as his dawn-sky eyes as he took her in from afar.
He approached. Hunter’s step was hesitant at first, as if he didn’t know whether he should or not. His golden brows frowned slightly, his aquiline features set in consternation with a flicker of eagerness. Layla remained where she was in the ruined hall, though her Dragon flared all through her veins with blissful heat to be in his presence. Though Layla and her drakaina were finally reunited, Layla held her Dragon back from rushing out to him, and at last her drakaina relented. She could be patient to wait in her ardor while Layla took Hunter’s measure.
Though it was vastly difficult as a sweet curl of Hunter’s Dragon-power found hers.
Layla swayed as it touched her. Her eyelashes flickered and it was all she could do to hold her drakaina back from surging to him as he approached, though he halted a few paces away. As their beasts flowed out to each other, rubbing their flanks like cats and curling around and through each other in a complex dance, Layla felt that white-gold heat inside her flare bright. Something matched it in Hunter’s eyes as his full lips fell open, and Layla felt how much he was trying to control his own drake in her presence.
And failing.
“You make me lose my very breath, Layla Price.” Hunter spoke softly, his words echoing up to the trees before they were lost in the canopy.
