As my true love breaks like a new dawn inside me, it cracks my darkness wide open, and I cross beyond that ineffable boundary into death. Radiance fills me now as I experience the grandness of love, even as I die, shining like a lodestone inside the Black Dragon’s darkness.
I understand what real power is, then—the power of the wide-open heart. As the Red Letter Hotel’s tenet tolove mightily and with total abandonsuddenly makes complete sense, the words of my Ancestors fill me, though I can no longer hear them in my ears.
They told me I had to walk through fury and darkness, to emerge victorious—and I am doing just that now, as I surpass everything that was furious and dark, dividing me.
I enter the Black Dragon’s Void already victorious. Because I have walked through my own darkness and understood it.
And it makes me free—at last.
The horrible cacophony of hundreds of thousands of souls all screeching in torment assails me now, as the fury and darkness of the Usurper surrounds me. No stars shine in this cacophonous midnight as I walk through the Black Dragon’s Void, letting my heart blaze wide open, endless.
I burn brighter than any star in the cosmos, brightening this Void all around me, even as the torment of these souls deafens me. Because I am brightening them now—just as happened when I came here in life to find Bjorn, I blaze in my death, as souls everywhere hearken to me.
Remembering what it once was to be bright.
Trapped souls surge around me now, wanting to be in my light. Their screaming stops as I burn hotter, brighter, more fiercely; shining through the darkness, I inspire them to brighten with their own endless light in this place.
Because it is my journey not just to bring down the Black Dragon, but to heal all broken hearts. It began with healing the Black Dragon’s curse-work as it tainted hearts, then expanded to healing broken hearts, like those of my drakes and Lærke.
Now, I’ve healed my own, as I walk through this screaming midnight and touch those who’ve died, bringing them out of this utter hell they’ve been trapped in.
Hearts heal and ignite all around me as dragons sob with love to find their own light in the darkness. They blaze now, lighting up this endless midnight with me; but I am in search of my drakes, as I walk through this screaming nothingness, reminding everyone here that there is still light beyond death.
I reconnect them to their innermost hearts as a vast unity fills the space. Looking back, I see stars trailing in my wake, everywhereI’ve walked; though we’re all still trapped, those dragons realize we’re in here together now and not alone, ever again.
A vast feeling fills me now as I see those stars, and suddenly realize what an alpha truly is. It’s someone who cares for others, who provides for those who depend on them—and who holds their light with serenity, letting nothing divide them from their truest heart.
I am the ultimate alpha now, as I search for my drakes and Lærke. I focus on each of them, feeling my memories lead me on, so I can find them in this place.
Because it is me who must find them and protect them from going mad here; to remind them of who they are, and ignite their lights, as I shine now like the brightest of all the stars.
Because I know my true purpose as a Bloodwalker, at last. To Walk with those who are bonded in Blood to me.
And light them up with me—forever.
30
LIGHT
Avast sensation fills me, of understanding my true purpose at last, as blistering white sigils spiral all through me. Somehow, I have awakened that ancient power inside this terrible Void; I gaze down at my hands now, as pure white auric wildfire blazes off them, pulsing out around me now with each beat of my heart.
Because my heart does beat in this place. Though I have left my body behind, my truest heart has come with me, here at the end of things. It will remain with me, as that auric fire pulses hotter, reaching out wider around me with each towering beat.
And I transform in this endless space—into a towering drakaina of burning white and gold light.
In this place, I am my dragon now—but not a dragon I’ve ever been before. As I walk through the Usurper’s Void and hear the towering beat of my own heart resonate through the space, I am a luminous creature, all-white with sparkling ruby and gold markings.
I am not unlike Aesa herself, as I hear a sound begin to accompany my heartbeat now, like the echo of gongs and the breath of reed flutes, and the boom of drums inthe deep.
I wander, feeling drawn towards certain sections of darkness as that powerful sound sings from me in the black; souls congregate all around me now, lighting up from that intense, beautiful music.
It reminds them of who they are as an ancient melody sings through all our veins, the powerful drums thundering through our bones. Their hearts light, as thousands of souls illuminate all around me now in the darkness, rather than just a handful.
A starry night fills the emptiness now, everywhere I look. At last, I feel my drakes and Lærke, drawn by the endless power of my shining heart.
I feel them cleared of their writhing darkness as they find me now. As they come to me, I feel how their lights are far stronger than the others, nowhere near gone out.
Like me, my drakes and Lærke kept some of their powerful heart-light when they came into this space. Even when they died, claimed by the Black Dragon’s curse, they kept the beautiful lightness they had found, thanks to our unity together and our love.
