Silence spread like frost.
Vaelen’s eyes glimmered. “He’s right. The storm has chosen her, and now the balance trembles. To try and leash that type and amount of power would be to invite ruin.”
Kaen leaned back in his chair, expression unreadable. But his thoughts burned cold behind his gaze.The crown will have her power one way or another.
Commander Dareth broke the silence. “Until further notice, Cadet Thaelyn Marren remains under my authority. Her training will continue under direct supervision.”
He looked to Thorne, who stood in the doorway, pale, but upright, his expression unreadable.
“Commander,” Velnari said quietly, “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.” He turned toward his nephew. “Thorne will train her under the direction of Vaelen and me. Vornokh’s bond with Nyxariel gives us a stabilizing force. If her power surges again, you and your dragon are the only ones who can withstand it.”
Thorne’s jaw tightened. “You want me to keep her contained?”
“No,” Dareth said. “I want you to keep her alive.”
Thorne didn’t answer.
Vaelen stepped forward, his robes whispering like turning pages. “If you expect either of them to survive this, they’ll need more than sparring drills. The Aether will not be tamed through brute force. It must beanchored.”
Commander Dareth nodded once. “Then you’ll help me train her to anchor it.”
Vaelen’s thin smile held no warmth. “Archivist. Scholar. Keeper of forbidden history. The Academy finally admits the need for my work. The world truly is changing.”
“Not if we can help it,” Commander Dareth said.
Caelira’s voice cut through, weary but resolute. “Then we train her, we protect her, and we pray the storm favors mercy this time.”
Later, when the others had gone, Thaelyn stirred awake once more. The air was quieter now, the storm outside reduced to a steady rain against the windowpanes.
A shadow moved at the edge of her vision. Thorne sat beside her infirmary bed, one arm bound in a sling, his temple bandaged. He didn’t look at her.
She swallowed. “You stayed.”
His gaze flicked toward her then, sharp and unreadable. “You nearly took down half the academy. Someone had to make sure you didn’t finish the job.”
She managed the faintest smile. “You should’ve yielded.”
He huffed out something that wasn’t quite a laugh. “You think that’s funny?”
“No.” Her voice broke. “But it’s easier than being terrified.”
For a long time, neither of them spoke.
Then Thorne said quietly, “When it happened, I felt it. The pain. The power. It wasn’t just yours.”
Her breath caught. “You felt it too?”
He nodded once. “Vornokh told me it’s because of their dragon bond.Their bond bled through ours. Turns out, Nyxariel’s his long-lost mate.”
Her hand trembled where it rested against the sheet. “What does that mean?”
“We don’t speak of it often,” Professor Caelira moved from the hallway into the room. “But yes. They were once mates, many years ago, far before anyone here can recall. Before, Vornokh was lost in the Shadow Siege. Nyxariel disappeared from the skies. We looked it up in the archives. The Senior General’s dragon is one of the oldest ancient ones, even older than Commander Dareth’s. His dragon didn’t want to speak of dragon business with humans, but he did confirm it to the Senior General.”
Thorne met her eyes. “It means whatever happens next, you’re not doing it alone.”
Thaelyn didn’t trust herself to speak.
