“It is time, Virelya.”
The words are not spoken aloud, yet I hear them—clearly, unmistakably—as if she whispered them straight into my soul.
A tremor runs through me, my pulse thundering.
The ground beneath her does not hold firm. It shifts like mist, as though she is not bound by something as small as earth. As though she moves through more than just air.
Through memory. Through magics. Throughme.
I should be afraid. But I’m not.
Warmth unfurls in my chest—steady, growing. Somethingstirs. Awakens.
I lift my hand, reaching for her—drawn beyond thought, beyond fear. Drawn by a knowing older than this life. And just as I feel her—just as Iknowshe’s real—
I wake, gasping. My heart pounds, the echo of her presence thrumming through my veins.
She’s calling to me.
A dragon.
My dragon.
CALRYX IS CALLING
SEVENTEEN
“ . . . Only in the relinquishing, will the gods claim her.”
—VALEN’S JOURNAL
AMARA
Valen. I need to find him.
The halls are quiet in the morning light, the stone walls still hold the coolness of the night. But my blood runs hot.
All I can think about is the pull in my chest—the unmistakable call resonating in my bones.
My steps are quick. Focused.
Calryx is calling me.
I never understood what the dragon-rider bond truly meant.Not until now. Not until this moment, when something deep and vast and ancient tugs at the center of me—like a thread buried in my soul has been suddenly pulled taut.
It’s not words. It’s older. Deeper. A summoning woven through my bones.
I find Valen in his chambers, hunched over a sea of parchment—his brow furrowed, sleeves ink-smudged, lost in concentration. The scent of ink and old vellum wraps around me.
When Valen looks up and sees my face, something in his expression shifts.
“You’re up early,” he says carefully.
“I need to tell you something.” The words are barely held back, straining against my chest. “Calryx is calling me.”
Valen stills. Completely. His fingers—still hovering over some ancient script—stop mid-trace. He doesn’t blink. Doesn’t breathe.
“Pardon me?” he says, voice low and clipped, like he’s not entirely sure he heard right.
