“Is he—” My voice gave out.
I felt the shift in Lore before he said anything. “He’s breathing.” A flash of his power, and Farris’s nose twitched. His tail flopped on the floor.
“Is it over?” I managed to whisper.
His arms tightened around me. “It is, Wildfire. The curse, Prager, all of it.”
I closed my eyes, finally allowing myself to believe. The Iskar Cor lay quiet in my hand, no longer burning. It felt…peaceful.
We were free.
Tears hit my face, though they weren't mine.
No, they were Lore’s.
And I hated that I'd hurt him again.
Chapter 56
Lore
Agony tore through my chest. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. All I saw was Reyla’s still body falling to the floor, me barely catching her before she made impact. Her skin was too pale. I scooped her into my arms and stood. My knees almost gave out as I stumbled toward the glowing pool.
The water shimmered but the surface remained smooth. I dropped to my knees beside it and gently laid my wife on the stone. I stripped off my tunic and tore a piece from my shirt, dipping it in the pool's water. Gently, I wiped the dirt from her face, and still, she looked like hope.
“Stay with me, Wildfire,” I whispered. My voice broke. “Please don’t go where I can’t follow.”
Her lashes twitched. Then slowly, painfully, her eyes opened.
“You would,” she said, her lips barely moving. “You'd follow me anywhere.”
I barked out a laugh that sounded more like a sob. Tears burned my eyes and overflowed before I could stop them. “That I would.”
I choked, brushing back a lock of hair stuck to her cheek.
“I was so afraid I’d lost you,” I whispered against her throat. “When you collapsed, I thought the curse had taken you in my place.”
“The curse tried to steal everything from us.” Her eyes blazed with that familiar fire. “But love doesn't surrender that easily. I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Braced over her, I pressed my forehead to hers and stared into her eyes. “Love you, Wildfire. I don’t know what you did, but thank you.”
Outside the cavern, a colossal cry ripped through the quiet. One voice, then another, then hundreds. Thousands.
The roars of dragons filled the world.
Sitting up and with my legs outstretched on the floor, I tugged Wildfire onto my lap.
The queen dragon lifted her massive head. Her scales flickered with firelight, and her eyes glowed with something like pride.They come.
Magic rippled along the walls, and the embedded dragon scales caught the light, glinting in bright colors.
Tiny lights began to fall from the ceiling high above us. They drifted down like snow at first, but grew brighter, warmer. Star fragments. They melted into soft sparks when they touched the floor, a thousand pieces of the sky settling into the stone. Each one carried a piece of the magic that had been trapped in the curse, now freed to return to the natural world.
Farris joined us, licking Reyla's cheek.
Stroking his furry body, she gave me the sweetest smile before she watched the last of the stars fall.
“She's alright?” Dorion asked. “Reyla, you're alright?”
