What was that… the split tail thing?
Her sigh echoed in my chest before her voice followed.The form of a Doppel,she said, the word rippling with something like reverence and sorrow.They were once a subspecies capable of holding multiple tail forms simultaneously. A blend of what others could only hope to be. But they went extinct long ago. At least, their flesh did. They remain only in memory… in one bloodline too stubborn to die out.
I blinked up at her, stunned.So you’ll be able to take that form eventually?
Eventually,she confirmed, her tone wearied but certain.But right now, my body is in flux. Nothing is set. My bones, my magic, my instincts—they’re all trying to align into something… new.
I pressed a hand to her scaled cheek, grounding myself in her warmth. “As long as you’re all right.”
Kaelith snorted, soft and smoky.I never meant to embrace this legacy,she admitted, and her voice turned quiet.That was supposed to be my clutchmate’s role.
I straightened, my brows pulling. “Your clutchmate?”
She hesitated only a second before answering.You call him the Unifier.
The world tilted under my feet.Your brother is the Unifier?
Kaelith didn’t answer with words at first, only a low, thrumming sound from deep in her chest. Resignation. Grief. Truth.
Zander turned to me, eyes wide with the same sick dread curling in my stomach.He didn’t know either.No one had. Hein’s wings shifted uneasily as if he were unhappy Kaelith had shared that information.
“How has no one known this?” I whispered.
Because I never intended for anyone to.Kaelith’s tone was final.He was born to shape a future. I was meant to guard the isle.
She exhaled, long and ragged, and her body sagged against Hein again.I must rest,she murmured.I will share more about my evolution once I know myself.
“You don’t know what to expect?” I asked softly.
Not really,she admitted.Our bloodline was mostly male. It’s been thousands of years since a female was produced… or so I’m told.
Her eyes drifted shut, but her final words rang through me like prophecy.And even then, none were like me.
I stood there, fingers curled tight against my palm.My thoughts spiraled like leaves in a storm, too many crashing into one another, too loud. I didn’t even realize I’d gone still until Zander reached for my hand and gently laced his fingers through mine. It grounded me.
I was quiet for a long moment. The kind of silence that came when you were too afraid of the answer to ask the question.
Then I swallowed. “Do you know where the Unifier is right now?” My voice came out softer than I expected. Barely more than wind. “I know you said he was alive, but…”
The question hung there, unfinished and heavy.
Kaelith didn’t answer right away. Her breath stuttered once, like she was dragging herself out of sleep just to respond. Then her voice came—low and distant, like it had to travel through time itself to reach me.
I know where my brother is at all times. He is safe. And just asannoyingas always.
Siergen grunted. Hein turned his head, and Zander turned to me. “Hein says it’s time for us to go back. We are not to tell anyone in the guild about Kaelith. She will reveal herself when she feels she is ready.”
“I would never tell the guild about her.”
Hein’s head moved lovingly over Kaelith’s before he moved toward us and waited for Zander to get on his back. Kaelith turned away, and Siergen followed her as she walked toward a grass-covered clearing.
Siergen’s voice entered my head as Hein took to the air with us on his massive back.
Your bond with Kaelith will change as she evolves. Be wary in the coming weeks.
I knew it was true. I could already feel the twist of magic in my veins. As if it too were shifting.
ChapterTwo
