The next morningI fly out with my mates heading toward Blackhaven. The wind rushes past my scales, cool and exhilarating. Then it dawns on me, like sunlight breaking through clouds.Why not take over this part of the territory?I can move the blink hounds as well as whatever black unicorns and other dragons that wish to join me here. The idea settles in my chest with the weight of certainty—and terror. This is real. This is happening.
I let out a thunderous roar as we crest the mountains, announcing our arrival. The sound echoes off the rocky peaks, reverberating through the valleys below. Thauglor’s deep roar answers me—familiar, reassuring, powerful—and I roar again in answer. My chest vibrates with the force of it. Corvis roars next, his lighter, less aggressive than mine. I think I will ask to take over Blackhaven. That will buy us time and give me somewhere I can call mine. A territory that’s mine, not something I’m inheriting from Mom or waiting for. The thought makes my heart race with excitement and dread in equal measure.
Before we get too close, Thauglor launches up into the sky and rumbles for us to follow him. We bank hard, my wings catching the thermal currents, following him to what looks like a golden fieldstretching endlessly below us. Njall is standing there, shifted. His iron dragon drake is huge, and his scales look aggressive—sharp-edged and metallic, catching the morning light like blades. Interestingly enough, Mom is there too. Her dragoness is slightly bigger than her cousin’s, all emerald and iron scales gleaming in the sun. Klauth is in his human form with the rest of their nest and my siblings clustered around him.
My stomach drops. This is it. The moment that changes everything.
One wrong move...My dragoness says, and I flick my gaze over to Corvis. My wings tremble slightly—not from exhaustion, but from the sheer weight of what we’re about to do.
Don’t land near Mom. Keep my other mates back too.I rumble at him, and he nods. This is dangerous. What is my father thinking? The air feels charged, electric with potential violence. I can taste it on my tongue—metallic and sharp.
Corvis lands back and away from my family, his massive form touching down with a spray of dirt and grass. I circle several times before landing close to Njall, feeling every eye tracking my movement. Each wingbeat feels like it takes forever. The first thing I notice is that I’m bigger than he is. My dragoness is heavily muscled, and my horns are heavier and bigger—wickedly curved like scythes.
We are powerful.My dragoness says to me, and I have to agree. The realization settles over me like armor. But underneath, I’m terrified.
What if I hurt someone?
What if I can’t control myself?
Njall stands and backs out from between me and my mom, his iron scales scraping against each other with metallic whispers. Thauglor is close enough he’s able to get between us—a wall of pitch-black scales and sapphire eyes. Mom stands and raises her frill, and I realize I’m taller than she is. The knowledge hits me like a physical blow. I’m bigger than my mother.When did that happen?I have the size of a reddragon and the build and color of a black. My scales are a mix of all the bloodlines except green, thankfully. Serrated, matte black like a basilisk’s, harder than any dragon scale, flowing together into something deadly.
I look at my mother, and my heart clenches. This is the woman who raised me, who taught me to fly, who held me when I had nightmares. And now I have to dominate her or fight.
“Raven almost has a full white face.” I hear Klauth call out, and I tilt my head, looking back to my mates. Corvis nods—he sees it too. The wyrm markings are spreading. I’m becoming something ancient, something powerful, something I don’t fully understand.
“How is this possible?” Abraxis has his hissy fit, his voice carrying across the field.
“Her mother by size is a wyrm dragon. Two of the males that produced her are great wyrms. She took the most terrifying parts of each of us,” Klauth says as I turn to look at my mother closer, really seeing her for the first time as something other than Mom.
Mom looks afraid. I can see it in the way she holds herself, the slight tremor in her wings. My chest constricts. I did this. My existence, my power, my growth—it’s forcing this moment. I watch her slowly lower her head as I raise mine higher. Tears burn behind my eyes, but I can’t let them fall. Not now. Not when everyone is watching. When she turns and bares the underside of her throat to me—vulnerable, soft, where one bite would kill—I move closer.
We must be gentle and accept.My dragon says in my mind, and we walk forward slowly, each step deliberate. Each step feels like I’m walking away from my childhood.
“Raven, no!” I hear Abraxis yell before he shifts, and his form tries to get between us. Thauglor grabs him and puts him to the ground, stopping him with a force that shakes the earth. The sound of their impact makes me flinch, but I don’t stop moving forward.
I step closer and open my mouth, exposing rows of teeth designed to rend and tear. My heart is hammering so hard I’m afraid everyone can hear it.Please be gentle.I say to my dragon as I take my mom’s neck in my mouth—careful, controlled—and press her to the ground. Her scales are warm beneath my tongue, her pulse racing against my teeth. I can feel her heartbeat — fast and terrified.Mom. This is Mom. The minute her head hits the soil and I growl low and deep in my chest, the tension vanishes like the morning mist at sunrise. I hold her in place for several heartbeats—one, two, three, four—before releasing her and stepping back. Mom submitted to me to save everyone from the heartache our fighting would have caused.
My chest aches with the weight of what just happened. I’m the dominant dragoness now. At twenty-one years old, I just forced my mother to submit. The woman who gave me life just bared her throat to me. I feel sick. Triumphant. Terrified. Powerful. All of it crashes over me at once, and I’m drowning in emotions I don’t know how to process.
I return to sitting next to my mates, watching my mother shift back. My father’s pitch-black dragon checks her, his sapphire eyes bright with concern, his dark snout nudging her gently. He comes over to me and lowers his head. We press the flat plates of bone on our dragon’s foreheads to each other—the contact warm and reassuring. I’m still smaller than Thauglor. This is more of a comfort thing for us than anything else. I need this. Need to know he still loves me after what I just did. When he backs up, I shift back, and the moment my human form solidifies, I fly across the field and tackle-hug my mom.
“I was so scared. I didn’t want to hurt you.” I cry into her hair, holding her tight. The tears I couldn’t let fall as a dragon pour freely now, soaking into her shirt. She smells like home—smoke and iron and the oils she uses. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Mom.”
“We talked until almost four AM. My submitting was safest for all of us. The continent needs both of us.” Mom kisses my temple, and I sigh into it, feeling the warmth of her lips. Her arms are strong around me, holding me like she used to when I was small.
“I think I want to take over Blackhaven.” I pull back, looking into Mom’s golden eyes that reflect my tear-stained face. My voice shakes despite my attempt to sound confident. “It’s the home of the black dragons, and I feel I should be here. Sovereign is where you and Klauth rule from. It makes sense for me to move here.” I look over at Thauglor and Abraxis as everyone from both sides moves closer, forming a circle around us. “Please don’t hate me for this.”
“My dad isn’t going to be happy.” Abraxis says, tension evident in every line of his body.
“He can move into the section I was supposed to move into.” I look into Thauglor’s eyes, my dad’s eyes—sapphire mirrors of my own. “Having me close to Mom...” I pause and look at Klauth, trying to steady my breathing. “Anyone who visits will sense the difference in power between us. They may force my ascension long before anyone is ready for it.” The words taste like ash. I’m not ready. I’m twenty-one. I should be worrying about school and my mates, not continental politics and dominance challenges. I motion toward Blackhaven, the massive mountain looming in the distance. “If I’m here, away from Mom, they will never be the wiser. My family and I will come and join the great gathering every year to help oversee everything.” Klauth is the first to nod, understanding dawning on his face.
“This is a very reasonable solution to our problems.” He looks over at Thauglor. “Go with our daughter and make sure the right of inheritance is upheld. Vox should surrender the nest without an issue. Invite him and his mate to take over the apartments in the lower level where Raven was when she was healing—they will be close to their daughter that way.” Klauth turns and looks at me. “The space I built for you is yours. When you come to visit or go to ground with your clutch.”
I bow my head to Klauth and look to Thauglor. He nods slowly, and we walk toward Blackhaven—of course with Abraxis in tow with Lily. This will not be a fun conversation. My stomach twists with anxiety. My hands are trembling, so I clench them into fists.
Lily moves up alongside me and loops her arm through mine on my deaf side. She squeezes my hand before she talks. “Can I move here with you? Can Orpheus?” The radiant smile on my sister’s lips makes me smile and laugh despite the tension. The sound comes out watery, half-sob, half-laugh.
“Of course.” I don’t bother looking up. I know Abraxis is going to protest. But having Lily here? Having Orpheus? Maybe I won’t feel so alone.
