I took a step back, my pulse thundering.
“What war?” I breathed.
The Storm-born Prophecy, the twin-headed Kaelith said.It has begun to unravel. The flames have already touched the edges of fate, but they hunger for the center.
“I don’t understand?—”
You must unite them.The voice surrounded me now, as if the entire field were whispering through Kaelith’s mouths.The dragons. The lost. Those who remember. The ones who fled. They must come home.
My heart pounded harder. “How do I find them?”
You don’t.Her golden eyes narrowed.You call them. With fire and fury. With truth and power. The blood in your veins is the key. The dragons were never meant to be divided. They were meant to be led.
“Led byme?”
Kaelith’s dual heads bowed low.
Flame-born… Storm-born… the names do not matter. The bond you carry will decide the future.
And then, as quickly as it came, the shimmer vanished.
The second head dissolved into air.
Her tail returned to its resting form.
Kaelith stood before me once more.
Silent.
Watching.
And I realized—with a bone-deep certainty?—
This was more than a dream.
I woke up gasping in Zander’s arms, the taste of prophecy still lingering on my tongue.
I sat up and grabbed my boots from the floor.
I sat on the edge of Zander’s bed, tying the laces with my gaze drifting to where he still lay beneath the covers. His dark lashes rested against pale skin, his features relaxed in sleep,so different from the sharp edges he wore during the day. Vulnerable. Human.
He looked young like this. Like a boy born into too much legacy, too much war.
I’d only meant to rest beside him until he drifted off—but I must’ve fallen asleep too. An hour, no more. My squad would be wondering where I was.
I stood, finished lacing my boots, and brushed a hand along his blanket, just enough to straighten it without waking him. Then I slipped from the room.
The castle halls were quiet, clouds stretching across the sky as I made my way toward the Ascension Grounds. Kaelith wasn’t far—I could feel her, awake and calm—but the moment I stepped outside, I spotted Naia, Jax, and Ferrula standing in a loose circle, arms crossed and expressions guarded.
They turned as I approached.
“Are you okay?” Naia asked immediately, her blue eyes scanning me for signs of blood, exhaustion, or worse.
“Yeah,” I said, tugging my jacket closed. “I just waited for Zander to fall asleep.”
Naia smirked, one brow arching. “I bet you did.”
I gave her a flat look. “Whatever.”
