They just watched.
All of them.
Watched Zander.
The air felt tight with it—like a question left hanging in the sky.
Why?
Kaelith,I whispered across our bond,why are the dragons watching him like that?
Her answer came slow, like smoke curling through my ribs.
They are not watching Hein’s rider.
Then who?
His sister.
I blinked, gaze snapping back to Elara, her braid tangled, her arms clutching Zander’s tunic as if it were the only thing holding her together.
Why?
Because she is universal.
What does that mean?
All dragons must be compatible with their rider. We wait, sometimes lifetimes, for one whose magic mirrors our own. She… is compatible with all of us.
All of you?My throat tightened.How is that even possible?
Kaelith didn’t answer right away.
Then—Whatever her power is… it exists in every dragon. It is not unique. It is inherited. Shared. And sleeping.
Fire?I asked. It was the only magic every dragon had, in some form.
Maybe,Kaelith said.
Elara cried harder. Zander didn’t move. And across the field, dragons watched her like they already knew.
The world was changing.
And she was at the center of it.
I stepped forward, the soft crunch of scorched earth beneath my boots the only sound as I approached them. Zander was still on one knee, holding Elara close, his face drawn and pale. Her small frame trembled in his arms, her lavender eyes, so much like his, red and shining with tears.
“Hey,” I said gently, crouching beside them. “Are you alright?”
Elara looked up at me, her tear-streaked face pale beneath the fading light. Her gaze was raw and open, more ancient than a girl her age should carry.
“Don’t let him do it again,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Next time he won’t come back.”
My heart clenched.
I reached out and brushed a bit of hair from her cheek. “I won’t, honey. I’ll have a very long conversation with him about his limitations.”
Zander gave a low grunt beside me, one of protest or guilt, I wasn’t sure, but Elara’s lips twitched into the barest hint of a smile.
