No jewels. No crown. Just… a book.
I reached in slowly, the magic clinging to my skin like mist. The cover was thick and dark, made of some kind of hardened leather I didn’t recognize. No title, no markings, no crest or sigil to give any indication of what it was.
Only the weight of it.
As if it knew it mattered.
I drew it out with both hands and slowly opened it.
Zander leaned close, peering over my shoulder. “It’s blank.”
I blinked, confused. “What are you talking about? It’s in fae script.”
He stared harder. “There’s nothing on the page, Ashe. Just parchment.”
But I could see it. Lines of curling script, inked in a shimmering red-gold, moving like flame trapped on the page. Each word was sharp and strange—different than the fae I’d read in the sanctuary. This was older. Deeper.
“Why can I see it and you can’t?” I murmured.
Zander hesitated, then reached out and touched the cover. The moment his fingers met the surface, a faint pulse flickered from the spine.
“It’s written in blood script,” he said, eyes narrowing. “Only descendants of the author can read it.”
I swallowed hard. “Then it was written by my grandfather.”
“Most likely.” Zander’s jaw flexed. “Can you get Kaelith to help you decipher it?”
Kaelith,I called silently,are you there?
Her voice wrapped around me like violet smoke.I felt the lock break. What have you found, little flame?
Blood script. Fae. I can read it, but barely. Can you help?
There was a pause, a stirring in my mind like wings unfurling.Yes. Bring it to the isle. I cannot aid you here. But that book… it was meant for you.
Zander met my eyes. “Well?”
“She says it’s mine,” I said quietly. “But I have to bring it to the isle.”
He nodded once. “Then we’ll go together.”
We slipped from the vault like ghosts, after returning the book to the box and taking it, the guards eyeing us with wary eyes but making no move to stop us. Zander walked at my side, his shoulders tense, as though what we carried had already begun to press down.
Kaelith and Hein were waiting on the Ascension Grounds, their violet and cobalt wings spread in the rising sun. Hein lowered his head as Zander approached, eyes flicking to the book under my cloak.
We didn’t speak. There was no need.
Zander mounted Hein, and I climbed onto Kaelith’s back. Her scales shimmered, responding to the strange energy of the book.It feels like old magic,she said as we launched into the sky.Feral. Dangerous. Yours.
We soared toward the Dragon Isle, the wind slicing across my face like cold steel. The ocean below gleamed, untouched by what was coming.
We landed in the clearing at the heart of the isle, the same place I had been tested. Ancient and quiet, save for the thrum of magic that always pulsed beneath the soil.
I slid down Kaelith’s side and pulled the book from beneath my cloak. The leather seemed warmer now, like it knew it had reached where it was always meant to be.
I held it out.
Kaelith leaned close, eyes narrowing as she scanned the first few pages. Her tail twitched once. Then again.
