Page 229 of The Fifth Heir

They opened above me, vast and translucent, their deep purple membranes threaded with prismatic veins. Red, silver, violet, and blue traveled through them before scattering across the chamber in bands of color.

The central restraints shattered.

The platform collapsed beneath my weight.

I did not fall.

Four elemental streams held me above the convergence shaft.

The transformation completed in one continuous surge. A crystal tail struck the platform behind me. My neck lengthened, and the chamber came into focus through eyes that saw more than light. Magic covered every surface in layered patterns.

I saw the original Trial beneath the sabotage.

The altered Stone runes lay over the true design like black hooks. They bent the channels inward and down, forcing the heirs’ power toward the unstable shaft.

Beneath them, five lines formed a crown.

Not a crown intended for one head.

A formation.

A Crown Wing.

Understanding entered the connection between us.

Rafe laughed.

Even in human form, even through stone and magic, I felt it.

Torren’s astonishment came next, followed by Sebastian’s intense focus and Leander’s quiet certainty.

“Talia,” Torren breathed.

My name sounded different in my dragon hearing.

I turned my head toward him.

His face was visible through the transparent gate. He stared up at me, fire reflecting across my scales.

“You’re beautiful.”

Warmth moved through the bond, and every prismatic vein in my wings brightened.

Rafe’s amusement touched us all. “You made her glow.”

Torren did not look away from me. “Good.”

The Trial reacted.

The false runes blazed black.

Power tore at the connection, trying to separate the four streams. Fire struck frost. Storm ripped through shadow. The balance broke, and the platform dropped several feet toward the convergence shaft.

I spread my wings.

There was no room to fly, but the movement altered the direction of every current around me. The four elements traveled through the crystal structure of my wings and divided into hundreds of brilliant lines.

I directed them toward the gates.