There were hundreds of them, stretching as far as the eye could see, in every color of the Dragon rainbow. All their metallic gazes were focused on the cliff.
But not on me. I followed their gazes and saw two men standing at the pinnacle of rock.
I knew one of them. Tez, standing to the left, the wind blowing through his thick black hair. When he turned his head to me, his eyes gleamed turquoise. I was aware of the swirl of feathers far above—birds, thousands of them, circling amid the clouds.
I did not know the man standing a distance to the right. He was big, with pale striped hair and hulking muscles. Then he turned his head to me, and the vivid-blue eyes altered slightly. What I saw within them punched straight through to my gut, and I hovered on the edge of recognition…
A huge form approached us from above. Wings that shone purple and black in the moonlight—Riggs.
No, not Riggs. This was Razir. The prince.
The crowd fell silent as he cruised to a landing on the cliff, and shifted to human, standing between the other two. They ignored each other. All three stared out over the silent crowd.
Silent, as if waiting.
Something was wrong. I sensed the disconnect, where we needed cohesion. So I stepped forward, to stand beside Razir.
“Go away, Bree,” he said. “This isn’t your fight.”
Bree. Not Breana. And suddenly, I knew what was wrong. Fractured, he was fractured. The Dragon, and the ordinary guy.
I stepped before him and pulled the scabbard off my shoulder. Offered it to him.
“I do not want it,” he stated.
I snorted a laugh. “As if you have a choice.” And I drew the sword.
It should have been too heavy for me, but it was so perfectly balanced I could hold it aloft. It blazed like a beacon into the night, and as the clouds raced away from it, starlight shone down on us from above.
My voice rang out into the silence. “Take my hand.”
Razir stared down at me, and the chaos in his eyes pierced my heart. But it was the hulking stranger beside him who stepped up to me and folded his massive fist around the cross guard.
The sword brightened. I looked to Tez. “Now, you.”
He glared at the other two, his features stamped with arrogance.
“Please,” I requested.
The hummingbird darted from his shoulder, to land on mine. Tez’s lips curled into a sneer, but he stepped forward to fold his hand onto the other cross guard.
Another surge of light from the sword. I matched Razir’s gaze.
“Riggs,” I said. “Fate has spoken. Grab hold.”
His eyes flared metallic. “My name is Razir.”
“Yes,” I said. “But you are also Riggs. Only by accepting that, can you ever be whole.”
His head lifted, and his wings sprang free from his shoulders. I raised the sword higher, and the crowd below us hung on his response.
“Do you trust me?” I asked.
His eyes flared. “You know I do.”
“Then do it, Riggs,” I said.
Something gave within him. He reached out and folded his hand around mine. And the night sky became as day…
