“I love you, Seranni,” he whispered, his voice choked with emotion and eyes glittering with tears. “Please remember that. I will always love you, no matter what.”
"I love you, Seranni," he whispered, his voice choked with emotion. The words sent a shockwave through my chest, piercing through the pain and fear like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. Tears glistened in his eyes, and my own vision blurred as his gaze held mine. "Please remember that. I will always love you, no matter what."
It hit me like a blow to the chest. Kael wasn’t just saying goodbye—he was preparing to do something reckless, something final. My heart clenched as I realized what he was about to do. He was going to make the ultimate sacrifice. He was going to transform into a dragon to fight Zaorak. He was going to use the last spark of magic in his pendant, knowing full well that it would cost him his life.
Just to saveme.
“No!” I cried out, my voice barely a whisper against the howling wind. I fought against Zaorak’s hold, my arms flailing uselessly as tears streaked down my face. "No, Kael, don’t do it! Please!"
But my pleas were swallowed by the roaring wind as Kael closed his eyes. His hand rose to the pendant at his neck, his fingers curling around it tightly. The gem glowed faintly, a dull green light that flickered like a dying ember.
"Kael, no!" My scream ripped from my throat, raw and desperate. But it was too late.
With a flash of light, the pendant blazed to life, its glow searing through the darkness. The ground seemed to tremble beneathus, and a deafening,tearing, roaring, rippingsound filled the air, as if the very fabric of reality was being pulled apart.
Above me, Zaorak roared, almost as if in triumph.
I felt the world tilt around me as Zaorak’s claw wavered, and I tumbled to the ground, landing hard on the frozen earth. Pain flared in my shoulder where his claw had pierced me, and hot blood trickled down my arm. But I barely noticed. My eyes were fixed on Kael.
With a sense of helplessness gnawing at my heart, I reached out to him, my fingers trembling as I summoned every ounce of magical energy within me.
His body convulsed, his muscles rippling and contorting as the transformation overtook him. The light from the pendant suffused his skin, outlining him in a radiant glow.
Kael had told me. He’dtoldme what the mage had done, how he’d been taken apart and put back together into a new form that was only held together by dark magic.
And like a naïve fool, I’d called the mage here, thinking that if I just gave him what he wanted, he’d leave us alone.
I had let myself believe that I could strike a bargain with a monster, that I could outwit Rindais and protect Kael at the same time. I had been a fool, and now Kael was paying the price for my naïveté.
It was all my fault.
I had to dosomething, anything to save Kael, even if it meant risking my own life in the process.
I wouldn’t let the man I loved burn out like a dying star.
Tears streamed down my face as I scrambled to my knees, clutching my wounded arm. I couldn’t let this happen. I couldn’tlose Kael—not like this. If I did nothing, his sacrifice would be for nothing, and I couldn’t bear that thought.
Hidden from Zaorak, I reached my finger into the wound in my shoulder, wincing at the pain. My hand trembled as I reached into the snow, my fingers carving a hasty spell circle into the frozen earth. The blood from my wound seeped into the grooves, binding the magic to me with a power I had never felt before. Closing my eyes, I whispered an incantation under my breath, summoning every ounce of magical energy I possessed.
The circle beneath me glowed faintly as I poured my magic into it. Closing my eyes, I focused on the bond that connected me to Kael, my love for him and the desperate hope that he would win, that somehow, he wouldsurvive. I drew on the thread of magic that flowed through his veins and mine.
My love for him surged through me, a fierce and unrelenting force that drowned out the pain in my body and the fear in my heart. I wove my magic into his, strengthening it, stabilizing it, purifying it until it thrummed with a brilliance that was almost blinding.
“Please,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Please, Kael. Hold on.”
The world seemed to hold its breath.
Suddenly, I felt a surge of power coursing through me, a rush of energy that seemed to defy logic and reason. It was as if the very fabric of the universe was responding to my call, bending to my will in a display of raw elemental force.
And then, with a deafening roar that echoed through the night, Kael began to transform. His body contorted and twisted, muscles rippling beneath his skin as he shed his human form and turned into the beast he so feared.
But this time, something was different. As Kael’s form shimmered and shifted, I could sense a newfound stability, a sense of control that had eluded him before. My magic had worked, stabilizing his transformation and ensuring that he would not perish in the process.
A minute later, a massive, coal-black dragon stood before us, its scales shimmering like obsidian in the pale moonlight. Its eyes burned as red as rubies—or the color of freshly spilled blood.
With a roar, Kael lunged for Zoarak, grabbing his neck in his jaws and tugging him off my body. Zaorak gave that snuffling dragon laugh and unfurled his wings, batting Kael away with a powerful sweep. He launched himself into the air, his golden scales glinting like fire in the moonlight. But Kael was right behind him, his wings spreading wide as he took to the sky with a deafening roar.
I watched them go, my heart in my throat as their silhouettes disappeared into the night. The air was thick with the scent of blood and smoke, and the distant sound of their battle echoed through the darkness.
