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Seeing his estranged family and learning his father was Era was a lot to take in any time, but especially after a long battle.

Are you going to say anything?

Hel lifted a shoulder.I don’t know what to say. Nice to meet you, daddy, even if you haven’t cared about my existence until now? He put a seed in my mother, nothing more.

Thank the All mother they can’t read minds.It was a typical Hel response, but warranted, nonetheless.

I’d say it out loud, but frankly, I’m tired and I’m not in the mood for bickering.

“Well, once things are settled, I’m sure we’ll see you both more.” Valeen leaned into Hel. “We’ll invite you over once our home is rebuilt. All of you.”

“We would like to help you rebuild.” Zaelia glanced between the others, and they all nodded in agreement.

“Thank you.”

Elora glanced over her shoulder. “The territory of House of Night and House of Magic are yours. No one will stand against you. Many of your people are eager to return to their old land.”

“I will bring them home, once we help Thane here. This will take time to clean, and there are families who need to be told their sons are gone.”

Hand in hand Valeen and Hel strode forward. They spent hours talking to the people who saved them. Helping to gather the dead while learning stories of where the people of Villhara had been. Some of them were descendants of those who’d lived in House of Night, but their parents told them stories. Others had lived in the time Valeen and Hel ruled; the undying waters of Runevale extended the lives of mortals. The excitement to go back and rebuild their land was clear in their bright eyes and smiles.

Many volunteered to stay and help the elves and dragons of the north clear the bodies, and the flames of the funeral pyres rose into the night sky.

King Drake Drakonan stayed to honor the fallen. He’d lost over a hundred dragons to the battle. One of them Valeen would never forget. She’d placed a midnight lily on Dax’s chest and closed his hands over its stem. He was lined up with the others, ready to be taken home to the north and laid to rest.

There were tears of sorrow and joy. Songs of lament and gratitude drifted throughout the city. People gathered around the battlefield with candles lit for those who’d passed. Eventhose from Villhara held candles for the dragons and elves who died. It was wonderous seeing her two worlds collide.

Six WeeksLater

Valeen stoodin her chariot at the crest of the Valley of the Sun’s hill overlooking the city. Starborn and Night grazed while they waited for her command. The sky was stained a bright salmon with the sun rising. White puffy clouds formed in the background behind Castle Dredwich. Palenor’s flag waved in the breeze at its peak.

The once blackened and burned battlefield where freedom was won, was already green again with wildflowers blooming across it. Along the road people had planted trees in memory of those lost. A twenty-foot-tall statue of a regal dragon with its wings wide was being carved to be placed on the left side entrance in the wall. The stonemasons worked on another beside it, as tall as the dragon was an elf warrior in Raven armor—Fennan.

Her heart ached at the memories of this place. The good and the bad. It would always be a part of her.

But her time here had come to an end.

Hel sat on Midnight with Thane beside him on Phantom. They looked more alike than ever on their twin mounts and both wearing casual black attire. It was really Thane’s lighter long hair that set them apart.

Katana had her own horse now, a beautiful dappled gray mare with a flowing white mane she’d named Calipso.

“We won because of you, Katana,” Valeen said, pulling her gaze from the old battlegrounds.

“Oh, stop that. We won because ofyouand your people coming from Runevale.”

Hel patted Midnight’s neck. “Please, don’t try to give me the glory, I’d be too humble to accept.”

Valeen laughed. “Yes, Mr. Humble.”

To her surprise, Piper trotted up on horseback with Ronan and Leif beside her. “So are we doing this?” Piper pulled back on the reins and grinned. Her horse whinnied as if feeling her excitement.

“I thought you two were going to Ryvengaard.” Valeen couldn’t hold back her grin. It was where Ronan’s parents and many of the dragons had gone a couple weeks before. Prince Yoren stayed here in Adalon to guard their estate for now.

“At the moment my father and I aren’t getting along so Piper and I decided to come with you for a while,” Ronan said with a shrug. “You’ll need some dragon muscle to rebuild a castle.”

“And you need your best friend and bodyguard,” Piper said. At least she was back to best-friend status.

The sound of whooshing wings drew her eyes to the sky. Presco dropped in from above in his half-shifted form with a black bag slung over his shoulder. He tucked his wings, but the tips rose well over his head. “Am I late?”