Page 108 of Beneath Scales and Shadows

With a powerful thrust of his wings, he launched upward, carrying her toward the vast opening in the cavern’s ceiling where sunlight streamed through in brilliant columns. The wind rushed past them as they ascended, Sora’s delighted laughter flowing through their bond with infectious joy.

They burst into open sky, the twin moons greeted them, visible in the daylight. Below them stretched the Dralux territories—forests, mountains, and valleys painted in winter colors.

The beauty of it all, seen from dragon-back, drew a gasp from Sora that Ignis felt more than heard.

“If you think it’s beautiful now, wait until spring comes and turn into summer,”Ignis pathed.“That is when our land is at its peak.”

“It’s magnificent.”Her thought brushed his consciousness. “Our kingdom.”

“Ours,”he agreed, banking in a wide arc that displayed his ruby scales to breathtaking advantage against the lavender sky. “To protect. To restore. To rule—together.”

Behind them, the mountain seemed to erupt as hundreds of dragons poured from the opening, their scales catching sunlight in a prismatic explosion of color. They filled the sky in swirling formations, their joyous bugling creating a symphony of freedom that hadn’t been heard over these territories in generations.

Ember and Coal remained below—the spy still too injured for flight—with her family standing beside them staring up at the clan’s display in awe.

Ignis spotted Blaze and Enixa leading their wings in intricate aerial displays, demonstrating the precision and skill that had made dragonkind legendary.

“Happy?”he asked, catching the rush of her emotions—wonder, exhilaration, a deep, steady sense of belonging—pour through her and into him.

“Beyond words,”she replied, leaning forward to press herself against his neck, her chest against his scales in perfect trust.

Ignis roared his satisfaction, flames erupting from his jaws in a golden torrent that painted the sky. The clan responded with fire of their own—a hundred streams of flame in every color imaginable, creating an aerial spectacle visible over a great distance in all directions.

“Let all of Artania see,”he announced to his clan.“Let them know that dragonkind flies free once more.”

He banked again, leading his clan in a wide circle over their territory, Sora’s laughter harmonizing with his roars of triumph. Emotions beyond words flooded between them—completion, joy, purpose—woven so tightly he couldn't tell where she ended and he began.

In all his long existence, Ignis had never known happiness like this. Not in his decades of rule, not in the treasures accumulated in his hoard, not in victories won or territories defended.

True happiness, he realized, was the woman on his back, her golden hair streaming behind her like a banner, her silver-and-ruby scales marking her as his—and him as hers.

True happiness was the clan following in their wake, the future stretching before them bright with possibility.

True happiness was having someone to share it all with—someone who saw him completely, both beast and king, and chose him anyway.

As they soared higher, the twin moons casting their silver gaze across the sky, Ignis bared himself completely to her—no shields, no restraint—flooding their bond with the raw, aching truth of his heart. “I love you, my treasure. Beyond prophecy. Beyond both worlds and time. I love you.”

Her response flowed back to him like liquid warmth—instant and fierce—wrapping around his twin hearts. “And I love you, my dragon king. Now and always.”

They were dragon and human.

Alpha and omega. King and queen.

Two souls, forged by choice as much as fate, soared beneath the endless Artanian sky—together as one.