Page 74

A day had passed since the celebration Archer had hosted in my honor.

Now, beneath a sky still bruised with stars, five dragons were brought before us.

Their horned tails split the morning stillness, each movement a slow crack through air too quiet to hold them.

They were massive, shifting like forces bound only by scale and bone.

The moon hung low above the clearing, casting everything in silver.

A grizzled wrangler stepped forward. They called him Hensley. His beard was patchy, his eyes nearly white with age. A streak of black ran through the gray on the left side of his hair.

“Tansia is her name,” he said, snapping his whip to keep one of the younger dragons in line. “A wild one. Never bonded with a human before. But given your title, she may choose you.”

I barely heard him. Archer was already walking the row with a hunter’s eye, studying each beast in silence.

But my gaze was fixed on Tansia.

Something felt wrong. It should’ve been Ciaran. It had always been Ciaran.

“Where is she from?” Archer asked.

Tansia stood at the far end, chains coiled around her like vines. Her charcoal-dark scales shimmered with veins of obsidian along the edges. But when she shifted in the moonlight, I caught a deep, iridescent indigo, hidden beneath her wings.

Her eyes glinted like fractured glass. Not white. Not red. Something between crimson. She didn’t snarl or growl or bare her teeth. She just stared. And gods help me, I stared back.

Hensley squinted at a faded parchment. “Can’t say for certain. With that bone structure, might be part wyvern. She’s never shown signs of a quell.”

Archer nodded, but I saw the flicker in his expression. “She’ll do,” he said.

I stepped forward, the words sharp in my throat. “She has to choose you, Archer.”

He turned to me, but his face gave nothing away. “She already did.”

“What did she say?” I asked, barely above a breath.

Hensley shrugged. “She’s wild. If she’s past her prime, she’ll bond poorly. If she bonds at all. I’d recommend a test flight. She’s never been flown with a human.”

“She’s not unpredictable,” Archer said, voice taut. “Not to me. I trust her more than any of them.” He stepped forward and extended a hand. The chains clinked, but the dragon didn’t move. “I’ll bond with her.”

A cold ache threaded through my chest. This didn’t feel like Ciaran. When I met her, there was something immediate—something known. With Tansia, there was only silence.

Archer’s fingers found my chin, tilting it toward him. “Trust her,” he said. “Trust me. This is how it must be, Severyn.”

I nodded, but it felt forced. “I understand. I’m just… used to hearing your thoughts. It feels like I’m grieving her. And she’s not even dead.”

His jaw clenched. “It hurts me, too. Knowing I failed Ciaran. But this… this is what’s next.” His gaze drifted to the dragon. “Tansia is my bonded enigma now. ”

I wanted to believe him. Wanted to accept this moment for what it was, an ending, and a beginning. But the goodbye still lingered like sand in my throat. I nodded again, and this time, the tears didn’t wait for permission.

This was it. This was the way things had to be now.

He nipped at my jaw, a light brush of his lips against my skin. “The real question is, why aren’t you naked in my arms, forming a rider bond with me?” His teasing smile was laced with something darker. “I know you’ve been dying to hear my thoughts.”

“Maybe I don’t want to hear your thoughts,” I whispered, just to hear his response.

He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Oh? Is that so.”

The dragon wrangler cleared his throat, awkwardly stepping in. “I wouldn’t suggest forming a rider bond until after your first flight,” he muttered, a little too loudly.

Archer shot him a withering glance, his patience clearly thinning. “You speak only when called upon. Leave us, Hensley. Gold awaits you for your trouble.”

I glanced at Hensley, then back to Archer, unease tightening my chest. “Archer… I don’t feel comfortable bonding until after she’s proven herself.” My voice came quieter than I intended. “I need to see she can be trusted first.”

He looked at me for a long moment. Then, a small smile touched his lips. “I trust her.”

I turned to the dragon one last time. Her crimson eyes locked with mine again with a near ancient, blood-threaded stare. The unease only deepened. “I don’t,” I said.

Archer gave a single nod, but I caught the way his shoulders tensed. “Understood. Pack your things,” he said, his tone suddenly distant. “We leave for Wrathi overnight.”

He turned away, already walking toward the stone steps. I hesitated, then followed, catching up to his quick stride .

“Why are you acting so strange?” I asked, falling into step beside him.

His shoulders tensed. “Because I know she’ll never be Ciaran,” he said.

“I may not be able to hear your mind, but I know you’re struggling.”

Shadows rippled from his nostrils as he exhaled again. “A leader can never fall. I am not struggling.”

I reached out to stop him. “You are allowed to break. But I won’t form a bond with her, not until I can trust her.”

He flinched. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “This is a lot for me.”

I wasn’t ready. And I wasn’t sure I would ever be. But the truth was, I had lost Ciaran.

“I know.”

He whispered, pulling me into his embrace. “We’ll get through this, together.”

But as I stared into those crimson eyes of the wyvern mix, I couldn’t help but feel this was wrong.

The next day, we set off for Wrathi. It would take two full days of travel to cross the Continent. Our first night was spent in a Serpent hostel, on the outskirts of the barren Day land of Seraphine.

I lay beside him, the silence thick between us. Finally, I broke it. “When I was in Malvoria, Rok said his father was a Serpent leader of the fallen Night realm.” I hesitated. “Why did your land survive, and his didn’t?”

Archer shifted beside me, his voice low. “Because destroying both Night and Day would’ve shattered the Continent. I don’t know why we survived—maybe because we bordered Malvoria.”

“What happened?” I asked.

He drew a long, quiet breath. “You won’t find this in any passage,” he said. “Not what I’m about to tell you.”

My stomach twisted in dread. “What is it?”

“Verdonia used to be all seasons,” he continued.

“Before the king’s snake-wielding bloodline was thrown out of power and banned from the Continent, gifts and powers were granted to children.

But it wasn’t kind. Shadows spooled from sons, flames from daughters.

They divided the land by powers, calling it Severed Quelling. ”

He continued, “Cleminore couldn’t control it all—shadows, flame, wind. So, she created the Serpent academy, bringing together the strongest from all realms to become rulers. Leaders are made, not born.”

“And six leaders were chosen at the academy?”

He nodded. “Six gods were made after the blood mass, but the Forgotten killed them all. Where their blood dripped, it tainted the land. Ice barriers, flame shields. The lands needed rulers.”

I inhaled sharply. “It started with six.”

Archer’s voice softened. “And it ends how it began. An heir from each realm to fight in a trial. The Forgotten have been taking lands back, piece by piece. A nomad is reborn with every loss… eventually that land will have all six realms in it.”

“Monty and you... if you die?” I couldn’t bring myself to finish the question. “Are you going to fight in this trial?”

“The king did not transfer your title for no reason. He did it so I could have the chance to ensure you survive and claim it. Trust me, that man might be old, but I knew exactly what he was doing when he agreed with Hadrian.”

“I am strong enough on my own. ”

“You are, but we are in this together.”

“What happens if Demetria falls?”

“If I die, and no one is there to uphold the shields, the stars will be stripped from the lands. The realms would fall, and with it, all the life that’s left.” He looked away. “Demetria needs an heir, and I can’t stand back and watch you fight in this trial by yourself.”

I wanted to argue, but his words hung heavy. “Then we will fight and survive it together. Whenever it comes.”

I wished for years in the quiet between—but in my chest, I knew this trial would come sooner.