Page 82 of Thorulf
Chapter Thirty-One
JADE KNEW THERE wasonly one thing she could do and hoped Thorulf understood. Hoped he realized she was doing this for him. For all of them. Because whichever way you looked at it, shehadlet Evil into their lives. Shehadbeen the weak chink in their armor. So it was only right she fixed it. That she extinguished the enemy before it could hurt anyone else.
“Hand over the blade,”the purple dragon said. Ironically, the three of them were in a similar proximity to a cliff as they’d been in Jade’s self-made memory.“Hand over the blade, then follow me.”
Strangely, for a split second, Jade was back in that cave, back in that lair, as though reliving a memory that never existed. It was as if, in some strange way, it gave her strength.
“Not strength, sister,”came Trinity’s unexpected voice, offering not just wisdom but balance. A shared clarity.“Insight and direction.”
Though she feared for a moment Evil had heard, it didn’t. Rather it stalked closer, eager for the dagger clutched in her talon. Eager to finally have its dark, sinister glory. To feed itself on what it cultivated best. Anger, fear, and hatred.
The very opposite of love.
Jade had said it over and over to Thorulf when she realized what she had to do. When not just her Celtic magic but her inner dragon gave her direction. Made her see past what had held her young dragon back before. The anger, fear, and sadness that had led her to create a fake memory. She needed to see past those negative emotions. See what she could take from it all.
How she could do better this time.
“Here you go.”She held out Loki’s Dagger, already knowing what the purple dragon would do. How Jade's self-created memory wasn't just a seal but, because of the connection she shared with Evil, miraculously prophetic. Inspired by the fake memory, Evil was summoning magic to disable Jade's wings. To ensure she plummeted to her death. So when her nemesis stepped forward to take the dagger, then push her off the side of the cliff, she acted.
Rather than feel jealousy and rage for all Evil had taken from her and Thorulf, for all the sadness it had inflicted, she attacked in a way she hoped would work. In a way that helped her truly let go and see past all the pain to forgiveness. And there was only one way to do that.
She did the worst possible thing she could to Evil.
The moment its wings were spread enough, she didn’t try to stab it or let it push her over the cliff but rushed forward, wrapped her wings around its torso, and offered love rather than hate.
Light instead of dark.
She felt Thorulf’s horror at her actions, especially when the purple dragon wrapped her wings around Jade and squeezed. Not in any sense of returned affection but to suffocate her. To crush her bones until there was nothing left.
For a split second, she felt fear, pure terror, at the pain, at her dwindling oxygen, but she tempered it. Let it go as readily as the severe amount of negativity Evil soaked into her. So much negativity that Jade knew it would kill her from the inside out.
But it would weaken Evil greatly first.
“No, mate,”Thorulf roared, but she only heard the whimpers of his little dragon when she first flew off after the purple dragon. She only felt his sadness, and worry, then, above all, his unequivocal love. His willingness to go to the ends of the Earth to get her back. To make sure she was safe.
As if Thorulf felt what he had back then, as if he remembered not just the determination but simple love it took to set aside his pride and chase her that first time, both the man and the dragon stilled. They released their anger and rage. Released any sense of betrayal they might have felt. Instead, they embraced what she did.