Page 2 of Wrath Of Suns And Shadows (The Osparia #2)

“Emelyn of Esora, the great Peacebringer . . . what brings you here?” he asked, and I had to find my voice. The golden dragon lowered his colossal head, the heat of his breath washing over me as I fought to steady my nerves.

“Answers. I need to learn how to be the Peacebringer.”

“There is no learning to become the Peacebringer. There is only being the Peacebringer. You cannot become what you already are,” he assured, but my brow furrowed as he continued.

“You need to master the elements of this world for yourself, but the abilities are already in you. You need practice, not answers.” He crawled down the side of the library wall, landing on the ground with a loud thud at my feet.

“Now . . . why do you want in my library?”

“I want to learn of the Peacebringer before me, I want to know what they did, how they brought peace, how they controlled their power.”

“Hmmm,” he purred in contemplation as he circled us.

“Very well,” he agreed, but his voice had changed to sound more man than beast. I shifted quickly on my feet and turned around to where Draken was behind us to be met with a man.

He had golden, tanned skin, sun-kissed hair, and the same blue eyes of the dragon form he had come from.

“Damn the mother, you’re not a dragon,” I breathed out.

“I’m a dragon shifter, but I still consider myself a dragon. Besides, I spend more time in that form than I do this one. I can’t remember the last time I shifted into a man.” He peered down at his hands and fingers as if he would have to remember how to use them over wings and claws.

“Why change now?” Shay asked, her eyes filled with as much surprise as my own.

Dragons kept to themselves from what I knew of them.

The only time I’d ever seen one, Ace and I had been traveling, flying above the clouds cloaked by the night.

We’d soared next to them for only a moment and reveled at the sight before they’d banked right and disappeared, absorbed by the clouds beneath us.

Shifters were common, but I’d never heard of a dragon shifter before. It let me know just how much of a rarity he was. I wondered if any of the other dragons were shifters.

“My dragon form is too large. I would hate to damage anything in the library. It means more to me than anything else,” he clarified as he started walking toward the large building. “The things behind these walls are ancient. I expect you to respect them.”

“Of course,” Shay and I answered in unison.

“Very well,” he said as he approached the vines.

He lifted a hand, and they all slithered away like snakes at his command, revealing an arched door covered in beautiful carved designs of dragons.

With a flick of his hand, the door slowly creaked open, as if he had some type of connection with the library and the nature surrounding it.

Everything bent to his will. The door sounded as if it hadn’t been open in centuries.

He stood by the entrance and motioned for us to go in with a wave of his hand.

I glanced at Shay, and she nodded for me to take the lead.

I walked into the library, and it was like stepping back in time.

Lush, giant green vines grew around the large pillars that sat between rows and rows of bookcases that stood as tall as three men.

Dust particles floated in the air against the early morning light barely peeking through the overgrowth-covered windows.

Draken whipped his hand, and all the old lanterns lit from thin air.

“You can fire bend?” I asked, and he smirked at me.

“Dragons were the original benders of fire, so of course I can,” he replied as I dragged my fingers down the spines of all the dusty books on the shelves.

In a world where I felt I didn’t belong, I could belong here.

I was sure this library felt the same way.

So powerful, yet so lonely. I could feel some of the books thrumming with life, desperate for someone to turn their pages, while others whispered dark things of the past that I didn’t wish to see.

This place was so full of knowledge and magic, it was as if I could feel its heartbeat, beating as one with the island itself.

“Draken,” I called to him from a few shelves down, until I made it to the end of the aisle to look at him.

“Hmm?” he questioned, looking in an old leather-bound book that was so worn I couldn’t read the title of it.

“Why do you guard this place? It’s protected with the barrier around the island. It must be so lonely. Don’t you ever want to leave?” I asked.

“Would you like to hear my story?” He looked up from the pages.

“We are in a library, so it seems fitting.”

“Of course . . .” He cleared his throat with a faint smile.

“Long ago, I had a mate, Evenae. Her name meant eternal, and that’s the only word I can think of to describe the love I had—have for her.

She was and still is everything to me. She loved this library, possibly even more than me.

” He chuckled at the memory that flashed across his features.

“We were on this island, taking care of this library when it first started and there was only one dusty shelf of books. Over the years it grew and grew, we learned and grew with it. We shared a love for it. One day, raiders came in the night while I was away and they—” His voice broke as if it had only happened yesterday.

His eyes went glassy with unshed tears. The love he had for his mate was so strong, even after the loss of her.

I couldn’t imagine the pain of having to live without the other half of your soul.

I had to swallow down my own ball of emotions in my throat.

“They took her from me and tried to burn this place to the ground”—he glanced around at all of the ancient tombs—“in hopes to destroy whatever knowledge could be used against them. I swore to my mate in her final moments and to the god of Iros himself I’d protect this place until my dying breath, and that’s exactly what I’ve done and will continue to do. ”

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Draken. I can’t imagine.”

“It’s alright. I see her in all the little things she loved about this place, and although we have eternal lives, I know one day I’ll meet my end, and I hope she’ll be waiting for me in the light.

” His words were soft and filled with devotion.

Shay walked over to him and pulled him into a hug, tears staining her cheeks.

“She will be. I’m sure of it,” Shay murmured into his hair.

“I can’t remember the last time I had one of those,” he said as Shay stepped back.

“Had one of what?” I asked.

“A hug. I was in my dragon form for so long, I forgot how nice they are.” His words only made the emotion stir further in my chest. “Alright, enough of that.” He sniffled, rubbing a hand down his face.

“Come now, let me show you what I have on the Peacebringer before you.” He turned, and I cleared my throat to gather my bearings, Shay did the same, wiping the tears from her eyes.

We followed him to the P section in the library, and there were so many books I wasn’t sure how Draken remembered where each individual one was.

But he did, as if each of their places were memorized in his mind.

He handed me a stack of books that were heavy even with my fae strength.

Some were in languages I didn’t even understand.

I stumbled over to the center of the library where there were a couple of tables and chairs.

The books thudded on the desk with a plume of dust that made me choke.

“Sorry, I haven’t been in here in a while,” he said as he walked over with a few more books. “We’ll start with these first, and then we’ll begin your training.”

“Training?” I questioned.

“Fire bending training. We’ll train during the day and study in the evenings. You’ll need to master all the elements, and who better to teach you the ways of fire than one of the originals himself?” He said it with a smug grin, and I gave him a smile back.

“I’d be honored.”