Elara's POV
I can't sleep.
Every time I close my eyes, I feel HIM. Azrathion. His presence pulses through the bond like a second heartbeat in my chest.
He's angry. Worried. Pacing somewhere nearby. I know this without seeing him, without hearing him. I just... know.
"This is insane," I mutter, sitting up.
The seven freed dragons sleep outside our new hiding spot—a cave system deeper in the mountains. Tomorrow we attack the Capitol. Tomorrow we either free sixty-three dragons or die trying.
But I can't focus on that because Azrathion's emotions are drowning out my own.
I feel his frustration spike suddenly. Then determination. Then he's moving toward me.
Three seconds later, he appears in the cave entrance.
"How did you know I was coming?" he asks.
"I felt it." I touch my chest where the mark burns. "The bond. It's getting stronger."
"It's the second stage of awakening." He sits beside me, careful to keep distance between us. "The soul-bond deepens. Soon you'll feel everything I feel. Hear my thoughts. And I'll experience yours."
"That's terrifying," I say.
"That's trust," he corrects. "The bond makes us stronger together. But it requires absolute honesty. You can't hide anything from someone who lives inside your heart."
"I don't want you in my heart!" The words come out too loud. Too panicked.
His face shutters closed. "I know. You've made that very clear."
Guilt stabs through me. "I didn't mean—"
"Yes, you did." He stands. "You're right to resist. The bond is permanent. Unbreakable. If you accept it fully, you'll be tied to me forever. To a dragon who's probably insane from three centuries of torture. To someone whose enemies will hunt you for the rest of your life. You should resist."
"Then why does it hurt?" I whisper. "Why does pushing you away feel like ripping myself apart?"
He goes very still. "What?"
"The bond." I press my hand over the mark. "When I try to block you out, it hurts. Like something inside me is screaming that I'm making a mistake."
"That's because you are." He turns back to me, his golden eyes intense. "The bond isn't just magic. It's recognition. Your soul knows mine. It remembers three hundred years of being together. It wants to complete the connection."
"But I don't remember! To me, you're a stranger!"
"I know." Pain flashes across his face. "Do you think this is easy for me? Looking at you and seeing Lysandra's face but not her memories? Feeling the bond pulling me toward you while you push me away?"
"Then why not just let me go?" I stand too, frustrated. "Find another Dragonheart. Someone who actually wants this!"
"THERE ARE NO OTHER DRAGONHEARTS!" His voice echoes through the cave. "You're the last one. The Council hunted and killed the rest. You're it. The only bridge between dragons and humans left in this world."
The weight of that crashes down on me. "So I don't get a choice. My entire life is predetermined because of some magic I didn't ask for."
"You always have a choice." His voice softens. "You can refuse the bond. Keep me at distance. Use me as a weapon to fight the Council and nothing more. I'll accept that if I have to."
"But?"
"But you'll never be complete. Neither will I." He takes a step closer. "The bond isn't a cage, Elara. It's freedom. Two souls that fit together perfectly. Two people who make each other stronger. You feel it even as you fight it—that sense of rightness when we touch. That pull when we're apart."
He's right. I hate that he's right.
"I'm scared," I admit quietly. "Everyone I've ever trusted has betrayed me. My family. Maven. Celestine. How do I know you won't do the same?"
"Because I CAN'T." He closes the distance between us. "The bond won't let me hurt you. Your pain is my pain. Literally. If I betray you, I destroy myself."
"That's not trust. That's just magic preventing you."
"Then test me." He takes my hand and presses it to his chest over his mark. "Open the bond fully. Feel what I feel. See if I'm lying."
"I don't know how—"
The moment the words leave my mouth, something SHIFTS.
The bond explodes open like a door I didn't know was locked. Suddenly I'm not just feeling Azrathion's emotions—I'm EXPERIENCING them.
His fear of losing me. His grief over Lysandra still raw after three centuries. His fury at the Council. His desperate hope that maybe, maybe this time he can protect the woman he loves.
And underneath all of it: love. Fierce, consuming, terrifying love that he's trying so hard to hide from me.
"Oh," I gasp, pulling my hand back. The connection dims but doesn't break. "Oh gods."
"Now you know." His voice is hoarse. "Now you understand what I feel every time I look at you."
Tears burn my eyes. "How can you love me? You don't even know me!"
"My soul knows yours. That's enough." He cups my face gently. "But you're right—I'm falling in love with YOU too. With Elara. With your sharp tongue and your rage and your determination to survive. With the girl who yells at dragons and makes impossible plans and refuses to stay broken."
"This is moving too fast—"
"We don't have time for slow." His thumb brushes my cheek. "Tomorrow we might die. Tonight, I need you to know: you're not alone anymore. Whatever happens, I'm with you. In this life and every life after."
The bond pulses between us, warm and insistent. My heart races.
"I can't love you back," I whisper. "Not yet. I'm too broken. Too scared."
"I know." He rests his forehead against mine. "But the bond will wait. I'll wait. Until you're ready to trust me. Until you're ready to let me in."
We stand like that for a long moment, breathing together, connected by magic and something deeper.
Then his head snaps up. "Do you feel that?"
"Feel what—"
Pain explodes through the bond. Not his pain. Someone else's.
"Morvane," Azrathion gasps. "She's dying."
"How do you know?"
"Dragon bonds. We're all connected. She's—" His face goes white. "They're torturing her. Making her tell them where we are."
Horror floods through me. "We have to save her!"
"We can't. She's in the Capitol. Surrounded by hundreds of mages." His voice breaks. "Even if we could reach her, she's too far gone. They've drained too much of her essence."
Through the bond, I feel Morvane's agony like a distant scream. Feel her fighting to protect us even as they rip her apart.
"They're using her blood to track us," Azrathion says suddenly. "That's how they found us before. They must have captured her during the attack, used her blood to create a new tracking spell."
"Can they track us now?"
"Yes." His face hardens. "They know where we are. They're coming."
"How long do we have?"
"Hours. Maybe less." He pulls away, already moving into commander mode. "Wake the others. We move the attack to tonight."
"TONIGHT?" I grab his arm. "We're not ready!"
"We're out of time!" He rounds on me. "If we wait until morning, they'll surround us. Kill us all before we get close to the Capitol. Our only chance is to attack NOW while they think we're still hiding."
He's right. I hate it, but he's right.
"The seven dragons—"
"Will follow your lead. You freed them. They'd die for you." His golden eyes burn into mine. "The question is: are you ready to lead them?"
Am I? I just learned to control my magic five days ago. I've never led anyone. Never fought in a real battle.
But Morvane is dying because of me. Sixty-three dragons are imprisoned because of me. The Council hunted and sealed me because they feared what I'd become.
Time to prove them right.
"Get everyone ready," I say, my voice steady. "We leave in ten minutes."
Azrathion stares at me. Then slowly, he smiles. "That's my queen."
"I'm not your queen."
"Not yet." He heads for the exit, then pauses. "Elara?"
"Yeah?"
"After tonight—if we survive—I'm going to ask you to accept the bond fully. To choose me not because fate demands it, but because you want to." His eyes meet mine. "Think about your answer."
He leaves before I can respond.
I stand there, heart racing, the mark on my chest burning hot.
Choose him. Accept the bond fully. Tie my life to his forever.
The terrifying part? I'm starting to want that.
I shake my head, pushing the thought away. Time to focus. Time to fight.
I join the others outside. Seven dragons wait in their human forms. Young, old, different colors and personalities, but all watching me with fierce loyalty.
"We attack the Capitol tonight," I announce. "We're outnumbered. Probably outmatched. The Council has been preparing for this fight for three centuries. We've had four days."
"So why are we doing this?" one dragon asks. Not challenging. Genuinely curious.
"Because Morvane is dying in their dungeons. Because sixty-three of our people are imprisoned. Because the Council has built their empire on stolen magic and broken bonds." My voice rises. "Because they made me think I was weak my entire life, and I'm done letting them define me."
Silver fire dances on my skin.
"Tonight, we show them what happens when you try to cage a dragon's heart. Tonight, we burn their lies to ash. Tonight, we take back our freedom."
The dragons roar their approval. The sound shakes the mountains.
Azrathion moves beside me, close enough that our shoulders touch. Through the bond, I feel his pride. His hope. His love.
"One more thing," I say, looking at my small army. "The Council expects us to run. To hide. To be afraid."
I let the silver fire grow brighter, hotter, until it illuminates the night.
"Let's prove them wrong."
We take to the sky as one—eight dragons and one Dragonheart flying toward the most dangerous fight of our lives.
The Capitol glows on the horizon like a beacon.
Or a target.
Through the bond, Azrathion's voice whispers in my mind: Together?
I send back one word: Together.
Then the alarm bells start ringing in the Capitol.
They know we're coming.
And the real war begins.