Mireya's POV
The wall explodes outward and I scream.
My black flames didn't just crack the stone—they obliterated it. Chunks of rock fly everywhere. Beyond the destroyed wall is an open cavern, massive and dark.
"Run!" Azraeth shouts, grabbing my hand.
We leap through the hole just as Seraphina's sword slams into the spot where we stood. Her scream of rage echoes behind us.
"After them! Don't let them escape!"
We sprint into the cavern. My new wings drag behind me, too heavy to lift. Every step sends pain shooting through my back where they tore out. But I keep running because the alternative is death.
"I can't—" I gasp. "Can't run much longer—"
"There!" Azraeth points to a crack in the cavern wall. "Squeeze through!"
We dive into the narrow opening. It's so tight I have to turn sideways. My wings scrape against rough stone. Behind us, golden light fills the cavern as angels pour through.
The passage opens into a small cave. Azraeth immediately draws glowing symbols on the entrance with his clawed finger.
"Concealment spell," he mutters. "Won't hold long, but it'll hide us for a few minutes."
He collapses against the wall, breathing hard. Through the bond, I feel his exhaustion. He's barely holding on.
I slide down beside him. "What just happened? How did I do that?"
"Your demon magic is awakening faster than it should." He touches his chest where the soul mark glows. "It's because of the bond. My power is feeding yours."
"I don't want to be a monster."
"Too late." His voice is harsh. "The moment the soul mark appeared, you stopped being fully human. There's no going back."
Tears burn my eyes. "I just wanted to prove I wasn't worthless."
"No one ever wants this." He sounds tired. Ancient. "But we don't get to choose what we become. We only choose what we do with it."
Outside, I hear voices. The angels are searching nearby.
"My mother sold me," I say quietly. "Before I was born, she made a deal with Lilith to get rid of me."
"Yes."
"And my whole life, she made me wear that necklace to suppress my magic. To keep me weak."
Hot anger burns in my chest. "I want to see her. I want to ask her why."
"You'll get your chance." He looks at me seriously. "But first, we need to survive. The angels won't stop hunting us. Lilith will come back. And there are others who'll want to capture or kill you."
"Then teach me," I say suddenly. "Teach me to control this power. To fight. I'm done being weak."
A small smile crosses his face. "There's the fire I sensed in you."
He holds out his hand. "Call your fire again. Feel the anger. The rage at everyone who hurt you. That's where demon magic comes from."
I think about Kieran. My mother. My sister. Everyone who made me feel small.
Heat builds in my chest. My hands start to glow with black flames.
"Good," Azraeth says. "Now focus it. Make it controlled."
For the next few minutes, he teaches me basic control. How to summon fire and dismiss it. How to sense other magical beings nearby. How to use the bond to communicate without speaking.
It's exhausting. But also thrilling. For the first time in my life, I feel powerful.
Then the concealment spell flickers and dies.
"Time's up," Azraeth says grimly. "They'll find us any second."
"So what do we do?"
"We fight our way out." He stands, pulling me up. "If an angel comes at you, don't hesitate—burn them."
"I've never killed anyone before."
"You will tonight. Because they won't hesitate to kill you."
Footsteps echo outside the cave. Wings flutter. Golden light seeps through the entrance.
Three angels rush in, weapons raised. Azraeth's shadows grab two of them. The third comes straight at me.
I react on instinct. Black flames burst from my hands, hitting the angel in the chest. He screams and falls.
I stare at my hands in horror. I just hurt someone. Maybe killed them.
"No time for guilt!" Azraeth grabs my wrist. "More coming!"
We burst out of the cave into chaos. Angels everywhere, at least twenty of them. And hovering above them all is Seraphina.
"Surrender!" she commands. "You're surrounded!"
Azraeth bares his teeth. "Never."
Then the cavern starts to shake. Rocks fall from the ceiling. A massive crack splits the floor.
"What's happening?" an angel shouts.
The crack widens. And from the darkness below, something rises.
A dragon.
An actual dragon, scales black as midnight, eyes glowing red. It's bigger than a building, its wings scraping the cavern ceiling.
It looks at me with those burning eyes and speaks in a voice that shakes my bones: "Daughter of the Dragon-Keepers. You have awakened the old blood."
Everyone freezes. Even Seraphina looks shocked.
The dragon turns its massive head toward Azraeth. "Demon King. It has been five centuries."
"Mordaine," Azraeth breathes. "You survived."
"Barely." The dragon's gaze returns to me. "But this one's awakening called to me through the deep earth. The Dragon-Keeper bloodline lives again."
Dragon-Keeper? What is that?
Before I can ask, Seraphina raises her sword. "Ancient one, stand aside—"
The dragon roars. The sound is so loud that angels are thrown against walls. The entire cavern shakes.
"You dare command me?" Mordaine snarls. "You who helped chain my kind beneath the earth? You who turned us into batteries for your stolen magic?"
Wait. What?
The dragon looks at me again. "You feel it, don't you? The truth in your blood. Your ancestors bonded with dragons. Protected them. That's why your magic is so powerful."
My head spins. I'm connected to dragons?
"Come," Mordaine says, lowering his massive head. "Climb on. I will take you somewhere the angels cannot follow."
"Don't trust him!" Seraphina shouts. "He's a monster—"
"Like you're a saint?" I snap back. "You tried to kill me twice tonight!"
I march toward the dragon. Azraeth catches my arm.
"Are you insane?" he hisses. "You don't know if we can trust him!"
"Do we have a choice?" I gesture at the twenty angels surrounding us.
Through the bond, I feel his internal struggle. Then he sighs. "Fine. But if he eats us, I'm blaming you."
We climb onto Mordaine's back. His scales are warm beneath my hands. The moment we're secure, he spreads his massive wings.
"No!" Seraphina screams. "Stop them!"
Angels swarm toward us. But Mordaine is faster. He launches upward, smashing through the cavern ceiling. Rock and earth explode around us. We burst through layer after layer of underground stone.
Then suddenly—we're in open air. Night sky above us. The city of Ashenvale spread below like glittering jewels.
Mordaine roars triumphantly and soars higher.
I cling to his scales, my heart pounding. The wind whips through my hair. My new wings spread instinctively, catching the air.
"Where are we going?" I shout over the wind.
"To the last place the angels will look," Mordaine rumbles. "The Forbidden Ashlands. Where the old magic still lives."
I look at Azraeth. Through the bond, I feel his uncertainty. We're trusting a dragon we just met. Flying toward a place called "Forbidden."
What could possibly go wrong?
Then Mordaine says something that makes my blood run cold:
"Your mother awaits us there. She has much to answer for."