Chapter 5
Raven
The crackleof flames echoes in my ears, sharp and hungry, as I walk through the woods toward the smell of burned wood—a scent like charcoal mixed with something sweeter, almost like incense. There’s a man standing at the edge of the lake in the northern part of my territory, moonlight painting silver lines across the water’s surface.
His broad back faces me, and even in the dream-haze, I can see scars crisscrossing his skin like a map of pain—evidence that he was whipped mercilessly or survived a brutal war. His hair catches my attention most—it looks like living flames, strands of orange, red, and copper mixed together and moving as if stirred by an invisible wind.
He doesn’t turn to face me. Instead, he reaches his hand back toward me, palm open in invitation. I take his hand without hesitation, feeling calloused warmth against my skin, and he leads me into the water. The lake is surprisingly warm, almost hot, with steam rising from its surface in wispy tendrils.
When he turns to face me, his features remain frustratingly blurred—like trying to see through frosted glass. The minuteI’m in his arms, instinct takes over with overwhelming force. I bite him, tasting his blood on my tongue, and it’s like drinking liquid fire. The taste reminds me of that one alcohol Abraxis brought out for Solstice—the expensive bottle he guarded jealously. It’s like a sweet dessert wine, smooth as silk but burning all the way down my throat.
He breaks the kiss just before we mate, and I feel him everywhere—his heat, his presence, his power wrapping around me like a second skin. Then the lake burns, flames dancing across the water’s surface in impossible defiance of nature.
“You’re safe, my mate, my fire will never harm you. You are my love and life, my reason for living.” His voice is distorted by the dream, wavering like heat shimmer, but it soothes something deep in my soul.
BANG, BANG, BANG. “Shadowcarve gauntlet time!” Balor’s voice crashes through the door like a battering ram, shattering the dream into fragments.
I slept alone last night—well, Xero was curled against my side, her small warm body a comfort, and Solaris’s egg rested in its blankets beside the bed, pulsing gently with his sleeping consciousness.
“Am I going crazy?” I ask Solaris as I stroke his warm shell, feeling the life thrumming beneath the surface.
“Nae, lass, just a vision of the future. ‘Twas yer mate.”Solaris’s accent is heavy yet smooth, rolling over the words like honey, and has an almost sultry tone that makes my stomach flutter.
“Do you know what he is?” I press, hoping the ancient dragon will give me answers. His laughter echoes in my head—warm, knowing, and frustratingly amused.
“Of course, lass. A strong male, a good male. I knew his bloodline, but nae him personally.”Solaris says cryptically, clearly enjoying keeping secrets. Damn ancient dragon and his mysteries.
“You’re not going to tell me who it is?” I say with exasperation as I roll out of bed, my bare feet hitting the cool stone floor. I grab my leathers from where they hang on the chair, the supple material familiar in my hands.
“Nae, everythin’ happens when it’s meant tae, not a second sooner,”his mental voice sounds like he’s letting out a soft exhale of satisfaction at my frustration.
“Do you know when you’ll hatch?” I zip up my leathers, the sound loud in the quiet morning, then reach back to secure the leather strapping that goes between my wings. The complicated fastenings are always a challenge to do alone. One of my mates will finish securing it when I leave my room.
“Nae soon enough, lass. Go win tha gauntlet, then come tell me about it.”Solaris’s voice carries genuine love and support through our bond, the warmth of it spreading through my chest like sunlight. I really got lucky with him as a mate.
Carefully, I slip Solaris into his egg carrier, adjusting the straps so the weight distributes evenly across my chest. I grab my matched short swords—the blades singing softly as I lift them—and my backpack filled with the rest of my throwing knives.
Keir is the only mate still home, and he looks damn sexy in his black leathers that fit him like a second skin, highlighting everymuscle. I let out a low, appreciative whistle and watch with satisfaction as a blush creeps up his neck.
“Need help?” he asks, his voice slightly rough from sleep.
“Yeah. Lily did them for me last year.” I turn and spread my wings wide, trying to make it easier for him to reach all the fasteners that run along the leather between my wings. “Just match the symbols. Lily marked them one night, so we’d stop messing up the order.” A laugh escapes my lips, though it’s tinged with sadness at missing my sister. She opted to have her own room down the hall from me this year, needing space to prepare for Icarus’s eventual hatching.
“It was a brilliant idea on her part,” Keir says as he tugs on the leathers with practiced efficiency, his fingers warm against my back as he works each fastener into place.
Solaris’s egg vibrates against my chest before he speaks again.“Good male. Gentle and brings a good balance tae the nest,”he says with a yawn that I can somehow feel through our connection.
“What did he say?” Keir asks as he kisses my cheek tenderly before moving to work on the fastenings on the other side.
“That you’re a good male and bring balance to the nest.” I smile as I start slipping my blades into their designated sheaths on my leathers, each knife finding its home with familiar ease. The weight of them is comforting—deadly tools that have saved my life more than once.
“All done, love,” Keir says with a warm smile, then helps me slip my twin short swords down my spine, buckling the harness that keeps them secure but accessible. His fingers brush against myneck as he fastens the last strap, sending pleasant shivers down my spine.
“Let’s go conquer the gauntlet.” I take his hand, lacing our fingers together, and he blinks us over to Shadowcarve in that disorienting moment of space folding and reality shifting.
Let the games begin.
The gauntlet looms before me,significantly bigger than the year-one course I ran what feels like a lifetime ago. That one was child’s play compared to this towering monstrosity of wood, steel, and carefully engineered death. The whir and clack of the inner workings catch my attention—gears grinding, chains rattling, mechanisms shifting with ominous purpose. Every sound speaks of a different danger lurking within the shadows, waiting to test me.
