Chapter 18
Raven
Lub-dub...lub-dub... lub-dub...
All I hear is my heartbeat—slow and steady, echoing through my massive skull with hypnotic rhythm. By the muffled sound of it, I know I’m submerged in a body of water somewhere. The pressure against my scales confirms the depth.
I open my eyes slowly, and I’m floating in dark, cold water that’s deep enough for my entire dragon form to be fully submerged except for my nostrils, which I’m instinctively keeping above the surface to breathe. The water is murky—I can barely see more than a few dozen feet in front of me despite my enhanced dragon vision.
To my right, I see my father’s massive drake form submerged next to me, his black scales nearly invisible in the dark water. Only the occasional glint of light reflecting off his curved horns gives him away. Our sizes are nearly identical now—a sobering realization.
Blinking my sapphire eyes twice to clear my vision, I fully submerge my head beneath the water to look my body over,my natural ability to hold my breath for extended periods keeping me comfortable. Minimal damage from whatever battle I was just in—a few scratches across my scales that are already healing, some tender spots along my ribs that will bruise. And... I pause, confusion flooding through me. I don’t remember what happened after they hit me with fire.
The memory just... stops. Like someone cut a film reel.
We are safe,my dragoness supplies, her voice calm and satisfied in my mind.
And my mates?I ask back, trying to keep the panic out of my mental voice.
Also safe, and so are your fathers. We found manticore and drow approaching our territory after destroying the golds. We melted the eastern border to protect our continent;she explains matter-of-factly, as if she’s discussing the weather rather than mass destruction.
I move to surface immediately, my massive form rising from the depths. When I breach, water cascading off my scales in torrents, I look around, trying to get my bearings. I have absolutely no idea where we are. The landscape is unfamiliar—rocky shores, dense forest in the distance, mountains I don’t recognize.
Corvus, Klauth, and Finlay stand on the shore watching me with expressions I can’t quite read—tiny figures from my current perspective. My father Thauglor rises from the water after me with a surge of displaced liquid that sends waves crashing against the shore, and we both shift back to our human forms simultaneously.
The transformation leaves me dizzy for a moment, and suddenly I’m standing in waist-deep water, the cold hitting my now-human skin like a shock. The cold air hits my wet skin, raising goosebumps. “Where am I?”
“The northeastern part of our continent. Apparently, you’ve expanded Blackhaven’s reach significantly,” Klauth says as he moves closer to me cautiously, like I’m a bomb that might still explode.
His wariness sends a chill down my spine that has nothing to do with the cold water. “What did I do?” I look between both my fathers, then both my mates, searching their faces for clues.
“Apparently, your dragoness had enough sense to take the battle with the golds away from the populated areas,” Finlay starts, his voice carefully neutral.
“Unfortunately, you went into a bronze dragon’s territory that we didn’t know about,” Corvus continues, his silver eyes troubled. “Who happened to be hiding a population of drow and manticores—creating a threat literally in our backyard.”
“You dispatched the gold dragonesses efficiently, then proceeded to melt the entire territory until you were absolutely certain all the drow and manticores were dead,” Klauth explains, watching me closely. “Then this one—” he hikes his thumb over his shoulder at Thauglor “—decided to help you claim the territory for Blackhaven officially.”
Dad shrugs his shoulders with zero remorse and smiles at me with genuine pride. “I’m so proud of my baby.”
I start pacing along the shoreline, my bare feet sinking slightly into the damp earth, looking at the body of water I was just submerged in. “Is this part of the new territory?” I motion to thelake and really examine the area now. It’s actually not bad, if I’m being honest with myself—defensible, with fresh water and excellent sight lines.
“It is,” Corvus says, and I can see whatever I did while my dragoness was in control; he’s having serious problems processing it. His hands keep clenching and unclenching at his sides.
“Why did I attack this territory specifically?” I look directly into Thauglor’s sapphire eyes—identical to mine—knowing he physically can’t lie to me. The bond between us won’t allow it.
“The drow fired a poisoned bolt at Corvus from the treeline,” Klauth says before Dad can answer, his voice tight. “If you hadn’t reacted as fast as you did, he would have died within minutes. You caught the bolt mid-air before it could strike him—snatched it right out of the air.”
My stomach drops at how close I came to losing my mate.
“Klauth and I started torching the forest to destroy the crossbows and anyone wielding them,” Finlay admits, and I can hear the edge of violence in his voice—the phoenix who would burn the world for his mate.
I reach down the bond tentatively, stroking along the connection to Corvus, not entirely sure how I feel about what I did. The memories are fragments—rage, fire, the satisfying crunch of gold dragon bones breaking.
We protected our mates and territory. They were too close to our nest. Must protect the future progeny,my dragoness says to me with absolute conviction.
She’s right, I realize with sudden clarity. The threat was literally in our backyard, close enough to strike at my mates. Close enough to threaten the nest and any future hatchlings.
The drow and manticore had to be eliminated completely, or they would have kept coming back. I look up at the sky, noting the position of the sun, and realize with dark humor what day it is.
