Page 49 of A Court of Darkness and Dragons

I curled my fingers into the familiar shapes, my answer final.

It will never happen.

Severeth’s expression hardened, the sly smile dying on her lips. We’ll see, she messaged, and then her hands rose high above her head.

The air thickened.

Power rolled off her in invisible waves, not light or flame but something deeper, like the bones of the world themselves were vibrating. The sky rippled, faint distortions spilling outward in concentric rings that shimmered like heat haze. It looked unsubstantial, harmless even… until it hit.

Across the battlefield, riders cried out. Dragons wavered mid-stroke, their wings faltering as if their bodies suddenly weighed twice as much. One Palisade dipped dangerously low before snapping back at the last second, its rider clutching at its neck as if the contact was slipping through his fingers.

They weren’t just struggling, they were out of sync. The bonds between dragon and rider thinned, frayed, slipping like sand through open hands.

The magic passed through me a heartbeat later, a sickening echo starting just behind my eyes before lancing down my spine. Kaelith’s roar thundered in my mind, my name shouted like a warning, like a plea⁠—

And then she was gone.

The hollow silence where her presence should have been hit harder than any physical blow. I gasped, reaching for her across the bond, clawing for even the faintest spark of her magic⁠—

Nothing.

It was like trying to grasp smoke. The connection that had been part of my very soul was… absent. My chest clenched, the edges of my vision tunneling, and for the first time since we bonded, I was utterly alone in the sky.

Then it fractured into chaos.

Dragons caught in the wave of Severeth’s magic began to spiral, their wings jerking out of rhythm, bodies tilting wildly as if gravity had decided to play favorites. The sound of wings losing formation was sickening—thumps, groans, and the ragged rush of air as massive bodies fought to stay aloft.

My eyes locked on Koddos just as his bulky frame banked hard left⁠—

And Jax leaned the wrong way.

Time stopped.

His body slid over the saddle, boots catching air instead of leather, and my heart clenched so tight I couldn’t breathe. The void below him was a yawning, endless drop, and for one paralyzing second, I was certain I was about to watch my friend die.

But a green blur cut through the chaos.

Ferrula and Narvea dove like a falling star, her rope snapping behind her as the Clubtail’s massive wings folded tight to cut speed. They hit the air beneath Jax just as he lost his grip entirely.

Narvea’s back slammed into his chest with a bone-jarring thud, knocking the breath from him, but Ferrula didn’t even glance back—she just kept Narvea steady as the dragon gave a rumbling grunt of effort, her tail slicing the air for balance.

Jax scrambled upright, his face pale but determined, and wrapped both arms tight around Ferrula’s waist.

She spared him one quick glance over her shoulder, a grin flickering across her lips despite the danger. “Saving you never gets old.”

Narvea’s chest heaved once, a low growl curling up her throat, but her wings leveled out, keeping them steady in the chaos.

Kaelith’s wings faltered once… twice… and then she began to descend.

Not the controlled glide of a trained warrior, but the slow, inevitable drop of a creature no longer tethered to its other half. I could see it now—across the battle, the majority of our dragons were being forced down, their movements jerky and unsure. Without their riders’ voices in their minds, without the guidance of instinct woven into trust, they were vulnerable in the air.

It hit me like a blade to the gut, this was why all those grueling dragon trials had been necessary. Every sleepless night. Every bone-deep bruise. The unyielding tests. Without a bond strong enough to fuse us together, without the shared language of magic, our dragons couldn’t guide us when we faltered. And now… they couldn’t trust us.

I reached for Kaelith with everything I had, pouring my magic outward like a river breaking its banks. Come back to me. Please.

Nothing.

The ground surged closer; the wind flattening my hair against my face. We were a few miles from the main army, its movement a dark ripple across the horizon, but distance wouldn’t save us. If our dragons couldn’t carry us into battle, they would have no choice but to land us and take to the sky alone, fighting without the one person meant to fight beside them.