Page 5 of A Court of Darkness and Dragons

“I live dangerously,” Tae mumbled, swaying just enough to prove her point.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I may have used some mind control on that rider to ensure he didn’t blast Hein with a spell.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Tae shrugged as I placed my saddle on the rail.

The moment Kaelith’s saddle was removed, she turned without waiting. One powerful beat of her wings sent a gust of dust spiraling around me as she launched into the night. The others followed without a glance back—Koddos, Temil, Kieren, Kasstovian—dragons fading like ghosts into the clouds as they returned to the Dragon Isle.

Too long among mortals and politics, Kaelith whispered. We need the wind and the stone beneath us. We’ll return when you call.

I watched her vanish until only the ache in my chest remained.

Zander strode past me, his boots striking hard against the stone. He didn’t slow until he reached the edge of the grounds, where a member of Iron Fang stood just outside the torchlight, arms folded across a chest weighed down with medals he probably didn’t earn.

Zander didn’t hesitate. “Find Cade. Tell him to meet me in my quarters. Now.”

The Iron Fang’s lips thinned, jaw tightening as if he had a retort on the tip of his tongue, but one glance at Hein still lingering high above the castle silenced whatever pride he was about to spit.

He gave a curt nod. “Yes, Prince Rayne.” Then, he turned on his heel and stalked toward the Iron Fang wing of the fortress.

Zander exhaled once, the sound barely audible over the wind.

We’re running out of time, I thought, watching him with my heart pounding like a war drum. Let’s hope Cade’s worth the risk.

We made our way to Zander’s room, nodding silently to the guards we passed.

Kaelith was gone. But even now, standing in Zander’s quarters with the scent of fire and leather still clinging to my clothes, the bond thrummed beneath my skin.

She should’ve been silent.

Instead, her magic surged through the tether like a sudden tide, crashing into me with a force that drove me to my knees.

I gasped, clutching the edge of the stone table, but I wasn’t here anymore.

The room dissolved.

In its place—burning towers.

Ash choked the skies. Warriath’s silhouette stood fractured, its spires consumed by flame. The Ascension Grounds were cracked open like a fault line, dragon bones scattered, their wings charred, their eyes dark.

Smoke swallowed everything… and from that smoke, something moved.

Not a dragon.

Its wings were wrong. Too long. Too thin. They hissed when they moved, like fabric soaked in venom. Its body shimmered with a twisted sheen—not scales, but something softer, deceptive. Half-shadow, half-flesh.

Not a fae either.

Its eyes burned like twin suns. And when it turned its head toward me, I couldn’t breathe. I knew—whatever it was, it saw me.

And it smiled.

Kaelith’s voice pierced through the nightmare, low and ancient and furious.

The traitor hides in plain sight.