Page 79 of A Court of Darkness and Dragons

Below, one dragon shifted. Unlike the others, it thrashed violently against its chains, wings battering the cage walls until sparks flew. Shadows oozed off its hide, but its movements were jerky, faltering, unnatural.

“It’s dying,” the Light Fae whispered grimly.

My throat tightened. “Why?”

The warrior’s gaze swept toward Veralin’s crumpled body. “Because as its captor dies… so does it.”

The dragon screamed, the sound raw and guttural, a wail that rattled my bones and echoed through the cavern like a requiem. Its body slammed once more against the iron, then collapsed, trembling. Its scales flickered, shadows giving way to a shimmer of color I couldn’t name, before it gave one final, shuddering breath.

Then it was still.

Kaelith’s roar shook the heavens.

The sound ripped across the battlefield like a clarion call, scattering dust and rattling the broken stones beneath our feet. Every dragon, ours, theirs, even those still chained in the cavern below, lifted their heads to answer.

Light blazed off her scales, as dazzling as molten metal. One moment she gleamed violet, the next a deep-gold, then the two merged until her entire body shimmered like a living prism. Her eyes ignited with gold flame, and the sight made my knees weaken.

I gasped, clutching my shoulder as the silver mark burned, then vanished entirely. “Kaelith?”

The surge of magic between us has sped up my final evolution, she hissed into my mind, her voice rich in both fury and reverence.

Are you in pain? What is it doing to you? My heart clenched at the pulse of her power.

I will be fine in a moment.

Her scales rippled again, colors chasing one another across her hide—violet melting to sapphire, sapphire to emerald, emerald to gold. She was everything, every lineage of dragon in one magnificent, impossible form.

Gasps rose from the Light Fae, awe thick in the air. Whispers spread like fire. They hadn’t realized. None of them had. Kaelith was a Shiftling.

Her tail lashed, splitting at the tip into two scythe-like blades, gleaming and lethal. The ground trembled beneath her claws as another roar split the air, one I knew as well as the nightmares it carried.

Severeth’s dragon.

It swooped from the dark clouds, obsidian scales swallowing what little light pierced the ruined skies. Its wings cut through the air with thunderous force, talons outstretched as it dove straight for Kaelith.

I screamed her name, but she needed no warning.

Kaelith surged upward, her body a kaleidoscope of shifting light, and met the black dragon mid-air with bone-shaking force. Their clash cracked like a storm, wings and tails tangling as they clawed at one another. Severeth’s dragon snapped at Kaelith’s throat, its fangs scraping scales that shimmered gold one moment, then hardened into brilliant sapphire the next.

Kaelith twisted, a sinuous roll that tore her free, and her split tails lashed out. For an instant, they scythed like Strikers, slashing deep into the beast’s shoulder. Its scream rattled the clouds.

But she wasn’t finished.

Her tails twisted again—shifting, solidifying, until they thickened into massive, spiked clubs. With a roar that shook the heavens, Kaelith swung both down with devastating force.

The blow connected with the black dragon’s skull, the impact echoing like stone struck by thunder. It reeled, eyes rolling back as its body went limp, wings folding awkwardly as it plummeted.

The ground shook as it crashed, unconscious.

Kaelith hovered above the ruin, her body blazing with living light. She roared again, and this time it wasn’t just defiance. It was a declaration.

Ferrula darted across the shattered courtyard, Narvea shadowing her as she skidded to a stop beside the fallen black dragon. She pressed a hand to its massive side, listening, then shouted, “It’s alive, but where is Severeth?”

Every gaze swept the ruins, tense and searching. The Light Fae commander barked an order, his voice carrying authority. His warriors fanned out immediately, blades in hand, scanning every shadow, every broken arch, every curl of smoke. But in my gut, I already knew.

You won’t find her. My heart sank as certainty washed through me. Severeth was too skilled with glamor to be caught like prey. She was here, or she wasn’t, but either way, we wouldn’t see her until she wanted us to.

A steady weight pressed on my arm, grounding me. I turned to find Zander at my side. His face was pale beneath the grime of battle, Dark Fire still flickering in his eyes. His hand covered my forearm, and only then did I notice the thin line of blood trailing from a cut across his knuckles.