Page 91 of A Court of Darkness and Dragons

“I don’t understand,” I whispered.

“You will.” His voice softened, no less commanding but weighted with sorrow. “You must stand at the heart of their prison. Place your hand upon the pendant and call Kaelith’s magic as if it were your own. Do not command it—share it. Let it flow from you into the pendant, into the chains that hold them. It will not be blood alone that breaks their bondage, but trust. If you falter, if Kaelith falters, they will die, and your bond may unravel with them.”

The pendant throbbed against my chest, hot enough to sting, and Kaelith’s voice hissed low in my mind. He is right. I will give everything to this, Ashlyn. You must too. No hesitation. No fear.

I clenched my fists, blinking away the sting of tears. “And if it kills me?”

Siergen’s gaze didn’t waver. “Then you will die as the first true rider in this age. Bound not by chains, but by choice. And every dragon, every life saved, will know your name.”

The reality of it pulsed through me until my knees threatened to give. My hand curled tight around the pendant, my other pressed to my heart where Kaelith’s presence burned steady and fierce.

“I’ll do it,” I whispered, though the tremor in my chest was real.

Siergen closed his eyes, a low rumble echoing through the cavern like grief contained. “Then the fate of the horde rests in your hands, Ashlyn Rebec. Do not fail them.”

The Hollow spat me back into the wasteland with a sound like stone grinding on stone. The cavern mouth was gone behind me, nothing but jagged rock and brittle brush, as if it had never been there at all. My lungs burned with the cool air, the weight of what had just happened still coiled in my chest like a living flame.

Zander was waiting, standing tall despite the exhaustion I could feel rolling off him. His dark eyes locked onto me the instant I emerged, and before I could draw another breath, he was striding forward.

“You got it.” His voice was low, but relief threaded every word. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me tight against his chest. For a moment, I just let myself sink into him, my cheek pressed to the armor that smelled of smoke and steel.

“I did.” My voice was muffled against him. I pulled back enough to meet his eyes, lifting the pendant from where it rested against my sternum. The strange glow within it pulsed like a heartbeat. “But it’s not enough just to have it. I have to call on Kaelith’s power at the heart of the dragons’ prison, or none of this will matter.”

Zander’s jaw tightened, and he glanced at Leyriam, who stood a few paces back, his white braid glinting in the weak light that filtered through the ruined skies.

“Do you know where that is?” I asked.

Leyriam’s expression was grave, his hand tightening on the hilt of his sword. “The cavern that currently cages them. The chest was never the true prison. The chains that bind them are anchored there. That is where the pendant must be used.”

“Of course,” I whispered, my stomach twisting. “We have to go back.”

Zander’s hand brushed mine, warm, steadying. His gaze was searching. “Ashlyn… what happened in there?”

I hesitated, the words lodged like thorns in my throat. But if anyone deserved the truth, it was him. I turned fully to face him, keeping my voice low. “Kaelith and I… we chose the bond.”

He stilled completely, his breath leaving him in a soft rush. His dark eyes widened, flickering as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard me right. “The soul-bond?”

I nodded, feeling the tremor ripple through me as I remembered the sensation—the threads twining, the merging of who I was with who Kaelith had always been. “It was the only way to prove our trust. To gain the pendant. We’re not just tied by magic anymore, Zander. Our souls…” I pressed a hand over my chest where Kaelith’s presence pulsed with mine, “they’re one now.”

He was silent, staring at me as if I’d just told him the sky was breaking open. His lips parted, closed, parted again. “Ashlyn,” he whispered, my name ragged in his throat. “That’s… that’s not something done lightly. That’s…” His hand lifted to cup my face, thumb brushing my cheek as if to ground himself. “It means you’ve given up more than your life. You’ve given her your soul.”

I swallowed hard. “And she’s given me hers.”

The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the sound of Hein’s talons scraping stone as he shifted behind us. Kaelith’s voice brushed against mine, warm and fierce. Tell him I chose it, too. That I would have chosen it in any world.

Zander’s gaze softened, but the shock hadn’t left him. He bent his forehead to mine, his voice a whisper that was more vow than statement. “You’ve become something no rider has been in centuries. And gods help me, I don’t know whether to be terrified or in awe.”

I let out a shaky laugh, though my chest ached. “Both, maybe.”

Leyriam cleared his throat, his voice quiet but urgent. “Then there’s no time to waste. If you’ve bound yourself to her in truth, you might be the only one alive who can undo what Veralin has done. Come—we must return to the cavern.”

Zander’s fingers lingered against my cheek before he pulled back. But the look in his eyes stayed with me as we followed Leyriam through the ruined bones of Veralin’s castle. Shock, yes—but also pride. And a kind of reverence that made my throat tighten with unshed tears.

The wasteland stretched before us, gray and lifeless, and yet the pendant at my throat pulsed brightly, like a promise, until we reached the stairway that led underground.

The cavern stank of blood and iron, of rot and despair. Yet when we stepped inside, the sound of my squad—alive, waiting—was the only thing I cared about. Ferrula stood with her sword drawn, Naia’s blue eyes alert and wary, and Jax rushed forward before anyone else could speak.

“You did it.” His arms wrapped around me, crushing, and for a moment all I could do was bury my face against his shoulder and let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.