Page 92 of A Court of Darkness and Dragons

“I got the pendant,” I managed when he finally let me breathe. My fingers touched the strange weight around my neck, the blood-born jewel that pulsed like a living thing. “Now I just have to call on Kaelith’s power to break the spell.” My voice wavered, both hope and fear threading through it. “Or so I’m told.”

Leyriam stepped forward, his silver hair catching the torchlight like threads of moonlight. His face was solemn. “Then you must enter one of their cells. The bond must be broken from within, where it is anchored.” His eyes lingered on me with a kind of reverence, but there was no pity. Only expectation.

My gaze swept the cavern, pausing on the dragon whose scales shimmered softly beneath the shadow of the chains. Black… yet not fully. Patches of gold flickered like hidden fire across its flank, even in sleep. My chest tightened. “That one,” I said softly, pointing.

Leyriam nodded and lifted his hands. Blue light coalesced at his fingertips, shimmering threads that laced across the bars of the cell. Words older than Warriath itself left his lips, vibrating through the stone. The lock shuddered and fell away with a clang.

The air was heavy, stifling, as I stepped inside. The dragon was massive even in its slumber, its breaths shallow, as though clinging to life only because it had no choice. I placed my palm on the ridge of its chest, feeling the sluggish thrum of a heart that should have thundered like Kaelith’s.

Kaelith, I whispered in my mind.

Yes. Her voice filled me, steady and fierce.

“Release them from stasis.”

As you wish.

A hiss of energy rippled through me as Kaelith withdrew her hold. The golden-patched dragon stirred, lids twitching over sightless eyes. My pulse hammered, fear threatening to choke me—but I pressed harder against its chest, summoning Kaelith’s power through me.

It came like fire and storm, lightning down my veins. Not my power alone, not hers alone, but ours. The pendant blazed, a living beacon, and the air itself recoiled as I channeled it into the dragon beneath my palm.

At first, nothing. Then I felt it—the dark tether, slick and oily, coiling through the dragon’s soul like a parasite. My breath caught. It was ancient, unnatural, more curse than bond, and its claws dug deep.

“Now,” I whispered through gritted teeth.

Kaelith roared in my mind. Together, we unleashed the storm. Her lightning tore through me, searing and wild, slamming against the black chains that held the dragon bound. They writhed and resisted, but Kaelith’s fury was endless, my will unyielding. The cavern shook as sparks leaped from my body, arcing across the scales beneath my hand.

The darkness screamed.

And then it began to unravel.

Color rippled across the dragon’s scales, slow at first, then faster—gold consuming black, spreading like sunlight devouring night. It rolled over its wings, its tail, until no shadow remained. The chains shattered into dust, and the dragon’s chest heaved in a deep, ragged breath, free at last.

Behind me, the others gasped. And around us, the other caged dragons began to stir, their bodies trembling as if they, too, felt the bond beginning to crack.

The golden dragon whimpered, a sound so fragile it cut through the cavern like broken glass. Its massive body shook, wings quivering as though they might fold in on themselves, and the sound echoed all around me. The others—emerald, sapphire, ruby, different colors now blooming where blackness had once smothered them—quivered in their cages. Even as Jax, Ferrula, and Naia shattered locks with Leyriam’s aid, not one dragon tried to flee.

My chest tightened. “What’s wrong with them?” I asked, my palm still pressed to the warm, newly golden scales beneath my hand.

Kaelith’s voice threaded through my mind, low and heavy with sorrow. Their minds are like children’s. That is why they never grew as dragons should. They were chained not only in body, but in spirit. They do not understand what was done to them… only what they did. And they cannot cope with their shame.

I blinked back tears and smoothed my hand along the golden dragon’s flank, feeling its tremors ripple through my own body. “It wasn’t your fault,” I whispered, my voice catching. “You are so beautiful.”

It didn’t move, only shuddered under my touch.

I leaned closer, pressing my forehead against its scales. “I know your father,” I murmured. “He is the biggest and most beautiful dragon in the horde. And you—” my throat cracked, tears burning in my eyes, “you are his legacy.”

The dragon shifted, so slowly, so cautiously, its golden head turning toward me. Its eyes glistened wetly, and then, to my horror, red tears began to leak down its cheeks, streaking through scales dulled by centuries of pain.

My heart broke. I slid my arms as far around its neck as I could, pressing my cheek to the warm scales. “Don’t cry, baby,” I whispered fiercely. “This is the first day of your new life. Soon this place will be nothing but a dark memory.”

The dragon gave a quiet rumble, leaning into me, the slightest gesture of trust.

“Kaelith,” I asked, clutching tighter, “can they fly?”

Yes, she answered, her voice gentler now, steadier. Their bodies are strong; their wings remember. They have the strength; they have the knowledge. But the bonds to the horde… those are missing still. They must be woven again. That will take time.

I stroked the golden dragon’s scales, my tears sinking into the grooves of its hide. “Then let’s get you home,” I whispered. “Let’s get you all home.”