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The dragon she'd been riding roared, and his throat lit up with blue flames. Yelena shouted at him as Lucian had yelled at me.
“Armen, stop! She doesn't understand!"
Armen?
I repeated the name in my mind—it sounded familiar. Yes, that was the name of the dragon Rumir had said was his only friend in this damned place. As a child, a prisoner named Armen, who’d once stood up to Cedric, was the only father figure Rumir ever had.
“Armen?” I asked. “You’re Armen?”
The dragon's blue eyes held my stare, and he started to shift. His bones broke and realigned until he stood beside Yelena in his human form. His hair was white to his waist, and at first, his skin appeared a little wrinkled and pale. Then he took a deep breath, his eyes closed, and he started to change again.
I looked at Yelena, who took a step back. I narrowed my eyes. She was watching Armen, adoration in her gaze and…relief? Soon Armen appeared younger than he’d been just seconds ago. His skin was now smooth and healthy. In wonder, he stared at his hands and then touched his face.
“You’ve been locked away for centuries,” Yelena whispered. “Denied what dragons need to be free.”
Armen smiled down at Yelena and took her hand in his. As sweet as this was, there was no time for it.
“Cedric’s taken Rumir," I said. "Cedric is Ash. He started this war, and now he has Rumir!”
“We’re aware Cedric’s the man behind this war,” Armen said, his words spoken softly although his voice was gruff. "Yelena and I have been waiting for our chance to escape this place, to inform the gods of what Cedric's been doing. But he's kept me locked away for centuries. My strength was depleted until I met Yelena. She’s been helping me."
He looked at her and cleared his throat. "She might be Cedric’s child, but he doesn't care about her, though he keeps her trapped here," Armen said, and his eyes narrowed with hatred. "Still, his negligence made it easy for her to sneak away to see me, bring me food and share her power. Rumir doesn’t even know she’s his sister.”
Yelena looked away, blinking rapidly. With her black hair, green eyes, and the sureness in her walk, I could see her likeness to Rumir.
“We have to find them,” I said. “But I…I can’t hear Rumir, anymore. My thoughts aren't reaching him, and our bond…" I shook my head, still rubbing my chest to try and make the pain disappear. "I can't follow it."
"Cedric will have him cloaked," Yelena said.
Just then, the Goddess reappeared, her silver eyes the only feature visible in the darkness beneath her hood.
"I couldn't track his portal," she said, her voice low but filled with rage. "I couldn't track any of the portals that opened in the castle."
I looked at Lucian, and the sympathy in his eyes made me want to scream. This simply couldn't be happening.
“Can you feel him?” the Goddess asked, approaching me. “You can feel Rumir, can’t you?”
I nodded. "I can. He's not dead. But he’s…changing."
Her fists clenched, and I could identify with the way she was feeling—powerless, inadequate…angry. Very, very angry. Lucian put a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to calm me. I pressed my wrists into my eyes. I couldn’t stop seeing Cedric biting Rumir—it was burned into my memory. “Our bond doesn't feel right, Goddess. We're losing him. What are we going to do?”
My hands fell to my side, but she didn't answer. No one did.
I turned to Lucian. “Do you have any ideas?”
“We’ll find him,” Yelena whispered. “We’ll find both of them. And we’ll make sure father pays for what he’s done.”
