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“Rose. He’s not going to wake up.” Ender is behind me now. He rests his rock-like hand on my back. It’s too heavy. Too suffocating.
I won’t let the panic consume me.
“Yes, he will. I just need time.” Apparently, stubbornness isn’t exclusive to dragons.
“He’s cursed, Rose.”
Why does he insist on giving voice to things I already know? Because he can’t read the fucking room. “And I’ve healed every other sleeping dragon. Just give me a damn minute!” I growl with all the intimidation of a small dog against a wolf.
I can’t let myself spiral, especially when I know I can fix this situation. I just need to ground myself and make a list of things I know.
I know that Malix is under a sleeping curse, courtesy of the Nephilim.
And I know I can bring him back.
So I try. Just like I did with all the others, I place my hands on him and channel my thoughts to those of comfort and security. Doing this now is as familiar as breathing.
After a full three minutes I pull back and wait.
My mind conjures up a ticking clock, each second that goes by gets increasingly louder until I can no longer drown out the noise.
“Sometimes it takes a minute,” I say, not sure who I’m trying to reassure.
Ever the calming presence, Ender is patient as he says, “It’s not going to work this time, Rose. He’s gone.”
He’s gone.
I hear those words. They replay in my mind repeatedly, but I don’t fully process them. Surely he doesn’t mean… “He’s not dead! He’s just sleeping. Just give me a little longer and I’ll wake him up. It will work. It has to work!”
“It will not.”
“Why won’t it?!” I scream, whirling on Ender. “What are you telling me?” Tears sting my eyes. I’m so fucking tired of crying and being in survival mode. I don’t want to feel like this anymore. I just want Malix.
Ender sighs, the pitying look he gives me makes me want to claw his eyes out. It doesn’t matter that Ender is a giant man that vaguely resembles a boulder with horns. At this moment, I feel like I could destroy him.
“I mean this time; your gift isn’t going to free him. Come. I have much to explain and very little time.” Ender beckons me forward.
I don’t move and stay wrapped up in Malix. “I’m not leaving him.”
“Very well.” He sighs. “We can talk here.”
Talking is the last thing I want to do. Especially with Ender who possesses more secrets than the universe. Still, there are things I want to know. Things that apparently only The Guardian can answer.
“How did I get the ability to wake dragons but can’t do it to my own husband? Why did you bring me here, only to take him away from me?” Fat tears are freely rolling down my cheeks now, but I can’t find it in me to care.
“Humans possess magic they don’t know they are capable of,” he starts and I’m ready to yell at him for giving me another nonanswer, but then he continues. “The history of Mescos is not something I can give you in the next five minutes. But know this. Mescos was made to protect magic and magical beings.
“Humans once held their own power. It was given to them by their creators to live peaceful lives and work together to prosper in these lands among their supernatural counterparts. That peace was short-lived though. A darkness came into Mescos, killing many of the humans in an attempt to steal their magic.”
None of it makes sense. This isn’t the history of the universe we were taught in schools. But how could I even begin to argue while I stand in the very place he speaks of, breaking curses in ways that I can’t explain?
“The founders of Mescos preserved the magic and split off into six different territories, in hope of combating the threat we now know as the Nephilim. These people grew corrupt in their search for power, becoming the Nephilim we know today,” Ender continues.
“I don’t understand what that has to do with me. Please…just tell me how I can wake Malix.” Nothing else mattered right now.
“The magic in Mescos needs new hosts. You have been given the ability to break your people’s curses, but Malix is a representation of more, and therefore what you did to the other dragons won’t work on the king because Malix is his kingdom. If you want to awaken your husband?—”
“—I need to save his kingdom?” I finish, my brain slowly processing everything Ender is telling me.
