AERYN'S POV

Surprise widened my eyes and lifted my eyebrows as I stared at Zoran, wondering if I'd heard him right.

"The Draconian who killed sixty-two demons needs my help? Mine."

"Yes. Don't make me regret asking. You owe me."

"For what? I thought you didn't tap out to give me the advantage?"

Zoran exhaled and stood. "Forget it," he grumbled, staggering away on his stiff leg with his hand balled into a fist by his side.

Shaking my head, I got off the bench and reprimanded my smart mouth for aggravating the shifter as I walked around the room, plucking each of Racquel's knives from the splintered floorboards marred with dried spots of blood. I carried the topaz weapons in my hands as I left the room and ambled down the wide halls until I exited through the back doors of the academy.

The sun was dipping behind the mountain, casting vibrant orange and pink tints to the clouds as it set. I stepped out onto the balcony perched over the cliff of the mountain and leaned against the black railing as I looked down at the expansive lake sparkling hundreds of feet below. 

Beneath the town of Latovia was Clear Water where the dragons went to drink the special water in the lake to replenish their health and strengthen their essence. I stood in awe as I saw a large gathering of dragons laying around the lake, perched upside down on the sturdy branches of the surrounding Yurich Forest, dunking themselves in the water, flying in low arcs above the surface of the lake, and diving off the docks into the water.

The dragons' colors ranged from a few rare poisonous purples, multiple gaseous yellows, a decent number of magma spewing reds, some more fire breathing grays, a spattering of boiling slime spitting blacks, a couple ice breathing blues, and one enormous, lethal gold; Armaeda's mate, Hyrule. The two of them parented all our empire's dragons and they channeled their essences into their offspring.

The dragons' essences gave Draconians special powers and allowed summoners to bond with a dragon, strengthening our powers as well as giving shifters the ability to breathe fire. Their essences flowed in whimsical, glittering drafts around the walls of our empire, but the silver tone was a muted gray without Armaeda's essence flowing through it.

Hyrule had been my mother's summon, but he'd refused to give up his scale ever since her death, opting to remain without a summoner. He never left Clear Water and tried to make up for Armaeda's absence with only his essence which was draining and exhausting to do on his own. It forced him to always stay close to the lake so he could quench his thirst and give him enough strength to fuel his essence into all his offspring and our shifters.

The longer Armaeda was trapped in the Ravos Kingdom, the more frequently larger numbers of dragons visited Clear Water. Our powers - well every Draconian who had a power - were weakening without Armaeda's essence to amplify them. Her dragon descendants all suffered from her absence, as well.

I caught sight of a small dragon whose iridescent scales reflected orange and pink in the waning sunlight. I smiled as she pounced at the edge of the lake, dipping her talons into the water. Serene was the youngest of the herd and was the reason I'd been handed her scale upon entering Insignia Academy. She'd been born just five years prior and was still growing. It only made sense for the powerless Draconian to be given the dragon without much experience, but Trainer Reishell had also figured Serene and I could learn and figure it out together.

Serene wouldn't have bonded with me, and even Rays wouldn't try to, if I didn't have an essence. We needed a power to aid in the likelihood of our dragon's survival. Without an essence of power, a dragon would find me weak, thus making both of us vulnerable.

It didn't make sense. My essence had bonded with Serene to grant me the ability to summon her, but the demon prince had said he wasn't able to sense it, and the appearance of my Insignia was over two years late. I wondered if the abduction of Armaeda had anything to do with it.

It was only when I first summoned Serene that we found out about her unique ability to breathe frost fire – a lethal fire that a dragon had not breathed since the first fallen Draconian was made and damned to a life of evil several centuries ago.

His name was Kristos Cross and he'd fallen to evil trying to overthrow my father's great grandfather, Emperor Xanthus Glastos. I didn't see the fairness in the demons' lifespans surpassing hundreds of years, but it was part of their punishment for switching to the side of evil and chaos – immortality in a life of hell. Even their offspring were born with the hellish fate of lacking any humaneness and an immortal life trapped inside a mind spiraling with crazed insanity.

My heart dropped as I caught sight of the giant, dark pyres on the docks that would be burning the bodies of our Draconian pupils who had been slaughtered during the demon ambush. My heart constricted as images of my mother's Remembrance Ceremony entered my head. I turned away from the ledge of the balcony and walked alongside the entire academy on the wraparound deck decorated with obsidian pillars until I was at the entrance.

I decided to walk home, opting out of summoning one of the dragons. The physical exertion of keeping them summoned was tiring, especially with my minimal essence. Serene was still regaining her strength down at Clear Water after the ambush wiped both of us out, and Rays also needed to rest from the event...hopefully until I was able to find him a summoner. I'd need one of them to take me down to Clear Water tonight. The mountain was too steep to travel hundreds of feet to the lake on foot.

The sun had finished setting by the time I'd scaled the mountain up to the Nyrial Castle, blanketing the snow-covered ground in darkness. There weren't any stars in the sky to illuminate the ice castle as I climbed the steps and nodded at the two guards positioned on either side of the doors. I shoved the knives in the belt around my waist and grabbed the doorknocker between the dragon's jaws as the doors whooshed open, scaring me back a few steps.

Emperor Nepheus filled the entrance with an obsidian staff that rivaled his six-and-a-half-foot stature. His hand casted a white light as he tapped it against the marble floor, and the light dusting of snow on the steps before him was brushed away in the breeze, blowing back my hair as his dark robe made with black bear fur billowed in the same direction as the draft. The deep blackness of his obsidian crown highlighted the magnificent gemstones encrusted into each of the four points.

"It's time for the Remembrance Ceremony," he said, hard blue eyes forbidding any emotion from surfacing as he walked past me and headed down the stairs. "Summon your dragon to take us to Clear Water."

"She's too small to carry us both," I protested, pulling out her white scale.

He huffed a breath of annoyance.

"But," I hurried on before I could give him another reason to be disappointed in me, "I can summon Rays for you. Cover your nose!"

I grabbed the yellow scale out of my other pocket and rubbed the surface. A plume of gas formed at the bottom of the stairs and Rays emerged in a thunderous boom that rattled the icicles dangling from the roof. The guards straightened and pulled out their swords as my father pinched his nose and drew his eyebrows together.

Rays craned his neck back and expanded his wings, rising on his hind legs as he released a ferocious roar. Even at the bottom of the countless steps, he towered three-quarters of the way up. He twisted his head towards us with his mouth still agape.

"What are you doing with two dragons?"

Rays' pupils turned to slits in the middle of his gold eyes at the sound of my father's voice. A mass of yellow mixed with green crawled up his throat and his gaze narrowed on the emperor as his jaw expanded.

Throwing myself in front of my father, I threw my hands in the air and waved my arms all around in a frantic manner. "Rays! Don't!" I yelled.

His eyes swept to me, and he dropped to all fours, sending another shockwave up the stairs from the impact. He closed his mouth and sat back on his haunches as his tail swished in the snow.

So much for not having to summon him until I found him a new bond, I thought bitterly. This dragon had a temper that Racquel never complained about. Perhaps that was the reason they worked well together. I had to find another kindhearted, patient summoner to counter Rays' attitude and keep the beast in check.

I lowered my arms and looked up at my father. His trimmed facial hair framed the sharp angles of his face, adding to the aura of strict power radiating from him.

"I summoned Rays by accident after Racquel was killed," I explained. "I didn't think it was possible to summon someone else's dragon when I already had my own."

The muscle ticked in his jaw and his knuckles whitened around his staff.

"It isn't possible," he declared.

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