AERYN'S POV

All at once, the dragons released a slew of flames, gas, magma, boiling slime, poison, and ice onto the scales. Serene's frost fire blasted me with the chilling heat as she scored her scale with the ice wielding Insignia of a tornado spinning with icicles. I waited for the scale to cool down before I plucked it from the ground and held it in my palm, rubbing the surface of it.

Hey, princess.

My head snapped up as a jolt went through me and I found Zoran smirking at me from across the way as he crossed his arms over his chest with his chin raised. My heart skipped a beat as his deep voice in my head sent shivers down my spine.

I thought I'd been swirling around in your head before, but now I'm literally in it.

"Cut it out," I snapped, clapping a hand over my mouth as I drew incredulous looks in my direction. Zoran's smirk widened and his fangs poked out, spreading an unwanted warmth through me.

Removing one glove, I stared at my palm in awe as Zoran's ice wielding Insignia formed in the center, spreading a frosty nip as it took shape. I felt my jaw nearly unhinge as a faint blue glow emanated from the symbol. I had expected his second power's Insignia to meld with the icy tornado, but there were no violet bolts of static running through the tornado as I was imagining. 

I still wasn't sure what Zoran's second power was, but at least I had received his ice wielding ability and wouldn't be powerless anymore.

You never were, Zoran replied, and I wasn't sure if I'd spoken the thought out loud or had said it in my head. 

Every other summoner was staring at the shifter they were bonded with, communicating with their Champion using just their minds. Many pairs were looking at the new Insignia marking their other palm with their Champion's power. I looked over at Eowyn whose elated smile matched Odin's as he beamed at her with the Fire Force pin on their formal attire.

As Champions in the Force, we were the only Draconians with two powers - I was still the exception, of course.

Zoran strolled over to me and held out a pin in his gloved hand. Serene huffed a stream of smoke from her nostrils, ruffling his dark hair as she dipped her head. He flattened his other palm on her snout, and she closed her eyes in affection as he petted her. Hitching a brow at me, he spoke aloud, "Welcome to the Ice Force, princess."

I took the pin from his hand, pride filling me as I undid the top of my cloak and fastened the iceberg emblem just below the neckline of my dress.

Zoran's hand paused on Serene's snout and his eyes lit a fiery path where they tracked down the length of my body and took their time tracing their way back up. The emerald irises darkened as he stopped on the not-so-modest amount of skin I allowed to be shown from my collarbones to the swell of my breasts.

I cleared my throat and pulled the cloak back around myself, giving him a pointed look as I said, "Now who's staring, hm?"

I am, he rumbled in my head.

I can hear you too, by the way, my dragon said to Zoran.

The ground trembled beneath my feet and Serene crept back a few steps, head sinking as she whined. I tucked her scale inside my cloak with the other two, and pressed my hand to her leg, concern drawing my eyebrows together. Zoran stepped in front of me as the wind whipped at his hair and blew back the collar of his undone dress shirt. Despite the penetrating cold, his sleeves were still rolled to his elbows.

Irritated, I maneuvered around Zoran and stood beside him as Hyrule rose to his full height and walked to the edge of the glittering water on the other side of the lake. The sun beams glinted off the massive dragon's golden scales as he expanded his wings to their full length and took off into the air. His gargantuan form blocked out the sun as he flew above us, casting a giant shadow over Clear Water. With a mighty roar and powerful beats of his wings, Hyrule shot upwards in a sharp angle, climbing with incredible speed into the sky. Once he was flying among the clouds, he widened his jaw and let out a stream of spark fire.

The flames heated the atmosphere around him, and the residual smoke resulted in plumes of clouds. Sparks jumped between the darkened clouds, electricity buzzing as bolts of lightning ignited and touched the ground around Clear Water. Claps of thunder echoed seconds before the lightning touched down.

"We need to get away from all this water," I said, pulling on Serene's neck. Throwing a leg over her, I gripped one of her horns as Zoran unfurled his leathery wings with feathered spots.

"The Test of Talons begins now," Emperor Nepheus declared, handing a dragon egg to each set of Champions. "Clear Water is off limits unless you want to be struck by lightning. Your dragons should have all regained their energy and your essences should have been replenished from your time here, as well. You must defend your egg and keep it safe. Even a single crack is unacceptable. Solas will be defended by the Fire Force, Mavis by the Ice Force, Eaton by the Wind Force, and Quincey by the Stone Force. Follow your respective Commanders to the towns outside our walls."

Xeno Jensen gathered his new Fire Force Champions and gave each of them a red vest with their fire emblem. Commander Galen Langston, an older man with gray hair and a long gray beard, beckoned over his Wind Force to offer them their white vests with the swirling cloud emblem. Commander Laisel Roark had brown vests with their rock emblem for her Stone Force Champions.

Zoran's mother, Morgana, had her Ice Force Champions crowd around her. Her midnight locks matched her stiff horns, and she tied her hair back in a high pony tail to accentuate her striking eyes that were just like her son's. She was a tall, slender woman and wore the light blue uniform of the Ice Force as she handed each of us a matching vest with the iceberg emblem.

Morgana didn't even acknowledge her son as she passed over a vest to Zoran, saying, "As you all know, the Test of Talons is completed in three stages that respectively assess trust, compatibility, and sacrifice in each bonded pair of Champions. The first phase will measure trust by having each pair decide which of you will carry the dragon egg. You must trust each other and select who will protect it. This choice must be made now."

"I'll take it," I said, leaning over as I reached for the egg tucked under Zoran's arm. As far as I knew, it was faux, but it was a deceptive replica of the real thing. The egg was speckled with the black spots of the boiling slime spitting dragons, and it was a foot tall.

Zoran handed it to me, mindful to be gentle as he placed it in my outstretched hands.

That was easier than I thought it was going to be, I thought.

"I'm trusting you. You're doing a pretty good job taking care of three dragons, so this egg should be a breeze," he said, stepping back as I opened my cloak and set the egg in the larger pocket stitched on the inside.

I wished I hadn't worn a dress to the ceremony because now I was stuck wearing it during the most crucial part of my training for the Force.

"Now, we shall all meet in Mavis. The Force that seizes the most dragon eggs will win the Test of Talons. Based on your performance during the Test, youwill be assigned specific roles in the Ice Force. Champions from each Force will be trying to steal your egg on the way there. I will explain the second stage to those who survive the first. Let's go," Commander Morgana said, extending her leathery wings.

Without waiting for questions, she flew towards the Yurich Forest on the eastern side of the lake and headed for Mavis – the deserted town Racquel and I had killed three demons during a challenge in what felt like another lifetime ago.

Dragons and shifters took to the sky, flying to the desolate towns in the warmer area outside the obsidian gates of the Wrexial Mountains.

Whatever you do, don't die.

I glanced down as Zoran gave me a salute and followed his mother and the other new Champions.

Speak for yourself, I answered in my head as I pulled back on Serene's horns.

Zoran scowled, but I couldn't hide the grin I sported as I realized I'd been able to use telepathy to communicate with him. The bonding of his powerful essence when we were made Champions must have been adding to my limited essence to give me the ability to speak with my mind – and to use his power.

My dragon took a couple of running steps and leapt into the air, pursuing after the Ice Force as Zoran sped ahead of us. The other Elemental Forces drifted in opposite directions, straying away from each other as we navigated to our designated destinations.

The ride was silent as we flew in our unorganized flock with Morgana at the front. We were a jumbled mass of wings and blue vests flying over the Nyrial Empire with dragon eggs concealed under thick cloaks.

When we were almost in Mavis, the brutish Asteria Huxley swerved, dropping behind her Champion, a stern, female summoner with platinum blonde hair and a yellow gaseous dragon like Rays, and leveled herself next to Zoran. On edge, I strained to hear what she was whispering to him. The wind whipping by my ears made it impossible to make out her hurried words, so I resorted to questioning Zoran about it.

What's she saying?

She's proposing an alliance with us, Serene said, impressing me with her fine hearing.

An alliance?

She wants to work together to capture dragon eggs from other Forces.

Weary, I wanted to say it sounded like a set up to me. Asteria made her contempt for me evident, and she'd grown up with Zoran in Garrenth, but she couldn't harm me without risking his life in the process.

I won't let her hurt you, Serene promised, catching up with the shifters.

Zoran met my eye and nodded. Neither will I. I've declined her offer to team up. This is a test for the two of us, not four.

The egg heated in my cloak, warming my side as we descended and landed in the barren farm town.

Zoran and I had passed the first stage.

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