Page 89 of Dragon Awakened

A sharp pang of loss lances through me, followed by cleansing anger.

That war was supposed to have ended the conflict between the great Dragon Kingdoms. It was supposed to have rid the world of the Shadow Dragon threat.

But Shadows never really leave. They merely disappear into the darkness.

Well, I'm ready to shine some freaking light.

I take the soul sphere from Amy's shaking hands. Its power vibrates through me, the spirit within clamoring to be released. I suck in a ragged breath and allow its magic to pour outward.

The glass shatters, and the world right alongside it. Dragons hiss and scream, knocked out of the air by the explosion of brilliant light. Rafe, Jianyu, Malik and Storm all pull at the taut strings of our connection, and I hold on tight.

From the mist and shine and glittering shards of broken glass, the figure of a man with bright blond hair and a beard and achingly sad eyes emerges.

"Amethyst," he murmurs.

Amy's eyes well up with tears. Her voice is so high and so small. "Dad?"

"My darling, look at you. All grown up." He darts his gaze to Rhiannon, and the sorrow and love in his spirit weaken my knees. "Beloved."

Rhiannon extends a hand, but not far. Her face is pale, but her gaze is utterly knowing.

"I love you both so much," the man says. He looks to Amy again. "I'm so proud of you."

"Your magic..." Rhiannon begins.

"Is yours." He flicks his hands in a gesture I don't recognize, but it sets the air alight with golden glimmers of brilliance.

Already, he's starting to fade, and it's too soon--it's not fair.

But our enemies are regrouping. The ground shakes, and the whipping winds of raging cyclones threaten to shatter the bubble of peace surrounding us.

"Take it, Amethyst," he beseeches, drifting away--dissolving...

Amy extends her hand.

The golden light flows into her, and she lifts her face to the sky. Her eyes flash gold and white and black, and when she looks to me, the power in her very presence is dazzling.

"Black flames," she intones, and she reaches out her hands.

Her fingertips still glow with golden sparks, but neither Rhiannon nor Grace flinches in the least. Amy arches her back, convulsing with the power coursing through her. Rhiannon and Grace exchange a nervous glance, but they hold onto her hands, never letting go as a purple spark ignites at her feet.

It grows and grows and climbs, and its heat sears me. My dragon rises higher in my chest, and the black fire roars into a conflagration. It eclipses the street, ascending out of control. Dragons screech in the sky.

My palm screams, the scar I got in the flames of the Air Dragon Emergence bursting into agony at the heat.

But I don't care.

I walk forward.

Chapter

Twenty-Three

EMBER

I've stood before the flames at the Emergence ceremonies in the Air Kingdom so many times. I've felt the blistering inferno; I've felt my dragon stir, only to remain locked inside the prison of my chest. I've heard the cracking of bones and the rustling of newborn dragon wings rising all around me.

This is not that.

---