Page 94 of The Soul of the Dragon

I shall only count to three, When I get to three, I shall see. One, awaken. Two, create the path. Three, now I can pass.

Magic shimmered and the rock disappeared, giving way to a doorway that led to the other side. I couldn't see much beyond a cliff and the raging sea, but the scents and sounds of another world washed over me.

I held out my hand. "I need a drop of your blood."

He scraped a claw over his hand and cut a thin line across his palm, before turning it over and squeezing several drops into my outstretched palm.

"You have to enter," I instructed, feeling the blood of my mother surge through my veins in reaction to his. Isaac reached for my other hand and I shifted away from him. "No. I can't." My heart was too broken. If he touched me again it would shatter me.

With a new shade of darkness clouding his eyes, he stepped inside the gate and magic shimmered over him, encasing him in bright light and making him look almost ethereal.

I called upon the blood of my mother, and the ancestors that she was connected to. Magic surged. "The spell, Isaac, now."

He nodded, his face solemn and hard.

By power of blood and spirits undead. Scales, wings and fire be free. Wings of glory, wings of power, aid us in our quest. So that we may destroy the bindings that hide in the dark.

Wind whipped violently through the cave, as the words of the spell bound with the power of the blood.

Isaac and I both repeated his chant as the power filled the tiny cave.

Dark flames burned across my vision as I saw the witches casting the spell against the dragons. The blood they spilled and the power they called upon that was not their own. It was filled with anger, resentment, and determination.

But they were no match for the fae as the magic I cast unraveled the binding piece by piece. It was complicated and woven tight, and I could see why they'd found no other way to break it. It had taken an entire coven to make it happen.

When the final piece broke, I slumped forward and grabbed for Isaac one last time. But the breaking of the curse had pulled him through.The gate had closed and my hand landed on solid rock. The tears that I'd thought were done came back as I sobbed for both of us.

"Kitra."

I spun around and found Ensley standing behind me, her hands on her hip and a smirk on her face. "You’re too late to say goodbye,” I choked, attempting humor to staunch the flow of tears.

She scoffed. "I doubt he or his dragon is too worried about that. Besides, it is you I seek, not him."

“Why? Your job is done. I have my magic as well as my mother’s. Everything will be fine now.”

“Will it?” She shook her head and paced the small cave before she looked skyward. “Your daughter is acting like a fool. I should have refused you when I had the chance.”

I looked up and all around to see who she was talking to, because it wasn’t me. Her words made no sense.

“Ensley,” I said on a sigh. “I’m tired of playing games with you. Whatever it is you’ve come to say, just say it. But don’t play games with me anymore. I can’t take it.”

“This is no game. And as much as it pains me to say this, you need to go after him. You have to walk through that gate.”

"What? Why?"

She made a disgusted face before she continued. “Because it’s clear that you love him and he loves you. And for someone like you there is nothing more important than that.”

“Someone like me?” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at what she said. Ensley had a way with words even if it was strange as hell.

“You are so much like your mother than you even know. She once walked away from everything she knew and loved to be with your father. And she never looked back. Although he was a good man, with a kind heart and I could see that she would have been lost without him. And I was right. After his death, she married that fool king and her life went to hell. No one ever takes what I have to say seriously.”

I stood staring at her speechless as she rambled on about what a horrible person my stepfather was because my brain was trying to process too much at once.

“Ensley, stop. I get it. No one knows better than I do how horrible King Aegrond is. I don’t need a reminder.”

“Apparently you do. Which is precisely why you need to leave. All he ever wanted from your mother was her magic. Whether it came to him through a son, or some other way. If you stay, he’ll eventually find a way to take it from you too.”

“I’m more than capable of fighting him now.”

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