Page 93 of So I Dared a Dragon

Aarix reached for my hand. “When we came here without you, before you were able to fully shift, we found the mountain. We could feel the life inside it. But we couldn’t find the opening. I believe your power will be able to get us inside.”

“No pressure or anything,” I chuckled. “What should I be looking for?”

“A knowing,” Aarix said. “A deep and unshakable certainty.”

That would’ve been a batshit crazy explanation to wolf me, but it made perfect sense to my dragon. Sunset Springs, for the most part, had yet to wake up, and I picked up on the rhythm of the craggy mountain range’s heartbeat. We swooped in between the peaks, so high up our hot breath turned to ice.

“Here,” I said. “It’s here.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what led me to make that declaration except for that deep knowing, that absolute certainty that my mate had wanted me to look out for.

Aarix nodded. “Lead the way, sunshine.”

With the excitement, the earth came at me fast, and it was all I could do not crash. Once I landed, I took a moment to catch my breath. My body needed to reacclimate with the earth, and listen to what it had to tell me.

Emotion overwhelmed me. How long had she been trying to speak to me? I hadn’t listened. I could say I didn’t know, but thetruth was, I’d ignored her like I’d ignored myself. It had been easier, less painful that way. But now it was time for all those feelings to come to the surface.

“Should we shift?” I asked. Aarix and the rest of the dragons were in their semi-human forms when they had been trapped in the mountain, and I hated that I couldn’t remember what my thunder looked like the last time I saw them.

My brain wouldn’t have to protect me anymore. That was a strange feeling to want to mourn.

“How do you feel more powerful?” Aarix asked.

“Like this.”

He nodded, and no more explanation was needed. We explored the side of the mountain, and my instinct led me down a worn path that seemed familiar. There was a spring that ran along it, and I could clearly see myself as a little girl, skipping along with my family.

I had sisters. I peeked back at Darcy, trying to place her there. I couldn’t be mad at myself that it didn’t come automatically. Were those wolves with us? It would make sense at the right time.

There was an old, worn rock that rose out of the path. The last time I’d seen it, we used it as a bench, a place to keep our things when we swam.

Tears stung my eyes. I was home. I grew up here.

I didn’t remember all the lives in between that one and my current existence, and I had so many questions. Had the parts of me that weren’t dragon made me mortal? Once we liberated the thunder and brought peace to all the dragons, I would learn my history, and make sure it could never be erased again.

I looked at Aarix, unable to speak, and nodded. He took my hands in his, like the emotion of the moment was too much for him too. He didn’t have to tell me what to do. I just knew.

I closed my eyes and pictured this place exactly as it had been hundreds of years ago. Full of love and laughter. Innovation and rivalry. Loyalty and trust. And so, so much hope.

A rock on the side of the mountain began to shake like we’d started an earthquake, but everything else was still. Allowing. It turned to dust, welcoming us inside.

But more important than anything else, my thunder was finally free.

thirty-five

. . .

Aarix

Calista stared at the opening in the mountain in astonishment. None of the dragons who had accompanied us dared make a move.

“Can you feel it?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “There’s really life in there.”

“Of course there is.” I put my hand on the small of her back, just below her wings. They vibrated like she expected an attack.

But instead, she carefully wiped her talons under her eyes.

“What do we say to them?” She chuckled nervously. “Now I have so many questions, and it feels like I should just know these things, but I don’t. I’m scared, Aarix. I don’t want to mess things up for them again. I want it to be better this time.”

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