Page 17 of The Dragon King's Awakening

Rachel

Last night's dinner had been an exercise in awkward restraint, with both dragons attempting to behave like they weren't literally just tag-teaming me on a mountain overlook.This morning feels more relaxed, though we're still drawing enough stares to make me want to sink under the table.

The dining hall's familiar breakfast bustle washes over us while Zahraxis and Finn demolish what looks like half the kitchen's morning production.I'm pretty sure most of the students are torn between fascination and mild horror at the sheer volume of food they're consuming.

Zahraxis looks...different.His golden eyes are alert, but calm, studying the room with the intensity of a scholar who's just been released from a very long, very terrible library.Gone is yesterday’s feral energy, replaced by something more controlled.Still, that edge of ancient power radiates from him like heat from a banked fire.

When Sean approaches our table, guitar case slung over one shoulder, Zahraxis tenses slightly.The territorial vibe is strong enough that I have to suppress a laugh.Finn just offers an easy smile as Sean's mates join him—Naia with her fluid grace, and Elias, who looks like he wandered in from backstage at some indie rock concert.

"Feeding a small country?"Sean comments, settling into an empty chair.His own plate holds a modest serving of eggs and toast.

"Dragons need sustenance," Finn says with a grin."Especially before a long journey."

"Journey?"Naia asks, her silvery eyes brightening with interest."Where are you headed?"

"The Queen's Court in New York," I explain, watching Zahraxis from the corner of my eye."We leave today."

Naia's brow furrows."You're not planning to fly that whole distance, are you?That would take days, on dragon wing."

"It is the proper way," Zahraxis says, his voice carrying that formal edge I'm learning means he's holding himself in check.

"There's really no need," Naia says, leaning forward with genuine warmth."I could drift you there in moments.The River is particularly strong here on the island?—"

Zahraxis' fork warps in his grip."We will not trust our fate to nymphaea magic."

The temperature around us seems to drop several degrees.Naia draws back, her silver eyes widening as she registers the hostility rolling off him in waves.Even Sean tenses, though Elias just continues picking at his breakfast as if he hasn't noticed the sudden shift in atmosphere.

"Brother," Finn says quietly, "Naia isn't?—"

"You know what her kind did."Zahraxis' words come out in a near growl."Three thousand years in darkness, trapped inherweb of power?—"

"Meri."Naia's soft voice cuts through his building rage."You speak of Meri, the Banished One."Her expression holds such profound sadness that even Zahraxis pauses."She destroyed more than just the dragons, ancient one.My people still weep for what she took from us."

I reach for Zahraxis' hand under the table, feeling the tremors of barely contained power coursing through him.His skin ripples with golden scales, but he doesn't pull away from my touch.

"The nymphaea weren't her allies," Finn explains, his tone gentle, but firm."They were her first victims.She killed their satyrs, corrupted their magic?—"

"And yet you would have us trust?—"

"Trust that we learned from her evil," Naia interrupts."Trust that we guard our power more carefully now, and that we understand the price of corruption."She meets his gaze steadily."The Haven cast her out for breaking our most sacred laws when we should have executed her.That failure haunts us still."

I notice Elias has stopped eating, his dark eyes focused intently on Zahraxis.There's something almost hypnotic about his stillness—not indifference as I first thought, but deep concentration.

"Your pain echoes in every breath," he says, his voice carrying that musical lilt I've come to associate with the turul."But so does her truth."He gestures to Naia with an elegant tilt of his head."We turul hear more than words, ancient one.We taste truth on the wind itself.Your captors wielded corrupted power, yes, but Naia's magic runs pure as a mountain stream."

Zahraxis' jaw clenches, but some of the hostility bleeding into his aura begins to fade."You claim to know truth from lies?"

"I hear the song of it," Elias confirms."As clearly as I hear the remnants of darkness still clinging to your own breath from your imprisonment.That darkness isn't you, just as Meri's corruption was never truly part of the nymphaea's River."

Finn leans forward, pressing his shoulder against mine."He's right, brother.The world you knew is gone, but something better has taken its place.The races are stronger together now."

Zahraxis tightens his grip on my hand, though not painfully.When I peek at his aura, I see the volatile swirls of gold beginning to settle into something steadier.His gaze shifts between Naia and Elias, then to Finn, before finally settling on me.

"You trust this?"he asks softly.

I consider my answer carefully."I trust that the world you knew and the world that exists now are different places.I trust that holding onto old hatreds only giveshermore power, even in death."I squeeze his hand."And I trust that you're strong enough to choose a different path."

A muscle tics in his jaw, but I see the impact of my words in the way his aura pulses with warmth.After a long moment, he inclines his head toward Naia."How does this...drifting work?"

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