Page 114 of No Ordinary Drakeling
“Maybe your destiny is not as straightforward as you think.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, let’s consider the color white for a moment, okay? We know that’s not a dragon color. It does represent cleanliness as you mentioned, but it’s also associated with renewal and new beginnings.”
“Being a dragon is a new beginning.”
“In some cultures, white is also associated with death and mourning, Ell.”
“You have done your homework.”
“You’re my mate. Of course I have.”
“You think I am drawn to white because I will die?”
“The simple truth is, neither one of us knows for sure, but I don’t feel comfortable ignoring that possibility. I’d like you to focus on the word renewal here too, though.”
Ellery’s brows drew together. “I do not understand.”
“What are your thoughts on necromancy?”
“Being brought back to life after death?” Ellery asked in shock. Not once had he ever thought that he was drawn to the color white because he was going to die. But what if Chrysander were right and Fate designed a plan for him that included resurrection? His mind whirled at the possibility but not in opposition. It was more of a stunned surprise.
“What if we asked Chand to resurrect you?”
Ellery put his chin in his hand as he thought about it. “I do not know what to say.”
“Please don’t object without thinking it through. We haven’t had the chance to be together very long, and I desperately want to build a relationship with you. If you say no, then the only choice I may have is to wait until Fate brings your soul back to me in a new body. I don’t know that I have the strength to sit around and kill time for another thousand years, should it take that long for us to be reunited. Our souls are bound for eternity, but there’s no guarantee we get to spend all that time together. I can’t die of heartbreak. For one, Damian would never forgive me, and I have every dragon alive counting on me. This life is my destiny for however long it lasts. I have to be strong.”
“Chrys, if I do die youmustlive. That is not open for discussion. I cannot bear the thought of you gone.”
A lone tear slipped down the strong plane of Chrysander’s cheek. “So maybe you can understand why I desperately don’t want Saturday to ever get here? How am I going to go on without you? That’s the question that haunts me at night. I have to be with you, Ell.”
Ellery wiped away the wetness from Chrysander’s face and kissed him softly. He was so unbelievably moved by his words. “Tell me about necromancy.”
“As far as I know, there are no living elves who’ve come back intact, meaning there may have been fallen knights or sentinels who had pointy ears, but they don’t now. I want you to retain that. I want you just as you are now. Alive and beside me.”
“So you want to ask Chander to craft a spell to resurrect an elf?”
“You’ve heard of Sorcery D’Vaire. That’s the group of people who designed the spells to create the Darkfallen Court and the spell to bring fallen knights over the veil with their beasts if they were shifters in their past life. Damian suggested we talk to them and see what they can do. Maybe you’d want magic like the darkfallen have. It would be dark, but you might like that.”
Casting a spell was such a foreign thing to Ellery; he had no real idea how to imagine himself with that kind of power. He allowed their conversation to settle into his brain. Was it possible this was his destiny all along? Was he going to be torn apart by a dragon on Saturday? Ellery didn’t know. There was a peace inside of him when he thought of his beast, but was that an acceptance that they would be parted?
Then it hit him. Sorcery D’Vaire could bring a man back with his beast. Was Ellery only going to be able to fly if he died in the process? The thought of his death should have caused fear, but he had only acceptance for whatever Fate’s plan for him was. Did she imbue him with such confidence because his road ahead was so rocky and filled with shattering consequences?
“I think I am getting a headache,” he told Chrysander.
“I understand. It’s a lot to process.”
“I think I can handle the thought of dying, but I do not like what it will do to you.”
“You need to be focused on you right now.”
“I have a mate. I cannot and will not ignore that.”
Chrysander’s face scrunched in mortification. “The way I did.”
“I did not mean it like that. We are bound now. We are figuring out our balance for the future. The past does not matter.”
