Page 54 of Tempest Blazing
"I'm trying to believe that," I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. "To trust in these bonds, in all of you who keep saying you care. But it's hard when I remember how useless I was."
The collar. The void. That awful silence where our connection should have been.
My throat closed up. I pressed my lips together, trying to find words for something that felt too raw to touch. My hands trembled as I curled them into fists, nails biting into my palms. The physical pain was nothing compared to that memory scraping at my bones.
"I couldn't feel you," I said finally, my voice rougher than I intended. "Not even a flicker."
The words hung between us like a blade. I felt Thalon's presence shift behind me, his massive frame settling closer. The warmth of his body radiated against my back, but it was the gentle press of his snout against my shoulder that nearly undid me.
"I know, little one. I felt it too—that terrible silence where you should have been." His telepathy flowed through me, warmer than any physical heat, but I could feel the thread of anguish woven through it. The way his mental voice caught, like even thinking about our severed bond hurt him.
I turned toward him, jaw clenched against the emotions threatening to spill over. "I can't be that vulnerable again, Thalon. There has to be something—some way to make sure I'm not just dead weight when it matters." My voice cracked halfway through, but I forced myself to continue without flinching. "I won't be some decorative hostage again."
The admission tasted like copper. I'd been so helpless, so utterly useless when it mattered most. The memory of that magical void still made my skin crawl, made my magic recoil like a wounded animal.
"There is a way, Tess. The Draconis Heart can change you—make our bond unbreakable, even by the darkest magic. But thetransformation…" He paused, his mental voice growing heavy. "It cannot be undone."
My hand drifted unconsciously to the pendant resting against my chest—the Draconis Heart I'd been wearing for weeks.
"How did Dominick not find this?" I asked, lifting the pendant slightly.
Thalon's eyes fixed on the Heart, and his mental voice carried ancient reverence."The Heart recognized your soul, little one. It wove itself into your very essence the moment you first touched it—became part of your magical signature, invisible to those who would use it for darkness. Dominick saw only a simple pendant because the Heart chose to show him only what a simple pendant would be. Ancient artifacts do not merely hide—they judge. And you, Tempest Whittaker, were found worthy."
The fire opal at the pendant's center pulsed with sudden warmth, as if acknowledging Thalon's words. I could feel something stirring within the stone—not just magic, but intelligence. Purpose. It had been protecting me. Waiting.
"Change me how?" The question barely made it past my lips. This felt bigger than convenience, bigger than just protection. This was about becoming something new. Something more. But what if I wasn't strong enough? What if the transformation broke me?
"It will merge the essence of an ancient dragon with your own magic, little one. You will still be human, but you will also be something more. Our bond will become part of your very soul—impossible to sever, no matter what forces try to tear us apart." Thalon's tone carried a reverence that made my skin prickle. His molten eyes locked with mine, waiting, giving me the space to truly understand what he was offering.
Doubt clawed at me. What if this changes me beyond recognition? What if I lose the parts of myself that make me human? What if the dragon essence swallows everything I am?
My mother's voice echoed with cutting clarity: "You're too impulsive, Tempest. You never think things through. You just charge ahead and expect everyone else to clean up your messes." Was this another reckless decision?
What if the transformation failed entirely? What if my human soul couldn't handle dragon essence and I died in agony? What if I became something monstrous?
My pulse hammered against my ribs. The pendant felt heavier against my chest, its warmth almost scorching now. Part of me wanted to rip it off, to run back to the safety of being ordinary, powerless but predictable.
But then I remembered the suffocating void where Thalon should have been, the helpless terror of being cut off from the most important connection in my life. I remembered Dominick's satisfied smile as he watched me struggle against bonds I couldn't break, magic I couldn't touch.
Some risks were worth taking.
Even if I wasn't sure I was brave enough.
I reached out slowly, fingers trembling as they brushed against the fire opal. The stone was scorching, pulsing with heat that reminded me of Thalon's breath. Something deep in my chest responded immediately, my core magic stirring and reaching toward the pendant with desperate recognition. Gold and purple light flickered beneath my skin, wild and eager.
The sensation made me dizzy. I could feel the potential thrumming through the stone, could sense the vast power waiting just beneath its surface. But more than that, I couldfeel how it called to something fundamental in me—not just my magic, but my very essence. What if I wasn't worthy? What if the Heart rejected me?
"I'd rather risk becoming more than stay small and helpless," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Do it."
Thalon's massive head dipped toward me, his molten gaze softening as it swept over my face. A low rumble vibrated deep in his chest—not quite a purr, but something deeper, more reverent. The sound resonated through my bones.
His wings spread wide—not for flight, but to create a shield around our glade. Shadows and golden light rippled outward from his massive frame, weaving together into a dome of protective resonance that made the air itself hum with power.
"Then we do this together, as we do all things." His mental voice carried such fierce love and determination that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. "Trust in us, little one. Trust in what we can become."
I closed my eyes, grounding myself in the feel of earth beneath my knees, in the steady warmth of Thalon's presence surrounding me. My core magic stirred more insistently now—that familiar gold and purple fire that had always felt slightly wild, slightly beyond my complete control. But here, with Thalon's power wrapping around me, it felt less chaotic. More purposeful. Though my hands still shook.
With unsteady fingers, I lifted the Draconis Heart and pressed it against my chest, right over my sternum. The warmth seeped through my shirt, through my skin, burning into my breastbone. My breath came in short, anxious bursts.
