Page 19 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
“I’m so glad you came, Bene,” I whispered, ashamed I had ever doubted him in the first place. “I was almost afraid you wouldn’t be able to find me.”
“Always,”he promised without a breath of hesitation, that single word branding itself on my soul.“So long as you still want me, Aurelia, I will come. No matter the distance. Always.”
Chapter 7
Benevolence
Now
The sun hangs low when I land on the shore of the Living Waters alongside my aunties. The dying light bleeds across the surface of the lake, painting it in shades of crimson and gold.
Beneath the surface, though, the Waters ripple with every color of the rainbow.
Despite the trepidation still flooding my soul, despite my desire not to relive that day—the worst day of my life—there is still something peaceful about being here again.
As if I have finally come home.
Shifting back into my human form, I keep my head bowed and my eyes lowered, pinned to the sight of the water itself. To its still, mirror-like surface. I dare not lift my gaze toward the crystallized figure I know still stands on the island at the very center of the Living Waters, frozen there for all eternity.
Dead.
A memorial to my youthful hubris.
The Aether is thick here, a heavy mist that blankets all—a golden warmth I delight in wading through despite the circumstances in which I have come.
“I am here, Great Weaver,” I whisper to the air as I pad closer, my boots muffled against the soft grass ringing the lake. “I have come to beg your blessing to take up the crown of my forefathers, to become King of Drakara at last.”
A warm breeze ruffles past, bringing a question on the wind. The Aether speaks to me.
To my soul rather than to my mind.
« Is that truly why you have come? »
For the span of a single moment, my steps halt. My resolve falters.
Doubt blooms in my heart.
But then the moment passes.
“Vaei,” I claim, ripping free that doubt before it has time to root itself deeper.
In this, my feelings do not matter. My wants do not matter.
There are more important things at stake.
“I have come to beg your blessing to take up the Corona Ignis,” I repeat, continuing my approach toward the edge of the Waters. “If that is still your will for me, Great Weaver, it will be done.”
My godmothers alight upon my shoulders—with me always—but I barely feel them. I barely hear them. I am aware of nothing but the surface of the lake and the vision of the sky it reflects.
Until I finally stand on the very edge of the shore.
Until I gaze within.
Until I find myself staring down at a Bene I don’t know. At the monster I am fated to become:
A Dragon King consumed by his Shade.
“Naei.” I recoil from the image.
