Page 96 of Bride of the Black Dragon
No golden gleam…no flicker of fire.
No Drake.
Oh Goddess of Mercy… is he really gone?
A tremor works its way through my chest as I call his name.
“Xaren!”
His big body jerks and for just a moment, I think I see something in his eyes. Is it recognition? Maybe even a memory of our time together?
I don’t know but my chest aches with my love for him. Then he looks down again and the moment is lost.
Dorian follows my gaze and smiles.
“I thought it fitting my brother should see your fate,” he purrs. “Let him watch as his little whore burns.”
I want to shout at him—to spit at him—but there’s no point. Nothing changes if I lose my dignity. So I keep my mouth shut and my head high.
The guards drag me to the pyre. The wood creaks under my weight as I’m shoved up onto the platform. They tie me tightly to the post, the rope biting into my arms and waist. The dry branches scrape my legs. My red gown flutters in the breeze like blood on the wind.
One of the guards lights a torch. The torch touches the kindling and the fire begins to spread.
No. No-no-no—this can’t be happening! In my heart of hearts, I didn’t really believe they’d burn me!
I squeeze my eyes shut—I try to ignore the flames, the burning pain—and remember the dream instead. I hold onto it like a lifeline.
The voice. The fire. The dragon. It has to mean something.
And then—I feel it.
Something inside me is shifting…there’s a coil tightening deep in my belly. Heat…rage…power…I feel them building up inside me. The fire is spreading around me but…it doesn’t hurt—not anymore.
The flames lick hungrily up my ankles, kissing my calves like an overeager lover, but instead of pain, I feel… warmth. A strange, powerful rightness. Like I’ve been cold for so long and now, finally, finally, I am warm again.
The crowd gasps.
I open my eyes…and see them all staring at me. But their smug, blood-thirsty smiles are gone. Their faces are white and horrified and their eyes are wide with terror.
Dorian is shouting something, but I can’t hear it. The roar of the growing fire is too loud. Or maybe it’s coming from inside me now. My blood is boiling—not with fear, but with change.
The Queen stands and screeches at the top of her lungs,
“Put her out! Put her out—the fire is making her Shift!”
The guards look at her and then at me, clearly at a loss. They start towards me but they’re too slow.
The ropes holding me to the pole burn away but I don’t fall into the flames. Instead, I look down and see that they’re far below me. How am I suddenly so tall?
Look deep inside…find her…free her, I hear the voice from my dream say in my ear.
Suddenly I understand—I’m taller and bigger now because I’m not Elaina anymore. I’m not just a woman…I’m becoming something else—something more.
I scream—only it’s not a scream. It’s a roar.
My skin peels away in layers of ash and silver light. My bones bend…twist…expand. Wings unfurl from my back, vast and shimmering, white and silver and blazing with inner light. My limbs stretch even more. Claws replace my fingers. My face elongates, my jaw opening wide. My teeth have grown long and curved and razor sharp.
The pyre explodes beneath me, but it doesn’t matter because I’m rising—rising into the sky with wings that beat the wind into submission.
