Page 118 of Enchanted Queen

Malachi looked at his hands, flipped them this way and that. Looked at his reflection in the clear water.

“I thought for a half a second you might be a decrepit old man,” Emric said lightheartedly. “Or... smaller.”

He smirked. “Amory and Esta are both smaller in their human forms but huge in their shifted forms.”

“Fair,” Emric added. “I meant no offense. It is just good to finally see your face in this form, Malachi.”

Malachi walked a few steps to me to slap me on the back. “You did it, brother.” His voice again sounded strained and... well, like he hadn’t used it in a while.

A slap of a hug wasn’t enough for me, I hugged him hard. “How do you feel?”

He rolled his neck. “Exhausted. I want to try to shift back first though.”

I gestured toward the shore as we all exited the water. We were quiet as we gave Malachi space to work. He closed his eyes for a moment.

We waited; the only sound heard was a bird chirping in one of the trees.

Nothing happened.

“You may need a few days to recover,” Emric reminded gently.

Malachi shushed him and tried again. This time, he tensed as if something moved across his body, then all at once was back to his winged horse form, Emric and I having to take a step back.

“Wow,” I offered. I hadn’t seen a shifter actually shift before. It happened so quickly. With the roll of his neck. Then again, I could use my Enchantment with the flick of a finger, so I should not have been surprised.

He let out a whinny of success, before switching back to his human form, grinning ear to ear.

“You can shift.” I wanted to scream and shout to the world. Celebrate for a week. I was finally,finally, undoing the evil my father had graced the realm with. And it was working.

“I can shift,” he responded with a laugh before hugging me again.

“If you can shift, it stands to reason Esta can too?” I asked.

“That is why I wanted to try it immediately. I know she is...nervousto try to shift back into her dragon form.”

So she was scared. The people of Dra Skor did not like to admit fear.

He held up a finger. “Though I am regretting that decision currently.”

Emric and I both moved. He crashed hard, almost knocking his head on the ground were it not for us catching him, eyelids drooping closed.

“You have two days to sleep it off before the ball, friend,” Emric said as he passed out.

No offense,Whit offered as he walked over,You did excellent work here, but I am not looking forward to carrying three grown ass men on my back.

Couldn’t blame him there. What we needed was a dragon who could fly Malachi safely in their talons. But I wasn’t about to make Esta shift back until she was good and ready.

“Go grab Nyx?” I offered.

Good idea. Can the three of you manage to not get attacked in the next thirty minutes?

“I’ll do my best,” I laughed.

An hour later we returned to the castle, Malachi’s human form sleeping in my bed this time instead of Esta’s. He was much heavier to manage, and far less fun to observe. But we had done it. Not only were two shifters back in their human forms, but Malachi was now able to go back and forth between his forms.

As long as we had time to work, Dra Skor was as good as saved.

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