Garrik fell to the floor, and Braelynn let out a puff of fire so hot even my Fire Wielding shuddered under its strength. Garrik let out one final breath as the flames slid over him. And then, he was ash. I knew we had to do it. I knew that if we left him here alive, others would know what we had done far sooner than we wanted.
“We need to go,” I said, pushing away my thoughts. “Quickly.” Braelynn gave me a nod, then ran towards the door, her body seeming to get stronger as we moved.
I swallowed hard and followed her, my Wielding at the ready. I wasn’t at full strength yet, and I didn’t think I would ever be within this little pocket Shadow realm. But I at least had something.
I didn’t hear anyone. I didn’t know if anyone else was here. For all I knew, only Garrik, Durlan, and The Gray lived here. And perhaps The Gray and his second were somewhere else.
Brae and I made it to the edge of the cave system, and I looked down, worried.
There was a portal. I could feel it with my Spirit Wielding. I just didn’t know how to use it.
“How are we going to get out of here? The portal could go anywhere, and I don’t know if we have the kind of time we need to figure it out.”
Braelynn looked at me then, and I wondered if she understood what I was saying. This was my best friend, and I missed how she had once been. I missed her laugh, her smile. I missed the way she made me feel. The way she made Luken feel.
Luken.
The Gray’s son.
How were we going to tell him?
And was I supposed to tell him at all?
I didn’t know, but I didn’t have time to worry about that now.
Braelynn looked at me, and suddenly it was if the world around her sparkled and shimmered.
And she shifted.
I staggered back a step.
Oh.
“So that’s why they were laughing at me. You weren’t ready earlier.”
Braelynn looked at me, her body now so much larger than before. She nodded, a knowing look in her eyes. She had known. She had known what a Familiar was and who and what she could be.
But I hadn’t.
As I looked at the black and silver dragon in front of me, her scales glistening even in the dim light, I knew that this was her other form. And she was beautiful.
“You’re a fricking dragon, Braelynn,” I said, laughing. I hadn’t even known I could laugh anymore. But here I was, laughing because my best friend was a fricking dragon.
Braelynn lowered her head, and I swallowed hard. “You want me to ride you?”
Braelynn tilted her head and gave me a look.
“Okay. Apparently, I’m going to ride a dragon out of here.”
I paused.
“My life is truly different, isn’t it?”
I could have sworn she smiled, but I couldn’t tell for sure with her new dragon face. Honestly, I was a little scared.
As I slid on top of Braelynn’s back and held on, I realized that while I might be the Spirit Priestess, my best friend was a dragon.
And that meant more changes were likely coming.
There was a shout behind me, and I noticed Durlan coming, his blade ready.
“Ready?” I called out, and Braelynn nodded before lifting into the air, her large wings spread wide, her body strong.
I knew that she had never flown like this before. I would have known if she had ever turned into her dragon form. Wouldn’t I?
I held on to my best friend as we flew, a scream in my throat at the surrealness of it all.
As we slid through the portal into the Maison realm, the wind in my hair, and my body close to hers as we soared, I knew that this was only the beginning. The beginning of the end, most likely. But we had power. And secrets. We could be the start of change.
I only hoped that was enough.
Chapter Five
Lyric
I wanted to scream, to let out a shout of both glee and fear with everything flowing through me. Instead, I lowered my body closer to Braelynn’s back, her scales hard yet smooth beneath my palms. Perhaps it just felt soothing? I wasn’t sure, but I held on tightly, not wanting to startle her. I could practically feel her fear mixing with exhilaration. She flew across the skies, high up in the air where we were probably only a spot of darkness to anyone who may see us. And not everybody tended to look up.
We had exited the Shadow realm with relative ease, though I was exhausted, starving, and in pain. Blood had seeped into my clothes, my wounds still not fully healed from Durlan’s ministrations. Braelynn was likely just as exhausted and hungry as I was.
We wouldn’t last long in the sky, and I knew it. But we had to get closer to where Easton and the others were. I couldn’t call it the Obscurité Court anymore because it was now attached to the Lumière Court without the wards. Besides, I didn’t know if there was Lumière or Obscurité at all. All I knew was that I needed to get back to the castle I called home and return to the man I called mine.
From what I could tell, we were somewhere over the southern Spirit territory. Considering we had been taken from the Lumière Court, I wasn’t sure how the geography of the Shadow realm worked.
Perhaps like the Maison realm lay on top of the human realm, the Shadow realm was a pocket that didn’t land on any territory. Maybe it floated on top of it all. Reasonably, it could have pockets within pockets that hid anywhere around the realm itself.
My head hurt. I was thinking far too hard and yet not linearly at all. I pushed thoughts of exactly how all of it worked out of my head and hoped that we were getting closer to our destination. Or at least to a point where we could rest. Braelynn needed it.
“Do you know where you’re going?” I asked, hoping she could hear me over the wind.
She made a purring sound, which was kind of part growl, as well. She wasn’t in her cat form, but rather this newfound dragon form that scared me as much as it excited me. I wanted to take the noise as an agreement. However, since I couldn’t know for sure, I was simply grateful that it looked as if we were about to land.
Again, I thought of how I missed my best friend in her human form. We used to talk all the time, figure out what each other needed. And just listen. But with her in any of her Familiar forms, I couldn’t understand what she wanted or needed. And I always felt like I was two steps behind in making sure she was okay.
After going over a barren mountain, we finally landed on one of the foothills. Leafless trees surrounded us, and everything looked a little sun-bleached. But that was the Spirit territory for you. Everything always had a slight sepia tone, too, as if I had on glasses that I hadn’t cleaned correctly.
Braelynn settled on the ground, her chest heaving. She lowered her head as I moved off her. I moved to the front of her and rubbed my hand between her eyes. She pushed into me, clearly needing the touch.
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered.
Her tongue slipped out, catching my arm, and I laughed at the touch.
“You are. I can’t believe you’re a dragon, and you didn’t tell me. That nobody told me.”
Her eyes danced with merriment, even though I could see the exhaustion in them.
“I guess you were just waiting to see what would happen, huh?”
She seemed to almost shrug, and I hoped we were genuinely communicating.
None of this was easy, and I missed being able to read her expressions and hear her voice. I had just started to figure out exactly what she wanted while in cat form—even though that form had bat wings. Now, it was like starting all over. And this dragon form of hers was nothing batlike or catlike. No, this was a whole other version of Braelynn.