Elara's POV
"Take it off!" I clawed at the bracelet, panic making my hands shake. "Get this thing off me!"
Ashkaroth grabbed my wrists, stopping me before I tore my own skin. "Stop. You're hurting yourself."
"They're listening! They know everything!" My voice came out too high, too scared. "We have to get it off before—"
"Before what? Before they hear us planning to remove it?" His golden eyes bored into mine. "They already know, Elara. Panicking won't help."
He was right, but I couldn't stop the terror crawling up my throat. That creature had been in my head. Watching my thoughts. Reporting everything to Seraphine and whoever else wanted me dead.
How long? Since the celebration? That meant—
"They knew I'd go to the dragon shrine," I whispered. "The curse on Finn wasn't just bait. It was a guarantee. They knew I'd try to save him, knew I'd be desperate enough to break the seal."
"Yes." Ashkaroth released my wrists. "They wanted me freed. Question is: why?"
"To kill me. To kill both of us."
"They could have killed you easier when you were in prison." He paced, thinking. "No, they wanted us together. Bonded. Why?"
Before I could answer, pain exploded through my chest—different from the bond stabilization earlier. This was sharper, hotter, like someone had shoved a burning knife through my ribs.
I gasped and looked down. The dragon mark on my arm was spreading, silver lines creeping across my skin like living vines. They moved toward my heart, burning everywhere they touched.
"What's happening?" I choked out.
Ashkaroth's eyes widened. "The bond is evolving. No—it's being forced to evolve." He grabbed my arm, examining the spreading marks. "Someone's manipulating it. Trying to complete it faster than it should naturally develop."
"Complete it? What does that mean?"
"Normally, soul-bonds take months to fully form. They deepen gradually as the bonded pair learn to trust each other." His face was grim. "But someone's accelerating it. If it completes too fast, before we're ready—"
The pain intensified. I screamed, falling to my knees. The silver marks reached my chest and plunged inward, wrapping around my heart like chains.
Through the agony, I felt Ashkaroth's panic. Not just sensed it—felt it like it was my own emotion. His fear crashed into me through our connection, making everything worse.
"Elara!" He caught me before I hit the ground. "Fight it! Don't let the bond take over completely!"
"How?" Tears streamed down my face. "I don't know how!"
"Focus on me. My voice. My presence." He pressed his forehead against mine, forcing me to meet his eyes. "The bond needs balance. Two souls in equilibrium. If one is drowning, the other pulls them back. Understand?"
I tried to nod, but the pain made it impossible. The marks reached my heart and squeezed.
Everything went white.
Suddenly, I wasn't in the cave anymore. I was standing in a vast emptiness, silver light everywhere. And I wasn't alone.
Ashkaroth stood before me—but not his physical form. This was something deeper. His soul, maybe? His true self?
He looked the same but different. The cold mask he always wore was gone. I could see everything he felt—the rage, the loneliness, the desperate hope that maybe this bond wouldn't destroy him the way the last betrayal had.
"This is the bond space," he said, his voice echoing strangely. "The place where our souls meet. We shouldn't be here yet. It's too soon."
"What happens if we're here too soon?"
"The bond might consume us. Merge us completely until there's no separation between your mind and mine. We'd lose ourselves, become one entity." His expression was haunted. "Neither fully you nor fully me. Just... something else."
The thought terrified me. "I don't want to disappear."
"Neither do I." He reached out slowly, offering his hand. "But if we're stuck here, we have to stabilize the bond before it tears us apart. That means trusting each other completely. No walls. No secrets."
"I don't trust easily anymore."
"I haven't trusted anyone in three hundred years." His lips twitched in something almost like a smile. "But we don't have a choice. Take my hand."
I hesitated. Taking his hand meant opening myself completely to him. He'd see everything—my fears, my weaknesses, my desperate loneliness. Every pathetic moment, every broken piece.
But if I didn't, we'd both die.
I took his hand.
The moment our fingers touched, memories flooded between us. Not just one way—both ways. I saw his past and he saw mine, everything laid bare.
I saw his childhood with his dragon family, soaring through skies that were actually free. Saw the Dragon Wars begin, humans attacking with cursed weapons. Saw his sister dying in his arms while he could do nothing. Saw the first King—the one he'd called friend—betraying him with a blade through the back.
Saw three hundred years of torture in the seal, his screams unheard, his soul slowly being drained away until he was more ghost than dragon.
And he saw my memories too. The perfect childhood that was actually lonely because I always felt different. The love I'd felt for Cassian that had been completely one-sided. The moment Seraphine revealed her betrayal and I realized I'd never really had a sister at all.
Saw my mother dying when I was ten, her last words a warning I didn't understand: "Hide what you are. They'll kill you if they know."
We both saw. We both understood.
And the bond stabilized.
We snapped back to physical reality, both gasping. I was still in Ashkaroth's arms, but the pain was gone. The marks had stopped spreading, settling into an intricate pattern across my skin—over my heart, down my arms, a mirror of the marks on Ashkaroth's body.
"Is it done?" I asked shakily.
"The forced completion stopped." He helped me sit up, his hands surprisingly gentle. "But the bond is deeper now than it should be for two people who just met days ago. Whoever did this wanted us completely connected."
"Why?"
"I don't know. But—" He stopped, his head snapping toward the cave entrance again. "Someone else is coming. Multiple people this time."
I struggled to my feet, still weak from the bond crisis. "More creatures?"
"No. These are human." His eyes glowed. "And they're not trying to hide their approach. They want us to know they're here."
"A trap?"
"Probably." He moved to the entrance, scales rippling across his skin. "Stay behind me."
But I didn't. I couldn't keep hiding behind him. If we were bonded now—truly bonded—then we faced things together.
I moved to stand beside him instead.
He glanced at me, surprised. Then something softened in his expression. "Stubborn."
"You're stuck with me. Might as well get used to it."
"Might as well," he agreed quietly.
Footsteps echoed from the tunnel. Multiple sets, moving in formation like trained fighters. Light appeared—torches held by people wearing dark cloaks.
They emerged into the cavern one by one. Five of them, all armed. But they weren't palace guards. These people looked rough, scarred, dangerous in a way that came from surviving real battles, not ceremonial training.
The leader pulled back her hood, revealing a woman with sharp features and an eye patch. She looked at me and Ashkaroth, then smiled.
"So you're the Dragon-Speaker everyone's hunting." Her voice was rough but not unfriendly. "And the World-Breaker himself. Interesting pair."
"Who are you?" I demanded.
"Kael's sister. He sent word that you might need allies." She gestured to her companions. "We're what's left of the resistance. People who've been fighting the nobles for years, waiting for someone brave enough—or crazy enough—to actually challenge them."
"How did you find this place?" Ashkaroth growled.
"Zara sent us. The real Zara, not whatever that creature was pretending to be earlier." The woman's one eye was sharp and assessing. "She said you'd need help getting into the festival tomorrow. Said you'd need people who know the palace's secret passages and can fight dirty."
Hope flickered in my chest. "You'll help us?"
"Help you storm the Spring Festival, expose centuries of corruption, and probably start a revolution?" She grinned. "Absolutely. We've been waiting for a chance like this for years."
"Even knowing we'll probably die?"
"Everyone dies eventually. Might as well make it mean something." She extended her hand. "I'm Mira. And you, little princess-turned-dragon-rider, are exactly the symbol the people need."
I shook her hand, feeling the calluses from years of fighting. "I'm not a symbol. I'm just trying to survive."
"Same thing, in the end." Mira looked at Ashkaroth. "And you, dragon. You planning to burn everything or are you willing to try building something better?"
Ashkaroth's eyes narrowed. "I haven't decided yet."
"Fair enough. Honesty is good." Mira turned back to me. "Zara also said to tell you something important. Your brother Finn—he's not at the palace. They moved him somewhere else. Somewhere the spy bracelet couldn't detect."
My heart stopped. "Where?"
"The old dragon shrine. The one you freed the dragon from." Mira's expression was grim. "They're using him as bait. They want you to come back there tomorrow, alone. They're planning to re-seal the dragon using your brother's death as the catalyst."
Ice filled my veins. "They're going to kill Finn to imprison Ashkaroth again?"
"Worse. They're going to make you choose." Mira's voice was gentle but firm. "Save your brother or save the dragon. They've designed a spell that requires a sacrifice—either Finn's life to re-seal the dragon, or your life to free them both. And they've timed it to happen during the festival when everyone's watching."
"No." The word came out as a whisper. "No, there has to be another way."
"There might be." Mira looked at Ashkaroth. "If the bond between you two is as strong as Zara thinks, there's a possibility you could break the spell. But it would require both of you working together perfectly, with complete trust."
Ashkaroth and I looked at each other. Through the bond, I felt his conflict—the desire to save me warring with his fear of trusting anyone again. And he felt mine—my terror of losing Finn fighting against my determination to not let them win.
"We just stabilized the bond," Ashkaroth said slowly. "We barely know how to work together."
"Then you have until tomorrow to learn." Mira gestured to her team. "We'll help however we can. But ultimately, this comes down to you two. The Dragon-Speaker and the World-Breaker. If you can work as one, you might just survive this."
"And if we can't?" I asked.
"Then we all die. But at least we'll die fighting." Mira's grin was fierce. "So what do you say, princess? Ready to save your brother, expose your enemies, and maybe start a revolution?"
I looked at Ashkaroth. Through the bond, I felt his decision forming—dangerous, terrifying, but resolute. We were in this together now, whether we wanted to be or not.
"Yes," I said firmly. "Let's burn their world down and build something better from the ashes."
Ashkaroth's hand found mine and squeezed once—brief but meaningful.
"Together," he said quietly.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, I believed we might actually win.