Aria's POV
"We need to leave NOW!" Kael's voice roars in my head through our new bond.
I stumble backward, still trying to process that my best friend is a giant dragon. That dragons aren't extinct. That I just accidentally bonded with the Dragon King.
"Why?" I gasp. "What's—"
Three shadows drop from the sky.
A massive phoenix made of fire lands between me and Kael. A silver serpent coils nearby. A griffin with eagle wings and lion body blocks the exit.
And riding the phoenix is Marcus.
"Well, well," my ex-fiancé says, dismounting with a cruel smile. "Looks like the useless Dragon Tamer found something to bond with after all."
My blood turns to ice. He can't know. He can't—
"That's illegal!" Vivian slides off the serpent, her eyes gleaming with malice. "Breaking into the Taming Grounds. Stealing practice beasts. And what IS that thing?" She points at Kael. "Some kind of mutant lizard?"
Zara steps in front of me. "Back off, you cheating snakes!"
"Cheating?" Marcus laughs. "I upgraded. There's a difference." His eyes lock on mine. "But I have to admit, Aria, I'm curious. How did you tame... whatever that is?"
Through the bond, I feel Kael's rage. His desire to burn them all. But also his restraint—he's holding back because he's waiting for me to decide.
What do you want me to do? his voice asks gently in my mind.
I look at Marcus. At the boy I loved for three years. The boy who proposed to my stepsister an hour after breaking my heart.
And I realize I don't love him anymore. I'm not even sad.
I'm furious.
"His name is Kael," I say clearly. "And he's not a 'thing.' He's my bonded beast."
Marcus's smile falters. "Kael? That weird guy who follows you around?" He looks at the dragon, then back at me. "You're saying your stalker friend is actually a—"
"A dragon," I finish.
Silence.
Then all three of them burst out laughing.
"Dragons are EXTINCT!" Vivian shrieks. "God, Aria, you're so pathetic you're making up stories now?"
The third tamer—a man I don't recognize—shakes his head. "That's clearly some kind of rare lizard beast. Impressive size, but not a dragon. Don't be ridiculous."
They can't accept the truth, Kael says in my mind. Three hundred years of believing we're gone has made them blind.
Then let's make them see, I think back.
I don't know how I know what to do next. Maybe it's instinct. Maybe the bond is teaching me. But I reach through the connection between us and push.
Kael's power floods into me like liquid fire.
Golden light explodes from my body. The bond between us becomes visible—a chain of pure gold light connecting my heart to his. And through that chain, I feel everything Kael is.
Ancient. Powerful. Deadly.
And absolutely, completely mine.
"Kael," I say out loud. "Show them."
My dragon opens his mouth and roars.
But this isn't a normal roar. This is dragon speech—the ancient language that shaped the world. The sound waves hit the three beasts like a physical force.
The phoenix screeches and drops to its knees, wings spread in submission.
The serpent flattens against the ground, trembling.
The griffin bows its head, lion tail tucked between its legs.
All three beasts acknowledge Kael as the apex predator. As their superior. As the thing they instinctively fear and obey.
Marcus falls off his phoenix, landing hard. "What—how—"
"Dragons are the top of the food chain," I say, my voice steady even though I'm shaking inside. "Every beast knows it in their bones. Your phoenix might be rare, Marcus. But it's still just prey compared to a dragon."
Vivian's face goes white. "No. This isn't possible. Dragons are—"
"Extinct?" a new voice says.
A man steps out of the shadows. Silver hair, ice-blue eyes, inhumanly beautiful. He's dressed in an expensive suit, but there's something wrong about him. Something that makes my instincts scream danger.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the man says with a slight bow. "Lysander Frost. I'm Kael's second-in-command." He smiles, and his teeth look too sharp. "And also a dragon."
Marcus scrambles backward. "Second dragon? That's—you're lying—"
"Am I?" Lysander's form shimmers.
In a blink, there's a massive silver dragon standing where the man was. Smaller than Kael, but still enormous. Beautiful and terrifying.
Both dragons roar together.
The sound shakes the ground. Cracks appear in the concrete. The three bonded beasts start whimpering, trying to escape from their tamers' control.
"Two dragons," the third tamer whispers. "Two real dragons. But that means—"
"It means everything you thought you knew is wrong," I say. My voice doesn't sound like me anymore. It sounds powerful. Dangerous. "Dragons never died. They just hid. And now that I've awakened, they don't have to hide anymore."
Vivian grabs Marcus's arm. "We need to report this. The Council needs to know—"
"Report what?" I step toward her, and she flinches back. "That dragons exist? That your 'useless' sister bonded with the most powerful creature in the world? That you and Marcus threw away the one person who could have given you real power?"
Marcus stares at Kael, and I see the calculation in his eyes. The greed. "Aria, wait. We can talk about this. Maybe I was too hasty—"
"You had your chance," I cut him off. "You chose Vivian. You called me worthless. You humiliated me in front of ten thousand people. I'm not interested in your regrets."
"But we could—the power you have—we could rule together—"
Kael's growl shakes the air. Say the word, his voice rumbles in my mind. I'll end him.
For a second, I'm tempted. Really tempted.
But I'm not a murderer. Not yet, anyway.
"Leave," I tell Marcus. "Take your phoenix and your new fiancée and get out. If I see you again before I'm ready, my dragon won't be so patient."
Marcus opens his mouth to argue, but his phoenix suddenly bolts. It's so terrified of the dragons that it runs away, leaving its tamer behind.
The serpent and griffin do the same—fleeing in panic.
"Wait!" Marcus and the others chase after their beasts.
Only Vivian stays long enough to shoot me a look of pure hatred. "This isn't over," she hisses.
"Yes," I say quietly. "It is."
She runs.
The moment they're gone, my knees give out. Zara catches me before I hit the ground.
"That," Zara says, voice shaking, "was the most incredible thing I've ever seen."
Kael and Lysander shift back to human form. Kael is immediately at my side, his hand on my shoulder. "Are you hurt?"
"No." I laugh, but it comes out broken. "I'm not hurt. I'm just—everything is—"
"Overwhelming," Kael finishes. "I know. But Aria, we need to move. Marcus will tell people. By morning, everyone will know dragons exist. And they'll know you bonded with one."
"So?"
"So there are people who will want to study you. Use you. Control you." His golden eyes are intense. "And there are people who will want to kill you before you become too powerful."
Ice runs down my spine. "Kill me?"
"The Dragon Tamer is prophesied to change the world," Lysander says. "Not everyone wants the world to change."
Zara grips my hand. "Then we run. We hide."
"No." I stand up, forcing my legs to support me. "I'm done running. I'm done hiding." I look at Kael. "You said there are thirty dragons. Where are they?"
"Scattered across the city. Waiting."
"Then call them. It's time they stopped pretending to be human." I take a shaky breath. "And it's time I stopped pretending to be weak."
Kael's face breaks into a fierce smile. "As you command, my tamer."
He tilts his head back and roars—a sound that echoes across the entire city.
And from thirty different locations, thirty different voices answer.
The age of dragons has returned.
But as the last roar fades, my phone buzzes. I pull it out and see a text from an unknown number:
Unknown: Congratulations on your awakening, Dragon Tamer. But before you start a war, you should know: we have something that belongs to you. Something you thought was lost ten years ago. If you want to see your mother again, come alone. You have 24 hours.
Below the message is a photo.
My mother. My dead mother. Alive. Older. Terrified.
Chained in a dark cell.
The phone slips from my fingers.
"Aria?" Kael's voice sounds far away. "What's wrong?"
I can't speak. Can't breathe.
My mother is alive.
And someone has been holding her captive for ten years.