Her vision flickered red, and she nodded. “Of course, I am.”
He considered her for a moment, seeming to see what she couldn’t. “It will need a little extra prompting.”
Before she realized his intentions, his lips closed over hers, and his dragon’s eyes blazed within her mind. Responding to both the kiss and the taunt, fire flared beneath her skin, and she groaned. Moments later, his lips were gone, but he certainly wasn’t. She opened her eyes to a gorgeous black dragon, resting his chin on the ground in front of her.
“Join me then, mate?”
The way he looked at her, almost like a mischievous pup who wanted its mate to come play, brought a smile to her face.
More than that, it turned her vision red.
The next thing she knew her dragon finally surfaced, and the world grew a little smaller. Caught in the moment, she almost roared with the freedom of it. Why had she denied herself this feeling for so long? Yet she knew. To protect others. Now, ironically enough, she had embraced it to do the same thing, and her dragon reveled in it.
If the sensation of embracing her dragon again wasn’t enough, when Soren lifted his head, and their dragon eyes met for the first time in this form, she felt so much more. Everything else fell away. The world narrowed down to him. Overwhelmed with emotion, and a startling sense of recognition her dragon took over and cuddled against him, desperate for contact it hadn’t felt in far too long.
The heartwarming, untouchable feeling of her beloved mate.
Equally affected, he wrapped his wings around her and held her close, his dragon cherishing the moment just as much. She had never felt anything so incredibly intense. So life-altering. How had she gone her whole life without this? It felt essential. As if she had only been half a dragon without him.
As much as she wanted to remain in the moment, against him, with him always, she felt what lay ahead pressing in on them. “We should go.”
“Yes,” he agreed.
He didn’t want to pull away from her anymore than she did, yet they managed to do it.
It turned out Dagr and Halla were absolutely right about what it felt like to embrace their dragons in the Realm and take to the sky.
“I definitely don’t recall it feeling anything like this when I was younger.” Ava flapped her wings, alive in the freedom of it. “So it’s got to be the Realm.”
“Most definitely,” Tess said. “This seriously kicks ass!”
Though Magnus and Vigdis didn’t look as happy as they could, they didn’t necessarily look disgruntled either. Tiernan seemed more curious than anything and Pierce as though he were on an amusement park ride. Halla, naturally, made sure she gave him a memorable experience.
“Your blade is doing something, Ava,” Tiernan said as they grew closer to the tree.
“So is Soren’s,” she noted of the sword in Soren’s grasp. Lightning zigzagged up and down the metal. “They’re responding to the tree.”
“Aye.” Tiernan nodded. His gaze narrowed on the ring she had on the end of one of her talons. “As is the ring.”
“The people and dragons depicted on it are glowing,” she said. “What do you think that means?”
“That we are heading in the right direction,” the wizard said, his eyes on Níðhöggr’s Ash.
Shockingly enough, as they drew closer, the center of it spread open, as if welcoming them in. Showing them the way.
“I should go first.” Ava was certain of it. “Leviathan, you and Tiernan take up the rear.”
Trusting her, they fell into formation. She cruised faster, closing the distance quickly.
Close, closer, closer still...then she flew straight into the tree branches.
Only to experience so much more than she expected.
Chapter Twenty-Six
LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, Soren was in awe of what he witnessed within the tree. Beyond the tree. Not just the ash’s creation but the whole of the Realm. Then back further and further until everyone vanished and his and Ava’s dragons stood in Múspellsheimr.
Again in the midst of a memory, they had been dropped into the heart of war.
Soren kept Ava close as their dragon’s fiery home world seemed to explode around them. Not just dragons fought but fire demons and fire giants. It was complete chaos. Nearly impossible to make sense of. Fire roared from every direction. From dragon’s mouths and demon whips then mighty balls of flames from the giants. The air reeked of cloying smoke, and lava pools burped rancid pockets of sulfur.
“It’s that day, isn’t it?” Ava murmured when she caught sight of their former dragons. “The day that started it all.”
The tree had brought them back to the day that had literally changed the future.
Nothing could have prepared them for such a sight. Their dragons fought alongside Skáld against Níðhöggr and war raged. The pure power coming off the two mighty dragons as they crashed together was extreme. They fought one another with such hatred it sparked black in the air around them.
“She’s mine,” one of Skáld’s head’s roared, attacking Níðhöggr as viciously as his other head. “Your daughter belongs to me now! She is mine. My dragon to care for.”
Though Skáld’s second head seemed baffled by that news, it didn’t attack its counterpart. But then how could it? Both heads were needed to battle Níðhöggr. Two heads that were terrifying in their anger, desperate to destroy the Great Serpent.
Meanwhile, the fighting went on all around them, beast crashing into beast.
“There it is.” Ava pointed at Soren’s incarnate. “You have the First Blade.”
She was right. Carrying the sword, his incarnate and Ava’s former dragon edged closer. The fire demon who had helped Rokar and Tess was waiting nearby. They were getting ready to do something. A pinprick of elven light sparked in the sky overhead then began expanding.
“It is time,” Soren’s dragon roared. The elven light grew brighter. “Those who are ready must follow us!”
There was no missing the shock on Skáld’s faces when he focused on Soren and Ava’s dragons. When he realized his own brother had deceived him. That Ava had betrayed him. Sensing his enemy was half weakened by a broken heart, Níðhöggr attacked Skáld with fresh fury, battering him with his wings while raining down fire.
“This is what you were worried about,” Ava said softly. Understanding dawned in her eyes. “That I might not allow this because of the connection I had with Skáld.” She shook her head. “What I felt for you was far too strong though...far too intense.”
“Then we should be okay,” he replied. “Our dragons should make it out.”
Yet even as he said it, he sensed the pure wrath roaring up inside his former brother. Anger so great it shook him to his core. Rage born of a truly powerful emotion.
“Love is more powerful than hate,” Soren murmured.
“Good God.” Ava looked from Soren to Skáld and suddenly understood. “I cultivated the love Skáld felt for me in hopes it would weaken him for the final confrontation, but it only made him stronger.”
The light overhead brightened more and more, and lightning sizzled over his incarnate’s blade.
“It is time,” Soren’s former dragon roared again to all those infected. “You must follow us!”
Ready and eager, several dragons rushed forward, so desperate to start life anew, they fought any enemy that came at them with admirable strength.
“Holy shit,” Ava gasped when the light became a long blazing tornado shaped tunnel that twisted up into the sky. “The Portal!”
The second it appeared, he remembered just about everything. All the moments leading up to this. Not just mating with but truly falling in love with Ava in that life.
Then he remembered even more.
“It does not go how it should have,” he whispered.
“No.” Her misty eyes flickered to his before returning to the unraveling scene. “Because you finally heard our baby’s heartbeat...and so did Skáld.”
When her former
dragon stood in the light of the Portal—a tunnel essentially made of love—the child in Ava’s womb was no longer hidden but heard by all. While it certainly affected Níðhöggr’s dragon and Soren’s incarnate profoundly, it ignited pure hell in Skáld. He became a seething beast, his explosive rage fueled not just by loathing but roaring jealousy.
“He wants to kill the baby,” Soren growled. “I felt it...all of us did.”
Aware that a whole new type of monster had awoken within Skáld, Soren and Níðhöggr knew there was only one way to get Ava, her offspring and the rest of the infected dragons off of Múspellsheimr.
“You are our only hope,” Soren’s dragon said to her, bashing away an enemy dragon when it tried to rush them. “You must lead the infected to Midgard.”
“Not without you.” Pain flashed in her eyes. They flickered between him and Níðhöggr. “Not without Father.” She shook her head. “I refuse to.”
“You must think of the child in your womb.” Though desperate to pull her close, he nudged her away. He would give anything to have his mate and offspring in his arms but knew this was the only option. He had to push her away to give his family a fighting chance. “You must save him.”
She whimpered and tried to make her way back to him, but he refused her. He had to. Despite the pain in his heart, in his very soul, he tossed her the blade, roared, “Save our son and people,” then turned and attacked Skáld alongside Níðhöggr.
She started after him, but the heartbeat in her womb slowed then stopped her.
“The pain is indescribable,” Ava whispered. “It felt like my soul was being torn in half.”
“Yet, you are strong.” He sensed her former dragon gathering herself, finding courage not only for their unborn babe but for all those who depended on her to lead them to peace. “So very strong.”
Her dragon’s gaze lingered on her mate and father in agony for another moment before she did what she had to do. She stood tall, roared that those infected follow her and raced into the light. In the meantime, Níðhöggr and Soren’s dragons fought Skáld for all they were worth buying her and the others time to fight their way to freedom.
“I never looked back,” she whispered, watching her dragon fly into the Portal. “Not until I made it to the other side.” Ava swallowed hard, struggling to control her emotions. “But you never came through.” She shook her head. “Neither of you did.”
They learned why soon enough.
Though Níðhöggr and Soren fought valiantly, Skáld’s state of mind gave him strength beyond reason. Fueled by betrayal, the head that had loved Ava caught hold of Soren’s neck in a relentless vice-grip and used his body as a battering ram against Níðhöggr. All the while, his other head kept at the Great Serpent.
Though large and strong, Soren never stood a chance against his monstrous brethren. His neck snapped in little time. Yet still, Skáld used his body as a weapon, smashing Níðhöggr’s head again and again with the spikes on the end of Soren’s tail. Níðhöggr’s non-infected soldiers tried to come to the Great Serpent’s aid, but they were overwhelmed by the sheer force of Skáld’s army and fled, leaving their master at the mercy of his worst enemy.
Skáld, not surprisingly, was ruthless until the end, unleashing his hatred on Níðhöggr. He attacked him within an inch of his life before he wrapped his teeth around Níðhöggr’s neck and locked him down.
That, as they soon learned, was when Níðhöggr cursed his foe.
Even though his daughter had successfully led infected dragons off of Múspellsheimr, as the Great Serpent lay dying in the jaws of his enemy, he used the last of his magic to ensure his lineage would not be extinguished but resurrected by a prophecy. One not vengeful and prideful as they had thought at the beginning, but a means for his kin to find their mates again in another life and rise up once more.
After all, as they now knew, Skáld’s war still raged.
More than that, seen clearly in the tattoos and possessions, the double-headed serpent would have come for Ava and her sisters eventually. He would have found a way to destroy them all then taken Ava. Because if Soren knew nothing else from those last moments with his former brother, Skáld intended to keep her and torture her so long as he lived.
“Níðhöggr gave us a fighting chance,” Ava said softly. She wiped away a tear as the Great Serpent breathed his last breath. “Skáld was going to come no matter what. Níðhöggr just helped it be on our terms standing beside mates who were ripped away from us before.” Her heartbroken gaze drifted to the lifeless body of Soren’s former dragon then rose to where the Portal had been. Another tear rolled down her cheek. “Ragnarök wasn’t you and I starting dragonkind anew on another world but me and our son leading those who followed. Starting a fresh life where love could flourish.”
“And it did.” He pulled her closer. “We did it, Ava. Not how we would have liked but we still did it...you did it.”
“All of us did,” she whispered. “Every last dragon who sacrificed their lives.”
As they held each other, Múspellsheimr faded away, and Midgard returned. Instead of standing in a fiery maelstrom, they stood in a peaceful forest, in human form.
“They’ve returned,” Halla exclaimed. “Over there!”
Ava wiped away another stray tear and took in their surroundings. “How did we get here?” Confusion lit her eyes when they landed on a glorious, sparkling willow tree. “And where is here exactly? Because that looks just like the Vanaheim Willow I saw in Sage’s mind except we’re not standing in the dark wasteland that should be Skáld’s Domain.”
“Yet you are.” Tiernan gestured at their surroundings. “This was once Skáld’s Domain. Remarkably enough, things have changed considerably in your absence.”
Seconds later, Soren cringed in pain, and things changed even more.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I CAN’T BELIEVE it’s gone,” Ava said yet again, inspecting Soren’s shoulder, more relieved than she let on that his tattoo had vanished. “I thought for sure it would cause more issues.”
“I think what it represented already caused enough issues.” Soren reminded her of all the damage Skáld had inflicted thus far. “But it is good that it’s gone.”
“Definitely.” She shook her head. “Yet there’s no tat on me yet.”
“There will be,” Tess assured. “With Rokar and I, mine appeared after we ended our enemy. Might be the same for you.”
Ava nodded, still amazed by the changes that had happened in their absence. “I know it was heading in that direction before, but now the entirety of Skáld’s Domain has dwindled down to Skáld’s Ash?” She shook her head, baffled. “What are we supposed to make of that?”
As it turned out, while she and Soren had been in Múspellsheimr witnessing another memory, everyone else had made it through safely, appearing at the willow unharmed. According to them, it had been a combination of their power and Níðhöggr’s Ash that had pushed Ava and Soren through to see that final memory.
Upon arrival here, parts of the Domain had still been black and lifeless, then it changed. They had watched it shrink hour by hour until it only existed around Skáld’s Ash.
“His Domain shrinking tells me that Skáld is drawing a tremendous amount of power,” Leviathan said in answer to Ava’s concerns. “Based on everything you just shared, it’s safe to say we now know why.”
“Because of me,” Ava murmured.
“Not just you but all of us,” Soren said. He had her tucked against his side as if unwilling to have her anywhere else. “We managed a great feat, and Skáld seeks revenge.”
“We have to stop him.” She met his eyes. “We can’t let Skáld get here.” A strange sensation rolled through her. “Or maybe...”
When she trailed off, Tess cocked her head. “Maybe, what?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured. Yet a thought took root and blossomed. “I just had the strongest feeling we might be going about this all wrong.”
When they looked at her in question, she went on. “I know there’s still a war to be fought on Múspellsheimr, but how is it any more our war now than it was then?” She looked at Soren. “Like it was for the others, glimpsing into our past is supposed to bring us closer by revealing things, right?”
She continued when he nodded.
“Well, we have learned, and we are closer,” she said. “What if our mission isn’t to win a war on Múspellsheimr but to get those infected off again? Why not go there then draw Skáld after us? He's already trying his damndest to get here so why not lure him then hit him with everything we've got on our own territory?” She gestured at their surroundings. “An area he’s foolishly drained in his need to get here.”
“I know we’re speculating that Skáld’s half infected,” Tess said. “Will that be enough to get him through the Portal though? As it stands, non-infected dragons can’t get past the Burn of Transition or handle the elven light.”
“I think between any infection he’s got left and the power he’s drawing off his Domain, it’s a good possibility,” Ava said. “My dragon’s telling me this is the way to go. I think we should listen.”
“There is a lot of risk to this plan,” Soren said softly, yet he clearly approved. “But it is a good one.”
“Risk?” Tess balked, frowning at Ava. “It sounds like suicide.” She kept pondering it. “But then I’ll be with you so that won’t be happening.”
“I don’t know about that yet,” she replied. “All I know is I feel more strongly by the moment that this is the right course of action.” She shook her head. “The details of who should and shouldn’t go are still up in the air.”
“Up in the air?” Tess’s brows snapped together. “I’m sorry but how the hell do you think you’re gonna stop me from following?”
Ava shook her head, not wanting to get into it because she didn’t understand exactly how things were supposed to go down yet. She needed...clarity.
Tess’s eyes narrowed and lingered on Ava before she snorted and shook her head, evidently sensing her confusion.
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