Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series

When we were certain that the other Dragons were truly gone, Jasin and Auric circled the tower together as they flew down to the ground, where Brin waited for us with a nervous expression. As Auric’s scaled feet hit the ground, she leaped on us to hug both of us at once, which was a bit awkward since he was still a dragon.

‘Thank the Gods you’re all right,’ she said. ‘What happened up there?’

‘Sark and Isen wanted me to go with them, but we managed to fight them off,” I said. I debated telling her what the Air God had told me about my parents, but now wasn’t the time. Besides, I wasn’t sure I could even speak the words out loud yet.

‘Incredible.’ She patted Auric’s scaled side. ‘You look great as a dragon, my friend.’

‘Thanks.” Auric stretched his wings, admiring his new shining form.

“You should have seen him,” I told Brin. “He flew like he’d been doing it his entire life.”

“A benefit of being the Air God’s chosen one,” he said.

Jasin touched down, and Slade and Reven leaped off his back. My two Dragons shifted back into human form and then my four mates surrounded me and wrapped me in their arms, passing me from one to the other to hold me tight and cover my face with kisses. Love and relief filled my chest as I kissed and hugged them back. These were my Dragons, my warriors, and my mates. No matter what happened or what we uncovered, they would stand by my side.

“How did you know we were in trouble?” I asked Jasin.

“I felt your distress through the bond.” He grinned at Reven and Slade. “The other two weren’t excited about climbing onto my back, but they didn’t need much convincing when I said you were in danger.”

“Only because we knew you couldn’t handle it on your own,” Reven said, as he crossed his arms. He was back to his brooding self, though I knew he cared for me.

“We’ll always protect you, Kira,” Slade said, but then he made a face. “Even if it means flying again.”

“Thank you,” I said. “We couldn’t have defeated the Dragons without all of us working together, but now we need to hurry to the Earth Temple. The Dragons know who we are, and they know we have two temples left to visit. They’ll be trying to stop us any chance they can, and will no doubt be waiting for us to arrive.’

‘Good thing we can fly now,’ Auric said.

‘Can you both fly all the way to the Earth Temple?’ I asked, glancing between Auric and Jasin. “With all of us on your backs?”

‘Do we have a choice?’ Jasin asked. ‘We’ll manage it somehow. Even with frequent stops to rest it will be faster than taking the camels back to Windholm and then getting horses.’

Brin nodded. ‘I’ll set the camels free. They’ll be fine.’

‘Then let’s gather our things and set off,’ I said, as I gazed across the desert in the direction of the Earth Realm. Another long journey was ahead of us, and at the end of it was my mother. I shuddered at the thought before I turned away.

Together we went through our supplies and bundled up everything we needed, then left the rest behind. Auric and Jasin became dragons again, while the four of us climbed onto their backs and loaded our things onto them. I wasn’t sure how far they could fly with our weight on them, especially since they were both new to this, but we couldn’t delay here either.

As we lifted into the air, I thought again of the Air God’s words about how the Black Dragon was my mother. I hadn’t wanted to believe it, but I felt the dark truth of it within me, no matter how much I hated the thought. I could only pray that I would never become like her…or like whoever my father was. And when the time came, I would defeat her and her Dragons, because though they may have birthed me, they were not my family. My first family was the one that Sark had destroyed, and my new family was the group that surrounded me now.

We began to fly north in the direction of the Earth Realm, where I hoped to see Tash again, meet Slade’s family, and bond with him at the Earth Temple. Our path wouldn’t be easy, and even though we’d been victorious today, I knew we’d gotten lucky. To defeat the five Dragons we needed more than luck, especially since they knew where we would be heading next. We were going to need more allies, and though the King of the Air Realm was a good start, he wouldn’t be enough—not when the Dragons had the Onyx Army and could control shades as well. We needed the Resistance on our side, along with anyone else we could find. But to get help, I was going to have to reveal who I truly was to the world. There would be no more hiding, not anymore.

I’d thought I could live my life in the shadows, but it was time to step into the light.