Page 100 of Elemental Becoming

The hatchlings and the wards have always been tied together. The birth of new dragons strengthens the old magics, renewing what was woven into this realm long before humans built their kingdoms.

Every hatching cycle has been part of that balance.

Until now.

Three decades.

Three decades since the last egg hatched. Three decades of silence. The eggs remain, unbroken, untouched.

Why?

At first, I thought it was a sign of something missing. That whatever force awakens them had simply not yet come. But the longer I sit with it, the more that explanation unravels.

This isn’t a pause. It’s an absence.

Magics move in cycles, always shifting, always flowing. But something has interrupted that flow. It isn’t just waiting to be set right. Something is holding it back.

Valen spoke of this in his lessons. The prophecies say the return of the Spiritborn marks a shift in magics—a restoration of balance.

But what if it isn’t being restored? What if it was never allowed to continue?

The thought hits me all at once, sharp as the wind rushingpast us.

A deeper understanding taking root—not just a vague sense of wrongness, but a certainty that something deliberate has caused this.

This is a wound.

A chill runs down my spine, deeper than the cold air biting at my skin. I tighten my grip on the saddle straps, my gaze drifting toward the horizon.

The silence between us stretches, thick with everything I’m trying to piece together.

We fly for nearly an hour, soaring high above the world, where nothing feels heavy and the sky stretches endlessly in all directions.

Then I feel it—the subtle shift in her flight, the banking of her wings as she turns us back toward the capital.

A sigh presses against my ribs.

I know what’s next.

“Don’t you have a ball to attend?”Her voice slides through my mind, dry and edged with faint humor.“Another human ritual. Pomp and pride.”

I huff a laugh.“That’s exactly how I feel.”

She rumbles, amused.“Then why go?”

I exhale, watching the horizon stretch before us.“Because humans do care about these things. And if I want to survive among them, I have to play along.”

Calryx hums, considering.

“A shame. The sky does not demand such things.”

MIND THE SHADOWS

THIRTEEN

Thanks to my studies of all the elements, I have been able to guide Amara through the earliest stages of wielding them. As her mastery deepens, I will call upon advanced bonded riders to instruct her in the more intricate and elevated magics. I confess, Iam eager to witness what she will create. I suspect she could even shatter what we know about magics. She is destined to become a legend remembered for generations beyond counting. She is becoming something entirely new. A force unto herself.

—VALEN’S JOURNAL