Page 160 of Elemental Becoming

A masterpiece of glass and light. The domed ceiling stretches wide above the ballroom, a seamless curve of stained crystal and woven lead, an intricate mosaic of fire and water, air and stone.

Each panel tells a story, etched in color and light: a dragoncurled around a mountain, a rider reaching for the storm, the Elements cast in sweeping arcs of gold and sapphire and crimson. By day, the sun pours through it like a blessing. By night, the stars shimmer faintly behind the glass, a hundred stories held above our heads.

But tonight, through that art, through that beauty, I see movement.

Blurs of color circling overhead. The white and black streaks across the glass high above are what my eyes lock onto—Calryx and Xaroth, moving too fast to track but impossible to mistake. The dragons come to protect their riders.

The castle trembles beneath us, deep rolling rumbles moving through the stone as dragons begin landing along the outer walls.

“The dragons!” someone shouts, their voice high, desperate.

“They’re here to protect us!” another guest cries, hope blooming desperately through the chaos.

“But they can’t get in!” a woman shrieks.

She’s right. I glance up at the great stained-glass dome overhead, still miraculously whole. Still beautiful. Still deadly.

If the dragons break through it, thousands of jagged shards of crystal will rain down onto everyone trapped below. And the opening would never be large enough for dragons their size.

My mind races, heart pounding.

Could we shield the ceiling? Could we catch the falling glass with magics? Or could we change it? Transform it before it falls. Bend it. Shift it. Turn it into something that won’t tear the guests apart.

Like sand.

The bond with Calryx thrums urgently against my senses, power coiling just beneath my skin, ready and waiting.

“Thane!” I shout over the crashing, the screams, the violent shudder of dragons circling overhead.

“I can change the glass! Turn it into something else. I can let them in!”

Thane glances sharply toward the ceiling, his expression already grim.

“No.”

I blink, startled.

“We can’t!” he shouts back. “There’s not enough space in here for them to safely navigate. Not with this many people. If they breathe fire—”

He cuts himself off, shaking his head once.

“It could kill everyone.”

Shit. He’s right.

But before I can respond, I see it. The sudden shift in his focus. He’s communicating with Xaroth.

Seconds pass. Then Thane turns back toward me, already moving, already decided.

“They’re going to patrol the area,” he says, already scanning the ballroom again. “See if there are any other Shadow Forces around the castle or inside the capital.”

Around us, guests continue scattering while the guards struggle to rally, bodies either fleeing or lying still on the floor.

I force myself to look away before I lose my nerve entirely.

“Our guards are already outside,” Thane says quickly. “Heading into the city itself. Xaroth can see them.”

Several of the Fellborn snap their heads toward me, their movement too inhuman. Their hollow eyes lock onto mine as if something signaled to them who I am.