Page 226 of Elemental Becoming

“But that’s not the worst of it.”

His gaze shifts to Calryx.

“Because when you draw from her, you’re not just borrowing her strength. You’re opening a channel. If that bond destabilizes while magics are passing through it, the backlash doesn’t stop with you.”

A pause.

“If you burn out, you risk dragging Calryx with you.”

The words hit hard.

I look over my shoulder. At the steady rise and fall of her breath. The gleam of intelligence in her eyes. The sheerpresenceof her.

My dragon. My partner.

She didn’t choose this bond lightly, and gods help me, I won’t be the one to break it.

I nod, jaw tight.

“We start with connection,” Valen says. “Not power. Feel her. Let her feel you. The dragon-rider bond won’t carry what it doesn’t trust.”

I close my eyes and Calryx’s presence is immediate. Vast. Coiled like a storm behind glass.

“I’m here,”I send through the bond.

Her response comes like a rush of wind in my mind. “And I am with you. But do not reach for control. Ask.”

I blow out a breath, remembering how I grabbed for the power during the ball. It surged through me with such staggering force, I felt as though I was being ripped apart from the inside.

This isn’t about dominance. It’s about alignment.

“Will you lend me your strength?”I ask.

There’s a pause.

Then warmth.

Pressure.

The pulse of fire and air coils through the tether between us. My body responds instantly. My skin prickles. My heartbeat stutters.

It feels like too much, too fast. Heat presses against the inside of my ribs. Air rushes through my limbs.

I grit my teeth. My knees buckle.

Calryx roars behind me, loud enough to rattle my bones.

The sound crashes through me like lightning, cutting through the haze of power gathering inside me. Through the bond, she feels the strain building before I do.

The warning is enough.

Instinct takes over and I sever the channel. The power tears away in a rush. I stagger back, lungs burning.

I turn around, still catching my breath. “Thank you,” I murmur, a slight tremor in my voice. “I needed that.”

She huffs, a sharp gust of air that lifts the hair off my neck. Worry crackles through the bond, sharp and undeniable.

“Alright, alright,”I say, dragging a hand through my hair. “I know. It’s just . . . a lot. I’m doing my best, Your Majesty,”I grumble. “Some of us are still mortal.”