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Father.

He looks at me and he says

and he looks at me

and he says

he says

he

says

Chapter 56

ON YOUR FEET, DEY.

Chapter 57

Ronan

Cahir and I crane our necks upwards, looking at Dragon’s Vale. Or rather, we look at the sky above Dragon’s Vale.

“By the Five…” I whisper, unblinking.

The night sky splits in two, the deep blue giving way to an inky blackness that dims even the stars around it. From the split emerges a golden light so brilliant, it’s as though I’m looking at the sun itself.

No, not a light.

It lengthens and stretches and a great mass of golden light follows it. My mouth drops open.

“Is that a big fucking hand?”

Cahir doesn’t bother to answer me. He only steps forward with a wide smile on his face.

“Well done, Deyanara,” he says. “Very well done.”

Chapter 58

Deyanara

I still feel the hands grasping at me even as I scream back to life. I surge upwards, shrieking. Except my voice is now returned, my throat burning. The pain returns quickly, too, and I scream again, the back of my body a mix of melted flesh and charred bones.

Novalie.

My body screams as I turn my head.

Novalie stares at me with wide eyes, tears still flowing, her hand hovering in front of her open mouth. A thousand things to say flood my mind but all I can croak out is, “I heard you.”

And then the sky splits open.

Distantly, I hear Aythora shriek but my mind and body, though alive, are broken. Pain washes over me so thickly, my vision blurs and I fight the urge to black out. I turn my head to the sky, dazed.

A golden finger reaches down.

It is so large and moves so fast, I vaguely wonder if it will crush me. But when the tip reaches my head, it is gentle and warm, like the feel of faeth in my veins. A copper tang coats my tongue. Dragon magic has always tasted of blood.

The pain fades from a scream to a whisper and then is gone. My body knits itself back together, warmth spreading through my limbs and down my spine and into and through my krata. I take a deep, gasping breath. My lungs burn, as though freshly made. A familiar strength finds its way into my limbs. My mind quietens. When I rise to my feet, it is with ease.