There was a beating of massive wings as Abraxas flew out of the sky and landed beside me.
“Thank you, Aurora Shadowbreaker.” The great dragon bowed his head to me. “I will not forget what you have done for me and for this world.”
A gasp went up from the Elder Council. For a dragon to bow to a Dragonlord was unheard of.
The rest of the warriors milled around, trying to get a closer look at the legendary Elder Dragon.
“Do not despair,” said Abraxas, still talking to me in my head. “What you have achieved here today was an impossible feat. No Dragonlord in five thousand years has been able to break the chains on my prison. We may have lost the book, but Elfi is still standing, and Silverthorne still has his key, so we do have hope. You are no longer alone in this. I am here now. I will guide you in the battles to come. If you need me, all you have to do is call.”
“Wait! You’re leaving? I thought you were going to stay with me,” I pleaded in my mind.
“I’m a dragon, Aurora, not a pet,” said Abraxas in his deep voice, which reverberated in my head as the others looked on silently. They probably wondered what we were talking about. “You have the ring. Use it. You can speak to me whenever you wish. I will hear you wherever you may be.”
“But what about the book? We still have to destroy it and free my mother from the Dagger.”
“And we will,” answered Abraxas, his purple scales glistening like amethysts in the sunlight. “This is not the end, heir of Illaria Lightbringer. The battle may be over, but the war for Avalonia’s freedom has only just begun.”
The great dragon roared, a sound that touched the farthest reaches of the fae kingdom. He spread his vast wings, casting an enormous shadow over the fae army, and pounced into the brightening sky.
I turned to my grandmother and the Elder Council. They were all lined up and looking at me with awe and a newfound respect on their immortal faces.
My grandmother stepped forward to stand beside me and addressed the fae. “People of Elfi,” she began in a clear voice, the voice of an immortal queen. “For five thousand years we have waited for the heir of Illaria Lightbringer to return and lead us out of the darkness that has descended on our world. Now we are finally on the cusp of a new age, an age where darkness has no place. The war has only begun, and I choose to align myself with Aurora Shadowbreaker, Bringer of Light, true queen of the kingdom of Illiador and the heir of Elfi.” She paused, folding her hands together. “Prepare yourselves for the battles to come, for there is hope for this world yet. The age of the Dawnstar has begun.”
There were cheers and delighted cries from the crowd as word spread through the army. And then the most unexpected thing happened.
My grandmother, the dowager, and the whole Elder Council, including Tristan’s father, bowed their heads to me. Behind them, the Elite led by Erik bent their knees, and the rest of the army of fae-warriors did too.
I was overwhelmed, but I held back my tears. I couldn’t cry in front of practically the whole fae kingdom. They would think the Dawnstar was a blubbering idiot. So I steeled my face and hoped they noticed how truly humbled I was by their acceptance and respect.
Tristan accompanied me as we rode back to the Crystal Castle in a convoy, flanked by Erik and the Elite as Snow flew on overhead. We had just received news. Penelope had managed to stop Skye from getting her troops into the castle. But I knew Skye had escaped. Now Andromeda and Skye had the book, and Morgana was in a much stronger position than before.
The first thing I needed to do was to get my granduncle out of the dungeons and away from the Blackwaters. His key was all that stood in the way of Morgana opening the book and releasing Dragath on the world. Once we had the key, we would search for the book and destroy it.
The road to my mother and my throne still seemed endless, but at least I had hope.
When we got back to the castle, I went to meet Penelope. She was lying on her bed, her face pale, her blue eyes dim as if the life had been sucked out of them.
“What can I do?” I asked, horrified as I ran to her bedside and kneeled beside her.
She could barely speak, and shook her head slightly. “You cannot heal me, Aurora. I am weak because most of my magic is gone.”
“But you will recover?”
A faint smile. “I hope so,” she replied. “But it may take a while to regain my powers.”
“What happened?”
“While I was busy closing the portal, Skye attacked me,” Penelope wheezed. “Tristan had sent reinforcements and I let them into the palace as soon as the wards were down. Night Court warriors drove Andromeda’s soldiers back through the portal and secured the city in Izadora’s name.” Penelope turned her head to the side, away from me. “I should have been able to stop her.”
I put my hand over hers. “It’s okay, Penelope, you did more than enough. If it was anyone’s fault it was mine. I should have been here.”
Penelope held my hand in hers and squeezed it gently. “You have to stop blaming yourself, Aurora. Not everything that happens is your fault. You cannot be in two places at once. You did your best, and that is all any of us can ever hope to do.”
The door opened and Kildaren walked in, but this time he left his guards outside.
I stood up. “What do you want?”
“I came to apologize,” Kildaren answered, to my surprise. His sapphire eyes looked troubled.
“For what exactly? For trying to get rid
