Chapter 5 THE DRAGON WITHIN

Elara's POV

The ground was slippery, and the rain wasn't making things any easier. I caught up with him just as he reached a rocky outcrop overlooking a vast stretch of forest.

"What exactly are you looking for?" I asked, coming to stand beside him.

Kael didn't answer immediately. He studied the distant horizon, his expression growing increasingly displeased.

"Something that will tell me where we are," he replied.

"And staring at trees is going to accomplish that?"

He turned his head toward me. "Do you have a better suggestion?"

"Yes. We could find a road. Or a person. Perhaps a signpost would be useful. You know, something that doesn't involve standing in the rain and looking personally offended by nature. We could ask the watch, but it has completely gone quiet and doesn't seem to know how to answer questions—much like someone else I know."

He gave me a long, unblinking look before turning away again.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I was beginning to suspect that irritating me was his absolute favorite pastime.

Then, something strange happened.

Suddenly, the air surrounding him began to shimmer.

Panicked, I stepped back, my eyes widening as the silver-gray of his irises flared into a brilliant, molten gold. A low rumble rose from his chest—deep enough that I felt it vibrating through the soles of my boots.

"Kael?" I called out, my voice caught somewhere between sheer terror and utter confusion.

He didn't look at me. His entire body began to change.

For one terrifying, disorienting moment, I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. His broad shoulders shifted, his limbs elongated, and his expensive shirt shredded into pieces as it vanished beneath a rapidly spreading mass of blinding white scales. Enormous wings unfurled from his back, scattering rainwater across the rocks. His body grew taller and longer until the surrounding trees suddenly looked small in comparison.

My weak, shaky legs stumbled backward.

No way.

No, absolutely no freaking way.

This was not happening. Oh god, I must have hit my head harder than I thought during the fall. What if I was dead? Yes, that had to be it! Why else would I be hallucinating Kael transforming into—

A magnificent white dragon now stood where Kael had been.

His scales shone like freshly fallen snow, with faint silver patterns running along his powerful neck and down his massive, armored body. His wings were colossal, each subtle shift sending gusts of wind howling through the clearing. Two curved horns swept back from his head, and his glowing golden eyes burned like fire beneath the storm-dark sky.

He was breathtaking.

Terrifyingly, impossibly breathtaking. And he was looking directly at me.

I swallowed hard. My mouth opened, but no sound came out—not even a squeak.

The dragon lowered his head slightly, his massive golden eyes studying me as though he expected me to process what had just occurred.

I stared at him, paralyzed, as his fierce gaze slowly shifted back into the familiar silver-gray I recognized.

Kael?

Then, my brain finally put the pieces together. The dragon tattoo. The dragon symbol on the mysterious watch. The dragon scales he had casually offered me as payment.

Oh.

Oh, no.

"You're a dragon. He's a dragon," I whispered to myself, before a hysterical, breathless laugh tore from my lips.

He blinked slowly. My heart slammed violently against my ribs.

"You're a dragon!" I screamed as the full reality finally crashed down on me.

The creature released a low, rumbling growl that shook the rocky ground beneath us.

I screamed again. I wasn't entirely sure why, but screaming felt like the only reasonable option left.

I had screamed when the watch dragged me into an endless abyss. I had screamed when I thought I was falling to my death. But this scream was entirely different. It came from somewhere so deep inside my chest that I never knew my vocal cords could even reach that pitch.

I tried to keep screaming, but the sound caught halfway up my throat, leaving me gasping for air like a fish pulled onto dry land.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think.

The enormous white dragon shifted closer, his golden eyes widening with a flicker of alarm.

That was the exact moment my knees completely gave out.

The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me whole was the magnificent creature lowering his massive head toward me in concern.

Then, I passed out cold.

Kael's POV

For several seconds, I simply stared down at the little mage lying unconscious on the wet stone.

Rain continued pouring over the clearing, soaking her clothes and plastering strands of dark hair against her pale cheeks. Ironically, she looked considerably less irritating when she wasn't talking.

That was an uncharitable thought. I knew that. Unfortunately, it didn't make it any less true.

I lowered my head and nudged her gently with the tip of my nose.

Nothing. I tried again, a bit more carefully this time.

Still nothing. Did she really just faint?

"Wonderful," I muttered, though the sound came out as a low, rumbling growl in my dragon form. The little mage has actually fainted.

I couldn't entirely blame her. While most humans I encountered in passing knew legends of dragons, very few had ever laid eyes on one—and even fewer had witnessed a full transformation right before their eyes. Still, I would have appreciated a reaction that didn't involve her collapsing as though I had struck her down.

I lifted my head and surveyed the dense, unfamiliar forest.

Where in the seven realms are we?

The last thing I remembered was standing inside her shop, watching the pocket watch react to her blood. Then, the fabric of the world had twisted around us, dragging us through a force I couldn't control or comprehend.

I had experienced powerful magic before. But this kind of magic—and this sheer level of raw power—was entirely foreign to me. Did it have something to do with my lost memories?

The watch hadn't merely transported us. It had pulled us through a rift that felt as though time itself had cracked open beneath our feet.

And for what purpose? Why had it brought me here? More importantly, why had it brought the little mage along with me? I was the one seeking answers, not her. Did it have anything to do with her blood waking the artifact?

I glanced down at her sleeping form once more.

Elara Vale.

Curious, talkative, stubborn, and apparently incapable of keeping her hands away from dangerous, cursed magical antiquities.

A sudden gust of wind swept across the clearing, carrying the sharp scent of damp earth and distant rushing water. I raised my head and spread my massive wings, feeling the familiar, thrilling strength return to my limbs.

The wind carried a scent that felt bizarrely familiar, yet frustratingly distant.

Walking would take hours—perhaps days. Flying would allow me to survey the surrounding landscape from above and determine whether there was a settlement nearby. I needed to know our location before deciding our next move, and darkness was already swallowing the sky whole.

With one powerful beat of my wings, I launched myself above the treetops.

Rain slicked against my scales as I climbed higher, the endless forest stretching beneath me in every direction. I searched the gloom for roads, smoke, buildings, or any sign of civilization, but the thick, tangled canopy concealed most of the land.

The jagged mountains in the distance were entirely unfamiliar to me. So were the winding river and the rolling hills beyond them.

I flew farther, circling the region in wide arcs until I finally spotted what appeared to be a narrow, winding track through the trees. It was little more than a muddy cart path, barely visible from the air, but it suggested that people lived somewhere close by.

That was something, at least.

I folded my wings and descended back toward the clearing.

Elara was exactly where I had left her, though she had curled slightly onto her side. Her arms were drawn close to her body against the chill, and even from a distance, I could see the faint, involuntary shivers running through her frame.

She was freezing.

The realization made me move with sudden urgency.

I lowered myself beside her and carefully slid one of my massive front talons beneath her body. With deliberate gentleness, I lifted her from the cold earth, making damn sure my claws remained well away from her skin.

She weighed almost nothing.

A fragile little creature, I thought, watching her head loll softly against the curve of my scaly foot.

Yet she had been brave enough—or foolish enough—to handle an artifact whose magic defied my understanding. Or perhaps she was simply reckless.

I was beginning to suspect the distinction didn't matter much to her.

I took off again into the stormy night, keeping my flight smooth and steady, so I wouldn't jostle her. The dark forest rushed beneath me as I hunted for a place out of the relentless wind and rain.

That was when I spotted the ruin.

It stood near the edge of the woods, half-hidden behind a dense cluster of overgrown brambles. The structure was ancient, its wooden walls weathered gray and leaning crookedly. Most of the roof had collapsed long ago, leaving only a few jagged, broken timbers hanging overhead.

It looked thoroughly abandoned.

It also looked infinitely better than spending the night exposed to a freezing mountain storm.

I circled once before landing softly in the muddy clearing beside it. My claws touched the dirt, and I carefully lowered Elara onto the driest patch of earth I could find beneath the remnants of the roof.

She let out a soft whimper as a shiver wracked her body.

I glanced toward the open, broken entrance, then back down at her. The shelter was barely adequate, but at least it offered a barrier against the driving rain.

Needing to ensure she didn't freeze, I settled beside her, curving my long, serpentine body around her small form to block the biting wind. I pulled my massive tail close to form a protective wall, then lowered my wings, using them and the lingering body heat of my dragon form to cocoon her in warmth.

She made a tiny, contented sound in her sleep and instinctively curled closer to the heat.

I froze.

For a long moment, I simply watched her peaceful face, wondering what clever, sarcastic remark she would hurl at me the moment she woke up.

Probably scream again.

Perhaps throw a stick at my snout.

Knowing Elara, she might even demand financial compensation for the absolute inconvenience of being hurled across dimensions. I would have to break the news to her gently—preferably without her screaming my dragon form out of existence.

I rested my massive head upon my forelegs, listening to the steady drumming of the rain against the broken rafters overhead.

I still didn't know where we were, why the watch had dragged us here, or what connection the little mage shared with an object I couldn't even remember owning.

But those answers would have to wait until dawn.

For now, my only priority was keeping her alive until morning.

And judging by the sheer amount of trouble she had already brought into my life, I had a lingering feeling that the task would be much easier said than done.