VIII

Following her close encounter with the beast, Lyra’s fists clenched, her eyes narrowing as she braced for battle. But as the entire Sovereign Palace began to tremble, the Elf's caution regarding the balcony echoed in Kara's ever-wary mind. Ignoring the cries of the panicked crowd and her sister’s indignant yell, she seized Lyra’s arm and pulled her relentlessly toward the outdoors. They emerged onto the spacious, elegant balcony just as Lyra spun to demand an explanation. Her mouth was open to retort when a tremendous explosion rocked the foundations, throwing her into Kara with a scream, her face a mask of rage.

"Ah! The palace is under attack!"

"Where is it coming from?"

"Is it that Elf? I knew he was trouble…"

The panicked remarks of the nobles resonated with the twins' own internal terror. Drawing Lyra's attention, Kara said gravely, "Perhaps he did have something to do with this."

"Do you really think so, Kara-kara?" Lyra asked, genuine fear supplanting her anger. "Was he a bad guy all along?"

Another tremor shook the castle beneath them, sending a fresh wave of terror through Kara. Were the Sentinels evacuating the guests? Should they be running, too? Looking into her sister's identical, terrified eyes, Kara felt a powerful impulse to remain perfectly still. The Elf's voice replayed in her mind, and a flush crept up her neck as she remembered the feeling of his lips on hers. It was an entirely inappropriate moment to imagine that man and his searing kiss, and she shook her head, trying to banish the erotic thought and the smoldering image it conjured. To her immense relief, Lyra turned away, distracted by someone shouting their names.

Reya, Aden, and a furious-looking Kiro burst onto the balcony, their voices overlapping. Lyra rushed toward them, eager to leave the palace, if not the entire city. Kara followed, desperate for information. Reya, looking drained, opened her mouth to speak, but a livid Kiro shoved her aside and confronted Kara directly.

"Just what in the hells did you think you were doing, dancing with that Elf?" he snarled, his voice thick with accusation. "This is entirely your fault! He must have come for you, and when he couldn't have you, he decided to tear this palace down! I knew you were trouble, you—"

"EXCUSE ME?" Kara’s own voice rose to a yell. "How, exactly, is this my fault? Isn't protecting the palace your job? Aren't you supposed to be competent? You are the Commander of the Sentinels, after all!"

"WHAT? Do not you dare take that tone with me, you—you—"

"MORON!" Now blazing with an anger that matched his own, Kara threw up her hands and stalked away from him.

Kiro’s retort ripped through the air, and she spun back to face him, her fury reignited. They continued like this for several minutes, hurling insults at each other with such venom that even Lyra shied away.

"Do you think we should stop them so we can escape?" Lyra joked, a hint of irritation in her tone. She, for one, wanted to survive to see her eighteenth birthday.

Aden and Reya simply shook their heads. "He won't stop until he gets the answer he wants," Aden said, his deep voice resigned as he crossed his powerful arms.

Reya groaned, rubbing her temples as if to ward off a headache. "We could be here all night…" she lamented, her voice laced with defeat.

Lyra bit her thumbnail, her gaze flickering between Reya, Aden, her enraged sister, and the even more enraged Kiro. The explosions were growing louder, and from inside the ballroom, the sounds of shouting and battle intensified. Her eyes darted back to her friends just as she heard a familiar, guttural growl that they, in their distraction, had missed. She rolled her eyes. Resolve hardening her features, Lyra decided to face the dragon herself. Straightening her clothes, she charged back into the palace.

"Lyra!"

After shouting her name, Reya and Aden turned to stare at Kara and Kiro, who had both fallen silent, their mouths agape in shock at Lyra's reckless flight. An unspoken truce settled between them as they looked from one another to the ground, the heat of their argument momentarily forgotten. Done with them both, Reya raced after Lyra. "Well, I'm going after her," she called back, her hands already weaving a protective shield over Lyra, who was unleashing fire spells at the enormous dragon inside. "You two do whatever you think is best!"

Aden smirked, offered Kiro a mocking bow, and jogged silently after Reya, his expression eager for the fight.

Kara and Kiro remained, frozen in a shared, agonizing silence. Suddenly, Kara gasped, stumbling as a sharp, painful jolt of energy struck her—it was Lyra's. She's in pain! Grabbing Kiro's arm, she tugged him back toward the ballroom. "Damn it! Come on, Kiro!"

Lyra cried out and staggered back, her own flames barely holding the dragon's breath at bay. The effort to simply stand her ground was immense. There was something human about the beast, especially in its eyes, but it had wounded Kiro. That was a transgression she could not forgive. The memory fueled her rage, and she channeled it into her magic. The dragon roared as the intensified fire seared its hide, forcing it to stumble back, perhaps to gather its strength. Lyra, her clothes shredded and her face smeared with soot, gasped for breath as she assessed the creature. For a fleeting moment, she recalled how it had spoken to her, its sorrowful, deep amber eyes haunting her. Shaking the thought away, she launched a volley of fireballs and sprinted toward the dais where the Princess should have been.

"Lyra!"

The fiery blonde skidded to a halt, turning to see Reya and Aden running toward her, with Kara and Kiro close behind. They reached her side and formed a line, their faces resolute as they faced the stunned dragon. Only Kara, who backed away and made a choked sound in her throat, appeared truly frightened.

There was something disconcerting about the dragon. It made her skin crawl, yet she sensed there was more to the colossal creature than met the eye. With Reya erecting a barrier around them, Kiro, Aden, and Lyra became the primary assault force. They circled the beast, attacking as they moved. Kiro, his energy sword humming, shouted a war cry and used the walls as a springboard to launch a fluid barrage of attacks. Aden, a Master of the Elements, took a deep breath and unleashed a torrent of magic—a swirling column of fire, water, air, and light. Lyra, already feeling the drain of fatigue, forced herself to keep moving, knowing speed was one of her few advantages. She saw Kiro straining, his blade stuck fast in the dragon's thick hide.

"Kiro! Need a little help?" she yelled, running over.

He glanced up at her and grinned. She returned it with a fierce smile of her own and hurled a concentrated ball of fire at the dragon's foot where his blade was lodged. The beast growled, wrenching its appendage back and freeing the sword. He planted a quick kiss on Lyra’s cheek before charging the dragon once more. She blushed but shook her head, pushing the feeling aside. This was no place for a fluttering heart.

As Lyra and Aden continued their magical assault, Kiro leaped onto the dragon's back. As if roused from a stupor, the dragon seemed to finally recognize Reya and Kara as the support unit. It roared and sliced its tail at them. Reya cried out, reinforcing the barrier just in time to deflect the blow. Enraged, the dragon snatched up a weary Aden and threw him like a rag doll into the far crystal wall. Kiro, knocked from its back, was nearly crushed by a falling shard of crystal shaken loose by the roars. Kara destroyed the massive shard with a blast of power just in time. He shot her a fierce look before stumbling to his feet. Rolling her eyes, Kara scanned the room for Lyra. She found her sister standing near the open archway of the balcony, her expression distant and her eyes unfocused. "Lyra! LYRA!"

The cries went unheard. Lyra, her gaze fixed on the dragon, was enthralled once more. She let the spear she had taken from a fallen Sentinel clatter to the floor. Such beauty and pain, such sorrow and rage, swirled in those amber depths. That captivating voice echoed in her mind again.

"Please listen, lovely one. I mean you no harm. I want your fire to burn long after this kingdom is ash. Join me. Join me and we will end the Princess's tyranny. I wish to see your beauty blossom. Come with me, lovely one."

The vision solidified in her mind: a breathtakingly handsome man, a smile playing on his incredibly kissable lips, was reaching for her. His amber gaze set her very soul alight, and she parted her lips to answer his call.

Suddenly, hands were shaking her, and Kiro’s voice, raw and unfiltered by his earlier rage, shattered the illusion. "Lyra, you have to finish him!"

Panic clawed at her throat. She couldn't. That dragon… it was a man. She knew it in her gut.

Lyra turned to her sister, who gave her a single, knowing nod. Kara let her go and rushed to Reya, who was desperately trying to tend to an injured Aden. "Reya! We need to get to the balcony! Fast! Can you use your magic to carry the guys?"

As Lyra struggled to hoist the wounded Kiro, Reya’s magic enveloped them all, lifting and shielding them as they raced for the balcony. Just as Lyra was about to ask why, the image of the handsome man flashed in her mind again. She spun around just in time to see a massive explosion rock the Sovereign Palace to its core, followed by a sickening CRACK that echoed through the crystalline structure.

Kiro, who knew the palace and its architects, looked down at his feet in horror. "AHH! This crystal… it's shattering! We're all going to—"

With a final, deafening boom, the balcony broke away from the tower. Their screams blended with the dragon's triumphant roar as it finished its work on the palace and turned toward the Sovereign City. They all plummeted toward the earth.

The last image etched into their memories as oblivion claimed them was the scene from their shared dream: the blood-red sun setting the crystalline palace ablaze, causing it to erupt in a shower of flaming fragments that rained down upon the dusk-shrouded ground below.