CHAPTER 248: THE TRUTH OF THE DRAGON PT 2

The weight in those two words made my chest tighten.

"Why?" I asked. "Why not yet? What does that mean?"

"YOUR LIFE IS AT RISK, VESSEL. AND IT IS NOT YET TIME FOR ME TO EMERGE."

"I don’t understand. What do you mean it’s not yet time?"

The dragon’s massive form shifted, wings rustling like thunder in the distance. "THERE ARE TWO REASONS. FIRST... A GREAT EVENT IS COMING. ONE THAT WILL RESET YOUR WORLD. AND I KNOW THIS IS NOT YOUR FIRST LIFE."

Everything inside me went cold.

My breath caught. My heart stuttered. The world seemed to tilt slightly on its axis.

"What do you mean?" The words came out barely above a whisper.

"I HAVE BEEN ALIVE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS WORLD, VESSEL. EVERY SHIFT IN REALITY, EVERY RESET, EVERY ALTERATION... I AM AWARE OF THEM ALL. AND I KNOW THAT YOU CARRY MEMORIES THAT DO NOT BELONG TO THIS TIMELINE."

Gods. He knew. Had known all along.

"Then you must know the truth of our world too," I said, my voice shaking slightly. "That we’re... that this is all... "

"I DO NOT WISH TO KNOW."

The firmness in his voice stopped me cold.

"THAT TRUTH IS YOURS TO CARRY, VESSEL. YOURS TO KEEP FOR YOURSELF AND SHARE ONLY WITH THOSE WHO ARE MEANT TO DISCOVER IT ON THEIR OWN. I HAVE NO DESIRE TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF MY CAGE. ONLY TO EXIST WITHIN IT."

I stared at him, trying to process that. A god who deliberately chose ignorance. Who could know everything but decided some truths were too heavy to bear.

Maybe he was wiser than I’d given him credit for.

"Tell me about this event," I said. "The one that will reset our world. When? How? What do I need to do?"

"WHEN THE TIME COMES, YOU WILL SEE IT. YOU WILL UNDERSTAND. UNTIL THEN, PREPARATION IS MEANINGLESS."

Frustration flared hot and bright. "Why are you so secretive, old man?"

"WHY ARE YOU SO NOSY, YOUNG WOMAN?"

"I’m nosy because I want to know how much time I’ve got left!" The words burst out of me, sharper than I’d intended. "I’m living on borrowed days, Pyronox. Every moment I exist is a moment I shouldn’t have. So forgive me for wanting to know if I should be counting hours or weeks or... "

I cut myself off, breathing hard.

"IS IT BECAUSE OF THE CHILD OF WINTER?"

The question landed like a gut punch.

I knew immediately who he meant. Soren. The ice emperor. The man whose kiss still burned on my lips like a brand I’d never be free of.

I didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer. My face heated despite my best efforts to control it, warmth creeping up my neck and across my cheeks in a blush I absolutely did not need right now.

Pyronox studied me in silence. Then, with devastating gentleness: "YOU HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE CHILD WHO BEARS AENITHRA’S MARK."

"I haven’t," I said automatically. Too quickly. Too defensively.

"I CAN FEEL EVERY EMOTION YOU EXPERIENCE, VESSEL. YOUR HEART BEATS WITH MINE. YOUR BLOOD CARRIES MY FIRE. I KNOW WHEN YOU LIE."

Caught. Completely, utterly caught in a lie I’d been telling myself since... since when? Since the hidden forest? Since he’d caught me falling? Since he’d looked at me in the market like I was something worth protecting instead of fearing?

"I can’t afford to fall in love," I said, the words coming out quieter now, more honest. "Not when I don’t even know if I’ll see old age. My body is going to give out eventually, Pyronox. No matter how strong I am, no matter how much power I carry... I’m mortal. Mortal bodies aren’t meant to house gods. And if you decide to emerge, to take full form..." I swallowed hard. "I die either way. So I’m not exactly the luckiest person to build a future with."

"AND YET YOU THINK OF HIM."

"I don’t want to leave him cruelly like that." My voice cracked slightly. "I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. He’s already waiting for me to wake up. I know he is. Soren would wait forever if I asked him to, and I can’t... I can’t do that to him. Can’t let him hope when there’s nothing to hope for."

Even as I said it, I knew it was too late. Knew that somewhere in Nevareth, Soren sat vigil beside my unconscious body, holding my hand, waiting for me to open my eyes. And I’d promised to come back. Had kissed him and promised and meant every word.

Gods, I was such a fool.

"YOUR LOVE REMINDS ME OF A PROMISE," Pyronox said softly. "ONE MADE LONG AGO."

I looked up at him. "What promise?"

"THE ONE SHE MADE TO ME."

"She?" My breath caught. "You mean... "

"AENITHRA."

The name hung in the air like a prayer.

I stared at the dragon, seeing him differently now. Seeing past the divine power and ancient rage to something underneath. Something that looked almost like...

Sadness.

Deep, aching sadness that had lived in him for so long it had become part of his essence.

"AENITHRA WAS EVERYTHING TO ME," he said, and his voice carried the weight of centuries of loss. "MY EQUAL. MY OPPOSITE. MY BALANCE. WE SHAPED THIS WORLD TOGETHER, GAVE HUMANITY THE GIFTS OF FIRE AND FROST, WATCHED THEM BUILD CIVILIZATIONS FROM NOTHING."

His massive eye closed for a moment, and when it opened again, something in it looked almost human.

"BEFORE THEY TOOK ME AWAY FROM HER."

"Who... "

But I didn’t get to finish the question.

Something pulled at me. A force I couldn’t identify, couldn’t resist, yanking me backward through space that shouldn’t exist. The beautiful landscape began to dissolve, frost flowers melting into light, mountains crumbling into particles of silver.

"Wait!" I tried to reach for something, anything, but there was nothing to grab. "Pyronox... "

"WAKE, VESSEL," his voice echoed through the collapsing realm. "YOUR EMPEROR WAITS."

Then everything went white, and I was falling, falling, falling toward consciousness and a world that somehow felt more complicated than when I’d left it.