Elon Mistweaver's Arc

Chapter 6 of 6

Lunaria closed her fingers around the pearl. The two dragons inside it turned toward each other and glowed brighter. "I'll take it," she said. "This time I believe you." She slipped it into the pocket of her gown. Then she looked at the trees. "So. How do I call a dragon I've never met?" Elon led her past the carved doorway and into the deep wood. His own dragon came too, its black scales catching the green light, horns curved and sharp. The dragon studied Lunaria with one golden eye. "Stand still," it told her. "Don't call with your mouth. Call with the part of you that's been lonely." Lunaria frowned. "That's most of me." Elon laughed. "Then you'll be loud." He stepped beside her. "Close your eyes. Reach out the way you reach for a wound you want to heal. A dragon waiting for a bond will feel it." She closed her eyes. Her pale hands lifted. The glow under her skin grew. Elon watched her face and felt his chest ache again. For a long moment nothing moved. A bird called. The leaves hung still. "I feel nothing," Lunaria whispered. Her hands dropped. "No," the black dragon rumbled. "Not nothing. Wait." Then a cry split the sky. It was high and joyful, almost a laugh. Wind pushed down through the branches. Lunaria's hair whipped across her face. A shape dropped between the trees and landed on the soft earth before her. The dragon shimmered pink and blue and silver, like light on water. Its wings were violet, its horns gold and curved. It lowered its head until its nose nearly touched Lunaria's chest. It breathed her in. Then it made a soft sound, deep in its throat, and pressed its brow to hers. Lunaria gasped. Tears ran down her face. "It's warm," she said. "I can feel it. Like a second heartbeat." She laughed and cried at once. "It's mine." "It chose you," Elon said quietly. "The way I hoped it would." The shimmering dragon curled its tail around Lunaria's feet. Elon stepped closer. "The bond is only the start," he said. "Now you have to learn each other. How it flies. What it eats. How it talks inside your head when you're afraid." He smiled. "I can teach you. If you want me to stay close while you learn." Lunaria pressed her palm flat against the dragon's bright cheek. Then she turned to Elon. Her purple eyes were wet and sure. "Yes," she said. "Teach me. Stay close." His own dragon snorted a plume of smoke, pleased. Elon held out his hand. Lunaria took it. For the first time she did not let go first. They stood together while her new companion settled against them both. Elon had given the pearl and meant it. Now she had a dragon of her own, and a reason to keep him near.