The palace of the Skyfire Court did not sit upon the earth, it floated above it, suspended on rings of flame and stone that shifted like breathing lungs. To reach it, Kael had to cross the storm-bridge, a corridor of lightning that arched across a chasm so deep, the clouds looked like dust below.
Every strike of thunder beneath his boots reminded him why he'd stayed away for so long.
The closer he came, the heavier his chest grew. His mark burned under his tunic, Seraphina's pulse beating faintly through it. He clenched his jaw. Even here, in the heart of his mother's dominion, her heartbeat followed him.
Two sentinels, dragons in human form, bowed stiffly as he passed.
"Prince Kael," one murmured. "Her Majesty awaits."
"I know." His voice was quiet, but the air around him crackled.
The obsidian gates opened, and the hall stretched out before him, endless, filled with firelight. Gold runes crawled up the pillars like molten veins. And on the throne of living crystal sat Queen Lysandra, her crown a circlet of burning silver, her eyes molten amber.
She was ageless, her beauty sharp as a blade. Her presence made the air shimmer.
"Kael," she said softly, the sound echoing like a spell. "My wandering son returns."
He bowed, but not deeply. "I come with news."
Her smile didn't reach her eyes. "You come with a curse."
A flick of her wrist, and the doors slammed shut behind him. The torches along the wall flared, bathing them both in gold.
Lysandra rose from her throne. The fire in her gown coiled around her legs, every step leaving ash and roses in her wake. "You made the pact."
"It was the only way to save her."
"To save a mortal girl?" Her voice sharpened. "You would bind the fire of the dragons to a fragile human heart?"
"She is not fragile," he said.
"Then she is foolish, or you are."
Kael met her gaze, unflinching. "She carries the mark now. It cannot be undone."
"Everything can be undone," Lysandra murmured. "Especially you."
A servant entered silently, carrying a silver basin filled with flamewater. Lysandra dipped her hand into it and withdrew something gleaming, a crystal orb, red as blood. The light within it twisted like a trapped soul.
"Do you know what this is, my son?" she asked.
Kael's eyes darkened. "The Eye of Orin."
"Good." She smiled faintly. "Then you remember what it can do."
He did. It was the eye that saw through all bonds, divine or mortal, a relic from the age before dragons took flesh. In her hands, it could unravel anything bound by magic… even the mark that tied him to Seraphina.
"You can't use that," Kael said.
"I must." She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The bond you made breaks the Law of Flame. When a dragon binds his soul to a mortal, he risks his immortality. You will die as she dies. And when your flame goes out, so will ours."
"Then let it."
The hall fell silent. Lysandra's expression didn't change, but the temperature dropped like stone.
"You would see the end of your kind?"
"I would see her live."
For a long moment, neither moved. Then the Queen laughed, soft, terrible, and almost sad. "You sound like your father."
She turned away, her gown trailing sparks. "I will give you one chance, Kael. Bring the girl here. I will examine the mark myself. If I deem her worth saving, perhaps I will not destroy her."
"And if I refuse?"
Her smile returned, slow and dangerous. "Then the next time your heart burns, it will not be from love."
The moment Kael left the Skyfire Court, the air around him felt heavier, like the world itself disapproved of his defiance. The bridge of lightning crackled beneath his boots, and the echo of his mother's laughter still haunted the storm.
Each step he took back toward the mortal realm seared through his chest. The mark. The fiery emblem etched into his skin, burned brighter, pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat.
He could feel Seraphina's unease.
The forests that bordered the human lands were quieter than usual. Even the wind held its breath as Kael descended through the mist, wings folding into his back. His dragon form vanished into shadow as he stepped through the trees, his boots pressing softly against the damp soil.
And there she was.
Seraphina knelt beside the river, her reflection rippling in the water. The mark on her wrist glowed faintly, the same pattern as his, only gentler, almost fragile. Her hair, golden-brown in daylight, shimmered like melted bronze under the moon.
When she saw him, her eyes widened, relief and fear tangled in them.
"You're back," she whispered.
Kael said nothing for a moment. He only looked at her, the mortal who carried half his soul without knowing how much of him it truly held.
Then, softly, he said, "My mother knows."
Seraphina's lips parted. "Knows about me?"
"Knows about us. About the mark. About the bond."
The water beside her stilled. Even the river seemed to freeze at the weight of his words.
"What did she say?"
"That the bond defies the Law of Flame. That I've risked the end of our kind."
Seraphina's hand trembled as she reached for him. "Kael… does that mean you'll—"
"I'm not leaving you." His tone was steel.
She tried to smile, but the mark flared suddenly, throwing off a burst of red light. She gasped, clutching her wrist. "It burns..."
Kael caught her hand instantly, the same glow flaring beneath his sleeve. Sparks danced between their palms. The mark was reacting, violently.
"She's trying to break it," he murmured. "My mother's using the Eye of Orin."
"What happens if she succeeds?"
Kael's gaze darkened. "The bond will shatter. And you..." He stopped himself.
Seraphina looked up at him, eyes shining with tears and defiance. "Say it."
He swallowed hard. "You'll die."
The words hung between them, heavier than thunder.
For a long moment, neither spoke. Then Seraphina stepped closer, her voice trembling but steady. "Then we fight it."
He looked at her, really looked. She was trembling, yes, but there was a fierceness in her gaze that outshone any flame.
"You don't understand what you're saying," Kael said.
"Oh, I do," she whispered. "If the Queen wants me gone, then she'll have to take me herself. I'm not giving up this bond, not if it means losing you."
The mark pulsed again, softer this time. The pain faded, replaced by warmth, almost gentle, almost alive.
Kael brushed a strand of hair from her face. "You speak like a queen yourself."
"Then maybe she'll listen to me," Seraphina said, her tone trembling but brave.
Kael almost smiled, a rare, fleeting thing. "If you face her, she'll test you. She'll dig into your soul. She'll see every fear you've ever tried to hide."
"Then let her."
He wanted to protest, to shield her from the danger, but the fire between their marks burned brighter, like it approved of her defiance.
Something ancient stirred in the forest then, the rustle of unseen wings, the faint crackle of flame. Kael turned sharply. "She's watching."
"Who?"
"My mother. Through the Eye."
Seraphina stepped closer, gripping his arm. "Then let her watch."
And before Kael could speak, she pressed her marked hand against his chest, directly over his heart.
The forest exploded in light.
Flames spiraled around them, golden and crimson, weaving into shapes and sigils older than either of them could name. The mark on their skin merged for a heartbeat. One single, blinding moment where dragon and mortal, curse and flame, became one.
Kael gasped, the world narrowing to her eyes, her breath, her touch. For the first time, he felt the mark not as a curse, but as something alive, something that chose her.
Then it was gone. The light faded. The forest dimmed.
They stood in silence, their hands still joined, smoke curling around them.
Seraphina looked at him, wide-eyed. "What just happened?"
Kael exhaled, his voice low, almost reverent. "You've defied the Queen's magic. No mortal has ever done that."
Seraphina's lips curved into a faint smile. "Guess I'm not just mortal anymore."
Kael stared at her, awe flickering behind his guarded expression. "No," he said quietly. "You're something else entirely."
And far above, in her palace of fire, Queen Lysandra's hand trembled as she looked into the Eye of Orin, the image of her son and the mortal girl glowing within.
Her flame flickered.
"This cannot be," she whispered.
But the mark burned brighter.
The fires in the Skyfire Palace never went out, but that night, they burned black.
Queen Lysandra stood before the Eye of Orin, its crimson core swirling violently. The image within, Kael and Seraphina, hand in hand, their flames merging, glowed like a wound.
All around her, the Council of Flame gathered, ancient dragons cloaked in human form, their eyes molten and unreadable.
One of them, Lord Rhaziel, bowed. "Your Majesty, the bond should have been broken. Yet the Eye shows otherwise."
Lysandra didn't speak. The glow of the orb painted her face in shifting red.
Another councilor, Lady Vireth, whispered, "The mortal resists the Queen's magic. That should be impossible."
Lysandra turned her gaze toward her, slow, dangerous. "And yet it is not."
Silence fell. Even the fire dared not crackle.
"She has done something no mortal has before," the Queen continued softly. "She defied me."
"She carries dragonfire within her now," Rhaziel said. "Perhaps the mark has changed her."
"Changed her?" Lysandra's lips curved, not in a smile, but something sharper. "No. My son has changed her. My blood runs in his veins. His flame should have consumed her. Instead, it has chosen her."
A heavy pause. Then the Queen whispered, "That cannot stand."
Her hand hovered above the Eye of Orin. The fire inside it pulsed like a living heart. "Summon the shadow guard. Prepare my wings."
The councilors exchanged uneasy glances. "Your Majesty… you would descend to the mortal realm yourself?"
"I will not sit upon my throne while a mortal girl toys with the fire of the gods." Her voice deepened, the air trembling with it. "I will burn the world before I allow that bond to exist."
The flames surged around her, forming a storm of light. Her gown of molten silver transformed, hardening into dragon-scale armor that shimmered between black and crimson. Her eyes flared gold, no longer queenly, but divine.
When she spoke again, it was in the ancient tongue of dragons, a voice that cracked the sky.
"Let the hunt begin."
The councilors bowed as she spread her arms. Wings of fire erupted from her back, unfurling wider than the throne hall itself. With a roar that shook the palace walls, Lysandra, Queen of the Flame, took flight — a burning comet tearing through the heavens.
Far below, in the mortal forest, Seraphina stirred in her sleep. The mark on her wrist flared again, not in pain this time, but in warning. She gasped, sitting upright.
Kael was already awake. His eyes glowed faintly in the dark, reflecting the embers of the campfire.
"She's coming," he murmured.
Seraphina's voice trembled. "The Queen?"
Kael nodded once. The wind shifted, carrying the faint scent of ash and lightning.
"She won't stop now," he said. "Not until one of us is gone."
Seraphina swallowed hard, her fingers brushing her mark. "Then we don't run. We fight."
Kael looked at her, at the mortal girl who had faced fire and fate and still refused to bow. For a moment, the warrior in him fell silent, replaced by something softer.
"Then we fight," he said.
The sky above them darkened, a streak of light cutting across it, red as blood.
The Queen of Flame had entered the mortal realm.
And the hunt had begun.