Serina's POV
Ice spears materialized in the air around the woman's head.
Twelve of them. Gleaming. Sharp. All pointed directly at my heart.
"Don't move," she said in a voice like silk wrapped around steel. "This will hurt less if you cooperate."
I moved.
Diving sideways as the ice spears shot forward, I felt one graze my shoulder—cold so intense it burned. I hit the temple floor hard, rolling behind a broken pew just as more ice shattered against stone where I'd been standing.
"Finn, RUN!" I screamed.
My brother didn't need to be told twice. He bolted toward the back of the temple, disappearing through a gap in the broken wall.
Kael stood perfectly still, watching the ice woman with an expression I'd never seen before. Not anger. Not contempt. Something worse.
Recognition.
"Lady Vivienne Solace," he said quietly. "The Frost Princess herself. I'm honored."
The woman—Vivienne—smiled like a cat who'd cornered a mouse. "You know who I am. Good. That means you understand what happens next."
"Enlighten me."
"You give me the girl. I take her to the Council. Everyone lives." Her smile widened. "Well. Most everyone."
Ice crept across the temple floor toward me, spreading in patterns that looked almost like flowers. Beautiful and deadly.
I scrambled backward. "Kael!"
"Stay down," he commanded without looking at me. "This doesn't concern you."
"She's trying to KILL me! How does it not—"
"Because," Vivienne interrupted, "I'm not here for you, little thief. I'm here for what you stole."
She raised her hand, and the temperature dropped so fast I could see my breath. Ice climbed up the temple walls, covering ancient carvings and broken windows. Within seconds, we were trapped in a cage of frozen death.
"The dragon bond," Vivienne continued. "That mark on your chest. That power flowing through your pathetic body." Her beautiful face twisted with rage. "That should have been MINE!"
"I didn't steal anything!" I shouted back. "I didn't even know what I was touching!"
"LIAR!" Ice exploded from her hands—not spears this time, but a wave of freezing death that roared toward me like an avalanche.
I threw my hands up, more instinct than training, and—
Red fire erupted from my palms.
The dragon mark on my chest burned white-hot. Flames met ice in the middle of the temple with a sound like the world cracking. Steam exploded everywhere, filling the space with fog so thick I couldn't see my own hands.
"Impossible," Vivienne's voice hissed through the mist. "You're rankless. You shouldn't be able to—"
"Lots of things I shouldn't be able to do," I muttered, trying to see through the steam. My heart hammered. That had been pure instinct. I had no idea if I could do it again.
The fog cleared suddenly, swept away by freezing wind. Vivienne stood in the center of the temple, surrounded by spinning ice shards. Hundreds of them. All pointed at me.
"Clever trick," she said. "But parlor magic won't save you from me, slum rat. I've trained since childhood in the royal academy. I've mastered seventeen forms of ice magic. I've killed monsters that would make you wet yourself in fear."
She gestured, and the ice shards began to orbit her faster. Faster.
"You're just a girl who stumbled into power you don't deserve. Let me show you the difference between us."
The ice shards shot forward like arrows.
I raised my hands again, reaching for the dragon fire—
Nothing happened.
Panic flooded through me. The mark burned, but the flames wouldn't come. Why wouldn't they come?
"Dragon magic responds to emotion," Kael's words echoed in my head. "When you're angry, it burns."
But I wasn't angry anymore. I was terrified.
The ice shards closed in, and I knew with perfect certainty I was about to die.
Then Kael moved.
He didn't even gesture. Didn't speak. Didn't raise a hand. He just looked at the ice shards, and they exploded into harmless snow.
All of them. Instantly.
Vivienne stumbled backward, shock replacing her cruel smile. "What—"
"You made a mistake coming here," Kael said, and his voice carried none of its usual coldness. It was worse. It was calm. The kind of calm that came before volcanoes erupted. "You threatened what's mine."
Red light began to glow beneath his skin. His eyes burned brighter than I'd ever seen. Power radiated from him in waves that made the air itself tremble.
"I am Kaelthar," he continued, taking one step forward. "Dragon Sovereign. World-Ender. Destroyer of Armies. And you just tried to kill my bonded partner."
The temple shook. Ice that Vivienne had created began to melt—not from heat, but from pure magical pressure.
"I—I didn't know!" Vivienne's confidence cracked. "The Council said she was just a girl, they didn't say you were—"
"Fully awakened?" Kael smiled, and it was the most terrifying expression I'd ever seen. "That's because they don't know yet. But you do now. The question is—will you live long enough to tell them?"
He raised his hand.
"NO!" I jumped in front of him, pressing my palms against his chest. "Don't kill her!"
Kael looked down at me like I'd grown a second head. "She tried to murder you."
"I know! But..." I glanced at Vivienne, who stood frozen in terror. "But she was following orders. The Council told her to come. And if you kill her, they'll send armies next. Real armies. We can't fight everyone, Kael."
"I can."
"But I can't!" Frustration burned in my throat. "I'm not strong enough yet! And Finn—if we start a war, they'll use him against us. Please. Just... just let her go."
Silence stretched between us. Power still crackled around Kael, ready to be unleashed. His eyes bored into mine, searching for something.
Finally, he lowered his hand. The red light faded. "You're too merciful for your own good."
"Maybe." I turned to Vivienne, who looked like she couldn't decide whether to run or bow. "But you need to leave. Now. And tell the Council—tell them we don't want a fight. We just want to be left alone."
Vivienne laughed—sharp and bitter. "Left alone? With power like that?" She gestured at Kael. "The Council will never leave you alone. Neither will the nobles. Neither will anyone who knows what you are."
"Then what do you suggest?" I demanded.
"Surrender. Give yourself to the Council willingly. Maybe they'll show mercy to your brother." She straightened, some of her confidence returning now that immediate death wasn't staring her in the face. "Or don't. Keep running. But understand this, slum rat—every day you remain free is a day the kingdom becomes more dangerous for everyone around you."
Those words hit harder than any ice spear. Because she was right. Uncle Castor had already betrayed us. The market chase had put innocent people in danger. How long before someone else I cared about got hurt because of me?
"There's a third option," Vivienne said, watching my face. "Prove you're worthy of that power."
"What?"
"The Grand Trial. In three weeks, the Magic Council is hosting a tournament to celebrate the king's birthday. Mages from across the kingdom compete for glory and prizes." Her smile returned—cold and calculating. "If you enter and win, the Council has to acknowledge your right to the dragon bond. It's ancient law."
"And if I lose?"
"Then you surrender yourself and the dragon to the Council's custody." She tilted her head. "But at least it would be fair. Combat instead of execution. Glory instead of gutters."
Kael snorted. "Fair? You mean a trap. The Council would stack the tournament against her."
"Probably," Vivienne agreed cheerfully. "But it's still better odds than running forever. And who knows? Maybe the slum rat will surprise everyone."
She moved toward the broken door, ice forming steps beneath her feet. At the threshold, she paused and looked back at me.
"I'll be competing too, of course. I've won the Grand Trial three years running." Her eyes glittered. "I'm very much looking forward to putting you in your place, thief. Legally."
"I didn't steal anything!"
"You stole the dragon I was promised. You stole the power that was mine by birthright. You stole the destiny I've worked my entire life to achieve." Vivienne's voice turned venomous. "So yes, little rat. You stole everything from me. And I'm going to make you pay for it."
She stepped through the door—and vanished in a swirl of snow that melted as quickly as it appeared.
I stood there, shaking. Not from cold. From the weight of everything that had just happened.
"The Grand Trial," I whispered. "Is that real?"
"Yes." Kael's face was grim. "It's real, and it's exactly the trap she said it was. The Council will use it to capture you legally, in front of witnesses, so no one can claim foul play."
"But if I win—"
"You won't win. You've had three days of training, Serina. Three days! The competitors in that tournament have trained their entire lives. Some of them are combat mages who've fought in wars. You'll be slaughtered."
"Then train me harder!" I spun to face him. "You said dragon magic is more powerful than normal magic, right? So teach me how to use that advantage!"
"In three weeks?" Kael laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Do you have any idea what you're asking?"
"I'm asking you to help me survive!" Tears burned in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "I'm asking you to give me a fighting chance against a world that wants me dead or in chains! I'm asking—"
My voice broke. I took a shaky breath and tried again.
"I'm asking you to believe in me. Even if I don't believe in myself yet."
Kael stared at me for a long moment. Then he sighed—a sound like wind through ancient caves.
"You're going to die," he said flatly.
"Maybe."
"The training alone might kill you before the tournament even happens."
"I'll risk it."
"You're insane."
"You've mentioned that before." I managed a weak smile. "So is that a yes?"
Kael looked up at the temple's broken ceiling, at the sky beyond. When he looked back at me, something had changed in his expression. Not softness, exactly. But maybe... respect?
"Three weeks," he said. "I'll teach you everything I can. I'll push you harder than anyone has ever been pushed. I'll break you down and rebuild you into something that might—might—survive the first round."
"That's all I'm asking."
"You're asking for a miracle."
"Then it's a good thing I'm bonded to a dragon."
He almost smiled at that. Almost. "You'll need to move Finn somewhere safe. Somewhere the Council can't use him against you."
"I know someone." Mrs. Chen's face flashed in my mind. "She'll hide him."
"Good. Then starting tonight, your training intensifies. No sleep. No breaks. No mercy." His eyes burned into mine. "Can you handle that?"
Every part of me screamed no. My body was exhausted. My mind was overwhelmed. My heart was terrified.
But I thought of Finn. Of the life we could have if I won. Of being free—truly free—for the first time ever.
"Yes," I said. "I can handle it."
Kael nodded. "Then let's begin—"
The temple door exploded inward again.
Not ice this time. Fire. Black fire that burned with terrible heat and smelled like sulfur and death.
Through the flames walked a man in blood-red robes. His face was hidden behind a golden mask, but power radiated from him like waves of heat. Behind him, a dozen more masked figures filed into the temple, surrounding us.
"Kaelthar the Dragon Sovereign," the man said in a voice that echoed strangely. "By order of Archmagus Theron and the High Council, you are under arrest for crimes against the kingdom."
His hand rose, and black fire danced between his fingers.
"Resist, and we are authorized to use lethal force."
Kael's power flared, turning his eyes into blazing suns. "I'd like to see you try."
The masked man laughed. "Oh, we won't be fighting you, dragon."
He gestured to his companions. They raised their hands in unison, and I saw it—magical chains forming in the air, glowing with the same symbols that had been carved into the shrine walls.
Sealing magic.
"We'll be sealing you," the man continued. "Just like last time. And your little vessel?"
All twelve masked figures turned to look at me.
"She comes with us."