Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

F ire burns across the cloudy night sky like a comet, and I can do nothing but watch as it burns. It burns and spits flames, the fire endless and so bright it hurts to look at even for a moment, but I lie on the battlefield, and I do not move. I don't dare pull my eyes away as I watch dragons fall from the skies, as I see my people die before they really even got to live. I see my mate standing in the ash and smoke, but his eyes are not the same anymore. Emrys is gone… Did I follow his soul to death?

"You're not dying while I still breathe, my mate."

Lysander's command is sharp, demanding as he always is, but each drop of his voice is filled with worry, and it pulls me from my daydream, or day nightmare. I force my tired eyes open for him, seeing my water king mate covered in blood and ash, burns and soot from head to toe. He is concentrating, and it takes me a moment to realise he is focused on me. Healing me. I nearly cough on the thick smoke in the air of our bedroom, even with the windows closed and the castle humming a song of death through the air. Lysander speaks out loud to whoever else is in the room. "She's awake, Arden." He might have been speaking out loud the first time to me. I don't know. Everything feels so strange to me.

"Thank fuck." Arden's weight dips the bed on my other side, and he cups my cheek with his hand that's black with ash. "Princess, you… What happened out there?"

"We should never have left her alone," Lysander snarls at Arden.

Arden is calm on the outside, but he feels like a fiery tornado through the bond. "She wasn't alone, and she was ambushed. We never could have known the tsar had powers or sided with Aphrodite." Arden looks at me once more, and his fiery red eyes are filled with the fire I feel from him. "I'm sorry, Elle. Fuck, we…I messed up. Are you alright? When you're ready, we need you to tell me where Emrys is, because he isn't here. I got a hint of his scent near where we found you, but he wasn't there."

My heart feels like it's racing harder and harder the more I think about Emrys… How do I tell them? What do I even say?

"Give her a second," Lysander growls before helping me sit up on the bed with Arden's help too. Every bit of movement hurts, and I didn't realise how injured I was from the fall until I moved. My throat is burning and sore, even with Lysander's healing, as I clear it a few times. Lysander touches my neck, pure water flowing around his hand and my throat. "We found you alone and nearly dead, Elle. I nearly fucking lost you, and I want to know exactly who tried to stop you from breathing."

"Emrys," I croak. Lysander drops his hand in shock, and Arden's eyes actually glow red. Like flames. "He…he isn't Emrys anymore."

Arden throws his head back. "What exactly happened? Emrys would rather die than hurt you…but he did this?"

I nod, remembering the feeling of not being able to breathe, of how all the air in the world had just vanished for me. I really thought I was going to die, and I don't know why Ares didn't kill me. A dragon roar outside has me shooting my eyes to the window. Arden strokes my hand. "Everything's secure, Elle. The ward is back up, and that's your people out there. We've killed anybody else that was inside, but the rest of the army is outside the ward. Terrin tells me we have a lot of injuries, but we have portals open to the Water Court, and healers are rushing in, guided by Kian."

"Grayson?" I need to see him. After Emrys…I need my mates. I feel Terrin in the skies just outside the castle, but his thoughts are quiet to me. He hasn't blocked me out well enough, because I feel the waves of pure guilt coming off him. He is blaming himself for all of this.

"Gray is helping out in the field, and you can reach for him?—"

Arden pauses when I shake my head. "I can't. Since I've woken up, the bond is silent. Can you reach me?"

They both focus on me, but when I hear nothing, I'm certain it's the same. I can sort of feel them, what they are feeling, but not connect to them anymore. Something is messing with our bond, and I'd bet money on it that Ares has done it.

"Fuck, how is that possible?" Lysander snaps at Arden.

"How the fuck would I know?" Arden is tense.

I burst into tears, and it stops them both. I put my hand up to stop them both from reaching for me. If I let them hold me, I won't get the words out. "Ares fully took over Emrys with Aphrodite's help. She knew and planned all of Ares's death. She wanted an elemental king's body, and I don't know if there's anything left of Emrys at all now." I can barely get the truth out through my tears. "There's nothing when I feel for him. I don't feel the bond or anything from him. Nothing!" I start rambling over my words. "I've lost him. I've—" Arden pulls me to him even when I fight, and Lysander wraps his arms around my back, holding me tight as I scream and cry, as the bitter taste of regret and horror of losing Emrys floods my mouth.

I don't know how long passes before I stop crying enough to hear what Arden is saying. "He's not gone. Look at me, princess." He cups my cheek and turns my head up. "Emrys is not gone, just taken over, and we will fix him. There is no world where we give up on the air king. Don't give up on us, princess. Not now, not ever. We are your dragon kings, your elements, and we fly with you."

Closing my eyes, I rest my forehead on Arden's shoulder. "He was scared. I felt the moment that Ares took over him, and Emrys was scared. I couldn't help him."

Lysander brushes my hair over my shoulder, the black and purple waves flowing down my back. "He was scared for you. Not himself. Emrys always put you first from the moment he fell in love with you. He will fight Ares with everything he has, and so will we. None of us are going to give up until his body is actually dead, and he's not dead yet."

Grayson comes in, his shoulders dropping when he sees me between Lysander and Arden, and the mess I'm in. Seeing Grayson just makes me cry more, like seeing him releases the final dam on the emotions I've been trying to hold in. He walks over, picking me up out of Lysander and Arden, and hugging me tightly. "Ellelin, it's going to be okay."

"It's not," I whisper before Lysander tells him everything about Emrys. Only when he is done does Grayson make a sound. A growl, echoing deep from his chest, and it reminds me of a dragon roar. "Fuck Ares. Fuck the gods. I'm so fucking done with them." Grayson puts me on the bed. "Don't you fucking dare let them break you, Ellelin. You are the Queen of Ayiolyn and our mate. Wipe the tears away, rest and sleep, eat, and then we make a plan. The gods don't claim this world…you do with us at your side."

"Don't be a dick?—"

I stop Arden. "No, Gray's right." I let out a frustrated sigh. Maybe I needed some tough love, because I need to find the fire in my chest, the one my grandmother and uncle taught me how to burn. "I am the granddaughter of a goddess, the daughter of a king of dragons, and the mate to five dragons. I am not weak, and I am not giving up. We'll get Emrys back and then kill Aphrodite."

"Murder is a plan I can get on board with," Lysander adds, and he makes my lips twitch.

Grayson kisses me softly. "One more battle. One last fight." I nod, wanting to believe it. It's always one more battle and one villain, one more injury and loss. I know I can't keep doing this. "The tsar is in the dungeons down below, with your mother watching him along with injured guards. She wants to come visit you when you're ready, but she thought you might need us first."

"Terrin's sister?"

"She is under the watch of the Shadow Dragons and Terrin…" Grayson rises to his feet. Arden picks me up and tucks me into the bed, making it clear where I'm staying. I'm not even strong enough to fight him off, despite Lysander healing me. "I've just heard something on the way up here. The Air Court is under attack. They're slaughtering them."

My blood goes cold. "How the fuck did you learn that?"

"Emrys's cousins and close friends got out in time with a bunch of children from the school…but they were the only survivors so far. I've ordered for portals to be sent but carefully, as we don't need Aphrodite getting in here again. We had to help as much as we can, but there's so many islands. Without the air king and the secrets of the Air Court, there's nothing we can do to get them all," Grayson softly explains, but I hear it in his voice, the same feeling echoing in my chest…horror. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the Air Court.

I push the cover back off my legs. "We have to go?—"

"Fuck no." Arden covers me back up and shakes his head. "You're injured and weak."

"He's right," Lysander agrees. I must look like shit if Lysander is agreeing with Arden of all people. "I've healed you the best I can, but you need to rest. You need to sleep it off. You used an extreme amount of power and nearly died."

I huff. "No. Where's the sword? I'll get the sword, and I'll open a portal to?—"

"No," all three of them say at the same time. Suddenly, having more than one insufferable mate doesn't seem like the best idea. Especially when they team up and use common sense.

Grayson sits next to me and picks up my hand. "I can't let you go there. Ares…well, Emrys, he'd be forced to kill you. You said that he nearly killed you before, and you wouldn't be able to defend yourself."

"We can't just leave the people of the Air Court to die!" I shake my head. "They are innocent."

"If we go in now, when we are all weak and injured…we are killing the best hope the rest of the world has. I don't want to leave them, but we cannot go in there right this moment," Arden gently explains. "Princess, they chose the Air Court for that very reason. It was easy to take and hard to defend. It's a really bad strategic move for us to go in, princess."

"I don't care about strategies. I want to go after Ares, and I can't just leave Emrys and his court to fall. I already had to leave him in the last test, and now he's been taken from me again! It's all my fault! He stepped in. He killed Ares for me. It should have been me." I suck in a breath. "And now I have to leave his people to die?"

"What would Emrys want?" Lysander asks. Shadows are pouring in around the room, and I barely notice them, notice my powers reacting to me. None of my mates move. They're not scared of it. Not the darkness in my soul. They never were. Emrys, least of all. My favourite moments of Emrys flash through my mind, every protective moment, every time he told me he loved me, every time I loved him too. "He'd want me to make a plan and attack with a strategy…not like this. We need to gather the armies, and we can do that. We can do it in a day. We just need time. Emrys, he wouldn't want me to risk my life. He wouldn't want us to risk you all." All the fight leaves me as I lie down, hearing them softly whisper to me that it will all be okay. It's hard to believe them.

I barely remember going to sleep. I must have passed out, and I don't dream. When I wake up, all I can smell is bacon and butter. Bacon sandwiches, to be exact, on a tray with juice and fruit, and a purple flower in a vase. Grayson is leaning against the window, looking out at the smoke that makes the daylight seem darker. Arden has his eyes closed as he sits on a plush chair in the corner of the room, scattered paperwork and scrolls on his lap, book piles pressed against the side of the seat. He isn't sleeping, I don't think, because he is so silent. Both of them have changed clothes and had a shower by the looks of it.

"Where's Lysander?" I ask. Arden nearly jumps from the sound of my voice, and I wince. Maybe he was sleeping.

Grayson turns, his eyes bloodshot, and he looks so tired it hurts my heart. "He's gone to help his brother with the healers. He's a good healer himself, and to save lives, he needed to leave." I raise an eyebrow. "Yes, surprisingly, he's grown a heart after becoming yours."

I grin just a little, but the smile leaves me the minute I think of Emrys. I clear my throat. "I'm feeling better now and?—"

"I hate to interrupt your battle plan, but you're not leaving that bed until you have eaten." Arden points at the tray. "Try it, princess?"

I pout a little at him as he comes over, picking the tray up and dropping it in my lap, but the minute I take one bite of the sandwich, I end up devouring the lot. I was starving, and I barely noticed, but my mates did. I feel guilty even eating when Emrys is… My mother knocks the door twice as she steps into the doorframe of the open doorway. She looks as exhausted as everyone else, and there is a cut on her forehead, but she has changed clothes at least. She bows her head to Arden and Grayson before walking to the bed. "Darling, how are you feeling? I checked up on you, but you were sleeping earlier."

"Good," I tell her as she leans down and kisses my forehead.

"I saw you fighting out there, and you reminded me of your father…the last time I saw him." She gulps. "I couldn't save him, and I thought I wouldn't be able to…" She pauses. "I'm so happy to see you are okay, and I'm sorry about King Emrys."

"We will get him back," I firmly state, feeling certain that I will have Emrys back. I have a plan…and no one is going to like it. "I had?—"

The door's knocked again, and a guard stands in the doorway, his head bowed low, and he doesn't rise. He is covered in blood, a massive wound on his stomach, and behind him is Jinks, barely managing to hold the man up as he passes out. Jinks half carries the man in, dropping him on the chair where Arden was with a grunt. "He just appeared in the middle of the castle, your majesties, and demanded to see you."

Arden leans down to lift the man's head up, and Grayson goes still. "It's Remy. He is a trusted royal guard and a friend of Grayson's."

"I barely recognised him with all the blood," Grayson claims, looking at Jinks. "Tell me you've called for a fucking healer?"

Lysander rushes in, heading to the man with only a quick glance my way. He heals him with water, the brilliant clear sea-like water washing the grime from Remy's face, and he finally wakes up. Grayson is in front of him but not close enough to touch. "What are you doing here? Where is my sister? You're her guard!"

"She's gone and you should kill me for my error." Grayson literally drains of colour, stumbling back. I climb out of the bed, rushing to his side.

Lysander swears. "What the fuck do you mean, gone? Dead or…?"

He gulps as the ground rattles under our feet and the castle walls groan, buckling under Grayson's magic. I know he isn't even aware he is doing it. A cold sweat covers his skin as I stroke his arm, wondering what is going on his head. The bond might be silent between us, but I can still feel him, feel the shock and devastation in his body. Remy nervously answers Lysander, who is still healing him. "She was dating someone, a young soldier, and I should have told you about that, but I didn't. She begged me not to, and I've never been able to say no to her. She snuck out in the night, and I realised she was gone a few hours later. We've searched everywhere for her, but then this came." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a blood-soaked letter. A pink letter with silver writing above it. The air king. Grayson unfolds it as we all wait, and I read it with him.

Grayson loses it. The walls crack and the ground shakes like an earthquake, making people scream from below as the note falls from his hands. Vines stretch up every wall, cracking the stone as I move in front of Gray. Lysander picks the note up at my side and reads it out loud. "Come after me in the Air Court and your sister dies. Signed by Aphrodite."

Grayson's eyes are glowing green as he looks down at me, and my heart races, not in fear of him, but from the wrath of earth. The earth king, my precious mate, will destroy the world to get his sister back. I know because he would have destroyed it to get me back, too. I cup his cheek and make him look at me, even as I feel a tear fall over my hand from his eye. "We will save her. Together, Gray."

The earth king stares into my soul, in only the way a mate can. "I lost all of them but her. I promised to keep her safe, and she is just a kid. I can't lose—" He feels like he stops breathing as my heart breaks for him. We have to get her back. "If she touches my sister or you, the earth is going to crack open, and I'll take everyone with me. We will rule in the ruins."

"I'll help you destroy it," I vow. "But I have a plan, and it involves saving everyone."