28. Alfie

The tension in the room was making me vibrate with unease but it was the threat of harming Blaze that made me angry. He was flickering, his flames pulsing with oranges and reds, which meant he was in pain. I could almost feel it through our bond, which shone brighter than ever.

Around me, every bond I had with my clan suddenly snapped into place. They became unbreakable. I felt it happen, and the bonds became permanent. Even when I died, the bonds would remain, just like the broken bonds Alexander had left behind.

What was strange was the look of the bonds. They felt protective and afraid, but I couldn't tell which way round that was going. Was I the one who was afraid or were they?

I was too angry and frightened to examine that closely. My attention was on Blaze.

His eyes held mine, even in his flame form. I heard the gasp he gave and the way his eyes went wide with amazement.

I'd shifted. Finally, I'd shifted.

The spells that had been buried in me, holding my dragon inside, suddenly felt weak and insubstantial. I'd broken them easily, which was strange. I'd spent at least two years trying to break them, trying to shift. Now that my dragon was out, I was overwhelmed by it.

I felt big. My body was huge and my power radiated out.

I'd never felt it before. I'd never had any power before.

Something rumbled inside me, and I got the feeling that it was telling me I was wrong. I had been powerful. I just hadn't been able to access that power.

And now I had.

My dragon's power.

Nobody spoke, and I breathed in deeply, drawing Blaze's scent into my lungs, identifying the difference between my senses in my human form and this form.

It must have been a minute before Blaze opened his mouth and a faint word came out. "Alfie…"

He sounded amazed. Awed, in fact. And I preened at that. Even though he was in danger and I was worried, I felt my chest puff out at the sheer wonder in Blaze's voice.

"You're… golden."

I was what?

I looked down and caught sight of my own feet. They were exactly like the feet of all my clan when they shifted, a dragon's clawed feet, strong and scaly. Only my scales were a rich golden colour instead of the normal silver.

How was that even possible?

I twisted my long neck to see my body, somehow not sure that I was really seeing myself. There was my back, and my long tail. There were my legs. And all of me was covered in those golden scales, glowing warm and shining in the light.

I'd never heard of a golden dragon before.

My father drew my attention. My name in his mouth sounded like a reprimand.

"Alphonse, shift back. We have much to discuss."

I tried to obey, but I didn't know how.

Father snapped, "I gave you an order, Alphonse."

I breathed out and a thin trail of smoke blew out of my nose. It didn't burn me, but it felt funny, almost tickling me. I sneezed.

And, as I sneezed, my body changed.

I ended up shifting back to my human form and falling flat on my ass. I sat there, a bit dazed, staring at Blaze as though he'd have the answers.

The hag moved, taking a step back from me. She was edging towards the door and, every time she moved, Blaze went with her. I scrambled to my feet.

My father said, "Alphonse, we will speak about your new duties. You must learn to fight and harness your power."

I couldn't believe he was talking about that while Blaze was still being held captive.

"Let him go," I said again.

Lord Somerville said, "The fire spirit is no longer important. You will learn to create strong protections to lay at the borders and we will learn from the mistakes we made last time. You'll lay the protections independently of yourself so they won't vanish when you die."

I didn't really hear what he was saying. The hag took another step back, towards the door, and I lost my temper.

The dragon inside me felt hot and powerful, and that was such a strange, unexpected feeling that I couldn't control it. All I knew was that the hag was hurting Blaze, holding him against his will, and she was now trying to take him away from me.

I roared out, "Let him go now!"

I felt the fire rise up my throat and it burst out of my mouth, a sudden bright flare of light. I was so surprised that the flame stopped as quickly as it had started and I blinked at Blaze. Inside me, my emotions warred. Surprise, anger, fear, pride, love, they all clashed in a battle inside my stomach and my instinct was to go to Blaze. He always made me feel better when my insides were misbehaving like this.

When I took my first step towards them, the hag dropped Blaze suddenly and fled out the door. Once she'd let my Blaze go, I ignored her. She was unimportant. All that mattered was getting Blaze into my arms.

He dropped to the ground, his flames twisting and writhing as he settled, and then he was his human self again. I had him wrapped up in my arms in an instant, and I held him as close as I could. I didn't even worry about squishing him because he held me back just as tightly.

His arms were around my waist and his face was buried in my neck. The tickle of his breath was comforting and the twisting, churning feelings inside settled down.

As they did, I wondered for the first time whether that was my dragon doing that.

"Do you think it was my dragon that did all my bursting?"

Blaze snorted out a laugh and held me tighter.

"It might have been. It got better when we were together, didn't it?"

"Yes, but it got worse when we, um, you know." I glanced around, not wanting to say anything about kissing Blaze in front of my family.

Blaze pulled back just enough to look up at me. He was so beautiful that it took my breath away. His gold and orange-flecked eyes were warm and loving and shiny with tears. His cheeks were streaked with them and his lips had the slightest curve of a smile to them. He was so delicate, so lovely.

"I think your dragon was trying to get out."

"To be with you?"

"Yes."

"That makes a lot of sense. I want to be with you too. I mean, it's not just my dragon who wants that. You are staying, aren't you? Now everyone's met you, they're going to love you."

When he glanced warily over at my father, I whispered, "I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."

This time, when I made that promise, I felt like I could keep it. Inside me, that rumble happened again, and I realised I'd heard it before. It was familiar, but it had been faint, as though I'd heard it from a distance. Now it was loud and demanding.

I felt a presence beside me and looked up to see my mother standing there, looking at me as though she'd never really seen me before.

"Alfie? Did you allow this fire spirit into our territory?"

"Um, yes, I did. I know I should have told you but you would have sent him away and I, um, couldn't let you do that."

My intestines tried to tie themselves in a knot inside me, or maybe that was my dragon scratching at my insides like a caged beast, but either way, I knew that I wouldn't let Blaze be taken away from me. Whereas before I'd felt the dread of it, now I knew for certain what that dread was.

It was my dragon deciding that it loved Blaze and we were going to be together. Forever. And the dragon that was simmering away inside me wasn't going to be reasonable about it, either. I wasn't sorry I'd let Blaze stay. And I wasn't going to let him be sent away, either.

Because he was sweet and caring, Blaze tried to defend me so I wouldn't get into trouble with my family.

"I got into the territory alone. The Guardian was building the protections up but it's a large territory and he was working alone. I slipped in. He felt me do it, but nobody could find me."

I whispered to Mother, "Glimmer did tell Lord Somerville about it. And he built up the protections where Blaze got in."

I didn't want anyone thinking that Glimmer hadn't been pulling his weight, either.

Mother glanced across at Father. I wasn't sure, but she looked… unsure. As though she expected him to tell me off.

I remembered then: I wasn't meant to say Glimmer's name.

"I didn't mean to talk about Glimmer, honest. I was only doing it because he was the Guardian at the time. Am I not allowed to even remember him? Because he's still—"

My big mouth was going to get me into trouble and, worse, it was going to get Glimmer into trouble if my father found out that he was still living nearby, still working his magic for us on the borders.

Luckily, Blaze was my absolute saviour and he nudged me with his elbow and I cut off my sentence before I could reveal Glimmer's secret.

I shot him a look of gratitude and reached for his hand. We were already standing so close together that I felt his body heat all along my arm.

Then my father's voice cut through my contentment.

"Alphonse, come here. We need to talk."