I planned on sending Keanu back to Gregornath today with the rest of the dragons. I wanted him to make a plan on repairing our home so we could get everyone back. Craig was going to do the same with the demons still here, and Tristan had already sent Hank back to Torolf to begin prepping for a rebuild. It felt like just weeks ago I’d constructed a new palace and would have to do it all over again.
“No change?” Keanu asked as I walked out of the temple and found him sitting under a weeping willow.
“Not yet,” I sighed. “I want you to return to Gregornath for me.”
“You’re certain?”
“Unless you have somewhere else you need to be.”
“No, I’ve missed home, and our people need us. But I will stay here as long as you need me.” He patted my shoulder. “Your father would be proud of you, more than you know.”
I wanted to believe him, but we had lost so many lives to get through this war. Half of me believed it wasn’t over, while the other half said it was time to get back to living and enjoying my life with Mori.
If she ever woke up.
“I shall set out once I gather supplies for the journey,” Keanu told me. “You’ll be alright here?”
“Yes, I don’t want to move her, not yet.”
He stood, and I rose with him, embracing him. Then he turned toward the gardens to find the other dragons and return home. Not that it truly mattered if dragons remained in Gregornath anymore. The kingdoms were no longer separated, not in my mind. We’d bled all over this map, fighting for every kingdom and every race. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be king anymore. The title no longer sounded like me.
As the day wore on, Keanu departed, and I watched him go, traveling with the demons they would leave off in Boshen on their way. Craig, Tristan, and I found ourselves near the waterfall, watching the water ripple and move, hardly talking. Our minds were too consumed with worry to say much.
Several more days passed.
A dragon returned carrying a message from Keanu, Nora, and Hank, all with words we never dreamt of reading.
“There are more survivors!” I exclaimed. “How?”
“They said they hid in the woods, used the old tunnels and stayed out of sight. Many traveled north to the mountains. When the darkness broke, they came out of hiding and were already working at clearing the rubble and starting to build anew,” the messenger announced.
I couldn’t stop smiling. I hugged Tristan and Craig. More had survived Baladon’s war, giving new hope to the realms. The person I wanted to share the news with was still unconscious upstairs in her room. I walked up there anyway, ready to whisper the words to her in hopes they would pull her from her sleep, but when I opened the door, I froze.
Mori stood in the center of the room, holding out her hands in front of her face. Stars littered her hair, falling to the floor around her feet, but she seemed off somehow. When she lifted her head and spotted me, her eyes glittered with light, and I rushed in to hold her, swinging her around as she laughed and hugged me back.
“You’re awake. Thank the gods,” I muttered into her hair, never wanting to let her go again.
“I told you to trust me,” she replied, kissing me. “How long was I out?”
“Two weeks and counting.” I held her face in my hands, trying to figure out what felt different. “You’ve changed, haven’t you. But I can’t tell how.”
She tilted her head as she smiled crookedly. “I’m not immortal anymore.”
“What? How? You still have your starlight.”
“I do, but I’m not a goddess, that’s what I gave up to destroy Baladon.”
“Meaning what exactly?” I asked, still uncertain what she was trying to tell me. “Sabella’s vision showed you three dying.”
“Yes, a part of us, dying,” she corrected gently. “A part we were willing to give up.”
“You gave up your immortality to kill him? Why?”
“Why not? I would rather be with you than to live forever without you,” she explained, standing on her toes to kiss me. “So I did.”
Down the corridor from Mori’s room, I heard more excited chatter and laughter. Kate and Sabella had awoken too, it seemed.
“I think tonight we should celebrate,” I announced. “There’s much to catch you up on.”
“Oh, good news I hope?”
“Very, very good news indeed. And then, you and I can finally start our lives together.” I held her close as I kissed her, content to feel her alive in my arms.
The war was over, and Mori had lived. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.
Epilogue
Forrest
Three Years Later
Thunder rumbled over the mountains as dark storm clouds grew, coming closer to the castle. I’d awakened to the soft grumbling of the sky and reached an arm out to seek my wife at my side, but the bed was conspicuously empty. It was warm still, so she hadn’t been up for long. I stretched as I sat up, scratching at the scruff on my face. Spring had come and brought with it the rain we’d been waiting on for the newly planted fields.
Since the war had ended, the lands had been slowly repairing themselves and coming back to life with new vigor. I worried Baladon’s darkness had poisoned the ground for crops, but the year before, everything came up as if nothing happened. Though of course, it had. A monument had been built in each kingdom in remembrance of those who fought and died to save us all. And to remember the sacrifice given by a goddess, a seer, and the Vindicar.
Mori had lost her immortality, and her starlight was slowly diminishing with each passing day. It didn’t seem to bother her, though. She was happy, told me so any time I glanced at her worry at the back of my mind.
Sabella had lost her goddess half as well, and was merely a seer now, though the last time I checked in with Tristan, her visions were few and far in between. It was a relief for both of them, especially with the current state Sabella was in. Pregnant with their first child. Tristan was a nervous wreck half the time.
Kate was still a Darrah, but the Vindicar was no more. They’d each lost a bit of themselves that day, but what they gained in return was so much more.
I dressed in a shirt and breeches, leaving our chambers barefoot as I strolled through the castle, in no hurry to find Mori. I felt her presence close by, most likely out in the greenhouse. We’d spent some time in her realm, too, a realm now open, for all to come and go as they pleased.
“Morning, Uncle,” I greeted Keanu as I entered the hall, finding him and several other occupants of the castle enjoying breakfast.
“My King,” he said and poured me a cup of coffee. “Have you lost your wife again?”
“It would appear so. Have you seen her by chance?”
“She said something about the greenhouse. Oh, and wanted me to remind you that you have visitors arriving today.”
I frowned over my mug until I remembered our plans to host the other monarchs, including the new elf king and queen, two elven warriors who had been selected to rule in Drake and Ashan’s place after their unfortunate deaths.
“And when are they arriving?”
Keanu chuckled. “A few hours. You have time.”
“Yes, I do.” Taking my coffee with me, I left the hall and went to the doors leading outside. Rain pattered the dry ground, and I hurried across the courtyard to the greenhouse, making it to the door just as the skies opened up and rain poured from the heavy clouds. It tapped against the glass roof, and I didn’t have to walk too far inside before I found Mori, her head tilted back as she stared up at the drops. “Something you had to do so early this morning?”
“It’s a perfect morning, didn’t want to waste it.”
“You always did love storms,” I whispered as I kissed the top of her head. “Nothing else troubling you?”
Her eyes widened just enough for me to know there was something. She’d been quieter than normal the last few days and tried to turn away from me now. “Don’t know what you’re talking a
bout.”
“Mori, it’s a bit early. Just help a dragon out here and tell me? Please?”
“I was going to wait until the others arrived, but think you’d be mad if I dropped this news on you in front of them all.”
I set my mug down, on the verge of panicking, the longer she kept me waiting. “Is it your starlight? Something else wrong from the war?”
“No, nothing like that. I uh… I’m…” She mumbled something to herself, then took my hands and placed them on her stomach and grinned up at me. “Get ready to join the worry wart father club on top of the panicking husbands club.”
I blinked quickly, glancing down at my hands on her stomach, then back to her face. “You’re… we’re… truly?”
“Yes,” she laughed as I hugged her to me. “Yes, we are.”
“Holy shit,” I mumbled.
“I had the same reaction a few weeks ago.”
“Weeks. You knew for weeks and didn’t tell me?”
She shrugged. “I wanted to be certain, and I’ll admit I was a little worried how you’d take it. Tristan’s being a bit overbearing. And you guys, well, you’re all the same in that department.”
I nodded along with her, already wondering how much of a pain it was going to be over the next eight months, making sure she didn’t do anything crazy. But the smile on my face only grew wider. We’d talked about starting a family at some point, and now it was happening. I couldn’t wait to tell the others, but was happy she told me first. I swept her up into my arms, kissing her as the storm played on around us.
Eventually, we made it back inside and got ready for our royal visitors. It took longer than normal, what with my stopping her every few seconds just to hug her. She did have a certain glow about her I’d thought was just her starlight being brighter than normal.
My excitement fluctuated from nervousness and back again until I found myself pacing the entrance hall anxiously. At the sound of horses in the courtyard, my head shot up.
Two toddlers ran inside, giggling and laughing as they tripped over each other to get to me.
“Uncle Forrest!” the little boy yelled, his twin sister right on his heels.
I bent down and scooped them both up into a bear hug, spinning them around and around as Kate and Craig caught up, shaking out the rain from their hair and clothes
“What are you feeding them?” I asked. “They’re so heavy.”
“They’re growing up so damned fast,” Craig agreed, grinning proudly at his two children. Lucy and Bernard, though we all called him Bear. “No Sabella and Tristan yet?”
“Not yet, sure they’ll be here shortly.”
I set the twins down and shook hands with Craig, then pulled Kate into a hug.
We all got together at least once a month, usually more, unless we were busy with planting or harvests. Mori called out to Kate, and the two hugged, talking rapidly as they meandered toward the hall, Lucy and Bear in tow.
“Man, I still can’t believe I have twins,” Craig admitted.
“There are mornings I wake up and still think we’re at war,” I told him.
“Mori having nightmares still?”
“No, thank the gods, they’ve finally stopped.” I glanced toward the hall, expecting she would want to make the announcement herself, but I couldn’t’ keep it to myself any longer. “And we have some news of our own it seems.” I grinned.
“News?” Tristan and Sabella rushed up the steps.
“Something good I hope,” Sabella said, holding her very pregnant belly. “Mori and Kate?”
“Hall,” I told her, “and yes, good news. I’m sure she’ll tell you once you’re in there.”
She waddled away. Tristan watched her with a look of concern I had a feeling I’d be showing fairly soon myself.
“So, this news of yours,” Craig asked, “what is it?”
“Well, we, uh… we’re going to have a baby.”
Tristan and Craig broke into grins and just as they both hugged me, high-pitched squeals of excitement resounded from the hall. Mori must’ve just told Kate and Sabella.
“Well now, our family just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” Craig stated.
“You ready for fatherhood?” Tristan asked.
“Gods no, but I think I am ready for another adventure with Mori,” I told them both as we reached the hall doorway.
Mori’s eyes met mine, and I felt immediately surrounded by the love that bound us together.
The six of us had been alone, and somehow, one by one, we found each other.
I reached up and touched the tattoo under my collarbone, mirroring Mori as she did the same.
It warmed for a heartbeat, and her eyes sparkled with starlight.
Oh yes, I was definitely ready for another adventure, especially with Mori at my side for the rest of our days.
I hope you enjoyed the Dragon Reign Series!
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Copyright © 2018 by Kit Bladegrave
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