agreed that closing it after you was the right call. She even read the tournament rule book, and we found the language that would protect you.”
Kerrigan breathed out heavily. “That’s a relief.”
She clutched her chest. “And thank you for bringing justice to Lyam.”
“I had to.”
“I know I’m three years younger, but I’ve always looked up to you guys. I wanted to be you, and I wanted Lyam to see me,” Tara confessed. “I think he would have wanted to see you in the Society. You do justice to his memory.”
Kerrigan fingered the compass in her pocket. It had saved her and Fordham’s lives in the forest. “I think he’s watching over us.”
“Me too,” Tara said, sniffling. “You’re going to do wonderful things.”
“I have to get through training first.”
“You’ll do it. You never back down from a challenge. It’s what I really admire about you.”
Kerrigan smiled. Seeing herself reflected back at her through Tara. She had been just like this with Cyrene five years prior. It felt strange to have anyone look up to her, but maybe it had for Cyrene too.
“You’re going to do great things too, Tara.”
“Thanks.” Tara wiped her eyes and laughed uncomfortably. “I also came to tell you that Gelryn arrived back from the Holy Mountain. He said he had to eat, and then you should visit him.”
Kerrigan’s eyes rounded. “Scales! I should go!”
Tara laughed. “Yes. Maybe change first though.”
Kerrigan laughed at the fact that she was still in tournament clothes. She had passed out immediately as soon as her head hit the ground and hadn’t even had time to change or bathe. She needed to do both.
She thanked Tara one more time before she left, and then Kerrigan grabbed new clothes, went for a quick bath to scrub the tournament off her skin, and then went in search of Gelryn. She found him in the same eaves with the impossible climb as she’d had that night she came in search of him about her visions. Her legs burned by the time she made it up to the top, and she nearly collapsed at his feet.
Kerrigan Argon, now of the House of Shadows, a full Society member, welcome.
Kerrigan bowed dramatically. “A fancy title for the same person.”
Perhaps. Do you feel the same?
“I don’t know. I feel rested, and that’s different.”
Gelryn laughed a booming thing that filled the cave. You entertain me. Such a rare quality.
“I am so glad to see you return. I was worried that they weren’t going to let me into the Society without your testimony that I had been tested.”
This is your destiny, and no one can deny it to you.
“Well, Lorian sure thinks he can.”
Master Lorian cannot always see what is right in front of him. He has had a clouded past and a fraught history with your father.
“Do you… think he knows Kivrin is my father?” Kerrigan shivered at the thought. She had been trying to ignore the binding dream that she’d had of her father. It made no sense, and she worried that asking about it to anyone, especially Gelryn, would reveal that she hadn’t bonded with Tieran.
Assuredly. Your secret is no longer a secret.
Kerrigan froze. “What?”
How long did you sleep, child?
“All day,” she confessed.
Audria Ather in the House of Drame has proclaimed you the lost princess of Bryonica. You have made waves in their community. I believe that you will be celebrated among them for generations.
Kerrigan thought she was going to be sick. “She told everyone?”
It appears so. You will have to make peace with your past if you hope to continue into this future.
“What does that even mean, Gelryn?”
It means that I discovered answers for you in the Holy Mountain.
Kerrigan froze. “You did? You found out about my visions?”
I spoke with the ancients of my race, the dragons who came before even me, who preserve our history. They told me of others in the past who had access to mystical visions and great spiritual energy. They were called spiritcasters.
“Spiritcasters,” she whispered. It felt incredible to finally have a name for what she could do. “Are there any now? Can I meet them?”
No, the last spiritcaster was from nearly a thousand years ago during the Great War.
“What happened to them?” she whispered.
They never found a way to master their casting, and they slowly went insane.
Kerrigan shivered at the words. Gods! “That could happen to me?”
Yes, if you do not learn to control the castings, then they will control you. Already, I believe it is happening with the increased rate of