“What the fuck are you talking about, Doc?” Avani asks, the earth rumbling with his anger and frustration. Everett called everyone together this morning to explain what is happening with Ancalagon before we talk to him. “I’m not 100% sure…” “Then why the fuck are we having this conversation?” Avani growls. “Avani,” Merethyl says, putting her hand on his arm. He grits his teeth, pulling his mate into his lap and burying his face in her hair, breathing deeply. When he calms himself, he looks up at Everett. “My apologies. Please continue.” “What I think has happened, is that the scientists wanted to force Ancalagon into a mate bond with a specific person or hybrid. I’m not sure if that bond was intended to be with his Sunshine, or if they had someone in mind. But, either way, it doesn’t currently matter. Without a mate to claim him, Ancalagon is slowly going to begin losing his humanity.” Everett flashes another group of two DNA strands on the screen. “These strands are Amne and M

The next morning, we plan to talk to Cal about his DNA, but before we have a chance to do that, another one of the dragons shifts. Because these first shifts are so painful for the dragons, we all go outside to be with them. This time, it’s Kenzo, one of our earth dragons. He, Ajax, and Ancalagon have become close friends. So, I’m not surprised to see Ajax on one side of Kenzo and Ancalagon on the other. Ancalagon is crooning encouragement while Ajax is telling him to breathe through the pain. When he’s done, he’s barely conscious. Ajax picks him up before Everett can get to him, nodding at Everett to lead the way to the hospital. Since Everett will be busy and he’s our medical expert, I know that the conversation with Ancalagon will have to wait. As I turn back to the main house to continue working on the new curriculum for our students, I notice that Amne and Kano are standing close together, Kano’s arm around Amne, having watched Kenzo shift. That isn’t unusual. What does surpri

I’m a couple of steps behind Everett as we race out of the main house. Ancalagon’s roar for help can’t mean anything good. In his nearly five years, I’ve only heard him cry for help one other time, the time he thought he burned Eliane alive. When I see Ancalagon, I stop short. I have no idea what could have caused the damage to his body that he’s sustained. And it isn’t just him, the other dragons are all injured as well. I’m not sure if it’s the doctor in Everett or if he’s just become accustomed to crisis after crisis at our school, but unlike me, he doesn’t stop. He races up to Ancalagon, quickly doing triage to see how badly he’s injured. “ANCALAGON!” Avani roars, his scales rippling along his skin as he rushes up. “Who did this to you? Who did this to all of you?” he asks, looking around. Fenian comes rushing up, Tesha right behind him. “Doc Everett, how can I help?” he asks. It’s what I should be asking and I shake the fear and concern off, stepping up to one of the other dr

I jolt waking from a terrible dream. I was fighting with dragons, lots of them. One of them was Cal. They were attacking my little white friend. I had to give him a name, so I named him Snow, since that’s what he looks like. It’s kind of girlie, but he doesn’t seem to mind. I look around quickly, trying to see if he’s near me. Once again, we’re up at the top of a mountain. Snow is wrapped around me. My quick movements disturbing his sleep. “Are you okay? I had a horrible dream that something bad happened to you,” I tell him. He nuzzles his face closer to me, pressing his snout into my chest and doing what sounds an awful lot like a purr. I lay my head on his snout, wrapping my arms around his face. I stay like that, just letting my relief at seeing him alive take the fear of the dream away. When my stomach growls loudly, I pull back. “I need food, Snow. Did you eat? Is that why I smell blood?” I ask him. His forked tongue snakes out slowly, licking my hand. I look down and realize

I watch as the dragons work together to calm Ancalagon. His anger is something to behold and it never occurred to me that as the manipulator of four elements, he could, quite literally, destroy the earth. As I watch, it makes me even more concerned that his DNA is breaking down where his mate bond should be. If his brother intends to fight him over his mate, would he really kill him? What would that do to Avani and Zephyr? Zephyr’s mental state isn’t as steady as the others, although Ishir keeps her mind from breaking. How would something like this affect her? How would it affect Ancalagon? And how would it affect Eliane? When Merethyl and Zephyr finally calm him enough, I walk up to him and put my hands against him, wanting to heal him with my element. It’s the first time that I’m attempting to do this with such massive injuries, and I know Zephyr is also pushing her element into him to heal him, but as soon as I open myself to my element, I can feel Ancalagon’s power and the heat o