Falling for the Ashfather

Chapter 6

My mother was the first one to respond. She stormed onto the stage and grabbed my arm. “Tahlia…”

I pulled my arm out of her grasp and met her eyes. “I know, mother. I’m a huge disappointment to you. But I’m sure Kami will give you everything you have ever wanted. Like she always has.”

I glanced back at Konrad one last time, saw his wide eyes and his fast breathing. He was as surprised as everyone else, but I just gave him one last sad look before I walked off the stage, away from Kami and the others.

The pressure in my chest hadn’t eased. If I didn’t let my dragon out soon, she would force the change, the way she should have on that stage. What I needed to do was get out of there and complete my first change. Instead, though, I found a spot where I could continue to watch the Ashwalk, to watch my friend for the last time.

The others were called up quickly. Two Brown Stonebinders and a Blue Galeheart. The prince looked disappointed as each one made their appearance, as if he had been expecting more from our little town. My eyes, though, kept moving back to Konrad. He’d put his head down now, and closed his eyes. As if he had accepted his fate.

My heart wanted him to fight. To make them let him go, but in my head, I knew he couldn’t. Those were fully grown dragons holding him. Dragons who’d had years of training in that form. Konrad hadn’t even known he was a a Wyvern. There was no way he could have learned how to fight in a form he hadn’t known he would have.

So, I watched as Kami was called up, tears rolling down my face. I watched as she thrust her hand into that fire, and closed my eyes in defeat when she was revealed to be a White Frostmane.

Even I had to admit, she was beautiful. Her white scales shone in the flickering light of the eternal flame. Her mane was long and seemed to sparkle, and I could feel the cold coming from her from where I sat.

Another tear rolled down my cheek as the prince stepped forward. There was a gleam in his eyes, and he cleared his throat.

“Kami, was it?” he said. There was an excitement and calculation to his words, and I forced my eyes open again. I wouldn’t turn away from this. I would be a witness to my best friend’s last moments on this earth. I had to be. I was the only one that would watch his death with grief, not wanting him to go. I was the only one that would hold him in my heart with anything other than hatred.

Kami stepped closer to him and lowered her head. She was small, for a dragon, but there was a power to her. I knew she would have it in her to kill Konrad. Not just because of the frost breath that would freeze him in an instant, but because of the hatred she already held for him.

Konrad had been talking back to my sister for as long as I could remember. He had never liked her, and he had made it known. Kami had always promised him retribution. And now, here it was. At the hands of the prince who would offer up the life of my friend.

I found myself glaring at the prince, at what he was willing to sacrifice. He had no idea who Konrad and his family were. No idea what they had contributed to this community over the years they had lived here. And yet, he was so willing to destroy them. To burn their entire lives to the ground. Erase them from this world.

“As the strongest dragon form, you have the honour of ridding your town of the scourge that was hiding among you. His death will bring you great honour.”

Kami looked over at Konrad, and I leaned forward, forcing myself to keep my eyes open. Taking in the hatred I could read even in the eyes of her dragon form.

She stalked toward the Wyvern on the stage. Konrad didn’t move. He wasn’t planning on fighting. He wasn’t planning on doing anything. His eyes opened one last time, and he met mine. There was a desperation there, like he wanted me to be the last thing he saw in this world.

I held his gaze, refusing to look away as Kami drew in a breath. Her chest was smoking with the cold of the power, and with one strong breath, she released that breath into the world.

It hit Konrad’s back, and he drew in a gasp of pain, but it froze in his chest as his entire body creaked as it was covered in ice. In seconds, he was a statue, and Kami whirled around, hitting him hard with her tail.

His body shattered, scattering across the stage. I stared at it for a moment, numb at the sight of what my own sister had done to my only friend in the world. I glanced up, and the cold in my chest only increased. If I’d had any doubt what Kami thought of me, it was written there on her face when she met my eyes. Triumph. Disdain.

I couldn’t breathe as the pain suddenly hit me. As the knowledge that I would have to live my life without Konrad hit me anew.

The prince stepped forward, a smile on his face as he watched my sister. “You have brought the Ashfather and your town great honour today. As such, I would invite you to the castle for specialized training. You will be a great asset to the Ashfather and your people.”

Kami gave a nod of her head, and I stood from my spot, fleeing into the night as the ache in my chest increased. Tears trailed down my face as I ran, and I was barely far enough away to not be seen, when that pain took over again, telling me I had waited too long to change.

It wasn’t painful, the change. I had always thought it would be, even with others telling me it wasn’t. And soon, I stood in the dark, my silver scales glinting in the light of the moon. Silver. I had been right. I would have been the one chosen if I had let myself change on that stage. I dropped my head and let out a mournful cry, then let my instincts take over and took off into the night sky, determined to fly off my grief.