Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Ride the Wave: Chapter 10

Doran arrived a day after Reven woke up. He strolled into the Resistance hideout as if he belonged there, and no one seemed to recognize him in his dusty traveling clothes and heavy cloak. I kept expecting someone to realize he was their enemy, but no one paid him any attention.

At the sight of him walking through Slateden, I was torn between relief and apprehension, unsure if I should run to hug him—or in the opposite direction. The only thing I could think to say was, “You’re alive.”

He smirked and tipped his head. “Sark and I can’t kill each other, though Gods know we’ve tried many times over the years. The bond with Nysa prevents us from doing anything other than roughing each other up a bit. But don’t worry, I made sure he couldn’t follow me here.”

“Thank you for helping us. I’m not sure I could have escaped without you.”

“Of course. Unfortunately, Nysa and her mates all know I’ve betrayed them by now. I can’t go back to Soulspire.” He chuckled as he pushed back his hood. “Guess that means I’ll be sticking with you for the rest of your journey. Now, where can I get some food around here? I’m starving.”

Sticking with us? I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but I had more pressing things I wanted to talk about first. “I can have something brought up for us. I have a lot of questions for you.”

“I’m sure you do, and I’ll do my best to answer them all. While we eat.”

I gathered all my mates and my father into a room that Parin had once used to meet with spies and soldiers. Now that he was gone and Faya was busy trying to keep the Resistance running, the room had sat unused. Food and drinks were placed along the long wooden table, and although I’d asked for something simple, the kitchen staff had outdone themselves. I suspected many people in Slateden were feeling aimless without their leader and needed something to channel their energy into.

My mates sat around the table and none of them looked happy to be there. Jasin glared at Doran while loading a plate with food. Slade leaned back and crossed his arms, his face stony. Auric spread his journal and quill out on the table and prepared to take notes. Reven sat beside me and watched Doran closely, but his face was paler than normal. This morning I’d told them all about my time being held captive by the Dragons, and about how Nysa had stayed alive so long, and they weren’t particularly pleased with Doran right now.

Doran began shoveling food into his mouth, ignoring the suspicious looks the others gave him. I watched him for a long moment, studying his face, still shocked to be sitting across from my true father. My father, who had done nothing to stop Nysa for years.

“Is it true?” I asked, my throat tightening. “All those children before me?”

His face turned grim and he set down his fork. “It’s true. Every thirty years Nysa bears a daughter, who should become the next Spirit Dragon if the cycle was allowed to continue. Except Nysa drains their life and their inherent magic to keep herself alive, along with the rest of us.”

“And you just let that happen?” Jasin asked.

“For a long time, yes. It’s not something I’m proud of, but for many years I thought it was necessary. It was only when Kira was born that I realized how corrupted Nysa had become, and how she’d tainted the rest of us through our bond with her.”

“Why was I any different?” I asked. “And how did I survive?”

Doran’s eyes met mine. “You survived because, for the first time in all our years, Nysa had twins.”

His words slammed into my chest, knocking me off balance. At first I couldn’t speak, too stunned, trying to make sense of what he’d said. Finally I whispered, “I have a sister?”

“You did,” Doran said, his face darkening with pain. “It had been many years since I’d sired a child with Nysa. All of us traded off to ease the burden of watching our own children be sacrificed, but it was eventually my turn again. I wanted to stop Nysa, but the bond makes it difficult for us to act against her, and we’d all resigned ourselves to the fact that we could do nothing.” He drew in a long breath before continuing. “When I learned Nysa was having twins, I realized I had a chance to save one of them. Your sister was born first, and Nysa drained her immediately. She never even got a name, as most of them didn’t, but I called her Sora, after my mother. While Nysa was busy with her, I named you Kira, after my sister, and switched you with a baby who had died only hours before during childbirth. A servant rushed you out of the palace and to safety, while I informed Nysa that her second child hadn’t made it.”

Tears welled up in my eyes at the thought of the twin sister I’d never known, and anger filled me knowing Nysa had killed her and Doran had done nothing to stop her. “Why didn’t you save both of us?”

“I wanted to, more than anything, but it wasn’t possible. Nysa needed a sacrifice to keep herself alive. If I had taken both of you, Nysa would have scoured the earth until the two of you were found. She wouldn’t have stopped until you were both drained, making her doubly powerful.” He stared at the plate in front of him, his voice low. “Your sister’s sacrifice allowed you to live. If I could have done it any other way I would have, and I’ve spent the last twenty years trying to make sure Nysa never found out you were alive, so that your sister’s death wasn’t in vain. But I still mourn Sora every day, along with all the other daughters I’ve lost over the centuries.”

Slade reached over and took my hand under the table, and Auric did the same on the other side. I gripped their hands hard, fighting back tears as heaviness filled my chest. Sora, my soul called out, searching for this missing part of myself. I hadn’t known she’d existed before this day, but there had always been an emptiness inside me I’d never understood. Maybe all those years I’d spent running, searching for a family, and longing for someone to love me was my way of trying to find my lost twin again. But I wasn’t sure there was anything that could fill that void.

I pushed my plate away, my appetite gone. My mates stared at me, and I felt their sympathetic worry through the bond. There was nothing they could do to help with this though. It had been bad enough knowing Nysa had killed my sisters for hundreds of years, but learning she’d taken my twin too…

By the Gods, I was going to make her pay.

I wanted to rush back to Soulspire and take her out this instant, but I couldn’t let anger drive me into doing something foolish. I had to learn more before I could do anything, and I still had a lot of questions for my father.

I drew in a deep breath to steady myself and focused on one of the other questions. “The people who raised me…who were they?”

“Your mother was my great-granddaughter, the result of an affair I had long ago. She was the last of my descendants, and she took you in and swore to protect you.” Doran’s fist clenched around a biscuit, turning it to crumbs. “I’ll never forgive Sark for what he did to her.”

That explained why we looked so similar, except for our hair color. My adopted mother’s hair was long and blond, which I realized now was the same shade as Doran’s hair.

Doran wiped his hands on a napkin. “I’ve watched you from the shadows your entire life, Kira. I’ve tried not to interfere too much, but I’ve always been there, working to keep you safe. Unfortunately, that often meant acting as Nysa’s devoted servant for much of your life. It’s freeing to know I don’t have to continue that act any longer.”

Auric paused from scribbling in his journal and looked up. “What about your bond with Nysa? Won’t she be able to find you here?”

Doran shook his head. “Over the years I learned how to block Nysa through the bond. It helps that I haven’t slept with her since before Kira was born either. The bond between us has naturally weakened over time.” He ran a rough hand over his scraggly beard, his eyes distant. “It’s hard because I still love her, despite everything she’s done. I always will. But she’s become…corrupted. And through the bond, the rest of us became corrupted too. I was able to find my way out of it, but the others are too far gone. Which is why they all need to be defeated.”

“You want us to kill your mate,” Reven said, his eyes narrowed.

“It’s the only way to stop her and to save Kira.” Doran pushed his seat back as if he was about to stand. “There’s a lot more I need to tell you, which will help you understand Nysa better and how she became so corrupted, but we need to start heading toward the Water Temple as soon as possible. Only once you’ve bonded with all four of your mates can you hope to stand against her.”

“But the Water Temple was destroyed,” Slade said.

“And the Dragons know we’ll be going there,” Jasin added. “They’ll be waiting for us.”

“No, they won’t,” Doran said. “And it hasn’t been destroyed, because I moved it years ago. None of the Dragons know where the real Water Temple is. I made sure of that.”

“Where is it?” Auric asked, his quill clenched in his hand and his eyes bright with the promise of secret knowledge.

“In the far reaches of the Water Realm. It will take us a few days to get there, so I suggest we leave as soon as we’re able to.”

“It depends on Reven,” I said, glancing at him. “He’s still recovering and—”

“I’m fine,” he said quickly. “I’m ready to go.”

Doran stood and glanced around the table. “Then I guess it’s time for us to head out.”