Chapter 27

His Memories

The soulbond stopped feeling distant after that night.

Before, the connection between Evelynn and Kael had come in bursts. Shared emotions. Sudden flashes. Pain crossing accidentally through the bond like sparks jumping between fires.

Now—

it never fully went quiet again.

She felt him constantly.

Not loudly.

Just there.

Like warmth beneath skin.

Like another heartbeat somewhere behind her own.

It should have terrified her more than it did.

Instead, the silence felt wrong whenever Kael moved too far away.

Deeply unhealthy development.

Three days passed after the awakening of the bond, and Black Citadel remained on edge the entire time. Ancient dragonfire throughout the city still burned brighter than normal. Priests moved constantly between temple towers. Guards whispered when they thought Evelynn couldn’t hear them.

And dragons stared at her differently now.

Not with suspicion anymore.

Recognition.

That somehow felt worse.

Kael, meanwhile, became quieter.

Not colder.

Just… distracted.

Like part of him remained trapped somewhere far away.

Evelynn noticed it most at night.

The bond shifted strangely whenever he slept.

Which, considering he almost never slept before, felt important.

On the fourth night, the storm finally cleared.

Moonlight spilled silver across Black Citadel while the palace settled into rare silence beneath drifting snow. Evelynn stood barefoot beside the balcony windows of her chambers unable to sleep again while the black markings along her wrist glowed faintly beneath moonlight.

The bond stirred softly.

Kael.

Asleep.

That alone startled her enough to pause.

Then suddenly—

the connection pulled.

Hard.

Evelynn gasped sharply as the room vanished around her.

No transition.

No warning.

One second she stood inside her chambers.

The next—

blood.

The smell hit first.

Thick. Metallic. Rotting beneath smoke and fire.

Evelynn stumbled hard across muddy ground slick with ash and corpses while screams echoed through darkness all around her.

Battlefield.

Again.

Except this time the memory felt stronger.

Real.

Cold rain lashed across her face while dragonfire burned through distant hills beneath a black storm sky. Broken weapons littered the earth alongside bodies—human and dragon alike.

Thousands of bodies.

“Oh God…”

Her voice vanished beneath roaring fire.

Then she realized something worse.

She wasn’t herself.

She was seeing through Kael’s eyes.

Everything felt wrong. Bigger. Sharper. The smell of blood stretched for miles. Heartbeats pulsed through the battlefield like distant drums. Rage and grief sat beneath skin so violently they barely felt survivable.

Young Kael walked forward through the slaughter.

Not the Kael she knew.

This version looked younger. Wilder. His black armor was cracked and soaked in blood while dragonfire curled violently from his hands with every step.

And he looked exhausted.

Not physically.

Broken.

The battlefield parted around him.

Surviving soldiers fled the moment they saw him approaching.

Some dragons lowered their heads as he passed.

Others looked terrified.

Evelynn felt the reason immediately through the bond.

He had lost control already.

Hours earlier.

Maybe days.

The dragonfire inside him no longer separated cleanly from grief.

Another body appeared beneath his feet.

Human.

Young.

Burned beyond recognition.

Kael stopped walking.

The bond twisted sharply.

Pain.

Not because of this specific corpse.

Because every body on the battlefield felt like failure now.

Then suddenly—

a roar thundered across the valley.

Huge.

Ancient.

Kael lifted his head sharply.

And Evelynn saw him.

Another dragon descending through storm clouds above the battlefield, scales dark red beneath lightning while massive wings blocked moonlight overhead.

An enemy dragon king.

The memory surged violently with hatred the second Kael saw him.

Old hatred.

Personal hatred.

The red dragon landed hard enough to shake the battlefield.

“You lost,” the enemy king called across the corpses.

Young Kael answered with dragonfire.

The explosion shattered half the valley instantly.

Evelynn nearly collapsed beneath the sheer force of emotion ripping through the memory. Rage flooded the bond hard enough to burn.

Then the battle began.

And Evelynn finally understood why kingdoms feared dragon kings.

Kael moved like destruction itself.

Dragonfire tore through the battlefield in waves of gold-white flame hot enough to melt armor instantly. The red dragon lunged through smoke and lightning while mountains shook beneath claws and fire.

Neither fought like living creatures.

They fought like disasters.

The memory fractured around Evelynn as the bond dragged her deeper into Kael’s emotions. Pain. Fury. Loss. The overwhelming need to kill before grief swallowed everything else whole.

Then suddenly—

Lyriana.

The name hit through the bond before Evelynn even saw her.

Another memory crashed sideways into the battlefield.

A young human woman standing beside Kael beneath sunlight instead of fire. Laughing softly while black dragon wings wrapped around them both protectively.

Peace.

Real peace.

The emotional contrast hit so hard Evelynn nearly cried.

Kael had loved her like breathing.

Then the memory ripped away again.

Back to war.

Back to blood.

Young Kael drove the enemy dragon king into the ground hard enough to split stone across the valley. Fire exploded everywhere. Screaming filled the mountains.

And still—

none of it mattered.

Because beneath all the rage and destruction and death, Kael searched constantly for one thing.

Lyriana.

Even while fighting.

Even while killing.

Part of him still believed he could save her.

Then came the moment that broke him.

The battlefield vanished abruptly.

Now Evelynn stood inside a ruined palace chamber through Kael’s eyes while smoke drifted through collapsed ceilings overhead.

And there—

Lyriana.

Alive.

Barely.

Blood covered the front of her dress while she lay against shattered stone beneath flickering dragonfire.

Kael dropped to his knees beside her instantly.

The grief inside the bond became unbearable.

Evelynn felt his panic so clearly it stopped feeling separate from her own.

“No,” young Kael whispered roughly, hands shaking as he tried to stop the bleeding. “No, stay with me.”

Lyriana smiled weakly despite the blood at her lips.

And then—

her hand moved.

Slowly.

Toward her stomach.

Toward the child.

The realization hit Kael too late.

Horror exploded through the bond.

Not just grief now.

Hope.

Impossible desperate hope.

“There’s still time,” he said immediately. “I can save both of you.”

Lyriana’s eyes filled with tears.

Not because she believed him.

Because she knew he couldn’t.

The memory cracked violently apart after that.

Evelynn felt dragonfire explode through the palace.

Felt Kael scream.

Felt the exact second something inside him shattered permanently.

Then she woke.

Back inside her chambers.

Back inside her own body.

Evelynn collapsed hard against the floor beside the bed gasping for air while tears she didn’t realize were hers burned down her face.

The bond still pulsed wildly.

Pain.

Ancient unbearable pain.

Not memory anymore.

Current.

Kael.

Somewhere else in the palace—

awake now.

And suffering through every memory all over again because she had seen it too.