Outside the World Tree Castle—high above the glowing canopy of the Elven Empire—two dragons hovered in the night air.

  Wings stretched wide.

  Lightning and fire painted the sky in violent colors.

  Ace floated with her arms folded, pink electricity crawling along her horns and wings like living veins. Her black-and-pink battle maid dress snapped in the wind, bright as a storm that hadn’t decided where to strike.

  Across from her, Vespera hovered rigid and furious.

  Her face was red with anger.

  Black flames poured from her mouth and coiled around her body, lighting the night like a funeral pyre.

  For several long moments, neither spoke.

  Only the echo of their earlier clash hung between them—the memory of black flame colliding with pink lightning, of Vespera’s floating rings shattering under Ace’s electric assault.

  Finally, Vespera broke the silence.

  Her voice came low, tight with disbelief.

  “You’re unbelievable,” she said. “Please tell me you did not feed that cow girl dragon milk.”

  Ace’s mouth twitched.

  Not apologetic. Not ashamed.

  Just stubborn.

  “You wouldn’t understand,” she replied.

  Vespera’s claws curled.

  “That’s because you never try to make me understand,” she snapped. “Everywhere you go, you bring destruction. Chaos. Consequences.”

  Her wings flared wider.

  “Even back in the Valley of Dragons, you were a handful. Queen Penny and her sister Kimpy nearly exiled you permanently because of your reckless behavior.”

  Ace folded her arms tighter.

  “So everything I do is a problem,” she said flatly.

  “What I did was to help my queen. To make her daughter stronger. To protect someone who needed it.”

  Vespera’s hands shifted fully into dragon claws.

  “You involved our younger sister Queen in this too?!” she demanded. “Unbelievable.”

  Her flames roared brighter.

  “I was sent to bring you back—and now I’m not sure you deserve to return.”

  She leaned forward in the air, voice sharpening.

  “Did you ever once stop to think about the consequences of your actions?!”

  Ace didn’t raise her voice.

  But her electricity slowly died down.

  “I don’t care what the Dragon Council thinks,” she said quietly. “I never did.”

  Her eyes softened.

  “All I care about… is you. And our other sisters.”

  That hit Vespera like a physical blow.

  Her flames flickered—then died completely.

  “…What do you mean?” she asked, smaller.

  Ace’s voice shook for the first time.

  “You think I didn’t try to come back?” she said. “I wanted to. I tried.”

  Her wings trembled.

  “But when I returned, I was treated like an outcast.”

  “No one spoke to me. No one looked at me. The younger dragons whispered. They laughed behind my back.”

  Her voice dropped.

  “That kind of isolation… it hurts more than any battle.”

  Vespera stared at her.

  Silent.

  Stunned.

  After a moment, she spoke again—quieter now.

  “I don’t know why… but I was sent to retrieve you,” she said. “I thought maybe… we could return together.”

  Ace shook her head slowly.

  “I want to take Derpy there first,” she admitted. “But I can’t drag him.”

  Her gaze dipped toward the castle—toward the wing Vaeloria controlled.

  “He carries dragon authority now through his calamity bond. If he doesn’t choose it… it won’t hold.”

  Vespera exhaled, bitter.

  “I tried to force him once,” she said. “The authority rejected me. Burned me.”

  She gave a humorless laugh.

  “I have to convince him willingly.”

  A beat.

  “And I’m bound to him through contract,” she added, cheeks warming despite herself. “Sealed with a kiss.”

  Ace snorted.

  “No wonder you lost,” she teased lightly.

  Despite herself, Vespera let out a short chuckle.

  The tension broke.

  Not fully.

  But enough.

  The two sisters slowly descended from the sky.

  They landed outside the castle and entered the elven mess hall.

  Inside, the warm glow of lanterns replaced the harsh light of battle.

  They sat together.

  Shared a meal.

  No longer enemies.

  Just sisters.

  For the first time in centuries.

  And for a few minutes—just a few—the world stopped trying to bite.

  Meanwhile—

  The throne room held its breath.

  Not because anyone was speaking yet.

  Because everyone could feel something was about to snap.

  Derpy sat beside Vaeloria’s throne—forced into the empty seat of her missing husband.

  His collar glowed faintly.

  Not painful.

  Just… present.

  A reminder that his body could be made to obey even when his mind refused.

  Vaeloria’s hand rested on his shoulder like a claim.

  Seraphine sat across from him at a tea table, fan resting lightly against her lips.

  Both queens watched each other like predators circling.

  Seraphine spoke first.

  “Let’s speak plainly,” she said softly. “We both know why I’m here.”

  Vaeloria smiled smoothly.

  “I cannot imagine.”

  Seraphine’s eyes narrowed.

  “My hospitality does not include kidnapping.”

  The word dropped like a blade.

  Vaeloria remained perfectly calm.

  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  Seraphine leaned forward.

  “Then explain why your empire’s dolls abducted a calamity bearer.”

  Vaeloria’s gaze flicked to Derpy.

  Then back.

  “That was not my order,” she said coolly. “The War Council requested his capture for military purposes.”

  Seraphine’s fan snapped shut.

  “And yet you hold him like a personal treasure.”

  Vaeloria’s fingers tightened on Derpy’s shoulder.

  “I keep him alive,” she said.

  Derpy’s jaw tightened.

  He tried to speak—

  “I’m not—”

  The collar pulsed.

  His throat locked.

  Silenced.

  A giggle cut through the tension.

  Hina leapt onto the table between the queens like a thrown knife that landed laughing.

  “This is boring!” she announced loudly.

  Both queens spoke at once.

  “Hina. Stop.”

  She ignored them.

  “I wanna go play!” she demanded, stomping like a spoiled child.

  The tension in the room warped—twisted—like reality itself didn’t like sharing space with her mood.

  Finally, Vaeloria lifted her staff.

  Pink ice petals formed and carried Hina off the table like a drifting, furious bouquet.

  Sir Reginal seized her by the collar and dragged her out.

  Hina laughed the entire time.

  “Have fun fighting over your cage boy!”

  The doors slammed.

  Silence returned.

  Seraphine’s eyes hardened.

  “Now,” she said quietly. “We continue.”

  Vaeloria’s smile thinned.

  “It was not my decision,” she repeated. “The War Council wanted his power.”

  Derpy sat motionless.

  But inside—

  Something darker whispered.

  Not Celica.

  Not Blight.

  Not even his sinister self.

  Something colder.

  Older.

  It promised control.

  It whispered about Riven.

  About the artifact in Seraphine’s hand—the old one, the one she’d taken back in Book 2 after Lyra Shadowbloom’s spell forced it out of Riven during the fight with Lady Theron, the Blue Knight.

  It whispered about leverage.

  About cages.

  Derpy’s bracelets shifted.

  Metal seams unfolded with a soft click.

  Two tiny dragon constructs formed beside him.

  One silver.

  One violet.

  Celica and Phantasm.

  Watching.

  Waiting.

  The storm had arrived.

  And this time—

  no one in that room would leave unchanged.