Chapter 145 Drakon's Past
Elara's POV
The coffin lid moved again. Something scraped inside.
"Get back!" Drakon shifted into dragon form, placing himself between me and the coffins.
"Your mother's been dead for three hundred years," I said, heart pounding. "What could possibly..."
The lid slid open completely.
A hand emerged. Pale. Withered. But moving.
Then a woman sat up. She looked ancient, barely more than bones covered in skin. But her eyes were alive. And familiar.
They were Drakon's eyes. Golden and fierce.
"Mother?" Drakon's voice came out strangled. He shifted human, stumbling forward. "How? You died. I watched you die."
The woman's mouth moved. No sound came out at first. Then, a whisper. "Not dead. Sleeping. Waiting."
"Waiting for what?" I asked, finding my voice.
"For the right time. When both coffins would be needed." Her eyes found me. "You must be the human queen. The one who finally succeeded where I failed."
"I don't understand. You've been alive in there for three hundred years?"
"Not alive. Not dead. Suspended." She tried to stand but collapsed. Drakon caught her. "Dragon magic. Your father placed it on me before he died. Said I had to wait. Had to wake when the time was right."
"Father knew?" Drakon's voice shook. "He knew you'd survive?"
"He knew many things. Saw the future sometimes." She touched Drakon's face with a skeletal hand. "My son. You've grown so much. And you found her. The one who'd help you finish our work."
"What work? You tried to unite humans and dragons. You died for it."
"We didn't die for unity. We died protecting something." She looked at the other coffin. "Your father isn't in there."
"What?" Drakon stared. "Then where..."
"Open it. You need to see."
Drakon hesitated, then opened his father's coffin.
Inside wasn't a body. It was a book. Ancient and glowing with magic.
"The Codex of Binding," his mother whispered. "The most powerful spell book ever created. It contains the original seaOling ritual. The one that first imprisoned the Void."
I gasped. "The archives that were destroyed..."
"Were copies. Incomplete copies." She coughed weakly. "This is the real thing. We hid it here. Knew someday the Void would return. Knew someone would need it."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Drakon demanded. "Why make me think you were dead?"
"Because you were a child. If you'd known, you would have tried to use the Codex and get yourself killed." Tears ran down her ancient face. "I'm sorry, my son. But it was the only way to keep you safe."
Drakon pulled her close, crying. "I missed you. Every day for three hundred years."
"I know. I heard you. Every time you visited. Every word you said." She looked at me. "And I'm glad you found love. Glad you're not alone anymore."
I knelt beside them, touching the Codex. "Can this seal the Void permanently?"
"Yes. But it requires a sacrifice." Her golden eyes met mine. "The spell needs a dragon and a human working together. Channeling all their power. All their life force."
My stomach dropped. "You mean..."
"You'd both die," she finished. "That's why your father and I never used it. We couldn't bear to leave you orphaned, Drakon."
"But you died anyway," Drakon said bitterly.
"We died fighting. Buying time. Hoping someone else would find another way." She touched the Codex. "But if there is no other way... this is here. Waiting."
"There has to be another option," I said. "We'll study the Codex. Find a variation that doesn't require death."
"We tried for years. Found nothing." She coughed again, weaker. "The Void is eternal. Only an eternal sacrifice can bind it."
"Then we keep looking," Drakon said firmly.
His mother smiled sadly. "You have your father's stubbornness. Good." Her breathing became labored. "The awakening spell is fading. I don't have much time left."
"No! Mother, stay!" Drakon gripped her hand.
"I was only meant to deliver the message. Give you the Codex." She looked at us both. "Promise me you'll do what's right. Even if it's hard. Even if it costs everything."
"I promise," we said together.
She smiled one last time. Then her eyes closed. Her body turned to dust in Drakon's arms, blowing away like ash.
He knelt there, crying, holding nothing.
I held him while he grieved. For the mother he'd lost twice. For the childhood stolen. For the burden placed on his shoulders.
When his tears finally stopped, he picked up the Codex.
"We study this," he said, voice raw. "Find another way. Because I'm not losing you to save the world."
"And I'm not losing you," I agreed.
We flew home as dawn broke. The festival was ending. People were going to bed happy.
They didn't know we'd just found the solution that could save everyone.
Or that using it would kill us both.
Back at the castle, we locked the Codex in our private chambers. Started reading.
The spells were complex. Ancient. Powerful beyond anything I'd seen.
"There has to be a loophole," I said, studying the pages. "Some way to modify it."
Drakon read over my shoulder. Then he stopped. "Elara. Look at this section."
I read where he pointed. My breath caught.
"The sacrifice must be willing," I read aloud. "Two souls bound by true love. But if another pair of bound souls offers themselves first..."
"It means we could use substitutes," Drakon finished.
Hope and horror mixed in my chest. "But who would we ask to die for us?"
Before Drakon could answer, someone knocked on our door.
We opened it to find Thorne and Faye. Her eyes were clear, Lily's magic was still holding.
"We need to talk," Faye said. "I heard everything through the Void Empress's connection before Lily blocked her out. About the Codex. About the sacrifice."
"How much did you hear?" I asked carefully.
"Enough to know what needs to happen." She took Thorne's hand. "And we're volunteering."
"What? No!" I stepped back. "Absolutely not!"
"Listen to me," Faye said urgently. "I'm already corrupted. The Void owns me. Lily can only hold her back for so long. Eventually, the Empress will take control again. She'll use me to destroy everything."
"We'll find a cure..."
"There is no cure. You know that." Tears filled her eyes. "But there's a way I can still help. A way my death means something instead of being the Empress's puppet."
Thorne squeezed her hand. "And I'm bound to her. We performed a soul binding ritual last week. Made it official. So we qualify for the sacrifice."
"You planned this," Drakon realized. "Before we even found the Codex."
"We prepared for it," Thorne corrected. "We knew something like this might be necessary. So we made ourselves ready."
I looked at my best friend. At Drakon's most loyal warrior. They were offering to die so we could live.
"I can't accept this," I whispered.
"You have to," Faye said. "Because you and Drakon have bigger things to do. Peace to maintain. Kingdoms to protect. A world to save." She smiled through tears. "Let us be heroes. Please."
The Codex glowed on the table behind us. Waiting. Patient.
And in my hand, I realized I was holding something else. A letter that had arrived while we were gone.
From King Aldric. My uncle.
With shaking hands, I opened it.
"Elara, our observers have been in your kingdom for two weeks now. They've sent preliminary reports. I need to discuss them with you immediately. Meet me at the border at dawn. Come alone. This concerns your mother's true identity and mine. There are things about the Moonstone bloodline even Helena doesn't know. Things that change everything about the Void, the Codex, and why our family was really hunted. The truth is worse than you imagine."
I looked up at Drakon, Faye, and Thorne. At the Codex glowing with death magic. At the impossible choices surrounding us.
And realized everything we thought we knew was about to shatter.
Again.