Epilogue

Bolts of lightning snaked out from the scepter and scorched the entire dragon skeleton. The energy of the almighty power had given a life to the dormant, ancient bones. It was the undying existence of Father Dragon. The ashes were his flesh, burnt and crystallized.

Thorn felt his dragon spirit quiver and heart grow empowered. He looked down at Leila. Her skin was glistened with a creamy glow, like a pearl, as she held the scepter like a goddess. He sensed that she was different; a more powerful being was connected to her soul.

Then, the dragon eggs were lit up one by one. Soon, they illuminated the entire room.

Olcan withdrew to the back of the room and tried to get away, but he was spotted by Thorn.

The dragon scooped him up with his claws, then smashed him onto the ground, flashing his teeth and ready to bite off Olcan's head.

Ben suddenly appeared behind them. He walked forward, restraining the urge to shift into a wolf. He moved past Leila to reach Thorn. His skin tickled from the soft brushing of the silver moonlight.

“Please, don’t kill him,” Ben begged, trying to save his father from his own master.

Thorn glanced back. His face softened, and his violent attitude dissipated. He shifted back. “Ben... I have to do what needs to be done,” he said, with obvious obvious guilt on his face.

Olcan shifted back, then turned away from Ben. He had lost the spirit to fight.

“But he already lost! Mother Dragon was healed by Ula. Eros was also saved. Rina is holding the baby. Everyone is fine!” Ben exclaimed as tears welled in his eyes, “What difference does it make? Does he have to die?”

Thorn didn’t know how to respond to him for a moment. Ben was like his little brother. And soon, they would say farewell to each other, as he needed to take his rightful place as wolf king up North. It was the first time Ben had begged him to do anything.

“But he's made terrible mistakes,” Thorn finally said, doing his best to remove the edge from his voice, “When a man makes a mistake, he needs to accept the consequences."

Ben looked from Thorn to Olcan. He couldn’t bring himself to recognize their relationship by blood. He didn’t know this stranger, even though he was his birth father. A sense of unfamiliarity loomed between them.

Olcan was too embarrassed to face Ben. But when he did finally lift his gaze to the boy, something changed inside him. He realized what a big loss it was to be absent from Ben’s life.

Olcan simply gave him a ring off his finger. “Take care of the kingdom for me. I hope you know I've always loved you,” he said. Then, he jumped into the dragon eggs and electrified himself.

The dragon eggs started to crackle one by one. However, there weren’t any tangible creatures inside the shells. Only sparkling dust was released into the air, as if millions of golden fireflies were flying upwards towards the entrance of the deep well.

Thorn shifted into the black dragon and took Leila and Ben on his back, flying along with the enchanting flow.

It was great to be back to the sky. Thorn roared across the night canvas. He turned his head towards the ground.

Mother Dragon and Ula were sitting beside the river bank. They had both turned into gorgeous women.

Leila glided down from Thorn’s back and walked towards them.

“I will rebuild the Stormy Clan.” Mother Dragon said to Leila while holding out her hand. Her golden hair shone and dripped on the ground, she was tall and exceptionally beautiful. “I know you can do it.” She looked at the glowing channel of golden dust. “They are the spirits of the dragon race. Each of them is on its way to find its owner.” Then, she withdrew her gaze back to Leila, caressing her face softly. “I was too devastated when Father Dragon was murdered. I shouldn’t have take the whole race down with me. But I just couldn’t...”

“You did nothing wrong.” Leila put a handful of glistening ashes from the well in Mother Dragon’s palm, “These are for you.”

Mother Dragon teared up. She hugged Leila and kissed her cheek. “Do what you must now, and I’ll be here waiting for you. We have so much to talk about,” she said, while brushing her warm thumb across Leila’s forehead.

“May I ask… what does the word ‘Slathar’ mean?” Leila said inquisitively.

Mother Dragon smiled. “Slathar is the name for lightning, the gift bestowed from the sky, in an ancient dragon tongue. You are meant to be the queen of the dragon realm. All of the dragon spirits were calling out to you.”

Leila felt a slight heat on her forehead. She touched it. A golden symbol, depicting dragon wings, had appeared. She had officially been marked by Thorn.

Thorn nodded to Mother Dragon as a gesture of gratitude.

Leila walked to Rina and took the baby in her arms. It was a girl, with a pair of lilac eyes just like her.

“Thank you for taking care of her,” Leila said.

Rina curtseyed to Leila and blushed.

Then, Leila mounted Thorn, and they flew back into the sky.

Among all the golden dust, two of the shiniest flecks landed on Leila and the baby.

With bright smiles, they both shifted into beautiful white dragons and flew alongside Thorn back to King’s Harbor.