XXXVIII

The Prophecy

My mother and I came home late last night, skipped dinner. We didn't even get the chance to snack because of how tired we were. After the talk my mother gave me, we went dragon riding. The stars were so beautiful that night, and I felt so powerful that night on the back of Kígyó that I felt like I could touch them if I wanted. So I decided that I was going to do it again. Dragon riding. I was a rider after all and I was born for it, it was in my veins like it was in my ancestors before me. Jaejin was asleep by the time I went to our bed, I slept on the couch in my room with him, it felt wrong to try to sleep by his side. I didn't sleep long, the sun was barely coming up when I awoke. I was changing into warmer clothing and my fur coat. I was going to the Peak today. I looked back at Jaejin when I got to the door, mesmerized by the way he didn't have to try so hard to be handsome. I open the door and close it behind me, taking a walk down the hallway then out the back door to the stables. I whistle lowly and I hear Kígyó make a low grumble. She's probably mad that I am waking her so early and not giving her the chance to let her sleep from our ride last night. 

"Oh, Kígyó, are you complaining?" I tease her as I open her stall door. I grab her saddle, and saddle her up. I walk her out of the stables and into the plains behind the castle. I get onto her back, and get myself situated. Then I am commanding her to fly and up we get into the sky, taking me about an hour and a half. As we fly through the sky, I make sure the book I had grabbed is safely in the saddle compartment, which thankfully it is. I think my father might kill me for losing the book since  it is everything about the Kardos family, along with the fire spells I could possibly try on the Peak.

As we literally fly the time away, I am landing in the winter of the Peak. Most of the inhabitants on the mountain are asleep which I was okay with. I didn't want extra eyes watching me while I practiced with the fire that was in my blood. The Kardos book is very intimidating, but it doesn't help due to my upbringing I had more of a pusillanimous nature. I do have Kígyó lay down in the snow as I prop the book up against a rock. I open the book to some known fire spells that us Kardos pyromatics are good at. I think of heat, flames, fire, the colors of red, orange, yellow, and even black from the small smoke that will come off my flames. The flames start at my fingertips, then go up my elbows, and then the fire starts at my boots, climbing up my legs like it's desperate to meet the fire that is on my upper body. It caresses my thighs as it inches up my body, and the fire cascades to my shoulders, to my chest. It never goes above my neck, but I am okay with that, the heir can keep that tidbit.

'You are doing good, my rider.' My dragon tells me inside my brain and I look at her, smiling. She has both of her arms crossed over each other as she intently watches me. I think of that anger again, the hatred  I hold for the one and only Minjun Cha. He's brought my family pain, he's brought terror to the people of Silver Air, and brought it to the land of Red Blaze. Then I conjure the feelings of protection, that it is one of my duties as a Prince to protect the land along with the people of Red Blaze. They did nothing wrong, it was the leaders who couldn't put their pride aside or hatred aside to think of the people. Before I was a Prince, or when I didn't know that I was a Prince, I was one of those people. I wasn't going to follow Hyunshik's footsteps for General, I was going to be a part of the common population. I couldn't stand to be in that Castle, since I thought that Jaejin would never feel the same for me. Things were way different now. So I conjured that forcefield that was made out of flames and I didn't have the time to react. The heat of it doesn't seem to bother me and it's comforting at the same time. The heat reminds me of sitting in front of a fireplace at the castle in Black Soul.

The more I hold the forcefield up, the more I can feel the fire fighting to stay alive. I am not my father's heir and I sure as hell didn't do the whole reborn by flames Kardos heir thing. I extinguish the forcefield and my full-body flames. I look down the list of the fire spells in the book, smiling when I find the one I want to try out. I chant the draconei for it, and I feel the power from my wrist come at tenfold. I watch the fire erupt from the palm of my hand and into the snow of the Peak. It's warm when it comes from my palm and my skin around the opening doesn't hurt or seem to burn my skin at all. I close my palm and the fire spewing out of it, stops. I grab the book in my hands, going through the yellow pages. The book itself is almost 1,025 years old, but you can tell the maester of my father's court takes good care of it. There's no rips but it has wrinkles. I'm surprised they haven't moved the text over before it becomes too late.

'I am guessing your father did not tell you anything about Gedeon?' I ask my dragon and she looks at me, tilting her head.

'Some. Not much. Just that he was the dragon to start it all, to start our relationship with the Kardos family, and how dangerous he was.' She tells me and then shakes her head as if there's a bug near her gigantic head. I only shake my head in response and look down at my own hands. I was Pluto Zorán Kardos, third child to King Lucijan Kardos, and Queen Astraea Kallis-Kardos. I was a Prince, and it was time that I started acting like it. What happened in the past was the past and there wasn't anything I could do to change it. My great-grandfather started it when he tore the spine out of my great-aunt, even though he knew of the consequences when you piss off a Cha. He deserved it. The heartbreak alone that Elena went through was heartbreaking, I couldn't imagine holding Orion or Nova's lifeless body in my arms then going to kill who I thought was my parent. Nobody was going to touch my siblings, not while I was here. Nobody was going to tell me if I could sit on the throne with my mate or not, I don't care if the man helped raise me or the fact that he's my in-law. Minjun Cha was done taking control of lives, and I will be damned if he thinks he's going to scare me away as well.

I stand in front of my dragon, looking at the large ball of ice in front of us. I twist my head side to side, cracking the tension away in my neck and rolling my shoulders to get that same tension out of my system. I take a deep breath, blowing it out in an exhale, and bringing my hand up in front of me. I don't even utter the words out loud, I blast fire from my palm again but this time, it's not red, it's not the fire I am used to. Or what everyone is used to seeing. This fire that bursts from me is green, and yellow. The base of the fire is a dark green and at the tips is a very light green, almost yellow. Acid fire. Holy shit. With my emotions so closely intertwined with my fire, the acid fire decides it wants to engulf me in it. It doesn't take long for it to cover my entire body, from my boots to the base of my neck. I turn around to look at my dragon but it's not just her, I'm afraid. It's my family plus Jaejin. Even Zsoka is staring at me. Nobody says anything, not for a full two minutes. I lift my arms up and twist them, amazed with the green fire that doesn't hurt my body even a little bit.

"So we are going to speak about Pluto having both powers now?" Nova is the first one to speak up and Orion is the first one to punch her in the shoulder. Jaejin is the first one to try to come up to me but I hold my hand up.

"Don't. You may be acid-proof, but you aren't fire-proof." I tell him and he chuckles, nodding. He just looks at me and seems to me mesmerized like I am from the flames coming out of me. So my mate goes up to my dragon and just leans his body against her side. She doesn't seem to mind which surprises me if I was being totally honest. I watch the fire from my body vanish into smoke and I look down at my hands, wondering why the hell gods gave me the ability to wield acid with my fire. I guess it didn't change anything or change the fact that if I had to, I would tear Minjun Cha's spine out. He was done hurting the people of Eclia and I was done playing his victim. So I watched my mate stride towards me and I welcomed him with open arms. My family seemed to walk away at that moment, knowing we needed the space. We needed to set things right, not keep arguing about it, we needed to be honest and I was done trying to run away from my destiny.

"You weren't in bed this morning and nobody knew where you went. Your father nearly lost it." Jaejin explains to me and I frown, I didn't even think what kind of impact that would have on my father.

"I'll apologize to him later, right now, you and I need to talk." I tell him and he nods, but he doesn't let go of me as if I would let him let go of me right now. I've missed him and right now, the warmth of his toned body against mine, fills me with a warmness that the fire doesn't.

"Is this about the other night? We don't need to-" He starts but I place a finger on his lips.

"Jaejin just listen to me, alright?" I laughed and he gave me that dazzling smile that still makes me weak in the knees.

"Okay, I'll listen, as long as you promise to not run away like that, not anymore. We got to do this together, that's what our mark stands for, does it not?" He asks me and I nod, it was. It is.

"It is. Jaejin, no matter what we do, our past is always going to be there. We can't hide from it and nobody will ever let us forget it but that's not us. I may not be the Pluto you remember but I am still very much the Pluto you fell in love with. I just finally embraced who I always was. I knew who you were and what your Kingdom was, I still love you. Will we always want to defend our Houses against each other? Of course, both of us are extremely loyal to the people we love. It's one of the many things that I love about you and something I never want you to change about yourself. This is our strand of our life together though, the couple they never thought would be together but they don't know about us, like we do. Let's get one thing straight though, that is your Crown and your Title. We will sit on that throne together, and that is a promise I intend to keep." I tell him and the soft smile on his face makes me smile at him. He cups my cheek and he leans down to kiss me on the lips. It still gives me that same spark, that same warmth of his lips and I never want to stop.

"Have I ever mentioned how much I love you, Pluto Kardos? The very reason my blood pumps through my heart, and you will be the reason we will make it through this. My little Pyro." He murmurs to me and he kisses me again on the mouth, long and passionate. Jaejin pulls away from me and he goes to greet Kígyó, but this time it's different. Jaejin reaches out and places his palm on her snout. Except this time, Jaejin is shouting in pain as the unimaginable happens. His right arm already has the mark of a red dragon from the inside of his palm to his elbow, but I see the second brand. I rush up to him, and there I see it on his right arm. Not only is it his healed black band of Seung but now there's a new brand. A red dragon's head right next to the black one on the inside of his palm, a thin red line that intertwines with the black line of Seung up to the elbow. I grab Jaejin's shoulders, looking at him. At that moment, my dragon seems to tilt her head at the new rider that bears her mark.

'Pluto, is this right?' She asks me but Jaejin looks taken aback. She can speak to both of us now.

"This can't be, there hasn't been a dual rider in.." I trail off but it's Nova who speaks up, who speaks the words that I was afraid of.

"It's the Gods way of blessing you two, and that you've fulfilled the prophecy. Congratulations, boys."