Page 122 of Mantle

Cornelius stood beside the holoscreen, his arms folded, as we all started to look on.

And Ariana and I were by the other side of the couch.

I tensed, my hand involuntarily tightening in Ariana’s, as I took in what was happening.

Destruction reigned.

Battle raged.

Revolution surged like a violent tidal wave of determination.

Half Titanus Castle was in ruins.

The immediate area had been razed by dragon fire.

House Titanus was falling.

There were ice dragons in full beast form clashing in the air with House Titanus enforcers—those still loyal to my parents. But the ice dragons of House Vortimer were completely trouncing them, working in impressive formation to surround and then fell them.

Off to the side, there were dozens of dragons in human form, many of whom I recognized as being of House Titanus, but they were being helped by Elyrren Vortimer—those who’d been forced under my parents’ thumb, those who’d become their victims.

And then my breath caught in my throat at what I witnessed next.

I couldn’t actually believe what I was seeing as I saw two House Vortimer dragons dragging my parents along in chains toward Draven who’d just shifted back into human form, his long hair flapping wildly in the wind and from so many dragon wings moving nearby and thereby shifting the air.

He stood looming over them in the next moment.

As he spoke and they sneered at him, earning rough tugs to their leashes from those dragons holding them, I couldn’t hear what was being said.

Inter-Realm holoscreens had their limits, especially when Cornelius was cloaking the fact that it was being used at all to avoid political fallout.

But I watched as Draven had them taken way in chains and leashes, teleporting to House Vortimer to be detained, no doubt.

He watched them go, intensity rolling over him, as he stood in the wreckage of one part of the castle, covered in the blood of his enemies.

With a jolt, he swung his head toward the entrance, and then he was bolting forward, obscuring my vision of somebody coming out of the place.

When he turned back around, he was holding a baby boy, cradling him carefully.

I choked.

I knew without it needing to be stated.

It was him.

Torvek Titanus.

My baby brother.

“Holy damn, he’s already been born,” Nyx exclaimed.

Cornelius nodded. “Yes. Dragon pregnancies typically span two years—but when Celestial blood is involved, the timeline becomes unpredictable. Some gestate in half that time, others… even sooner.”

I kept my eyes on the screen as a familiar dragon form soared toward Draven.

She eclipsed Draven’s draconic form in breadth and length. Where his scales shimmered in sapphire blues, hers were alabaster overlaid with frost. Her wings were pattered like shattered ice, and every beat of them brought snow squalls and thunder. Her eyes flowed a blinding silver.

It was Elyrren Vortimer in all her draconic glory—graceful, terrifying, commanding.

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