I was being fitted for my wedding gown when Rune’s mother came running into my bedchambers.

“Seraphine!” Lady Bromley gasped. “Where’s Rune?”

“I don’t know.” I stepped down from the pedestal my seamstresses had put me on and hurried over to her. “What’s wrong?”

“We must find him,” she said, “and your parents. The Dragon Queen is coming.”

“Meara?”

“I saw her in a vision this morning.” Lady Bromley grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door, scraps of silk falling away from me as the seamstresses hurried to catch them.

“Fetch my parents,” I said to my maid who’d been sitting on the rug playing with Magic.

“Yes, Your Highness.” She jumped up and ran off.

“Rune!” Lady Bromley was pulling me through the castle, screaming her son’s name.

Luckily, we didn’t have far to go. Rune was in the family library, just three doors down from my bedroom. He came out with a book still in hand.

“Mother? What’s happened?”

“It’s not what’s happened.” Lady Bromley grabbed her son’s hand. “It’s what’s going to happen.”

“And what’s that?” I asked.

“The two of you must unite to face her.” She joined my hand with Rune’s.

“Face who?” Rune asked as my parents came rushing up.

“Meara,” Lady Bromley said.

My mother gasped, and my father cursed.

“I knew we should have sent an army to Tassaros!” My father growled.

“Gather your army now, Your Majesty,” Lady Bromley said. “But they will only serve as a distraction. It’s our children who will defeat the dragon.”

“Our children?” My father looked at me with wide eyes. “No, not Seraphine. She will remain inside the castle with her mother, safe from harm. I will not have her in the path of that madwoman again.”

“Your Majesty, it’s the only way,” Lady Bromley started but she was cut off by the sound of shouting. “There’s no time,” she screamed above the ruckus. “Get to the tallest tower, Son!” She clasped Rune to her tightly, briefly, then pushed him away. “Go! And take your bride with you.”

“No!” my father shouted.

“Rune will protect me.” I kissed my father on the cheek, hugged my mother, then ran off with my husband. “This way.” I led him through the panicked people who were pouring out of castle rooms.

By the time we came out onto the open, crenelated tower roof, Meara was already circling the castle. Ebony scales, blacker than Magic’s fur, glinted in the dying light of day. Massive wings beat the air furiously, each slap cracking like thunder. She turned her sleek head and saw us… saw me. The sleek dragon dove, swooping up into an arch to circle back to the tower Rune and I stood upon. Her chest heaved, puffing out as she drew a deep breath, and I knew that fire would soon stream from her vicious jaws.

But below us, in the castle courtyard, my father’s knights had rallied and were casting javelins at Meara with the help of ballistae. Like giant bows, the ballistae sent the javelins shooting through the sky at our enemy. One of the massive spears glanced off Meara’s shoulder and sent her shrieking into a tumble.

“Together.” Rune squeezed my hand. “Mother said we must face Meara together. Add your magic to mine, Seraphine.”

“I have barely any magic to speak of!” My eyes widened in fear and anxiety. “How can I add it to yours?”

Meara roared, men shouted, and more spears shot through the sky. I knew we had mere minutes before Meara would cast her deadly attention back onto us.

“You don’t need a lot of magic,” Rune assured me. “Just join it with mine; strengthen me with your power.”

“How?”

“Will,” he said. “Will it to me.”

I squeezed his hand tightly and closed my eyes. Internally, I begged the power I had—that little spark I’d stolen from the very spell which had held me hostage—into Rune. When I opened my eyes, he was still staring at me expectantly.

“Try harder, my angel.” Rune’s voice was calm, but I could tell he was on the verge of panic.

“I’m trying!” I shouted.

I pushed mentally. I begged. I whined. I ground my teeth and commanded. Nothing happened.

Then I saw his face. His gaze was set behind me, eyes wide with terror, and his lips were parting on a warning which would come too late. I saw the reflection in his glassy stare: a sinuous creature rearing up with spear-like claws outstretched. I was about to scream when Rune pushed me out of the way.

Meara’s talons closed over Rune, lifting him and sweeping him off the tower. I screamed and surged to my feet. She flew upward, angling toward the twilight sky. Rune dangled from her grasp, legs flailing as his hands filled with fire. Fire against a dragon? It was hopeless; my husband was about to die.

Then I saw Rune’s flames burst upward, just as Meara angled her head toward him and breathed a stream of fire. Fire met fire and burst apart. Meara roared and circled back, tossing her prize from one claw to another. Rune kicked at her and flung magic at her belly, but nothing seemed to cause the Dragon Queen any damage.

I screamed, and the men below shouted, but all of us were powerless to do anything. The knights couldn’t shoot their javelins without risking Rune, and I had nothing at all to shoot. I heard my parents crying out to me, but I couldn’t do what they wanted. I couldn’t run and leave Rune to his fate.

Meara veered and headed back to me. I was the prize she was after. Rune was just a distraction. The thought angered me and frustrated me. All of my life, I’d felt powerless, weak. I was tired of it. Oh, how I wished I could be a warrior. I wished I had the power I had in my dreams, where I could make anything happen. Where the world was mine to mold. If I had that power here, I would create another dragon out of the very clouds which filled the sky. A beast of mist and magic that was indestructible, one to send Meara screeching away in terror…

I gaped down at my brightly glowing hands and then up at the sky. Clouds were gathering, pulling together into the form of a dragon. The knights below had gone quiet, and even Rune had stilled within Meara’s talons. The Dragon Queen herself hadn’t noticed and continued on a course straight for me.

“Seraphine!” Rune shouted, stretching out his hand to me. “You still need the spark of life; I can give you that!”

I had no idea what he meant, but I trusted him. I believed in Rune, and I believed in us. I knew that everything his mother had said was true. Together, we could defeat the Dragon Queen.

I stood quietly, calmly, waiting for the right moment. Then, just as Meara neared the tower, just as she angled up and breathed in deeply, I jumped.

Rune caught my hand, just as I knew he would, and that spark united us. I felt his magic shoot through me, electrifying my whole body. I roared with the power of our spell combined with my emotions… my will.

I set the magic free.

Another roar echoed mine, this one far more powerful. Meara let go of Rune, dropping both of us, and the crowd below screamed. But my dragon built of dreams, clouds, and my very will caught us. Rune and I fell into solid arms. The fluffy dragon nuzzled its head over us, protecting us just as Meara screeched and blew fire our way. The fire steamed into nothing, and my dream dragon set us down gently on the top of our tower.

Then he launched himself at Meara.

Nothing she did could hurt my dragon. Rune and I watched, holding hands and smiling as our magic defeated the Dragon Queen. Below us, the people of Hannaleigh cried in joy. His claws may not have been as sharp as hers, but his blustery strength was indomitable. He sent Meara tumbling over and over. He broke her bones with his powerful blows, wounding her enough that she began to bleed from her mouth. Finally, Meara conceded defeat and went whimpering back to Tassaros.

My dream dragon circled the tower as I felt the magic start to fade.

“Let go of him now, my angel,” Rune whispered.

“No.” I frowned. “I can’t let him die after what he just did for us.”

“He is you,” Rune said gently. “He is the both of us together. Look, my love.”

The dragon’s eyes flashed, first green like Rune’s eyes, and then gray like mine. Then, that rascal winked at me.

“He’ll be waiting right there”—Rune waved to the night sky—“among the stars. If we need him again, our cloud dragon will appear and defend us.”

“Puff,” I said.

“What’s that?”

“His name.” I smiled as I released my magic dragon. “His name is Puff.”

Puff faded into the clouds of the Kingdom of Hannaleigh, smiling and rolling playfully as he went. Thunder rumbled—a joyous sound—and the clouds rolled out to the sea.