Daughter.
The word hit me like a brick. Heavy and final.
No. That wasn't right. I wasn't..
I swallowed, breath shaky. My thoughts clawed for something solid to hold onto, but nothing came.
"What?" I whimpered but stopped.
Whose voice was that? What did you do to me?
No sword at my side. No armor digging into my shoulders. No Elias.
Just me. Just this body. These shaking hands and this voice that didn't sound like mine.
A chill slipped across my skin, and I flinched.
Wait.
I wasn't wearing anything.
I froze. My arms moved without thinking, pulling close across my chest.
Where are my clothes…?
Then it hit me.
Not the clothes. The body.
My fingers pressed against smooth skin. My sides. My waist. Too soft, too unfamiliar and too wrong.
It's just my body, I told myself. Just my body. That's all.
The words rang hollow.
She was still watching me...the tall one. The one who did this. Quiet. Calm. Waiting.
Waiting for what? For me to bow? Thank her?
I forced my lips to move. "What…" The word came out hoarse. "What did you..."
She hummed. Tilted her head like she hadn't even heard me.
"What shall I call you?"
I blinked. "What?"
Her golden eyes slid over me. Not soft or cruel. Just measuring, like I was some artifact she'd half-finished carving.
"You'll need a name," she said. "One that suits you."
A slow prickle worked its way down my spine.
No.
I already had one.
My jaw clenched. "My name is Elias."
She stared a second longer. Then exhaled, soft through her nose.
"No," she said. "That name is dead."
My stomach twisted.
Dead.
Just like everything else I was.
Her gaze deepened. When she spoke again, her voice was colder. Older.
"You are reborn. You will have a name that reflects what you are. What you will become."
She lifted her hand.
I felt it before she spoke. Something deep, something buried. It stirred when she called.
Magic. Or something worse.
And then the name came.
"Elyssinthar."
The sound of it cracked through me. It echoed inside my chest like it had always been there, just waiting to be spoken.
Something answered. A heat. A second heartbeat. Thudding low and slow, spreading through my limbs like frost catching fire.
I gasped.
Then I felt another.
Not mine.
The younger one. The one who'd been glaring at me since I shattered free.
Her presence slammed into mine. Sharp. Cold. Controlled.
I pulled back. My own pulse shrank in comparison. Weak. Barely there.
But then I felt the tall one's presence.
Sythriss.
My magic brushed against hers and everything stopped.
She wasn't a storm. She was the glacier behind it. Endless. Crushing. Absolute.
I couldn't breathe.
I flinched, and she laughed—low, pleased. "Ah. You feel it, don't you?"
I swallowed hard. Couldn't speak.
"You are small. Young. Weak," she said, voice like ice cracking. "But you are mine now. A dragon."
She smiled. Too perfect. Too white. Like her teeth were meant to tear through things that screamed.
"I am Sythriss. The Ice Empress. The strongest of our kind and you, my daughter, are now a member of my flight."
The younger one stiffened beside her. Her scowl deepened.
Sythriss didn't even look at her. Or maybe she didn't care.
"This is Vaelith," she added. "Your sister."
Vaelith didn't answer. Didn't acknowledge it. Just glared harder, like even hearing the word sister burned her throat.
Sythriss turned back to me.
"Among those beneath you," she said, "you will be called Elyssia."
I blinked.
Elyssia.
The name didn't feel right. But it didn't feel wrong either.
She studied me, gaze sharp. "A dragon's true name is never given lightly. It binds. Do not speak it freely. And never let another speak it with power over you."
Gods, no.
A name like that was more than a name. It was a chain.
Before I could respond, Vaelith let out a bitter laugh.
"It's a wasted name," she muttered. "She shouldn't even exist."
Not he. Not it.
She.
I flinched. My hands curled tight at my sides.
Sythriss turned toward her. The air thickened, dense and sharp. Vaelith straightened but didn't flinch.
"You doubt me?" Sythriss asked.
Anyone else might have thought it was a question. It wasn't. Her presence pressed down on both of us like stone on snow.
There was no challenge. Just reminder.
Vaelith said nothing.
Sythriss let the silence drag. Then, finally, she gave a soft exhale. "She will learn."
Her gaze returned to me.
"You are weak now," she said. "That will change."
My stomach turned.
She stepped closer. Slow. Controlled.
"Your instincts will surface soon," she said. "You will crave strength. Crave flesh. Crave power."
Flesh.
The word stirred something low in my gut. Heat. Not hunger. Not yet.
But the way she said it, like a promise—
I shook my head. "I don't—"
"You will."
It wasn't threat or warning. Just truth.
Vaelith exhaled hard. "If she's even capable."
Sythriss flicked her fingers at her.
"Go. Hunt."
Vaelith stared. "You cannot be serious."
Sythriss didn't respond. Her presence flared.
Vaelith's lips pulled tight. Then she turned and walked away.
The air shifted as she left. Lighter. But not by much.
Sythriss faced me again.
"You will eat," she said.
I didn't move.
Learn what? What does that mean?
She studied me, then finally stepped back. Her presence didn't fade. It settled over me like snow that wouldn't melt.
"You will eat," she said again, gaze drifting toward the far wall. "Then you will learn."
My throat tightened. "What… what happens after?"
She hummed.
"When you are able… you may leave."
I blinked. "Leave?"
She gestured upward.
I followed her hand.
I hadn't noticed before—how tall the chamber was. How smooth the walls were. Ice, clean and clear, too thick to break.
But above me, carved in jagged edges, was an opening.
The sky.
A way out.
I swallowed. "And if I can't?"
She didn't hesitate. "Then you will remain."
The words hit harder than they should have.
She doesn't care if I leave. Only that I'm strong enough to try.
I stared at the ground. My fingers curled against the frost. It bit back.
She gave me one last look. "Someone will tend to you after your meal," she said. "Your training begins soon."
Training. For what? To become like her?
The questions tangled. But I didn't ask.
Then she shifted.
Not turned. Not moved.
Shifted.
Mist curled around her. Her skin rippled, bones stretching, limbs warping. The glow of her eyes never left mine.
Then she was gone.
In her place stood the truth.
A dragon.
Tall and coiled and massive. Wings of jagged ice. Scales like frozen steel. The chamber bowed beneath her weight.
She looked up once. And then she leapt.
Her wings tore the air as she vanished through the opening above, frost trailing in her wake.
Silence returned.
The cold stayed.
And I was alone.