Rook stood motionless.
Calder's blade remained against Mara's neck.
Eli whispered,
"Rook."
The dragon didn't move.
Mara looked at her son.
"Listen to me."
Rook's eyes stayed locked on Calder.
"You don't have to prove anything."
Calder laughed.
"Look at him."
He pushed Mara forward.
"One word from me and he burns this entire place."
Mara shook her head.
"No."
Calder frowned.
"You taught him that?"
"I taught him love."
Rook's fire faded.
Calder hesitated.
That was when Eli moved.
He kicked the blade from Calder's hand.
Mara dropped.
Rook exploded forward.
Calder ran.
The dragon chased him through the chamber.
Eli helped Mara to her feet.
"Can you walk?"
Mara nodded.
Then she saw the symbol on the wall.
The same three curved lines.
Her face changed.
"Eli."
"What?"
"That symbol."
He looked at it.
"What about it?"
"It was on Rook's blanket."
"Where did the blanket come from?"
Mara shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then an old voice came from the shadows.
"You were never supposed to know."
A man stepped into the light.
He was wearing a long gray cloak.
Mara stared at him.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Father Orin."
Eli raised his knife.
Orin didn't move.
"I was there the night Rook was born."
Mara's heart stopped.
"What?"
Orin looked toward the dragon.
"Rook was not born by accident."
Mara stepped forward.
"What are you saying?"
"Your child was born during the Eclipse Moon."
"I know."
"No."
Orin shook his head.
"You don't."
He pointed toward Rook.
"He is the last of the Ember Dragons."
Mara stared.
"Ember Dragons?"
"Dragons that were once believed to protect human settlements."
Eli looked confused.
"Then why did everyone fear him?"
Orin's eyes darkened.
"Because the last Ember Dragon was blamed for a war."
Mara looked at Rook.
"What does that have to do with me?"
Orin answered quietly.
"The dragon needed a human mother."
Mara's face went pale.
"What?"
"An Ember Dragon cannot survive without a human bond."
Mara shook her head.
"So I was chosen?"
"No."
Orin paused.
"You were the only woman who could carry him."
Mara looked at Rook.
All those years.
The strange birth.
The symbol.
The silver eyes.
Everything suddenly connected.
"Who made this happen?"
Orin looked toward the mountains.
"The people who are coming."
Before Mara could ask another question, the tower shook.
A deep horn sounded outside.
Orin looked toward the door.
"They found him."
"Who?"
Orin's expression turned grim.
"The people who have been hunting Rook since the night he was born."
Rook returned to the chamber.
He looked at Mara.
She rushed into his arms.
He wrapped his wings around her.
For the first time in years, mother and son were together.
But outside the tower, hundreds of torches appeared across the mountain.
And someone shouted:
"Take the dragon alive."