The lights were brighter now, and growing in number. They stopped rising about chest level, until it looked as if the clearing was covered in a sea of them. I reached out and touched one and felt— thank you thank you thank you for keeping us safe
—something pulse just underneath my fingertips. It was benevolent and sweet, and I was shocked that it was directed toward me.
“What are these?” I asked.
“The hopes of your people,” the Star Dragon said simply.
“I don’t understand.”
“Heroes often don’t,” he said. “And that’s why you are one.”
I looked away from it. “I don’t feel very much like a hero right now.”
“And why is that?”
“I…. Surely you saw what I’m capable of. What I did. What I could have done.”
“The Darks.”
“Yes.”
“Your cornerstone.”
“Yes.”
“And the darkness within yourself.”
“Yes.”
The Star Dragon sighed. “It was always going to come down to this, Sam. No matter what way you spin this, it was always going to be you or them.”
“So I still didn’t have a choice,” I said bitterly, staring down at Myrin still trapped beneath the Star Dragon. His mouth was open in a silent scream.
“You did,” the Star Dragon said. “You could have disregarded all of this. Ignored your destiny. Ignored your dragons. Allowed Verania to fall into shadow.”
“Which it did.”
“But not because of you,” he said lightly. “Sam, you did what was asked of you. In the end, even after everything you’d been through, after losing people you love, you still accepted your destiny.”
I shook my head furiously. “I was running. Like always. I was angry and scared, and I ran.”
“And you came back. You came back to face those you’d left behind. You became the wizard you were always supposed to be.”
“I don’t understand. That’s not choice. That’s—”
“You were given a choice,” the Star Dragon said. “Unlimited power. You stood at the edge of a cliff. And yet you didn’t jump. I think your cornerstone had a little to do with that.”
I glanced at Ryan, who stood stock-still, eyeing the Star Dragon. “Uh,” he said.
I snorted. “Eloquent as always.”
“It’s a god,” he hissed at me. “What the hell am I supposed to say? You know what? No. I don’t need you to tell me. I got this.” He squared his shoulders as he stared up at the Star Dragon. “Hi. Hello. Uh. God. Sir. Star Dragon. Or whatever you are. My name is Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart. And you are very big. And made of stars.”
The Star Dragon squinted down at him. “Is he always like this?”
“He doesn’t do well with authority figures,” I said, patting Ryan on the arm. “He called Mama the Queen of the Fuck Palace when he met her for the first time.”
Ryan moaned. “Why would you tell a god that? He could smite us where we stand!”
“I could,” he said. “But that sounds like too much work.”
“Eep,” Ryan said.
“Why didn’t you take it?” the Star Dragon asked me. “You could have easily consumed Myrin’s magic and taken it for your own. What stopped you?”
I looked at the lights surrounding us. “I… I heard Ryan’s voice. And the promise he made to me once.”
“About what he wished for.”
“Yes.”
“And that pulled you back. From the Dark.”
“He tends to do that.”
“Even after you killed him. I must admit, even we didn’t see that one coming.”
“What can I say? Had to fulfill the prophecy somehow.”
“It kind of sucked,” Ryan said, before slapping a hand over his mouth.
I rolled my eyes.
The Star Dragon shifted his wings. “The Great White doesn’t believe in cornerstones.”
I felt the white light in my head mutter irritably.
“No,” I said slowly. “He doesn’t.”
“But even under his tutelage, you still had faith in the Knight Commander.”
“Always.”
“And that was your choice.”
I frowned. “What does that have to do—”
“It has always been about choice, Sam. You may not have thought so, but it has. You chose to go with Morgan that day in the alley. You chose to become his pupil. You chose to bring Gary and Tiggy back with you unexpectedly. You chose to rescue the Prince, to find a dragon and make him part of your family. You chose to rise up when a prophecy was placed upon your shoulders. You chose to gather the dragons of Verania. You chose to walk away from the Great White, only to choose to return to him. And in the end, you chose to ignore the magic within you and to listen to your cornerstone, to your lightning-struck heart, and let go of the shadows and the darkness that threatened to rise within you. And the others, your friends and family, your mentor and your King, chose to put their faith in you. This was never about a path set in stone, Sam. Because—”
“Stone crumbles,” I whispered.
“It does,” the Star Dragon said. “All of these choices, from the very beginning, led to this moment. You are as you are now because of them. Because of the people you surround yourself with. Because of the strength that has always resided within you.” He nodded toward the lights that swirled around us. “And the people of Verania have made their choices too. Many of them turned away from you. They berated you. They shunned you. They arguably fought against you. But people often fear what they don’t understand, and Sam, they were scared. But even now, they’re wishing upon the stars for your safe return to them. You are all such complex creatures, capable of the brightest of lights and the darkest of nights. Your Prince said that hope is a weapon. And what you see before you are your people taking up arms in your name. In the name of hope. In the name of Sam of Dragons.”
I stared at the lights in wonder. “I don’t—how can I deserve this?”
The Star Dragon smiled. “No one has ever deserved it more. You may not believe it, but that’s okay. Because they believe it for you. As do I.”
I hung my head. Ryan was there, pressed up against me, whispering words of faith and love in my ear, telling me how proud he was, that no matter what happened, his wish had always been me, and if he had to do it all over again, he’d wish for the same.
“I’m angry,” I admitted. “For what was taken from me.”
“You’re human,” the Star Dragon said. “You’re allowed to be.” He hesitated. Then, “But….”
“But?”
“There is magic everywhere, Sam.”
“I know. Morgan taught me that.”
“And Myrin forgot it. He took something that didn’t belong to him.”
My eyes burned. “And I don’t know that I can ever forgive him for that.”
“Do you remember what you wished for? In the desert?”
Make me mortal. When all is said and done. I will protect my King, this one and the next. I will protect my kingdom. I will do all that you ask, but I want a mortal life for my happy ending. This is my wish.
“Yes.”
“And you did that on your own.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that. I guess I couldn’t wait.”
The Star Dragon chuckled. “If you could have one wish, what would it be?”
My head snapped up. My breath hitched in my chest. “Truly?”
The Star Dragon nodded. “Not all those who are lost are gone forever. Especially when a piece of them remains.”
“Sam?” Ryan asked. “What is he talking about?”
“And him?” I said, nodding at Myrin. “What will become of him?”
The Star Dragon looked down. “For another story to begin, there must first be an ending. I think it’s time for Myrin to end, don’t you?”
He lifted the Dark wizard off the ground. Myrin didn’t struggle. His limbs hung loose between claws made of stars.
The Star Dragon tilted his head back…
…and swallowed Myrin whole.
Ryan gave a shout of surprise as we watched Myrin slide down the Star Dragon’s translucent throat, his singed hair floating around him. When he reached the dragon’s belly, the stars began to shift, alighting on his skin and covering him completely. At the last moment, awareness seeped in and I swore Myrin looked… relieved.
And then he burst brightly.
I shielded my eyes as the clearing lit up around us.
Eventually, it faded.