Page 34 of Waking Her Dragon

“What are you doing?” Leviathan hissed, his voice losing its smooth veneer. For the first time since their nightmare began, the Demon Lord was completely behind the play.

Deeper in the spiritual plane, Aodhan and Kara began to align perfectly. The cosmic geometry of Dragon King and Queen locked into place, humming a note that resonated through the fabric of The Abyss.

Garrett felt Sydney’s Magic approach. It didn't slam into his mind like Leviathan’s invasive, agonizing probes. It didn't tear at his defenses or demand compliance. Her raw, magnificent Light gathered at the edge of his consciousness, hovering like a warm, patient sun. She was completely capable of forcing her way inside, but she didn’t. She waited.

It was a profound, staggering revelation. Everything Leviathan had ever done to him was built on violation, theft, and absolute force. Sydney, with all the Power of the universe at her fingertips, stood at the threshold of his soul and waited for an invitation.

Garrett didn't hesitate. He opened his mind completely. “Yes,” he whispered through the quickening bond.

She crossed the threshold of his soul as naturally as taking his hand.

He expected blinding Light. He expected unbearable Power. Instead... There was warmth, compassion, laughter, coffee, books, and Texas sunshine.

He couldn’t forget those ridiculous blue tennis shoes or the scent of vanilla that would always be her scent. Or the Hope that shone brightly from her pure heart and soul. Sydney was home.

For one impossible heartbeat, he understood something words couldn't explain. Sydney hadn't entered his mind to search it. She had entered... to stand beside him.

The initial impact of their combined Magic and completing another step of the Mating Bond hit with the force of a collapsing mountain.

Garrett choked on a breath as Han’s raw, ancient Power violently collided with Sydney’s Light. It hurt. The connection burned through his fractured nervous system, making his vision flash white. But beneath the pain, the intention was pure. Garrett and Sydney were the almost immortal anchors for these titanic forces, their hearts providing the deliberate, unshakable focus the elemental entities required.

Aodhan unleashed a torrent of blinding, white, and glittering gray Dragonfire that roared through Garrett’s veins. From the edge of the threshold, Drakara answered, pouring an ocean of molten, golden Dragon Queen fire into the mix. Where the two primordial elements met, they didn’t fight. They seamlessly braided together, a localized sun born in the dead center of The Abyss.

The entire cavern went berserk.

The thin white and gold veins spiderwebbing across the black stone suddenly seized. Violently shuddering, they stalled and then began running in reverse. The stolen power Leviathan had siphoned into the chamber was being forcefully vacuumed back toward the center of the room.

On the far wall, the second carved black serpent sigil binding the door groaned under the sudden, massive pressure. A deep, jagged web of cracks fractured right through the snake's head, dust pouring from the stone. Deeper in the shadows, the primeval waters erupted into a chaotic, deafening roar, waves smashing violently against the subterranean cliffs as the physics of the room completely folded in on themselves.

Leviathan lunged forward against Carrick's faltering shield. His face twisted in outright fury. "Stop them! They are not unlocking the gate!"

The Demon Lord slammed a blade of obsidian iron against the crimson and gold barrier, his voice rising in rare panic. "They are reclaiming it!"

He was too late. A true King and Queen of the Dragon Realm were already issuing the new command. It wasn't an elaborate, multi-page incantation, but a primal, supreme code hummed directly into the fabric of Time and Space.

“Dragon King anchors,” Aodhan’s voice thundered through the spiritual plane.

“The Dragon Queen commands,” Kara answered, her golden fire flaring to the ceiling.

Fate binds. The door closes. As the Magic shifted, Garrett suddenly realized the true brilliance of Sydney’s design. She wasn’t trying to break his physical chains yet. She wasn’t trying to pull him out of the circle, which would have triggered Leviathan's tripwire. Instead, she was driving her golden fire like a wedge directly between Aodhan and the unholy, artificial tether Leviathan had forged.

She was systematically replacing the corrupted trap with a natural, blessed Dragon seal.

With a deafening CRACK, the stone door deeper in the cavern ground to a permanent halt. The glowing sigils on the walls snapped off, plunging the outer edges of the room into total darkness. The threshold was locked and sealed from the inside by the combined authority of the Dragon King and Queen. The threshold obeyed its rightful King and Queen.

Only when the door was completely, utterly safe did Sydney turn her blinding blue gaze toward the iron and silver links holding him up.

"Now," she gasped out, sweat slicing through the grime on her face. "Let's get you out of those chains."

Realizing his grand leverage was permanently gone, Leviathan’s calculation dissolved into raw, vicious malice. He couldn't overpower the combined weight of the Dragon King and Queen’s Magic directly, so he did what villains always do. He targeted the catalyst. He went for Sydney.

Dissolving into a streak of black mist, the Demon Lord bypassed the central altar to strike at her flank. Carrick intercepted him once, his crimson and gold Dragon aura flaring as he smashed his heavy fist into the shadow. But Leviathan didn't commit to the brawl. He fractured his presence, sending a jagged, toxic lance of Dark Magic arcing through the stone floor itself, utilizing the residual pathways of his ruined mechanism to avoid the renowned Guardsman’s line of sight.

Garrett saw the dark lightning coming. He was still physically chained to the pedestal, his broken body immobile, but his spirit was entirely unbound.

He didn't make the mistake of trying to push his Mate away or shielding her by shutting her out. They were a circuit now.

“Syd!” he roared.