Mira's POV
The golden light explodes from my arm like a bomb going off.
The white wolf-man jerks back with a roar, releasing my wrists. I scramble backward on my elbows, watching in horror as the light spreads from my marks into HIS body through the places where his hands touched me.
"What did you do?" he snarls, staggering. "What is this?"
But he doesn't sound angry anymore. He sounds... shocked.
The golden light races through his veins, visible under his white fur like glowing rivers. It pulses once, twice, three times—then sinks into his skin and disappears.
For a second, nothing happens.
Then the wolf-man looks down at himself and freezes.
His chest—which I now notice was covered in deep gashes leaking dark blood—is healing. Right before our eyes, the wounds close up. New fur grows over the scars. Even old marks on his arms fade away like they were never there.
"Impossible," he breathes.
The other creatures crowd closer, staring. A huge lizard-man with green scales points at me with a clawed hand. "The mark! Look at her arm!"
They all stare at my glowing golden marks. The patterns pulse brighter, like they're showing off.
An old bear-man—I think he's a bear, he's got round ears and brown fur—pushes through the crowd. His eyes are ancient and knowing. When he sees my marks, he drops to his knees.
"A Lifebringer," he says in a shaky voice. "The curse can finally be broken."
"Lifebringer?" I squeak. "I don't know what that means!"
But nobody's listening to me. They're all talking at once, voices rising in excitement and argument.
"She healed Alpha Kael!"
"The mark is real!"
"We have to protect her!"
"No, MY tribe should guard her!"
The white wolf-man—Kael, apparently—rises to his full height. He's even bigger than I thought, maybe eight feet tall. When he speaks, his voice cuts through the noise like a knife.
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone goes silent.
Kael's blue eyes sweep over the crowd, then land back on me. I'm still on the ground, covered in dirt, shaking like a leaf. I must look pathetic.
"The Lifebringer comes with me," Kael announces. "Frostfang Tribe has first claim."
"Like hell!" A golden-furred man with WINGS—actual feathered wings—lands in the clearing with a blast of wind. He's beautiful in a way that doesn't look real, like a statue of an angel came to life. "The Sky Dominion has just as much right. She should choose freely."
"She's terrified and injured," Kael growls. "She needs protection, not politics."
"And you'll provide that?" A smooth, cold voice comes from the shadows. A man steps forward—or mostly man. He has dark scales, snake-like eyes with slit pupils, and an expression that screams danger. "The Frostfang Alpha who let his own mate die? Very protective."
Kael's face twists with rage. He lunges at the snake-man.
"STOP!" The word bursts out of me before I can think. "Just STOP fighting!"
To my shock, they actually do. Every creature in the clearing turns to stare at me.
I push myself to my feet, even though my legs feel like water. My voice comes out stronger than I feel. "I don't know what a Lifebringer is. I don't know where I am or how I got here. But I'm NOT going with anyone until someone explains what's happening!"
The old bear-man speaks gently. "Child, you bear the Mark of the Lifebringer. You can heal wounds, purify corruption, break curses. You are the most precious thing in our world."
"I'm not a THING," I snap. Somewhere in my fear, anger is rising. "I'm a person. My name is Mira. And back home, I was drowning in a bathtub because my boyfriend decided he'd rather kill me than let me leave him. So excuse me if I'm not excited about a bunch of strange men deciding what happens to me next!"
Silence. Several of the creatures look uncomfortable.
The winged man—the angel-looking one—steps forward carefully, like approaching a scared animal. "I apologize, Mira. We've been... insensitive. I am Zephyr Skytalon. This is a frightening situation for you."
"You think?" My laugh sounds a little hysterical.
"Let me offer context," Zephyr continues in a soothing voice. "Our world is dying. For sixty years, a curse has poisoned our land. Females can barely have children. Tribes are disappearing. We've been waiting for a Lifebringer—someone with the gift to heal—for three generations. You are our hope."
The weight of those words hits me like a truck. "I'm nobody's hope. I'm just a nursing student who can't even save herself."
"You have power," the snake-man says, watching me with those unsettling purple eyes. "Even if you don't understand it yet."
"Power didn't stop me from getting drowned," I shoot back. "Power didn't help me escape Marcus before he—"
My voice breaks. I can't finish the sentence.
Kael moves closer, but slowly this time. Not threatening. When he speaks, his voice is softer. "This Marcus. He hurt you?"
"He killed me," I whisper. "And then I woke up here."
Something changes in Kael's face. The hardness melts a little. "Then you understand what it means to survive. To keep fighting even when the world tries to break you."
I meet his blue eyes. There's pain there. Old pain that matches the new pain in my chest.
"Yeah," I say quietly. "I guess I do."
A piercing shriek cuts through the moment.
Everyone's heads snap toward the sky. A massive shadow passes over the clearing, blocking out the moons. I look up and my heart stops.
Something is flying up there. Something HUGE with wings that span the entire clearing. Its body is covered in black scales. Red eyes glow like embers.
"Dragon," the old bear breathes in terror. "A Corrupted One."
The creature dives.
Kael grabs me and throws me behind him just as a stream of black fire rains down on the clearing. Creatures scatter, screaming. The fire hits the ground where I was standing and the earth itself starts rotting, turning black and dead.
"RUN!" Kael roars.
But I can't run. I'm frozen, watching this impossible monster circle back for another attack. Its red eyes lock onto me—ONLY me—and I understand with terrible clarity.
It's hunting me specifically.
The dragon opens its mouth. More black fire builds in its throat, aimed straight at my head.
My golden marks burn hot. Power floods through my body, desperate and wild.
The dragon unleashes its fire.
And I scream, throwing my marked hand up in pure instinct.
Golden light explodes from my palm, meeting the black fire in midair.
The two powers collide with a sound like thunder, and the world turns white.