22. Arcady: A Reckoning

Arcady awakens within a dream-version of the Loc & Key, where Everen appears broken after killing a dragon. They confirm both are asleep and that, despite Arcady severing it, their human–dragon bond has regrown over time. Everen cannot speak about the recent killing, and Arcady bargains to avoid rehashing their last intimate dream.

Arcady explains the university has reinstated the Trials, with tuition as the prize, and worries the bond could affect spellwork. Everen reassures Arcady’s magic remains his own, then apologizes and offers full honesty. Arcady vents long-held anger over his deceptions, stolen dreams, and the night he used Arcady’s magic to open the sky.

Everen recounts his path: the stolen prophecy, his queen mother’s, Miligrist’s, and Cassia’s pressures, and his misjudgments that led to burning Arcady’s drawings and nearly killing a human. Both admit their worst moments—Arcady casting the killing spell at Everen by request; Everen refusing to kill Arcady. They pause the blame cycle and consider a way forward.

Everen proposes cooperation: he has dreamed that the worlds remain unbalanced and that only together can they mend them. He reveals the Trials predate the schism as tests for dragon–rider pairs, meaning their renewed partnership could be a decisive advantage. Arcady hesitates, fearful of being drawn back into “dragon nonsense,” but wavers.

As the dream fades, Everen warns of something injured between worlds—a serpent-like being whose infected wound could annihilate humans and dragons if it wakes. He asks if Arcady has dreamed of a dragonstone tree entwined with a serpent. Arcady’s shock confirms it.

Arcady wakes on the floor, checks his old dream journal, and finds the drawing: the serpent with a slash wound beside alchemical symbols and figures invoking a spell. Accepting this omen, Arcady curses fate, realizing their visions align and a reckoning is unavoidable.