25. Everen: The Dragon Archives

Everen dreams Arcady into a space mirroring the dragon archives, where the limits of dream-memory blur texts. They trade updates: Arcady searches for Professor Hayden’s research under Larkin’s pressure while juggling studies and the second Trial, and Everen remains locked out of deeper prophecy vaults.

Arcady produces a soot-stained childhood dream journal showing a tree and a serpent, then a folklore book describing a Mage of the World Tree with roots connecting worlds and a Jaskian myth of a world-swallowing serpent held at bay by their king. The tales seem relevant but nonspecific, pointing to converging threads rather than clear directions.

Everen discloses a recurring scry-vision from Glimmerhail: flying through storm toward a golden thread, hearing the stolen prophecy of the Night of Locked Tombs, and Arcady calling a grandsire’s spell that draws Everen back to the Lumet. Everen argues their bond lets him pass the Veil without rousing the Dreamer and that healing the serpent may require their cooperation.

Arcady fears the cost: another half-bond could sap magic needed for the Trials, and broken trust lingers. Everen counters that a full re-bond would make Arcady stronger than other students and lengthen Arcady’s lifespan, as in the old rider-mage symbiosis. The revelation of potential longevity tempts Arcady but also raises fears of personal hunger for power.

Pressed by Larkin’s demands, uncertainty about Hayden, and worry about derailing the Trials, Arcady refuses to call Everen back before the Trials end and forcibly wakes, leaving Everen alone and the decision unresolved.