Together, they made the trip back to Sky Home.
It was an incredible sight to see the two griffins soaring next to them. Instinctively, they seemed to have settled into a formation—Jared with Chiara on his back flying at the front, and his mother and father to both sides of him, protecting his wings.
But with Zane defeated, there was no further attack, and they made it back to Sky Home in no time.
It felt like the trip back to the chimera’s home was much shorter—but now that Jared’s body still seemed to subtly glow with the power of the light contained inside him, maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise.
In any case, Chiara was perfectly happy where she was, safe and comfortable on her mate’s back, soaring through a bright, blue sky, the sun warming her face.
She was almost disappointed when they reached Sky Home. She could have kept flying for hours, just to feel Jared’s powerful body all warm and alive beneath her, carrying them both through the sky without effort.
But he was right—the chimera had to know. And then, at last, maybe they could enjoy some peace and quiet somewhere.
And she could call her dad...
The cave where the council of elements resided was lit brightly when they entered.
Jared and Chiara walked in first, his parents behind them.
It wasn’t hard to see where the unexpected light came from. The formerly so-mysterious fifth plinth—the plinth of light—was illuminating the entire cavern. The familiar symbol of the triangle with the lines pointing upwards was pulsing with brightness, silver light filling the cave.
As they approached, the light grew brighter. Then, after a quick burst of white brilliance, it began to dim until it shone only as brightly as the symbols on the other plinths.
Instead, it was Jared’s amulet that was glowing now, bathing the two of them in light.
Startled, Jared reached out to finger it, then shrugged. Through the bond, Chiara could feel his amusement.
His element clearly preferred dramatic entrances. But then, given how the chimera usually announced himself, Chiara couldn’t fault the Light for wanting to make a strong impression.
“Griffin,” the chimera’s voice came booming out of the darkness at the back of the cave. “I see you have solved the puzzle. And I see you have brought strangers to the council...”
“They are no strangers,” Jared said, his voice echoing. “These are my parents.”
There was a moment of stunned silence. Chiara smiled, wondering if anyone had ever managed to surprise the chimera before.
“Explain,” the chimera finally growled.
Before Jared could speak, his parents stepped forward.
“My name is Dean Griffey and this is my mate Marianne. We are Guardians of the Light,” his father said proudly. “An old line of griffin shifters, who have protected the element of light for thousands of years. There was an old prophecy that one day, Darkness would return. At that time, the Light would find a new champion.”
“The Light chose Jared,” Marianne said. “Our son. And with its power, he defeated the shadow dragon who’d come after him.”
“And he freed us,” Dean added. “To protect the light, its hiding place was sealed. And we were turned into stone, to guard it eternally—or until a champion was chosen.”
“There is no fifth elemental dragon.” Chiara smiled at the darkness swirling before them, the shadows rapidly turning from the form of a dragon’s wing to that of a lion’s head, then the brief slither of a serpent’s tail. “But there’s a new elemental griffin. The griffin of light.”
“The griffin of light,” the chimera echoed thoughtfully. For the first time in her life, Chiara heard awe in Gareth’s voice. “Five to fight the one. Light to fight Darkness. This changes everything...”
“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Marianne said. She smiled at Chiara. “We hoped it wouldn’t come in our lifetime. But now that it has, we know it couldn’t have chosen a better champion.”
“They’re right.” Chiara still felt giddy with everything that had happened.
So many things had happened at once. And there was so much they still didn’t understand about their enemy.
But what mattered was that Zane had been defeated. They’d deal with everything else life would throw at them day by day.
“Zane is gone,” Chiara continued. “Jared defeated him. Zane was unconscious. We thought we had him. All the darkness was gone from his body. He looked strange—there was no color left, like he’d been bleached by the sun. But then shadows returned and swirled around him, and when they vanished, his body was gone.”