Cassius and Petra raced to Syra as she landed outside the lair entrance.

"Syra!" Cassius said, voice cracked with worry, "where have you be—"

"I can't believe you!" Petra yowled, spitting flames at Syra's feet.

"Petra, calm down!" Cassius said.

"No!" Petra aimed another blast at her sister's head and Cassius shoved himself in between the two, beating his wings against her flames.

"Petra, enough!"

"No! She can't just fly off like that and think it's okay!"

"Of course it's not okay. But at least we know she's safe."

"Now we do! But what good is it? Father, he's...he's..." Petra broke into sobs and bolted back into the cave.

"Petra, wait!" Cassius and Syra chased after her.

Syra halted at the end of the tunnel and watched Cassius dive off the ledge into the Main Chamber; a vast cave where the mountain's core was hollowed out and was tinged purple by hundreds of glowing amec crystals. Starlight beamed from the skylight, and elegantly carved stone bridges crisscrossed down the descending ledges. The chamber was silent except for Petra's wailing and the rush of water on stone from the underground waterfall that formed a chain of pools at the chamber's base. Dragons, large and small, lined the carving-adorned walkway that spiraled down the chamber. Rising from the bottom, a glowing amec monolith towered over Rigel's crumpled form.

"Papa?" Syra dove off the ledge and glided down to the crowd of dragons surrounding him.

"Put up a barrier and double patrols! We don't know when he'll come back." Rigel commanded through labored and raspy breaths.

The crowd bowed and withdrew, revealing the gash in his neck and the red puddle growing beneath him.

"Papa!" Syra ran to his side and clamped her hands against his neck. The gash stretched as long as she was, and her little hands provided little cover. "Just hold on!" She breathed deep, steadying herself and focusing all of her energy into her hands. She felt the warmth expand from her chest and down her front legs, but the magic only managed to sputter and spark around her hands.

Rigel turned to her, his eyes barely able to focus, "Syra...'

"It's okay! I can do this!" She focused harder, but her breathing was shallow and her hands were shaking, and only more sparks came. She choked back a sob and tears fell as her magic failed.

"Syra, listen," Rigel shifted away from Petra who clung to his arm, and pulled himself closer to Syra. Pulling the broken stone from under a scale, he held it out for Syra. "I was supposed to give this to you when you breathed your first flame, but it seems I won't be able to do that."

"Papa—"

"Take it. It's from your mother. Alder said it's enchanted and that Marrak will try his best to get it."

"Why? H-how am I supposed to stop him?"

"He didn't say exactly how it works. But he said they were both positive you'd find a way." He strained to breathe, "I'm sorry, Syra. You're so young and it's so soon...too soon. You are the heir to this clan, and now it falls to you. Please...protect it."

"No, wait! What about the summit? You're supposed to take me. I promise I'll work harder, please—"

He managed a flicker of a smile as once sky-blue eyes wavered up at her.

"I'm...so sorry."

His eyes fell still and faded. In a single moment, all future memories faded along with them. There would be no summit with Papa. No in-flight history lesson. No licking feast leftovers off his snout. No, 'You tried your best' on the way home.

There would be no Papa.

Syra trembled, and the mountain was silent.

Cassius turned his back and shoved his face into a nearby nook.

Petra's wails sang through every tunnel.

"No," Syra shook his limp arm, "Papa no, you can't! Don't leave me! Papa!"

And then there was light. Dim at first, but grew like a sunrise from within Rigel's corpse. It grew, then shone, then his body was nothing but light. It was warm and bright, and glimmered with stardust.

"What's happening?" Syra asked as the light waved and swirled under her hands.

"Essence, my love," said Vega, Rigel's mother. "It is his essence. Watch, now."

Like water, the light flowed from Syra, wrapped around Cassius, Petra, and Vega—who stifled a cry, herself—and meandered towards the monolith. It spiraled up the crystal, which radiated and sent shimmers throughout the chamber. And then it grew, and branched, and condensed. The light then dimmed, and in its place a glorious tree stood, its arms outreaching and its leaves as gold as Rigel's scales once were.

"It's magnificent, Rigel," Vega cooed to herself, "as expected."

The elder stepped forward with raised head and called to her clanmates, "As the rain returns to the sky..."

"So shall we to the earth!" echoed the clan, the chamber humming with the voices of a hundred dragons.

But Syra paid no heed to ceremony. She remained transfixed on the tree as the echoes faded to silence.

"Papa..." Syra coughed and choked on salty tears. She wanted to run to the tree and claw at it. To rip it apart and dig out her father who would, somehow, be sleeping inside. She wanted to summon every archmage in the clans and bring him back, even though she knew there was no such spell. No, he was gone. Her guardian, her teacher, her hero, was gone.

"Syra," Vega stepped towards her, grief and pride churning in her sea blue eyes, "It is time."

"What? No!" Syra shrank back as Vega bowed, lowering her head to her feet.

"You have my fire."

"No, wait! Stop!"

One by one the entire clan bowed, chanting, "You have my fire!"

Syra stumbled backward, her gaze jumping from face to face, member to member, each one a responsilibilty.

"You still can't breathe fire, can you?"

"You'll never become Vayguard like that!"

"If only you took after your mother."

Reason after reason washed over her and she clenched her eyes shut.

"No! No, I can't! Not me! Not now!" Syra bolted from the gathering and soared into an upper cave out of sight.

"Syra, wait!" Cassius called, going to chase after her. But Vega stepped ahead to stop him.

"Give her time."

***

Crystal light illuminated the large stone den. Worn books and scrolls lined the periphery and an alchemist set stood in one corner. A map of the dragon clans adorned one wall and a small pile of human-made stuffed animals covered the foot of Syra's bed of moss.

Syra sniffed backed the aching sobs as she huddled behind a curtain of vines that veiled her moss-covered cubby hole.

Petra was right. I didn't become Vayguard through strength or valor. Papa had to die for it to happen. How pathetic. How sick. And I caused it! She threw her hands over her snout and dug her claws into her scales to keep the yowl inside. If I had just followed orders, like a good wyrmling, he wouldn't have had to protect me! How could anyone follow me after that?

"Petra, you're being unreasonable." Cassius' voice echoed from the tunnel outside Syra's den.

"Shut up, Cas. I don't want to hear it."

Syra crawled from her bed and peeked into the tunnel. In the shadow of a carved pillar, Cassius and Petra argued, both of their frills flared and red.

"Look, I'm just as upset as you, but she's Vayguard now and we have to honor that."

Petra clawed at the floor, tail quivering, "Father is the rightful Vayguard, not her! She can't even breathe fire. How is she supposed to lead, let alone protect us?"

"Give her time. We can teach her."

"No!' Petra's hiss fizzled out as her voice cracked. "No, I will not. All that hot air about her magic, and 'can you do this?', but she couldn't even save him. She couldn't save Fa—"

Her cry was cut off by Cassius' forehead pressed against hers.

"She tried, Petra."

But Petra only stiffened, "Exactly. She tried, like she always does, and it still wasn't enough. If it weren't for her, father would still be—"

"That's not true and you know it!"

Petra startled at his sudden snarl, only to stalk away towards their den, tears brimming and legs trembling.

"She's our sister, Petra."

Petra's gold eyes glared in the shadow, "Not anymore. I'm done."

She waved him away with her tail and disappeared into their den. Cassius wimpered but followed her inside, head low and tail dragging.

Syra stood silent, cold and hollow. She was right. It was her fault. No matter of training or fire-breathing could reconcile that.

"Please...protect it."

Rigel's words almost made her laugh this time. As if fire-breathing wasn't impossible enough.

I lost my father and sister in the same day. What do I even have left?

Syra swallowed the knot in her throat, bolting down the tunnel and sprinting out of the lair before the mourning vigil even caught notice.

The terrace was deserted and she threw herself onto the ledge, her claws scraping the side.

"I'm sorry, Papa. I'm so sorry." She wailed at the starry sky, pleading for just one to twinkle at her.

She pulled the broken stone from under a scale and just stared at it. A plain, gray stone broken in half, with nothing special about it save a little magic. Just like her.

"How is one stone supposed to fix all this?"

As if in response, it glowed. From within the stone, a light grew and shone and condensed into a beam. A fine beam of light that pointed down the mountainside and into the valley below where it rested just outside the Altairan gates. Syra's mouth wagged.

Is this...the enchantment Papa mentioned?

The light flickered and faded, leaving her with a decision.

She stood and looked back at the tunnel entrance for a long moment.

"She was positive you'd find a way."

And then the moment was over.