Seeing her mom in the midst of all this chaos was like finding an oasis in a desert. She could feel the warmth of her mother's presence. She saw that her mom was using her magic to re-energize her.
"How's my sister?" asked Talon.
"I was able to get her to lay an egg before she entered the Dragomorphis. She'll be fine, and the baby is alive and healthy inside the egg."
"Mom, how are you doing this? How are you able to replenish my energy? My energy is unique; Saje said so."
"My energy is just as unique" Said Arda. "Saje told you about the war a thousand years ago right? I am the one who fused with Krystal the guardian of Energy to protect the other four."
"That must mean that you are over a thousand years old," exclaimed Jade.
"I was twenty seven when I fused with Krystal. Technically speaking I'm one thousand twenty six."
Talon laughed to himself. "No wonder the Atlantean counsel is out for your blood. Their power would be nothing in comparison."
"Don't forget the counsel would like your head for the business in Draconica," Arda replied with a smug tone. Talon crossed his arms and began to sulk. Jade felt fully refreshed and stood up. Arda grabbed her daughter by the hand and led her through the bushes to a giant oval shaped rock.
"What is that?" asked Jade in awe.
"Touch it," her mother simply replied.
Jade put her hand on the rock and could feel a heartbeat under it. It was almost as if...
"Is that Serenity?" she gasped. "How?"
"In order for Dragomorphis to take effect the transition must happen in lava. I had to use my magic to melt some of the nearby earth and reform it around her. Her transition will take a few hours," Arda explained. Then she picked up an egg from the ground.
"Is that—"
"—Her child. She'll need to breathe fire on it for a few months but eggs hatch faster than the length of a normal pregnancy."
"I have a question," said Jade. "Is the energy of Krystal what's kept you alive so long?"
Her mother sighed. "Yes, I will have to pass this energy on to you before the year is out, but when I do my body will die within a few weeks."
"Is there anyway to-"
Her mother shook her head. "No, and even if there was I don't want it. As old as I am it would be great to move on. I will do so with no regrets once my work here is done."
"What about dad?"
"He understands." Arda spoke calmly and firmly, but there was a pained look on her face. "But that will not make it easier when the time comes..."
Jade looked out at the horizon to see the sun setting. She then looked at her hand. It had not even been four full days since she woke up in her bed with this mark on her hand. In the span of just three and a half days she reunited with her mother and father, learned she had magic and begun to understand it, made two new friends, found out that she would have to kill someone, and now she realized her mother would not live to see another year. All of this in three and a half days. This was going to be one long year.