Three years later...

Magnus walked along the dark sands of the Halcían Ocean with two clerics and two sorcerer healers by his side. His heart thudded with anticipation as the ship approached.

His darker half ran a nervous hand through his raven waves.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for this," murmured Andor.

"You'll be fine, Sir." One of the healers gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "We're here, and we won't let anything happen...to you, to her, or to them."

Magnus gave a curt nod while Andor flickered pangs of desire, anxiety, and a tinge of righteous anger at the doctors' refusal to allow him even a moment of privacy with the woman he loved.

His Light ignored the Shadow.

Although the healers kept telling Magnus that both Light and Shadow needed to work together, the separation would keep him out of trouble. For now.

For her sake.

He had to protect Kara from the darkest parts of his soul. It would take a lot of work before he could return to Minningen. During the darkest days of his unification, Magnus hadn't even dared to meet Kara. He didn't want to hurt her. Or say anything that might destroy a chance to be her colleague or friend later.

They'd written letters back and forth instead.

After a year, Magnus believed he could trust Andor around her. And they'd met once every lunar cycle ever since, albeit always under close supervision.

Soon he would see Kara for the first time in twenty-one days. And this time, the wizard was bringing some of his family who had survived the war. Magnus practiced how he would react. What he would say. How he would keep Andor in line.

But there was no way of telling how his irritating counterpart would react in person.

When Magnus caught sight of Kara descending the gangplank, his heart swelled. That was one pleasant thing about Andor: the flood of joy when the wizard strolled toward him wearing her new Master Healer robes, a deep sapphire blue with golden trim. It filled him with pride.

She's beautiful, whispered Andor.

Kara's just a friend, remember? said Magnus, running out of patience.

Friend! Who are you trying to fool?

Silence!

Her onyx waves fluttered in the wind, framing her alabaster skin. Her cheeks had turned rosy thanks to a brisk spring breeze.

Another good thing about Andor? He could show emotion. Whenever his darker half went overboard it would upset Magnus, so the lighter half held him firmly in place until she acted first.

In his last letter, Magnus asked Kara to help him get the balance right.

"Magnus!" She ran to him and wrapped him in her arms. Andor reached down and pressed her close to his heart. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," breathed Andor as her hair tickled his skin.

Magnus grasped him by the arm. Careful...

But it was Kara who took longer to pull away. When she did, her cheeks looked rosier than a moment earlier, and Andor flooded him with a distracting wave of happiness.

When Andor smiled, Magnus became self-conscious and averted his gaze.

"It's all right." Kara touched his arm. "You're allowed to be happy to see me."

Magnus shook his head. "Andor takes things too far."

"It's normal for things to feel strange until you both finish integrating, but it's much better than last time."

"Truly?" asked Andor.

"Yes, you're more relaxed around me," she replied.

"Magnus always says it was easier when he didn't have to deal with my emotions, but he didn't know what he was missing."

"I'm glad you're both here," said Kara with a smile.

Magnus took over with a dispassionate, "Indeed?"

Kara cupped his cheek, running a thumb over his light-gray scales. "Magnus, don't hide that part of yourself away. You're allowed to show me affection. Remember our pact?"

"Yes."

"I want you to show me."

For once, both Light and Shadow allowed him to bask in waves of desire. For once, neither of them acted on it.

Progress...slow and steady.

Two young women descended the gangplank and approached their little group holding parasols to shield themselves from the sun. As they drew nearer, Magnus could tell they were ice dragons from their light-gray scales and dark hair, but he didn't recognize them.

"These are your nieces, Helga and Revna," said Kara. "Like we talked about in the letter, remember?"

They both clasped their fists over their hearts. "Greetings, Father." They used the draconic form of formal address. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Magnus stood ramrod still, unable to react. He refused to allow Andor to indicate a tiny sign of his existence, for he could feel the guilt, anger, and rage fuming like a volcano.

"So, it's true."

Magnus clasped Andor's mouth shut. You will say nothing, do you understand?

"Yes, Father," said Revna. "It's true. We survived the war."

"Tell me again...in exact detail...how you managed to escape the fire."

"The Shadow guards took us away," said Helga, her voice hoarse. "Then came the fire dragons and set fire to the house...with Omma, Oppa, and Mama inside."

Magnus' heart clenched.

"What about Erik?" demanded Magnus while he wrestled Andor into a chokehold.

"Who's Erik?"

Magnus retained a thin veneer of perfect calm. "The shadow dragon who attacked you."

"There never was any shadow dragon, remember?" said Revna. "The fire dragons took us far away and set fire to the house on orders of the--"

Helga shushed Revna with a jab to the ribs.

Andor fought and clawed to break free while Magnus turned and marched toward the shore, followed closely by his healers and clerics. Kara and his young nieces stayed safely at the wharf.

Despite Magnus' best efforts, Andor could not be contained. His Shadow roared at the top of his lungs and tugged at his locks by the roots. Unable to breathe. Unable to think.

Two healers knelt on either side of him. "All right, breathe. Remember...breathe..."

"He didn't do it. My nieces are proof!" Andor seethed. "He didn't do it!"

"It's all right."

Andor grasped the healer by his lapels. "I killed Erik, and he didn't do it."

"We talked about this, remember?" said the healer in a calm tone. "We knew Andor would find this difficult. Now just try to ease him back into balance. All right?"

"She...destroyed...everything." Andor's body trembled. "She...took...everything from me."

"Breathe..." said the other healer. "In through the nose, out through the mouth."

Magnus stepped in front of Andor and took control, releasing the other healer from Andor's grip. The Light didn't wrestle the Shadow viciously into submission this time. It felt more like a big brother protecting his younger sibling from a bully.

Slowly Magnus breathed along with the healers until Andor's anger simmered from an eruption worthy of Mount Balaam to a gentle rumble.

"I have calmed him," said Magnus.

"You're doing well."

"You call that well?" Magnus scoffed. "I have served in this place for over three years, and I still cannot deal with a simple factual truth. Perhaps I should give up. Tear him from me."

"No, Magnus." The healer spoke with unshakable calm despite Andor's outburst. "You have made great strides. There were no public outbursts this time. You walked away and dealt with it."

"Today was the biggest challenge you've faced," added the other healer. "Give it time."

"How much time?" he asked. "I am a dragon. I'll live for centuries, but Kara--"

"...is a half-dragon who will also live at least twenty human lifetimes," said the healer. "You need to give it time. All right? Kara believes in you, and she cares for you."

"Do you truly think so?" asked Andor.

"Kara writes to you every week," replied the healer. "She visits you as often as the ship sails. Of course she cares for you. Now gather your strength and try again...when you're ready."

"I truly hate Andor," snarled Magnus. "He's weak. Impetuous. And chaotic."

The healer gave him a friendly clap on the back and helped Magnus to his feet. "We're working on that: both Andor's behavior and your acceptance of him."

The other healer nodded. "When you fully integrate, you'll begin to complement one another, and it'll feel less of a struggle."

Magnus grumbled under his breath and ascended the steps to the wharf. "Forgive me for that scene. I...I didn't want to believe the letters. But now I see it's clearly true."

His nieces gave him a warm embrace, but Magnus kept still, holding Andor back.

"Do you mind if I take a walk with Kara?" asked Magnus.

On the beach several cubits away from his supervision, Kara linked her arm in his. "Hilda sends her love, by the way."

Andor's heart swelled. "How is Captain Stormbringer?"

"She's leading an army to help our allies in Gallingen. Another orc invasion."

"Never a dull moment, is there?"

Kara shook her head and gave a contented sigh. "It's so good to see you again. To walk with you like this."

"I concur."

"Not letting Andor come out to play again?" teased Kara. "Even a little?"

"Not until he can act appropriately."

"What would happen if I planted a gentle kiss on your cheek?"

"I suppose the proper response would be to reciprocate," he replied.

Kara chuckled. "Wanna test that theory?"

Magnus halted. "I care about you very much, Kara, but I'm not sure either of us are ready for that yet." Andor reached out and cupped her cheek. "But soon I will be."

A deep blush swept her cheeks. "That's good enough for me."

THE END

___

Word count: 1,504
Total word count: 30,904/40,000 (max)

Yay! We're done! Woo hoo!

HOLY CRAP! I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my first successfully completed ONC novella ever! With no blips, hitches, planet-sized obstacles, milestone issues, or word count malfunctions. *fanfare*

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me during this ONC season! You have been amazingly helpful at encouraging me to continue and finish this raw draft.

Yay! I did it in 18 days. Not quite as quick as Fireborn, which was like 24 days for 60K, but good enough. :D

I realize some things need to be ironed out like the consistency, timing, and a few awkward sections. I'll fix them in the upcoming editing phase.

If you would like to advertise your ONC novella, please feel free to so in the premise section or here. -->

Good luck and the best of success to all of you wonderful people. And now that I'm finished drafting, I can focus on reading all your lovely work. *confetti*