“You may govern who is worthy, but I rule the dragons,” Ember declared, and the Elder sank back and soon hid behind his courtiers. She took his hand and raised it aloft. “I hereby declare that Spike has been accepted through the passage of fire, he who carries the flame of the world. We welcome new kin this day!” The fellow dragons roared in approval, and soon they crowded him, slapping him on the back in congratulations and offering praise for a ceremony unlike the Dragon Lands had seen in an age. 