Growing Up Without Certainty

Elena's reflections on growing older link an approaching dragon transformation to fears about love, identity, and control.

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The Approaching Ascension

The Approaching Ascension A Question About Change Sammy asks how Elena feels as she approaches her Ascending. Elena says that nothing has changed physically and mentions no new signs beyond an unsettling dream. A Future Without Instructions The conversation makes Elena's development another uncertainty alongside her relationship and family history. The approaching change is important precisely because she cannot yet know what it will demand of her.

The Dream of Transformation

The Dream of Transformation A Fearful Possibility Elena recalls a dream in which she became a Sun-Blast associated with Brian's death. The image troubles her even though she has experienced no corresponding physical change. Identity Under Question The dream suggests that Elena's future may involve powers and consequences she does not understand. Rather than offering a clear prophecy, it adds uncertainty to her sense of who she may become.

A Dream That Crosses a Line

A Dream That Crosses a Line An Unwanted Replay Elena dreams that she kisses Blake, and the experience feels vivid and pleasurable. It ends in pain stronger than injuries she remembers from earlier dangers. Feelings Without Certainty She wakes disturbed, unable to tell what the dream means or why her dreams are changing. Afterward she worries that imagining the kiss has betrayed Lucian, even though the experience occurred in sleep.

At Longbottoms during the summer party

During the summer after Elena turns seventeen

The night after Blake's Persuasion at the campsite