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...Prologue...
The people of Seresthos filled the broken plazas and shattered bridges.
None could look away.
Above them, a dragon hung bleeding against the storm, wings torn, chains of lightning binding his limbs.
While watching the skies, the people murmured:
"It's Vaelrix."
"The Thunderborn who held Seresthos aloft."
"He was supposed to be immortal."
"Why is he falling?"
Across the ruined High Spire, a lone figure stepped forward through the storm.
A priestess in tattered robes, a spear of starlight clenched in her hands.
The crowd stared as she approached the edge of the Spire.
Saint Cerys raised her voice, clear even against the storm:
"Do you believe you can save them alone, Vaelrix?"
The dragon did not respond.
Lightning crowned his head, his torn wings casting vast shadows across the ruined city.
"Why do you still fight?" Saint Cerys called out.
Among the crowd, an old priest whispered:
"She is Saint Cerys, last Voice of the Thunderborn.
Once his disciple... now his betrayer."
The dragon lowered his great head.
His voice rolled through the broken city, deep and raw:
"Let me ask you instead. Why have you turned against me?"
His voice cracked stone where it touched.
Saint Cerys tightened her grip on the spear.
"Because..." she faltered.
The true answer was clear...
Because hope chained them to ruin.
Because loyalty blinded them to the truth.
Because to save Seresthos, something greater had to be broken.
But those words caught in her throat.
Finally, she said:
"Because Seresthos must live."
Vaelrix's eyes burned like dying stars.
"Is that how you justify betrayal?" he asked.
"Is that how you break oaths and shatter the faithful?"
Cerys raised the spear higher, her voice shaking:
"You chained this city to your dying heart.
You doomed it."
Vaelrix's wings trembled under the storm.
Blood rained from his body like molten fire.
He lifted his head toward the broken sky, and his voice rose fierce and defiant.
"Listen well, oathbreaker!"
His voice thundered through shattered halls and empty streets:
"A dragon's honor binds him to his kin."
"A dragon's bond does not break."
"A dragon's vow rises above despair."
"A dragon's wrath answers injustice."
"A dragon's soul flies beyond death."
"By storm and stone, I swear it!"
Vaelrix spread his ruined wings.
Lightning cracked from his wounds.
"I shall prove my oath with my fall!"
The ground quaked.
Stones split and towers swayed.
The crowds recoiled in fear as the storm thickened.
Vaelrix smiled, a terrible, broken thing.
"Come, Saint.
Strike if you dare."
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