The wind over the high cliffs was sharp enough to slice skin.
Kael stood on the edge, looking down at the vast, green valley below—the Whispering Expanse. The last known safe route to the Skyreach Mountains, where ancient Riders once trained. If there was anywhere left untouched by the Crown or the Ashborn… it was there.
Cinder perched beside him, wings stretched wide. He'd grown fast—sleek, stronger, more alert. His ember-red scales shimmered in the sunlight like liquid fire.
We should fly, the dragon whispered through the bond.Now.
Kael nodded, tightening his makeshift saddle. "Then let's see if we survive the skies."
He mounted—awkward, nervous, but ready.
Cinder leapt.
The air screamed around them.
Kael clung tightly as wind slammed into them, Cinder's wings catching turbulence and climbing higher. The world dropped beneath them like a falling stone—but Kael laughed, wild and afraid and alive.
"We're flying!" he shouted into the sky.
But the joy didn't last long.
Because the sky was not empty.
Blood on the Wind
A screech split the heavens.
Cinder flinched.
Kael turned—and saw three shapes cutting through the clouds, riding dark-scaled drakes. Their armor gleamed like polished bone, marked with red sigils.
Crown Riders.
One raised a hand—and a bolt of skyfire streaked toward them.
Cinder rolled, flames skimming his wing.
Enemies! Cinder snarled.
Kael gritted his teeth. "We don't have the strength to outfly them!"
The Riders closed in, one flanking them on each side.
But then—
A shrill cry tore through the sky from above.
Something dived out of the clouds. Fast. Blue-scaled. Winged like a falcon, claws stretched forward—and slammed into the leftmost Rider's drake, sending them spiraling down in a shower of sparks.
Kael blinked. "What the—?"
The new dragon soared alongside them. A girl sat on its back—tall, hair braided with silver threads, eyes sharp as blades.
She smirked.
"Looks like you need flying lessons, farm boy!"
Enter: Lira Dawnsworn
The girl spun her dragon—a sleek, azure beast with storm-fire eyes—and blasted the second Crown Rider with a burst of lightning.
Kael gawked. "Who are you?"
"Lira. You're Kael, right?" she shouted as they dove together through a narrow canyon."Good. You're exactly the kind of idiot the prophecy warned me about."
Kael frowned. "What prophecy?!"
"Long story. Short version? You're either going to save the world or burn it down."
Behind them, the last remaining Crown Rider shouted something in the old tongue and summoned a spear of obsidian fire.
Lira's eyes narrowed.
"Hold on."
She turned her dragon in a sharp arc, Kael mirroring her movement. Together, Cinder and Lira's dragon swirled into formation. The Rider charged—
Kael raised his hand. His Mark burned.
Cinder opened his jaws.
Two dragons. One blast.Flame and lightning combined.The sky exploded red and white.
The Crown Rider vanished in a storm of fire and smoke.
After the Battle
They landed in a high alpine cave.
Lira hopped down first, already inspecting Cinder with a curious look.
"You're farther along than I thought," she said. "Your bond's deep. Too deep. Most Riders don't sync this fast."
Kael slid off Cinder, still shaking. "Why are you helping us?"
She hesitated. Her storm dragon curled around the cave mouth, watching the sky.
"Because you're not the only new Rider, Kael.And if the Ashborn find us before we find each other—this war ends before it begins."
Kael looked at her.
"You mean… there are others?"
Lira nodded. "Scattered. Hunted. But alive.And we need to gather them. Fast."
She pulled out a rolled map, marked with strange runes.
At the top, a symbol burned faintly in blue flame:
The Sigil of the First Riders.
Chapter End:
Kael has tasted battle in the skies.A new Rider ally has emerged.And the path to rebuilding the ancient order has begun.But the Ashborn are not idle.And their next move… is already in motion.
Next Chapter: Chapter 8: The Ashborn Infiltration