The air in the abandoned silver mine was stale, heavy with the scent of rust and dust. Cole's boots crunched over gravel as his lantern flickered against jagged walls.
His grandfather's voice echoed in his memory. "Some treasures ain't meant to be touched, boy. Let 'em lie."
But Cole was never the type to listen.
He found it deep inside the mine—a jade pendant, its surface etched with swirling clouds and a serpent's coiled body. The moment his fingers closed around it, the air shifted. The wind roared like a stampede, though they were miles from the open plains.
And then… he saw it. A massive, azure-scaled serpent with horns like polished silver, its eyes burning with ancient fire.
"You have awakened me, mortal," it hissed, its voice rumbling through the earth. "Now, your fate is bound to the Lone Star… forever."
---