The Starling cut through the dark like a blade, engines whining as it broke free from Veyra-9's poisoned atmosphere. Beyond the clouds, the stars burned sharp and cold. Kaelen pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the unnatural warmth still pulsing there.
Every beat of his heart carried an echo—like another heart beating inside him, older, heavier, infinite.
Tessa glanced over from the pilot's chair, her expression tight. "You're still glowing."
He tried for humor. "Makes me easier to find in the dark."
She didn't laugh. Instead, she leaned back, eyes narrowing. "Kael, talk to me. What happened down there? Not the soldier's answer. The truth."
He stared at his palms. Tiny veins of black fire pulsed under his skin, vanishing as quickly as they appeared. "It looked at me, Tess. Not just my face—me. Everything I've ever been. It was like being unmade and remade in the same breath."
Her voice softened, cautious. "And now it's… inside you."
He nodded. "It called me chosen."
The words hung heavy between them.
For a long while, the only sound was the hum of the ship. Then Tessa sighed, running a hand through her short-cropped hair. "Damn it, Kael. I warned you about chasing ghosts."
"This isn't a ghost," he said, sharper than he meant. He met her gaze, searching. "You felt the energy spike. You know it's real."
She didn't deny it. Instead, her eyes flicked away, jaw tight.
And then the voice returned.
Flame-bearer.
Kaelen flinched, his vision swimming. The cockpit dissolved into black smoke, and suddenly he was elsewhere: a vast expanse of shadow-fire, endless wings unfolding in every direction. The dragon loomed above him, its eyes burning with sorrow and rage.
"You're in my head," Kaelen whispered, though his voice echoed like thunder.
We are bound. Your heart carries mine. Your flesh remembers flame.
Kaelen swallowed. "Why me? I'm no hero. I've killed, I've failed—I'm no one."
The dragon's head lowered until its shadow engulfed him. You are not no one. You are the last ember. Without you, I fade. Without me, you fall.
The fire in Kaelen's chest flared, searing but not destroying. He gasped—and then, suddenly, Tessa's voice cut through the haze.
"Kael!"
His vision snapped back. He was in the cockpit again, Tessa's hands gripping his shoulders, her face inches from his. Her eyes were wide with fear. "Talk to me. What happened?"
He struggled to breathe. "It spoke to me."
Her hands trembled where they held him. "Kael, you were gone for almost a minute. Just staring, burning up. I thought—" Her voice broke off, and she pulled away quickly, hiding the crack in her armor.
But he'd felt it. The fear wasn't just for the dragon—it was for him.
Kaelen's throat tightened. "Tess… if this kills me—"
"Don't you dare." Her words were sharp, but her hand lingered on his arm, gripping hard. "You don't get to leave me alone in this wreck of a galaxy."
Something flickered in her eyes then—something she had buried for too long. And though the moment passed quickly, Kaelen felt it like gravity.
---
Hours later, the Starling drifted into the shadow of a derelict orbital station. Tessa cut the engines, letting the wreck's bulk mask their signal from scanners.
"Safe enough for now," she muttered, slumping back in her chair.
Kaelen stood by the viewport, staring at the stars. His reflection stared back—tired eyes, unshaven jaw, but behind it all, faint shadows curling like smoke.
He whispered, "Are you always watching me?"
The dragon's voice coiled in his thoughts. We are one. Your fear is mine. Your desire is mine.
"Desire?" he muttered.
The shadow-fire in his chest pulsed, and suddenly images filled his mind: wings unfurled against the stars, a burning sun collapsing, and—strangely—Tessa, her hand in his, her eyes blazing with defiance.
Kaelen staggered, breath catching. "No… that's not yours to show me."
Not mine. Yours.
The words rattled him more than any fire.
---
Later, as silence settled over the ship, Kaelen found Tessa in the maintenance bay, fixing a cracked fuel line. She was all grease and sharp edges, sleeves rolled, her scarf discarded on the floor. She didn't look up when he entered.
"You should be resting," she said.
He leaned against the bulkhead, watching her work. "Can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes…" He hesitated. "It shows me things."
Her hands stilled. "What kind of things?"
"Memories. Battles. Fire." He swallowed. "You."
That made her look up, eyes wary. "Me?"
He nodded slowly. "I don't know if it's the dragon or just me losing my mind. But when it pushes, it feels like it knows what I don't say out loud."
The tension between them thickened. For a moment, neither spoke. Then Tessa turned back to the pipe, voice low. "You've always been reckless. Even before the war. Maybe that's why it chose you."
He smiled faintly. "You don't sound surprised."
She tightened the coupling with unnecessary force. "I knew you'd never let the past rest. I just… didn't expect it to drag me along."
"You could walk away," he said softly.
Her hands froze again. Slowly, she lifted her gaze, and this time there was no shield in her eyes. "And leave you to burn alone? Not a chance."
The words hit him harder than any battle wound.
For the first time since the dragon's awakening, Kaelen felt something other than fear—a spark of hope, dangerous and fragile.
And deep inside him, the dragon stirred, whispering: Two flames. One shadow. Stronger together.
---
Far across the void, in the marble halls of the Empire's capital, the message had reached its mark. A commander in obsidian armor studied the report, eyes narrowing.
"The Shadow Dragon rises again," he murmured. "And it has a host."
He turned to his officers. "Find them. Break them. Bring me the ember alive."
The hunt had begun.