DRAKTHAR POV
The Academy's wards were designed to kill dragons on contact.
I didn't care.
I slammed into the magical barrier surrounding the Academy grounds with my full dragon form—obsidian wings spread wide, three hundred feet of ancient fury. The wards screamed and blazed white-hot, trying to burn me alive.
Pain exploded through every scale. My blood boiled. My bones felt like they were cracking.
I pushed harder.
The bond to Serina pulsed in my chest, pulling me toward her like a compass pointing north. She was somewhere deep inside the Academy. Scared. Trapped. Running out of time.
I'm coming, I sent through the bond. Hold on.
Her response came back faint: Hurry. Please.
The wards cracked. Not much—just a hairline fracture. But it was enough.
I forced my massive clawed hand through the gap and tore. The magical barrier shattered like glass, sending shockwaves across the Academy grounds. Alarms started screaming. Lights blazed to life across the compound.
Good. Let them know I was here. Let them know their precious wards couldn't stop me.
I shifted to human form and dropped into the courtyard, landing hard enough to crack the stone. Academy soldiers poured out of buildings—dozens of them, all Rank Six and above.
"The World-End Dragon!" someone screamed. "He broke through the wards!"
"Impossible!"
"KILL HIM!"
They attacked as one—fireballs, ice spears, lightning bolts. I didn't bother dodging. The attacks hit my scales and scattered harmlessly. One foolish Rank Seven charged me with a sword.
I caught the blade with my bare hand and snapped it like a twig. Then I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
"Where is Lord Cassian holding the Ashveil girl?" I growled.
The soldier's eyes went wide with terror. "I-I don't—"
I squeezed slightly. His face turned purple. "Wrong answer. Try again."
"Sub-level nine!" he choked out. "The sealed chamber! But you can't reach her—the entire floor is warded against—"
I dropped him and he crumpled. "Wards don't stop me. Nothing stops me."
More soldiers attacked. I cut through them like they were paper dolls. Some I killed. Some I threw aside. All of them learned the same lesson—they were insects compared to dragon fury.
The bond pulled me toward a massive building in the center of the compound. I followed it, leaving a trail of unconscious bodies behind me.
Inside, I found stairs leading down. Down, down, down into the earth. The wards grew stronger with each level—Seven, Eight, Nine. Each one tried to stop me. Each one failed.
Finally, I reached a white door marked with Cassian's magical signature. Sub-level nine. The sealed chamber.
Behind it, I could feel Serina's presence burning through our bond.
I kicked the door off its hinges.
The room beyond was pure white and empty except for two figures. Serina, chained to the floor in the center of a glowing ritual circle. And Cassian, standing over her with his hands raised, chanting in the old language.
The binding ritual had already started.
"CASSIAN!" My roar shook the walls.
He looked up, startled but not afraid. "Dragon. You're too late. The binding is almost complete. In thirty seconds, she'll be mine forever."
Serina's eyes met mine—violet and desperate. Blood ran from her nose and ears. The ritual was tearing her apart from the inside.
"Drakthar," she gasped. "The bond. Pull—"
"Silence!" Cassian's hand slashed down and Serina screamed, her back arching in agony. "You don't speak without my permission anymore, slave."
Red filled my vision. Three thousand years of rage. Three thousand years of guilt for failing Elara. All of it focused on the man hurting Serina.
I lunged at him with killing intent.
Cassian raised his other hand and a wall of solid magic appeared between us. "Your wards are impressive, but you can't stop a binding ritual once it's begun. The magic has already taken root in her soul. Ten more seconds and—"
Serina's scream cut him off. But it wasn't pain this time. It was defiance.
Purple light exploded from her body, so bright it hurt to look at. The chains around her wrists shattered. The ritual circle cracked.
"What?!" Cassian stumbled backward. "How are you—the seal should—"
"The seal is BREAKING!" Serina rose to her feet, violet magic crackling around her like lightning. The fake Zero mark on her wrist dissolved completely, revealing the full Ashveil dragon-wing pattern underneath. "You wanted to bind me? Then feel what Void Magic really is!"
She thrust her hand toward him and reality bent.
Cassian's body flickered—solid, transparent, solid again. He was being unmade. Erased from existence.
"NO!" He threw up every defensive spell he knew, barely holding himself together. "This is impossible! You're untrained! You shouldn't be able to—"
"My ancestor didn't need training to burn your family to ash," Serina snarled. "And I don't need it to destroy you!"
The room started coming apart. Walls cracking. Floor splitting. The very air was tearing like fabric.
She was going to collapse the entire sub-level. Bury us all.
"Serina, STOP!" I grabbed her shoulders. "You're losing control!"
Her violet eyes were wild. Unseeing. Lost in the power flooding through her broken seal. "He hurt Kael. He killed my family. He tried to make me a slave—"
"I know. But you're going to kill yourself if you keep this up. Your body can't handle this much power yet!" I shook her. "Serina, listen to my voice. Come back to me!"
For a moment, she didn't respond. The Void Magic kept building, kept tearing reality apart.
Then her eyes focused on my face. Recognition flickered.
"Drakthar?"
"I'm here. You're safe now. Let go of the magic. Let me help you."
"I can't—it won't stop—"
"Yes it will. Through our bond. Give the excess to me. I can handle it."
I pulled on the golden thread connecting us and her wild magic rushed into me like a tidal wave. It burned. Gods, it burned. Void Magic wasn't meant for dragons. But I gritted my teeth and absorbed it anyway, channeling it through my ancient core until it dispersed safely.
Slowly, the destruction stopped. The walls stabilized. Serina's glow faded to a soft shimmer.
She collapsed against me, gasping. "Did I... did I kill him?"
I looked past her to where Cassian had been standing.
He was gone. Teleported away the moment Serina lost control. Coward.
"He escaped," I said grimly.
"Kael. We need to find Kael." Serina tried to stand but her legs gave out.
"I'll find him. You need to rest—"
"NO!" She grabbed my coat with surprising strength. "I'm not resting while my brother is being tortured. Take me to him. Now."
The bond between us pulsed with her determination. Her fear. Her love for her brother that burned brighter than any magic.
I couldn't argue with that.
"Hold on to me," I said, lifting her into my arms.
I followed the scent of young magic and pain through the corridors. Down another level. Past more locked doors. Until I found the extraction chamber.
Inside, a small boy lay strapped to a metal table. Tubes ran from his arms to glass containers, slowly draining the glow from his magic core. He was conscious but barely—eyes glazed with pain, lips moving in soundless pleas.
Serina's scream of rage shook the entire building.
"KAEL!"
She tore herself from my arms and ran to him, ripping out the tubes with her bare hands. Blood sprayed everywhere but she didn't care.
"I'm here, baby. I'm here. You're safe now. I've got you—"
The boy's eyes focused weakly on his sister's face. "Serina? Is it really you?"
"Yes. Yes, it's really me." Tears streamed down her face as she undid the restraints. "I'm so sorry I took so long. I'm so sorry—"
"You came." Kael's smile was heartbreaking. "I knew you would. I told them my sister always comes."
Then his eyes rolled back and he went limp.
"KAEL!" Serina shook him. "No, no, no—wake up! Please wake up!"
I checked his pulse. Faint but there. "He's alive. Barely. They drained too much of his core. He needs a healer immediately or he'll die within the hour."
Serina looked at me with desperate eyes. "Can you heal him?"
"I'm a dragon, not a healer. I can stabilize him temporarily, but—"
"Then DO IT!" Her voice cracked. "Please. Save him. I'll do anything."
I placed my hand over the boy's chest and channeled pure life force into his failing body. It was like pouring water into a cup with a crack—most of it just leaked out. But enough stayed to keep his heart beating.
"That will hold him for maybe two hours," I said. "We need to get him to Elder Morvane. He's the only one who might be able to repair damage this severe."
"Then let's go—"
The building shook. Explosions echoed from above.
Serina's eyes widened. "What's happening?"
I listened. Felt. Understood.
"Cassian just triggered the Academy's self-destruct protocol. He's going to bring the entire compound down on our heads rather than let us escape with you and your brother."
The ceiling cracked. Dust rained down.
"We have maybe three minutes before this whole place collapses," I said, gathering Kael into my arms. "Can you run?"
Serina stood on shaking legs. "For Kael? I'll fly if I have to."
We ran.