Drakarion's POV
I heard her scream through the bond, and something inside me shattered.
Three hundred years of chains. Three hundred years of torture. Three hundred years of learning to feel nothing, to care about nothing, to be the monster they said I was.
And then one gentle human girl touched my wounds and made me remember what it felt like to be alive.
Now they were killing her.
I could feel it through our connection—every cut, every burn, every moment of agony they inflicted on her fragile body. Her pain was my pain. Her terror was my terror.
And her determination to survive? That was setting my blood on fire.
"ELARA!" I roared, thrashing against my chains so hard the entire mountain shook. The iron bit deeper into my wrists, drawing golden blood. I didn't care. "Hold on! Just hold on!"
But she couldn't hear me. The bond wasn't strong enough yet. She was too far away, too weak, too—
Wait.
Something changed. Her presence in my mind suddenly blazed brighter. Stronger. Like she'd found some hidden reservoir of power and was drawing on it desperately.
And she was calling to me.
Not with words. With pure need. Pure trust. Pure faith that I would answer.
How are you doing this? I demanded through the bond, shocked that she'd managed to reach me across such distance.
I don't know, came her exhausted reply. I just—I needed you. And suddenly you were there.
Relief and rage warred inside me. She was alive. Hurt, but alive.
Where are you? What have they done to you?
I felt her hesitation. Felt the shame and pain she was trying to hide. Then, quietly: Tomorrow I die. At the trial. They're going to execute me.
"NO!" The word exploded from my throat as both roar and scream. The chains glowed hot, trying to contain my fury. "NO! I won't allow it!"
But the bond had limits. I could feel her. Talk to her. Share her pain.
I couldn't save her.
Unless...
An idea formed—terrible and dangerous and possibly brilliant.
Listen to me carefully, little Lifeweaver, I said urgently. The bond between us—it's not just emotional. It's magical. Physical. Your life force sustains my chains, but my power flows into you too. Do you understand what that means?
No.
It means you're not alone. You have a dragon's strength inside you. Sleeping. Waiting. You just have to wake it up.
How?
I hesitated. What I was about to suggest could kill her if she wasn't ready. But doing nothing would definitely kill her.
Tomorrow, when they try to kill you—don't fight it. Don't run from the pain. Embrace it. Let it fuel you. And when you've taken everything they can throw at you, when they think you're broken—
What?
Burn.
The next day...
I felt it the moment they dragged her from her cell. Felt every step as they paraded her through the city. Felt the crowd's hatred washing over her like poison.
And I felt her fear.
But underneath the fear was something else. Something new.
Determination.
That's it, I whispered through the bond. Remember—you're not the weak healer they think you are. You're bonded to the Last Flame. My power is your power.
I'm scared, she admitted.
Good. Fear will keep you sharp. But don't let it control you.
I felt her take a shaky breath. Felt her straighten her spine despite the pain.
Drakarion?
Yes?
Thank you. For believing I'm strong when nobody else does.
My chest tightened with an emotion I hadn't felt in centuries. Something warm and fierce and terrifyingly vulnerable.
You are strong, little one. You just don't know it yet.
Then they pulled her onto the execution platform, and I felt her resolve crystallize into something unbreakable.
She was done being their victim.
Minutes later...
When Elara declared herself a Lifeweaver in front of the entire capital, I felt savage pride surge through our bond.
That's my girl, I thought fiercely. Show them what fear really looks like.
The crowd erupted in chaos. The magistrates panicked exactly as I'd predicted. And Elara stood there glowing with silver light—my light, flowing through her veins—looking like an avenging angel.
But then Theron drew his sword. The Dragon Corps surrounded her. And I realized with sickening clarity that declaration alone wouldn't save her.
They were going to kill her right there on that platform.
I thrashed against my chains with everything I had. The ancient iron groaned and cracked but didn't break. Not enough. Not fast enough.
DRAKARION! Elara's mental scream pierced my mind. They're attacking! I don't know what to do!
Fight back! I roared. Use my power! It's inside you—TAKE IT!
I don't know how!
The bond mark on my chest suddenly blazed white-hot. I looked down in shock to see it expanding, growing, sending tendrils of light through my entire body.
The chains began to crack. Really crack this time.
"Impossible," I breathed.
But it was happening. Elara's desperate need was pulling power through our bond—so much power that it was overwhelming the seals that held me.
Elara, I said urgently. I need you to trust me. Can you do that?
Yes. No hesitation. Complete faith.
Then open yourself to me completely. Drop every wall. Let me in.
But—
NOW!
She did.
And the bond exploded.
Elara's POV
The moment I opened myself to Drakarion, his power slammed into me like a tidal wave.
I gasped, staggering under the weight of it. It felt like swallowing the sun. Like having lightning replace my blood. Like every cell in my body was suddenly on fire—but it didn't hurt.
It felt incredible.
"What's happening to her?" someone in the crowd screamed.
I looked down at my hands. They were glowing. Not just glowing—burning with golden dragon fire that didn't consume my flesh.
Theron charged at me, sword raised. "DIE, YOU FREAK!"
I raised my hand instinctively.
Dragon fire erupted from my palm and slammed into him like a physical blow. He flew backward twenty feet and crashed into a wall.
The crowd went silent.
I stared at my hand in shock. "I—I did that?"
Yes, Drakarion's voice purred in my mind, warm with approval. And you can do so much more. But we need to move fast. My power won't last long through the bond—not yet. Can you run?
Where?
To me. Break me out. Together, we'll burn this empire to ash.
"SEIZE HER!" The head magistrate pointed at me with shaking fingers. "Don't let her escape! If she reaches the dragon, we're all doomed!"
Fifty guards charged at once.
I didn't think. I just moved.
Dragon fire exploded from my body in a ring, forcing everyone back. Then I ran—faster than I'd ever run in my life, Drakarion's power making me unnaturally quick.
"AFTER HER!" Theron roared, climbing to his feet. "ALL CORPS MEMBERS—PURSUE!"
I burst through the crowd, people scattering in terror. Behind me, I heard the thunder of armored boots. Felt arrows whizzing past my head.
Keep going, Drakarion urged. You're almost at the prison entrance. I can feel you getting closer.
There are too many of them! They're going to catch me!
Then stop running and fight.
I don't know how!
You just threw Theron across a square with dragon fire. I'd say you're learning fast.
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
I rounded a corner and skidded to a stop. Dead end. A massive stone wall blocked my path, too high to climb.
Behind me, Theron and fifty Dragon Corps soldiers spread out, weapons drawn and eyes blazing with fury.
"Nowhere left to run, Lifeweaver," Theron snarled. His face was burned from my fire, making him look even more demonic. "Surrender now, and I'll kill you quickly. Resist, and I'll make you beg for death."
I looked at the wall. Then at the soldiers. Then down at my glowing hands.
Drakarion?
Yes?
Can your power break through stone?
His laugh in my mind was dark and delighted. Little one, my power can break through ANYTHING. Show them.
I placed both hands on the wall and pushed.
Dragon fire poured out of me—not in a burst, but in a continuous stream of golden flame so hot the stone began to melt. It liquefied like butter, creating a tunnel straight through.
The soldiers' jaws dropped.
"That's—that's impossible," someone whispered. "No human can channel pure dragon fire without burning alive."
"I'm not just human anymore," I said, surprised by how steady my voice sounded. "I'm dragon-bonded. And you should have killed me when you had the chance."
I stepped through my melted tunnel.
"FIRE!" Theron screamed. "FIRE EVERYTHING!"
Arrows, spells, and weapons flew at me from every direction.
But Drakarion's power wrapped around me like armor. The attacks bounced off harmlessly, and I kept running toward the prison.
That's it! Drakarion's voice was fierce with pride. Run to me! Break my chains! And then we'll show them what happens when you corner a dragon and the one he's claimed to protect!
The prison entrance loomed ahead. Guards saw me coming and tried to bar the door, but I didn't slow down.
I hit the door with dragon fire, and it exploded inward.
I'm coming! I shouted through the bond.
I'm waiting, he replied. And I felt his anticipation—savage and wild and absolutely thrilled.
I raced through corridors I'd walked three days ago as a broken prisoner. Now I was something else entirely.
Now I was coming for my dragon.
The iron door to his cavern stood before me. Locked. Sealed with magic.
I placed my palm against it.
"Elara Veylin," I said clearly. "Lifeweaver. Dragon-bonded. I claim the right to free what was wrongly imprisoned."
Ancient magic recognized my words. Recognized what I was.
The door swung open.
And there he was.
Drakarion in his full dragon form, chained to volcanic rock, golden eyes blazing with three hundred years of rage and pain and desperate hope.
"You came," he breathed.
"I promised I would." I walked toward him, my hands still glowing with his power. "Now let's get you out of those chains."
"It will hurt you," he warned. "The magic required—"
"I don't care." I placed my hands on the first chain. "You saved me. Now I save you."
The chain began to crack under my touch.
Behind me, I heard Theron and his army thundering through the prison corridors.
"They're coming," Drakarion said.
"Let them come." I moved to the second chain, pouring everything I had into breaking it. "By the time they get here, you'll be free."
"And then?"
I looked up at him and smiled—fierce and reckless and absolutely certain.
"Then we burn everything."
The second chain shattered.
Drakarion threw back his head and roared—a sound of pure triumph that shook the entire mountain.
And as the third chain began to crack beneath my glowing hands, as Theron burst through the cavern entrance with murder in his eyes, as the whole empire realized what they'd unleashed—
The Last Flame began to wake.