Drakarion's POV
The third chain shattered, and for the first time in three hundred years, I felt power surge back into my body.
It wasn't much—not with two chains still binding me—but it was enough to move. Enough to fight. Enough to protect the brave, foolish human girl who'd risked everything to free me.
Theron's sword came down at Elara's unprotected head.
My tail moved before I consciously decided to act. It swept across the cavern floor and caught the captain mid-strike, launching him into the wall with a satisfying crack of stone and bone.
"Touch her again," I snarled, "and I'll tear you apart slowly."
Elara looked up at me with those impossibly kind eyes, breathing hard but uninjured. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. We're still trapped." I gestured with my chained foreleg at the army of Dragon Corps soldiers pouring through the entrance. "And they look angry."
"KILL THEM BOTH!" Theron screamed, clutching his ribs as he staggered upright. "THE DRAGON FIRST—CUT OFF THE SOURCE OF HER POWER!"
Smart strategy. If they killed me, the bond would break and Elara would lose her dragon fire. She'd be defenseless.
Like hell I'd let that happen.
"Elara," I said urgently as soldiers charged from every direction. "The fourth chain. Break it now."
"But you're surrounded—"
"I can hold them off with three legs free. But if you want me at full strength, I need that chain gone." I spread my wings—tattered and scarred but still functional—creating a protective barrier around her. "Work fast, little Lifeweaver. I'll buy you time."
She didn't argue. Just pressed her glowing hands against the massive fourth chain and closed her eyes in concentration.
Good girl. Trust me like I'm learning to trust her.
A dozen soldiers rushed me at once. I swept my tail again, catching three of them. Slashed with my one free claw, forcing five more back. Snapped my jaws at the ones trying to flank me.
But there were so many. And I was weak from centuries of torture and blood draining.
A spear pierced my shoulder. I roared in pain and fury.
"DRAKARION!" Elara's scream cut through the chaos.
"Keep working!" I commanded, even as blood—my precious golden blood—leaked from the wound. "Don't stop!"
Another spear. Then another. They were targeting my wings now, trying to cripple me permanently.
Through the pain, I felt Elara's emotions flooding through our bond: terror for me, desperation, and a fierce determination that reminded me why I'd decided she was worth saving in the first place.
The fourth chain began to crack.
"NO!" Theron saw what was happening and charged straight at Elara, ignoring me completely. "I won't let you free that monster!"
I tried to intercept him, but three soldiers grabbed my tail, holding me back just long enough—
Theron's sword plunged toward Elara's back.
Time seemed to slow. I watched the blade descend, knowing I couldn't reach her in time, feeling the bond between us pulse with shared panic.
Then Elara did something that shocked us all.
She spun around, grabbed Theron's sword hand with her bare, glowing palm, and stopped the blade cold.
Her hand should have been cut in half. But dragon fire coated her skin like armor, and the sword couldn't pierce it.
Theron's eyes went wide with disbelief. "How—"
"I told you," Elara said, her voice steady despite the fear I felt through our bond. "I'm not weak anymore."
She shoved him backward with strength that definitely wasn't human. Theron stumbled, and Elara turned back to the chain without another glance at him.
Pride surged through me so intensely it almost hurt. That's my Lifeweaver, I thought fiercely. Show them what you're made of.
The fourth chain exploded under her touch.
Power rushed into me like a flood breaking through a dam. My wounds began healing. My wings stretched to full span, no longer tattered but whole and magnificent. My scales gleamed with the luster they'd lost centuries ago.
I was still not at full strength—two chains remained. But I was close enough.
"Everyone RUN!" one of the soldiers screamed.
Smart man.
I drew in a deep breath, feeling fire build in my chest for the first time in three hundred years. Real fire. Dragon fire. Not the weak embers they'd left me with, but flames hot enough to melt mountains.
"Elara, get behind me," I ordered.
She scrambled back without hesitation, pressing herself against my foreleg.
Then I exhaled.
Dragon fire filled the cavern—a roaring wall of golden flame that sent soldiers scrambling for the exit, screaming and dropping their weapons. I didn't aim to kill—just to terrify. To remind them why dragons had once ruled this empire.
To show them what they'd imprisoned for three centuries.
When the flames cleared, the cavern was empty except for Theron. He'd managed to shield himself with magic, but his face was burned and his eyes were filled with genuine fear for the first time since I'd met him.
"You can't win," he said, but his voice shook. "Even if she frees you completely, the entire empire will hunt you. Every Dragon Corps soldier. Every magistrate. Every—"
"Let them come." I lowered my head until my eyes were level with his. "I've waited three hundred years for this. I won't hide. I won't run. I'll burn your precious empire to ash and make sure everyone knows why."
Theron's hand moved toward something at his belt—a vial of dark liquid.
"Don't," Elara warned, stepping out from behind me. Her hands still glowed with power. "Whatever that is, it won't save you."
"It's not for me." Theron's smile was cruel despite his fear. He threw the vial at the ground between us.
It shattered. Black smoke exploded upward, filling the cavern so thickly I couldn't see.
"Elara!" I called out, panicking. "Where are you?"
"I'm here! I'm—" Her voice cut off with a gasp.
The smoke cleared as quickly as it had come.
Elara stood frozen in place, her eyes wide and her body rigid. Black marks crawled up her arms like living tattoos—some kind of paralysis curse.
And Theron had his sword pressed against her throat.
"Here's what's going to happen," he said calmly, like he wasn't seconds from death. "You're going to stand very still while I slit her throat. When she dies, your bond breaks. You return to your chains. And I'll make sure they bury you so deep you'll never see daylight again."
Rage like I'd never known consumed me. "Release her. NOW."
"Or what? You'll burn me alive and kill her in the process?" Theron pressed the blade harder against Elara's skin. A thin line of red appeared. "I don't think so. You care about this pathetic girl. I can see it. Which means I win."
Through the bond, I felt Elara's terror. But also her fury. And underneath both... a plan forming.
Drakarion, her voice whispered in my mind. When I say 'now,' close your eyes.
What are you—
Trust me. Like I trusted you.
I didn't understand. But I'd learned something in the past few days: Elara was far more clever than anyone gave her credit for.
I trust you, I sent back.
"Say goodbye to your dragon, Lifeweaver," Theron whispered, raising his sword for the killing blow.
"NOW!" Elara screamed.
I shut my eyes instantly.
Even through my closed eyelids, I saw the flash. Brilliant silver light exploded from Elara's body—so bright it was like staring at the sun. I heard Theron scream. Heard his sword clatter to the ground.
When I opened my eyes, Theron was on his knees, clutching his face. Blood leaked between his fingers.
"MY EYES! I CAN'T SEE! WHAT DID YOU DO?"
Elara stood over him, her whole body glowing like a star. The paralysis curse had burned away completely.
"Lifeweaver magic isn't just healing," she said quietly. "It's life energy. Pure light. The opposite of your dark magic." She looked at me, and despite everything, she smiled. "I wasn't sure that would work."
"You weren't SURE?" I couldn't decide whether to be impressed or horrified.
"It worked, didn't it?"
Fair point.
Theron tried to grab for her blindly, but Elara simply stepped aside. He fell forward onto his face, still screaming about his eyes.
"Will he—"
"He'll live," Elara said. "His sight might come back in a few weeks. Maybe." She didn't sound particularly concerned either way.
I stared at this gentle girl who'd just permanently blinded her tormentor without a hint of regret and felt something warm and dangerous bloom in my chest.
She wasn't just my Lifeweaver. She was magnificent.
"Two chains left," Elara said, walking toward me with determination in every step. "Let's finish this."
But before she could reach the fifth chain, the entire mountain shook.
Not from dragon fire or magic. From something else. Something huge moving beneath us.
"What was that?" Elara whispered.
I knew that tremor. I'd felt it once before, three hundred years ago, on the day they imprisoned me.
"They're activating the Collapse Seal," I said, horror flooding through me. "The magistrates installed it as a failsafe. If I ever broke free, they could trigger it and—"
The mountain shook again, harder this time. Rocks fell from the ceiling.
"And what?" Elara demanded.
I met her eyes and saw her realize the truth before I said it.
"They're going to bury us alive."