Ashkaroth's POV
Training a Dragon-Speaker in one day was impossible.
I'd known that from the moment Mira laid out the reality: tomorrow, Elara would have to choose between her brother's life and keeping me free. The spell required perfect synchronization between us—our magic flowing as one, our thoughts aligned, our souls working in absolute harmony.
We'd barely managed not to destroy each other during the bond stabilization. Perfect harmony? Laughable.
"Again," I commanded, watching Elara struggle to summon dragon fire without burning herself.
She glared at me, her violet eyes blazing with frustration. Silver flames flickered around her hands, then sputtered out. "I'm trying!"
"Trying isn't good enough. Tomorrow, if your control slips for even a second, the spell will kill your brother and re-seal me." I crossed my arms. "So try harder."
"You're not helping by being an ass about it!"
"I'm being realistic. There's a difference." I moved closer, examining her magic. "You're fighting the fire instead of guiding it. Dragon flame responds to will, not force."
"Then show me!" She thrust her hands toward me, frustrated. "Stop criticizing and actually teach me!"
Fair point. I'd been so focused on pushing her that I'd forgotten she'd only known about her Dragon-Speaker abilities for a few days.
Three hundred years of isolation had made me forget how to teach. How to be patient.
I took her hands in mine, ignoring the jolt of connection the touch created. The bond made physical contact... intense. Every time we touched, I felt her emotions more clearly. Right now: frustration, fear, and determination fighting for dominance.
"Feel the fire inside you," I said quietly. "Don't grab it. Don't force it. Just... acknowledge it. Let it know you're there."
"That sounds like nonsense."
"It's how dragon magic works. We don't command fire. We invite it to join us." I closed my eyes, letting my own magic rise to the surface. "Feel what I'm doing through the bond. Mirror it."
She closed her eyes, her breathing evening out. Through our connection, I felt her reaching for her magic—tentatively at first, then with more confidence.
Silver fire bloomed around our joined hands. Not wild or dangerous this time. Controlled. Beautiful.
"There," I said. "That's it. That's—"
An explosion rocked the cave.
We broke apart, fire vanishing as we spun toward the entrance. Smoke and dust poured in from the tunnel. Screams echoed from where Mira's team had been standing guard.
"We're under attack!" Mira's voice shouted. "Multiple hostiles! They found us!"
Impossible. This lair had been hidden for three centuries. No one should have been able to—
The bracelet. Of course. The cursed spy device was still on Elara's wrist, broadcasting our location.
"Take Elara deeper into the cave!" I ordered Mira. "I'll handle the attackers."
"No!" Elara grabbed my arm. "We fight together. That's the whole point of the bond, remember?"
"You're not ready—"
"I'll never be ready if you keep protecting me from every fight!" Her eyes flashed. "We're partners. Start treating me like one."
She was right. I hated that she was right.
"Fine. But stay close and follow my lead." I shifted partially, scales spreading across my arms and back, claws extending. "And if I tell you to run, you run. Understood?"
"Understood."
We rushed toward the entrance together. The tunnel was filled with smoke, making it hard to see. But I could smell them—humans, at least a dozen, armed with weapons that stank of anti-dragon magic.
Hunters. Professional dragon killers.
They must have been waiting for the bracelet to lead them here.
The first hunter emerged from the smoke, swinging a blade covered in runes. I caught his wrist and broke it, sending him crashing into the wall. Two more came at me from the sides. I spun, using my tail to sweep their legs out.
"Behind you!" Elara shouted.
I turned to see a hunter aiming a crossbow at my back. Before I could move, silver fire erupted from Elara's hands, engulfing the bolt mid-flight and turning it to ash.
The hunter stared in shock. "She's using dragon magic! She really is—"
Elara hit him with another blast, knocking him unconscious.
"Not bad," I admitted.
"Compliments later. More coming!" She positioned herself back-to-back with me, just like we'd practiced. Through the bond, I felt her fear—but also her focus. She wasn't panicking.
Good. Fear without panic was useful.
More hunters poured in. We fought as one unit—when I created an opening, she exploited it. When she needed cover, I provided it. The bond guided our movements, making us move like we'd been fighting together for years instead of hours.
For a brief moment, I felt something I hadn't felt in centuries: hope. Maybe we could actually pull this off tomorrow. Maybe—
Then I felt it. A presence that made my scales ripple with instinctive dread.
"Elara," I said quietly. "We need to leave. Now."
"What? We're winning—"
"No. These hunters are just a distraction." I grabbed her hand. "The real threat is coming. I can feel it."
The remaining hunters suddenly fled, scrambling over each other to escape. That confirmed it. Whatever was coming scared even them.
The temperature in the cave dropped. Frost spread across the walls despite the mountain heat. And from the tunnel entrance, a figure emerged.
It looked human at first glance—a man in elegant clothes, with pale skin and dark hair. But its eyes were wrong. Too bright. Too knowing. And it moved wrong, like it was still learning how to operate a human body.
"World-Breaker," it said, its voice layered with harmonics that made my teeth ache. "How kind of you to make our hunt so easy."
"What are you?" I positioned myself in front of Elara.
"I'm what the nobles summoned when they realized a dragon might escape." It smiled, showing too many teeth. "I'm what they promised their souls to, in exchange for power to control you. I'm a demon, dragon. And I've been waiting three hundred years to meet you."
A demon. They'd actually summoned a demon to bind me.
"The seal wasn't just dragon magic," I realized. "They wove demon contracts into it. That's why it hurt so much. Why it drained me so efficiently."
"Very clever." The demon's smile widened. "And now that you're free, the contract demands I either recapture you or kill you. Personally, I'd prefer the latter. Dragon souls are... delicious."
Through the bond, I felt Elara's terror. She'd never faced anything like this. Hell, I'd only fought demons once, centuries ago, and barely survived.
"Run," I told her. "Use the back exit. Get to the resistance safe houses. I'll hold it off."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"This isn't negotiable! A demon will kill you just to hurt me. You're a liability in this fight." The words came out harsher than I intended, but I needed her to listen. "Go. Now!"
For a moment, she hesitated. Then she ran—not toward the back exit, but toward Mira and the others still fighting in the cavern.
Smart. She was getting them out instead of just saving herself.
The demon laughed. "How sweet. The dragon cares about the girl. This will make killing her so much more satisfying."
"You'll have to go through me first."
"Oh, I know." It cracked its borrowed neck. "That's the fun part."
The demon attacked faster than any human could move. I barely blocked its first strike, claws meeting claws in a shower of sparks. We crashed around the cave, destroying everything in our path.
I was stronger. But it was faster. And it had three hundred years of preparation while I'd been starving in a seal.
A lucky blow sent me crashing into the wall. The demon was on me instantly, its hand around my throat.
"Any last words, World-Breaker?"
Through the bond, I felt Elara's panic. She was watching somehow, feeling my pain. If I died here, she'd die too. The bond would kill her even if the demon didn't.
I couldn't let that happen.
With the last of my strength, I teleported—not away from the demon, but toward Elara. I grabbed her and Mira and teleported again, this time far away. To the one place I'd sworn I'd never return to.
The Crimson Wastes.
We materialized in the desert wasteland, miles from anywhere. Elara was shouting something, but I couldn't hear her. My vision was fading. The demon's attack had done more damage than I'd realized.
I felt myself falling. Felt Elara catching me, her hands on my face, her voice desperate.
"Don't you dare die on me!" Her mental voice screamed through the bond. "We have a deal! We face everything together!"
Sorry, little Speaker, I thought back weakly. But some things even dragons can't survive.
The last thing I felt was her tears hitting my face.
Then darkness swallowed me.