We left the capital before dawn.
No banners. No crowds. Just a single black carriage reinforced with layers of concealment, rolling through the morning mist like a shadow that refused to be seen. Outside, the world still slept — unaware that something ancient had begun to wake.
Inside, the air was thick with tension.
Seraphina sat across from me, her silver hair braided loosely over one shoulder, her eyes reflecting faint starlight from the sigils embedded in the walls. Liara leaned near the window, watching the horizon with unreadable calm, while Mireya rested with her sword across her knees, always ready.
No one spoke for a while.
The Dragon Tomb called to me.
Not with words.
With instinct.
With memory that wasn't mine.
Something in my blood stirred the farther we traveled from the city — a low, heavy pulse that matched the rhythm of the land itself.
"You feel it too, don't you?" Seraphina asked softly.
"Yes."
She smiled faintly. "It's like the world is holding its breath."
By noon, the terrain had changed.
Lush plains gave way to scorched earth. The sky grew hazy, tinted with faint red, and the spiritual energy in the air turned thick and heavy. Even Mireya's breathing slowed as if the world itself resisted movement.
"This place…" Liara murmured. "It's already bleeding."
Ahead, in the distance, rose a jagged mountain split down the middle like a wound that never healed. Crimson light leaked from the crack, pulsing slowly, like a heartbeat.
The Dragon Tomb.
Seraphina's fingers tightened around mine.
"Whatever Kael did… he woke something that doesn't want to be woken."
"Then we'll put it back to sleep."
We made camp at the foot of the mountain.
The air was warm despite the falling sun, carrying a faint metallic scent — old blood, ancient fire.
Seraphina prepared tea over a small spirit flame, her movements careful but gentle. Even here, even now, she made space for something normal.
"Drink," she said, offering me a cup. "It'll help steady your energy."
I took it.
Moments like this — small, quiet, intimate — were what Kael had tried to steal from me.
And failed.
Liara leaned back against a rock, watching us with a faint smile. "You two are disgustingly soft sometimes."
Seraphina stuck her tongue out at her.
Mireya snorted.
For a brief moment, we weren't on the brink of catastrophe.
We were just… together.
That night, the mountain roared.
Not with sound — but with pressure.
The ground trembled beneath us, and a wave of spiritual force washed over the camp like a hot wind. My vision blurred, and for a split second…
I saw wings.
Massive.
Broken.
Waiting.
The Dragon Tomb had fully awakened.
And whatever was inside…
Knew I was coming.
🐉