Far behind them, in the swamps bordering the Crimson Verge, a warband of black-armored riders passed under the broken archway of a fortress long abandoned.
Their leader, a tall figure with silver hair and a crystal monocle, tapped the obsidian handle of his whip and smiled.
"Activate the deathmarks. The egg has shown signs of Flame Sync. The Last Dragon is alive," he said. "Bring me its body. Burn the rest."
> Imperial Division: Black Talon Reapers
Rank: Alpha-Hunt
Mission Priority: Supreme Tier
Reward: A single wish from the Throne Mage Council
They weren't coming to capture.
They were coming to erase.
---
The mountain path twisted upward like a serpent frozen in stone.
Kaela collapsed once, then twice. Both times she tried to rise on her own. I knew if I emerged now, I wouldn't last. My body wasn't fully formed.
But we were running out of time.
And as Kaela dropped beside a frost-covered rock and held me tightly, whispering apologies for being weak—
> [Final Hatch Countdown Initiated]
Soul Sync: 90%
Host Vitality Critical – 11%
Conditions Met: Sovereign Flame Wyrm – Stage I (Hatchling)
Let it break.
---
The sound came first—like thunder cracking against the sky.
Then the glow—a brilliant molten burst of red and gold.
And then—
The shell shattered.
The fragments flew outward like knives, embedding in trees, melting snow, igniting frost.
Kaela gasped, hand flying up to shield her face.
And from the broken remains of the egg, I emerged—Darian Vael reborn—no longer a man, but a creature of scaled power and ancient flame.
My body was small—barely the size of a wolf—but my wings flared wide, black with ember-red veins. My eyes glowed like furnace coals, and my horns curled back like molten blades.
Kaela stared, blood staining her lips.
"Y-you're… beautiful…"
I stepped toward her. My claws burned the ground. With a flick of my tail, I drew the heat into her chest.
> [Passive Skill: Heartfire Bond]
Effect: Stabilizes bonded host
Result: Host Vitality Restored to 43%
Mana Rebalance in Progress…
She slumped into my side, breathing easier.
I curled around her.
Warmth bloomed in the snow.
---
But comfort did not last.
A sharp whistle cut through the mountain air.
Then the sky opened.
And from above, they descended.
Imperial hunters on skycrafts, black spears in hand, their helmets marked with crimson stars. The Black Talons. Death incarnate.
Kaela staggered to her feet. "We have to move!"
> [Skill Unlock: Flame Step – Lv.1]
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Range: 10 meters
Side Effect: Mild Disorientation
I roared—my first cry in this world—and flames burst from my mouth.
The skycraft shuddered. One caught fire. The others dodged, releasing net spells and rune traps.
I grabbed Kaela in my claws and leapt.
Flame Step!
The world blurred.
We reappeared on a rocky ledge higher up the mountain.
Kaela gasped, eyes wide. "You teleported?"
Sort of.
I couldn't explain it yet. But the rage inside me—the fire—they gave me what I needed.
A warhorn sounded.
More were coming.
---
We ran. Together.
Through ice and rock, past old dragon bones buried in the cliffs, through the howling wind that carried the scent of blood and iron.
And as the sun set, casting the sky in burning orange…
I knew this was just the beginning.
I was the last dragon egg.
Now hatched.
And the world would remember fear again.
Night came fast in the Elarian Mountains.
The sky, once a bruised orange from the sunset, now stretched black and endless, freckled with dying stars. Snow blanketed everything, muting even the howls of distant beasts. But atop a jagged cliff where the flame still burned, two figures huddled beside a dying campfire—one human, and one no longer.
Kaela sat close, arms wrapped around herself, her cloak soaked and stiff with frozen blood.
I—Darian—curled my scaled body around her like a protective serpent. Though small, I radiated heat like a living forge.
"I never believed in the old myths," she whispered, voice raw. "That the dragons would return. That the Empire hadn't truly killed them all."
Her hand touched my scales, reverent. "But you… You're real."
> [Passive Bonding Progress: 61%]
New Skill Unlocked: Fireblood Link (Lv. 1)
—Allows host and bonded dragon to share life essence and low-level mana abilities.
Side Effect: Temporary Echo Transfer (Emotion Imprints)
I felt it through the bond.
Her pain. Her fear.
But more than that—I felt her resolve harden like tempered steel.
Kaela wasn't just some desperate runaway anymore. She had seen what I was. What I could become.
And now she'd made her choice.
---
She turned to me. Her eyes glowed faintly, not from firelight—but from something ancient now stirring inside her.
"I want to fight," she said. "I want to live. And if that means standing beside you, dragon… then make the pact. Whatever it takes."
Her voice cracked at the edges, but her spine remained straight.
The old Darian—human, broken, betrayed—might have doubted her. Might have held back.
But I was dragon now.
I didn't doubt.
> [Initiate Fireblood Pact?]
Warning: Once completed, link is irreversible. Shared fate.
Consent Required: Both Entities.
Confirm?
Yes.
Kaela leaned forward, pressing her forehead against my horned skull.
And then—
Fire rushed between us.
Not heat. Not destruction.
But truth.
Her memories poured into me. A childhood in chains. Running from fire. A brother who burned before her eyes. Years as a healer in hiding, patching up rebels, always fearing discovery. And then… me.
Her final hope.
I gave her my past in return.
The betrayal. The poison. The rebirth in the egg. The agony of waiting, trapped in shell, yearning for purpose.
Our souls danced across the bridge of flame.
> [Fireblood Pact Complete]
Bond Strength: Tier I – Emberlink
Effect: Shared Skill Access Enabled
New Skill for Host: Dragon's Resilience (Lv. 1)
New Skill for Dragon: Soulflare Echo – Host Rage Boost (Lv. 1)
Kaela opened her eyes.
And for the first time, she glowed from within.
---
She stood, unsteady but fierce.
"No more running," she muttered. "Let them come."
I felt it too—the pull of something deeper. A magic older than the Empire. Older than the gods themselves.
Somewhere far away, deep in a hidden citadel, an ancient scribe's quill snapped as the old scroll glowed red-hot.
A prophecy rewritten.
The Last Dragon had chosen a Flamebound.
---
But before dawn could rise, the cliff trembled.
A shadow loomed at the mountain pass—a beast not of flesh, but forged in silver and voidsteel.
A hunter's construct. Sentinel-class.
Eyes like blue fire. Limbs spiked with runes. Its chest bore the crest of the Empire: a broken dragon skull.
It raised its arm. Blades hissed from its wrists.
> [Alert: Enemy Presence Detected – Threat Level: B]
Battle Mode Engaged.
Kaela drew her dagger—but this time, her aura blazed.
Not just heat.
Power.
"Together," she said.
I spread my wings, claws igniting.
And we launched forward—one human, one dragon, both reborn in fire.