Chaos broke out in the library as the black dragon roared, making the walls shake and books fall off shelves.
Students ran to hide. Broken glass sparkled on the floor, reflecting the light as the dragon's huge head appeared outside the broken windows.
Its glowing amber eyes locked onto Farid, holding him still. The air felt thick, smelling of smoke and something old, like wet stone and lost memories.
"You cannot run forever," the dragon's voice whispered in Farid's mind, each word a cold blade
Ansel ran after him, eyes wide with both fear and excitement. "This is crazy!" he shouted while ducking as a voice boomed in his mind: "The Pact binds you. Serve or die."
Farid's legs trembled, but he forced himself to move, grabbing Ansel by the arm and dragging him to the back of the library. "We have to get out of here!" he shouted.
Ansel dodged a falling bookshelf. "Dude, this is like something out of a fantasy novel!" he exclaimed with excitement.
"Not now!" Farid yelled at Ansel, his heart racing as they ran between tables and fallen chairs.
The dragon's tail slammed into the building, breaking part of the wall. Dust filled the air and Farid's eyes as he looked around for a way out. The fire escape was their only chance, but it was across the building, out of the dragon's view.
Farid's head was filled with so many thoughts. 'A pact that binds you', these words echoed in his head.
He didn't mean to make a pact like that. He was just so desperate at the moment, scared he was going to die. The voice he heard was clear and serious. Had he accidentally given away his life without realizing it?
A low growl shook the library, and the air suddenly turned cold. Farid looked over the bookshelf and saw the dragon's muzzle pushing through the broken window, its black, shiny scales catching the light. Its nostrils flared, and Farid's stomach twisted as he realized it was sniffing for him.
"Move, Farid!" Ansel shouted, pulling him back as a blast of black fire burned the spot where he was standing. The books burst into flames, and the air smelled like burnt paper.
They ran for the fire escape, Farid's heart pounding. The dragon's roar shook the whole building. When they reached the metal door, Farid pushed it open, and they stumbled onto the rusty stairs.
The cold evening wind hit their faces hard, but they couldn't stop. Above them, the dragon's wings beat loudly as it soared into the sky.
They hurried down the stairs, the metal squeaking under their feet. Farid looked up and saw the dragon hovering above, so huge it blocked the stars.
"It's not slowing down," he gasped, his voice trembling. "Why is it chasing after me?"
Ansel could not answer, he was too focused on not falling as they hit the ground and sprinted toward the alley across the street.
The dragon's shadow went over them, and Farid felt hopeless. They could not outrun such a monster. This wasn't just an animal, it was tied to the curse that had haunted him ever since the coma.
They rushed into the alley and pressed themselves against the wall. Farid was breathing heavily, trying to think.
"Ansel, that book about the Shadow Drake. Did it say how to break the curse?"
Ansel shook his head, his messy curls bouncing. "Not really. It just said the Pact of Eternity ties the victim to the dragon's will. You have to do what it wants or…" He stopped, looking serious.
"Or what?" Farid asked, scared of the answer.
"Or it takes your soul," Ansel said softly. "Forever."
Farid felt a shiver in his stomach. He leaned against the wall, dizzy. "I never wanted this," he muttered. "I didn't even know what I was agreeing to."
Before Ansel could react, a bright light flashed at the other end of the alley, like the one Farid had seen the night before. The dragon's roar turned into a growl, and Farid saw its huge shape pull back into the sky.
As the light faded, the cloaked figure from last night appeared again. Their face was still hidden, but the air around him seemed to hum with quiet power.
"You're not ready for this," the stranger said in a low, firm voice. "You must come with me. Now."
Farid froze, caught between fear and curiosity. "Who are you? And why on earth is this happening to me?"
The stranger came closer, and Farid caught a glimpse of their cold, sharp blue eyes.
"There's no time to explain. The Drake will come back, and when it does, it won't hesitate to kill you. Come with me if you want to survive." The stranger said.
Ansel grabbed Farid's arm. "Dude, this is super shady. We don't even know who this guy is!"
But Farid felt like this stranger might be his only way out. The dragon wasn't going to stop, and he couldn't run forever. "I have no other choice," he said, looking Ansel in the eye. "Stay here. Be safe."
Ansel didn't look comfortable with Farid's decision but gave a reluctant nod. "You better text me later. There's no way I'm losing my best friend to some dragon curse."
Farid gave a faint smile, then turned to the stranger. "Alright. Let's go."
The stranger led Farid through a maze of narrow alleys, moving so quickly and confidently it was clear they knew the city inside out. Farid struggled to keep up, his legs weary from all the running.
The air grew colder as they entered the older parts of the city, filled with crumbling structures, and abandoned shops and warehouses lined the streets.
They stopped at a plain, almost hidden door in the side of an abandoned building. The stranger placed a hand on it, and a faint light pulsed under their palm. The door creaked open, revealing stairs going down into darkness.
Farid paused. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe," the stranger said with a firm tone. "Where the Drake can't find us."
Farid had no choice but to follow. The stairs twisted down in a spiral, and the air grew heavy with the smell of dirt.
At the bottom, they entered a large room illuminated by flickering torches. The walls were covered in carved symbols, some glowing faintly, others faded and dead with age.
A stone table stood in the centre of the room, surrounded by shelves filled with books and strange objects.
"What is this place?" Farid's voice echoed through the wide room.
The stranger took down their hood, revealing a woman with sharp facial features and hair streaked with silver braids behind her head. She looked like she was in her late thirties, but her eyes seemed older, as if she had seen far more than her years.
"This is a sanctuary," she said. "A place hidden from the Shadow Drake and others like it. My name is Elara, and I've been tracking the creature that's after you."
Farid felt confused. "Tracking it? Why? And why is it after me?"
Elara's expression hardened. "Because you made the Pact. The Shadow Drake isn't just any monster, it's part of an ancient curse. It binds itself to a mortal at a moment of desperation. You agreed to its terms, even if you didn't understand them."
"I had no choice!" Farid protested. "I was going to die!"
"I know," Elara said, her voice softening a little. "The Drake feeds on moments like that. It's been doing it for centuries, taking souls to keep its power. But you're different, Farid. You survived the first binding, and that means you have something special inside you, something strong enough to fight it."
Farid shook his head, still trying to process it all. "I'm not strong. I'm just a kid. I don't even understand what's going on."
Elara looked at him closely. "You're more capable than you think. The curse chose you for a reason, and we need to find out why, before the Drake takes you completely."
She went back to the stone table and began untying a leather-bound book. Its pages had turned yellow with age. "The Pact of Eternity is nothing but a pact," she said, tracing a finger over a passage in a language Farid didn't recognize.
"The Drake offers survival if you agree to serve it. If you fail to keep your end of the deal, it will take your soul. But… there is a way to break the curse."
Farid's eyes lit up with hope. "How?"
Elara's face grew serious. "You have to face the Drake and break the bond. But it's not just about killing it. The Shadow Drake is linked to the source of the curse, an artifact called the Obsidian Heart. Destroy the Heart, and the curse will be broken. Fail, and you'll belong to the Drake forever."
Farid's stomach twisted. "So… where is this Obsidian Heart?"
Elara shut the book. "That's the problem. No one knows. The Drake keeps it hidden and will destroy anyone who gets too close."
Farid fell into a nearby chair, his mind racing. A dragon, a curse, an ancient artifact, it was all too much. He was just a high school kid, not some hero from Ansel's fantasy stories.
But the memory of the dragon's eyes, and the weight of its voice, told him this was real. He couldn't run from it forever.
"What am I supposed to do now?" he murmured.
Elara placed a hand on his shoulder, her grip firm but reassuring. "You train, you learn, and you fight. The Drake will come for you again, Farid. And when it does, you have to be ready.".