POV: Kaelion
Valdris—my brother, my friend, now a corpse puppet—lunged straight for Serina's throat.
I moved faster than thought, slamming into his rotting body mid-air. We crashed through the cave wall in a tangle of scales and fury. His dead eyes stared at me, empty of recognition. Empty of everything that had made him Valdris.
What have they done to you?
"Kaelion!" Serina's scream pierced through my grief.
No time to mourn. I kicked off Valdris's chest, sending his corpse tumbling backward, and shot back toward Serina. She was still on my back, clutching my scales with white-knuckled hands.
Through our bond, I felt her terror mixing with determination. She wasn't running. Foolish, brave girl.
"That's Valdris the Swift," Commander Drace shouted to his guards, pointing at the undead dragon. "He died three hundred years ago in the Dragon Wars! How is he—"
"Blood magic," I snarled, landing between Serina and the guards. My voice came out like grinding stones. "They reanimated him. Made him their slave even in death."
The Drace family. I knew that name, knew it like poison in my veins. His great-great-grandfather had been there the day they sealed me. Had smiled while they chained my wings and bled me dry.
And now his descendant dared come here with demands.
"You want surrender?" I roared, letting my power flare. The cave shook. Stalactites rained down. "Your family took everything from me! My freedom! My kin! And now you defile my brother's corpse!"
Red magic crackled as Isadora stepped forward, unbothered by my rage. She was beautiful the way a viper was beautiful—all sharp edges and venom.
"Oh, the mighty World-End Dragon has feelings," she mocked. "How sweet. But look at you—barely holding human form. Centuries of imprisonment have made you weak."
She wasn't wrong. My power was returning, but slowly. Too slowly. A full transformation would drain me completely right now.
But I'd learned to fight smart when I couldn't fight strong.
"Weak enough to kill you," I said coldly.
Isadora's laugh cut like glass. Then her eyes locked on Serina, still pressed against my scaled back. "And this is your bonded? This little slum rat playing dress-up with dragon marks?"
White-hot fury exploded in my chest.
Not at the insult to me. At the way she looked at Serina like she was nothing. Like she was disposable. Worthless.
When had I started thinking of the girl as mine to protect?
The thought should have scared me. Instead, it felt right. Like something clicking into place after being broken for centuries.
"Say that again," I growled, my claws digging gouges in the stone floor. "Insult her again, and I'll show you exactly how weak I am."
Isadora's smile faltered. Just for a second, but I saw it—fear flickering in her eyes.
Good. She should be afraid.
"Kill them," she commanded her guards. "But bring me the girl alive. Her blood will be useful."
The battle exploded.
Guards rushed forward with spelled weapons. Silvaris crashed into them from the left, his silver scales flashing. Rebels fought with desperate fury. Magic lit up the cave in a rainbow of destruction.
And Valdris—dead, mindless Valdris—launched himself at me again.
I had to shift partially, let my wings spread even though it hurt. Power drained from my core, but I needed the speed. Valdris moved like he had in life, all grace and deadly precision. Isadora's magic controlled him perfectly.
We clashed in midair. His claws raked my side. My teeth found his shoulder, but he didn't flinch—corpses don't feel pain.
I'm sorry, brother, I thought as we fought. I should have saved you.
"Kaelion, behind you!" Serina's warning came through the bond a heartbeat before Isadora's blood magic spear shot toward my back.
I twisted, barely dodging. The spell grazed my wing, burning through scale. The smell hit me—dragon essence. She'd harvested it, woven it into her magic.
They'd been cutting apart dragons. Using our blood, our bones, our very souls as spell components.
Murder sang in my veins.
I dropped Serina onto a ledge—gently, despite the rage making my vision red—and went after Isadora. She threw up shields, but I smashed through them like paper. My claws were inches from her throat when Commander Drace appeared, his sword glowing with stolen dragon power.
"Stand down!" he ordered.
"Make me," I snarled.
Below us, the battle raged. I saw Serina fighting too, her silver fire pushing back guards who got too close. She was clumsy, untrained, but fierce. Her flames danced like starlight given form.
Pride swelled in my chest. That's my bonded, some primal part of me thought.
Drace's sword clashed against my scales. He was skilled, I'd give him that. But he kept hesitating, his strikes not quite committed. His eyes kept darting to Serina.
"You," he said, his voice strained. "You're the Smoke Thief."
Serina froze. "How do you—"
"I've let you go before. Multiple times." Drace's face twisted with something like guilt. "The girl who stole medicine for sick kids. Food for the starving. I couldn't bring myself to arrest someone so—"
He stopped, staring at the dragon mark glowing on her chest. His sword arm dropped.
"Gods," he whispered. "They cursed a child. That boy—your brother—they cursed him deliberately to draw you out."
The confession hung in the air.
"You knew?" Serina's voice cracked with betrayal.
"I suspected. I should have—" Drace's words cut off as Isadora's scream of fury split the air.
"ENOUGH!"
Red magic erupted from her hands, not aimed at me or the rebels. Aimed at the cave ceiling.
I saw what she was doing a second too late. "NO!"
The spell hit the support structures—the ancient pillars holding up tons of rock. They cracked. Crumbled.
"EVERYONE OUT!" Silvaris roared, grabbing rebels and throwing them toward the exits.
But there wasn't time. The ceiling was coming down now, and Serina was directly beneath the worst of it.
I didn't think. Couldn't think. Just moved.
My body slammed into hers, knocking her down as I wrapped myself around her. My wings spread wide, my scales hardening, every bit of my remaining power flooding into defense.
The world collapsed.
Tons of rock crashed down. My wings took the impact, bones cracking under the weight. Pain exploded through every nerve. I roared, but didn't let go of Serina. Couldn't let go.
She was pressed against my chest, her heartbeat hammering against mine through the bond. Alive. She was alive.
The thunder of falling stone finally stopped. Dust choked the air. Silence.
"Kaelion?" Serina's voice was tiny, terrified. "Kaelion, are you—"
"Alive," I managed, though it hurt to breathe. "Are you hurt?"
"No. You saved me." Her hands found my face in the darkness. "But you're hurt. I can feel it through the bond. Your wings—"
"Will heal." Eventually. If I had enough power left.
We were buried. Trapped under who-knew-how-many tons of rock. My broken wings couldn't move the debris. I could barely stay conscious.
And then I felt it—that familiar, horrible magic signature above us.
Isadora hadn't left.
Serina felt it too. "She's still up there."
"Digging us out," I said grimly. "She wants you alive, remember? Your blood."
"Then we have to—"
"No." I tightened my hold on her. "You don't understand. I used everything I had left protecting you. I can't fight anymore. Not like this."
The weight of those words settled between us. I'd never admitted weakness to anyone. Not in a thousand years.
"Then what do we do?" Serina whispered.
I felt the bond between us, that thread of life and power. I'd been drawing from her to fuel my magic, keeping myself strong while she grew weaker. It was how the contract worked—the dragon took, the human gave.
But the bond could flow both ways.
I'd never tried it before. Never wanted to risk giving my power to a human. Dragons who did that became vulnerable, their strength divided.
But looking at Serina's face in the dim glow of our marks, I knew what I had to do.
"Trust me," I said.
And I opened the bond completely, letting my ancient power flood into her.
Serina gasped as dragon fire—true dragon fire, not the weak sparks she'd been managing—poured into her small human body. Her eyes blazed gold. Her skin glowed with silver light.
Above us, Isadora's magic broke through the last of the rocks.
Serina looked at me, power radiating from every pore, and whispered: "What's happening to me?"
The stone above us exploded inward, and Isadora's triumphant face appeared.
"Found you."