Kael did not realize how loud the city was until it fell silent behind him.
The further he and Seris moved through the descending tunnels, the more the sounds of gears, engines, and distant crowds faded replaced by dripping water, shifting stone, and the echo of their own footsteps. Each step felt heavier than the last, as though the world itself was pressing against his spine, reminding him that he had crossed a line that could not be uncrossed.
Kael's breathing was uneven.
Not from exhaustion from fear he refused to name.
His hair clung damply to his forehead, and his eyes, bright even in the gloom, darted constantly. His youthful face was tight with tension, lips pressed thin, jaw clenched so hard it ached. He looked like a boy forcing himself to wear a man's resolve.
Seris noticed.
"You're shaking," she said without looking at him.
"I'm not," Kael replied automatically.
She glanced back then. Her pale gray eyes narrowed, sharp beneath the lantern glow, taking in his rigid posture, the way his hands trembled slightly at his sides.
"You're doing it anyway," she said. "Just quietly."
Kael swallowed.
"I keep expecting it to stop," he admitted. "The voice. The feeling."
It will not, the dragon murmured gently. You are no longer alone.
That thought should have comforted him.
Instead, it made his chest tighten.
They reached the cavern opening slowly, the tunnel widening into a massive hollow carved by ancient hands. The sight stole the breath from Kael's lungs not because it was beautiful, but because it was alive.
Fungal lights bloomed across the cavern walls like constellations. Stone bridges arched over a glowing chasm below, where magic-infused water flowed thick and slow. Settlements clung to the rock face homes built from scavenged metal, wood, and bone.
People watched.
Kael felt it immediately the weight of eyes.
Humans.Beast folk.
They were more human than he had imagined. Faces lined with worry and age, children peeking from behind pillars, guards gripping spears with hands that shook just slightly. Only small things marked them as different—amber eyes, faint fur along the jaw, ears shaped just a little too sharply.
And they were all staring at him.
Kael's shoulders hunched instinctively. He had spent his life unnoticed. Invisible. Now, standing there with ash on his face and dragon fire in his veins, he felt painfully exposed.
Then the growl came.
Low. Deep. Wrong.
The sound crawled across Kael's skin like ice.
His head snapped toward the far side of the cavern.
The magic beast emerged slowly from shadow.
It was not grotesque just wrong. Its scaled body moved with unnatural stiffness, veins of corrupted magic glowing beneath its hide like infected wounds. Its eyes burned dull red, unfocused, furious, terrified.
Fear surged through Kael so sharply it stole his breath.
I can't do this, a part of him whispered. I'm just a boy.
Weapons were raised. Shouts rang out. Panic rippled through the settlement.
Seris lifted her pistol, her face pale, teeth clenched. "Kael don't freeze"
But he wasn't looking at her.
The beast's gaze locked onto him.
And something inside of him shifted.
The rage faltered. Confusion bled through the creature's stance. It sniffed the air, head lowering slightly, as if scenting something familiar.
Kael felt the dragon rise within him not overwhelming.
But present.
It knows you, the dragon said.
Kael's heart pounded so loudly he could hear it in his ears. His eyes burned, emotion rising behind them, fear, grief, compassion tangled so tightly he couldn't separate them.
"It's hurting," Kael whispered, his voice barely audible even to himself.
Against every instinct screaming at him to run, Kael stepped forward.
Each step felt like walking into fire.
Seris turned on him, fury and terror written plainly across her sharp features. "Kael, stop! You don't owe them your life!"
He stopped just short of the beast, his hands trembling openly now. His face was pale, eyes glassy but not with weakness, but with overwhelming empathy.
"I owe it understanding," he said softly.
He reached out.
The moment his fingers touched the beast's brow, agony exploded through him.
Kael cried out, collapsing to one knee as images tore through his mind magic ripped apart, instinct twisted into hunger, pain without language. His face contorted, tears streaking down his cheeks, his youthful features stripped bare of pretense.
Share it, the dragon urged, voice steady. Do not bear it alone.
Kael gasped, gripping the stone, then pressed his hand back against the creature.
"I hear you," he said hoarsely. "I won't let you drown."
The corruption recoiled.
The glow dimmed.
The beast shuddered and then, impossibly, lowered its head.
Bowed.
The cavern fell deathly silent.
Kael sagged forward, chest heaving, his eyes showed exhaustion which crashed over him. When he looked up, his eyes were red-rimmed, raw, but alive with something new, resolve forged in pain.
He had crossed another line.
There was no going back now.
And somewhere, far beneath chains and stone, a dragon watched with quiet pride as the world took its first step toward change.