The sand felt distant, like I wasn't even on it anymore. Kagetsu's words hit me like knives, but I didn't even flinch.
"You're weak. Disgusting. Not even worth twenty percent of my power," he said, calm, measured, like reading off a list.
I could feel my chest tighten, my hands clenching. My skin burned. My mind screamed, but the words I wanted to say—anything to defend myself—stuck somewhere behind my teeth. I didn't care anymore.
"I don't care what happens to me," I muttered under my breath, louder than I meant to. "I need this power. I need it, Kagetsu. I don't care who gets hurt, who dies, who I become. I'll kill you, I'll destroy anyone in my way. I don't care. I need it."
Kagetsu tilted his head beneath the shadow of his hood. I couldn't see his face. Not a hint. Just the purples of his shinobi gi and the glint of a blade that hadn't been there before.
"Bold words for someone who's about to fall," he said.
"Then watch me," I snapped, and that was all the warning I needed.
"Dark dragon, hear my words! Black blood!"
The air seemed to scream. Shadows twisted and bled together. A sword appeared in Kagetsu's hands, jagged and black, almost breathing. I didn't have a chance. None of us did.
Before I could react, he moved—faster than my mind could track. Every strike I thought I could block, every move I tried to make, failed. Camron barely dodged a swipe, Jordan's kunai were deflected before she could even throw. Maya—helpless—stood frozen behind us. And me? I felt every hit push me back, slammed into the ground again and again, until the sand bit into my skin.
And then his boot.
I felt it slam against the back of my head, pressing me into the coarse sand. The air left my lungs. Pain radiated through my skull.
"I'll kill you," he whispered above me. "All of you."
I tasted blood. My vision blurred. But somewhere deep inside, a fire sparked—not heat, not rage, not fear. Something darker. Hungry. Desperate.
"I don't care if I die," I growled, more to myself than him. "I don't care. Give me the power. I'll take it. I'll destroy you if I have to. I don't care anymore."
The black sword flashed. Darkness swallowed everything. My lungs, my ears, my sight—it all vanished.
And then fire.
Red. Orange. Heat so heavy it pressed against my skin and bones. Walls of a palace, molten and gleaming. Flames licking everything. And at the center… him.
The red dragon. Massive, scales like molten steel, eyes glowing like molten metal. I could feel the hunger behind those eyes. Smell the amusement, the delight. This thing wasn't just powerful. It was evil, and it loved that I wanted it.
"Dead?" I asked, voice small and ragged, trembling with adrenaline and raw hunger.
"No," it rumbled, and the sound vibrated through me, made my teeth clatter. "But I can see your thoughts, boy. You want power, don't you? You want it more than air. More than your friends. More than your life."
I swallowed hard, chest heaving. "Yes," I admitted, voice shaking. "I need it. I don't care what happens to me. Give it to me. I'll take it all."
A sharp, predatory laugh rolled through the air. Smoke and fire danced along the walls. "Good," it said, voice like grinding metal. "I love desperation. It makes power taste so sweet."
A glowing sheet of paper appeared, red and gold, floating in the heat between us. Flames licked the edges. Bold letters blazed across it:
STAGE ONE
"Make the contract," the dragon said. "Allow me to look into your future. I will grant you the power you crave… but beware. Every choice, every action, every drop of hunger you feed me… it shapes you. I will watch. I will guide. I will… enjoy every moment."
I reached for it, hands shaking. My vision swirled, heat pressing in on me, every nerve screaming. My mind flashed to the last time—the black fire that wasn't me—but I didn't care.
I needed this. I needed it so badly that the fear didn't exist anymore. Only hunger. Only power. Only fire.
I signed it.
The paper flared, scorching my palm, burning into my skin like molten ink. I could feel it pulsing, a heartbeat in sync with my own.
The dragon's eyes glowed brighter. Its grin widened. "Yes. That's it. Good. Delicious."
I exhaled, chest tight but lighter somehow. I had the power. And I didn't care what it meant.
Because right now, nothing mattered… except that fire.