The wind howled through the darkened skies, carrying with it the whispers of an ancient prophecy. In the remote village of Brath, nestled between towering mountains and a dense forest, the air was thick with tension. Darian, a young boy no older than sixteen, sat on the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea, staring at the dark horizon. The villagers had always spoken of the prophecy in hushed tones, fearful of what it foretold.
"Sumner will rise when the world is broken," Darian's father had once told him. "The last dragon will come forth, and with it, the fate of all living things will be decided."
Darian never believed in old stories, but tonight felt different. The sky seemed darker, the wind sharper, and the sea more violent than ever before. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling crawling up his spine.
Suddenly, a crack of thunder split the air, and the sky lit up with flashes of lightning. The storm was unlike anything Darian had ever seen—unnatural, as if the heavens themselves were in turmoil. He stood, eyes wide as the storm rolled in, faster than it should have. The waves crashed violently against the cliffs below, and from the depths of the ocean, a roar echoed.
Darian froze.
It wasn't the roar of thunder.
It was something far older. Far more powerful.
He turned and ran back toward the village, heart pounding in his chest. His legs moved faster than they ever had before, as though some force urged him forward. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew the storm was a warning.
As he reached the village, people were already outside, staring at the sky in fear. His mother rushed to him, grabbing his arm. "Darian! The storm—it's the prophecy!"
"I heard it," Darian said breathlessly. "Something's coming."
Before anyone could respond, the ground trembled. The villagers screamed as the earth shook beneath their feet. Buildings crumbled, and the sky seemed to crack open. From the heart of the storm, a colossal figure emerged—its wings spread wide, its scales shimmering in the flashes of lightning.
A dragon.
The last of its kind.
Sumner.
The prophecy had begun.