Kaelen's body trembled as if a storm were raging inside of him. His skin burned with an intensity he couldn't explain. His heart raced, faster and faster, each beat like the pounding of a drum that filled his chest. His breath came in shallow gasps. It felt as though the very air around him was thickening, pushing in on him, trying to suffocate him. But worse than that—he could feel something else. Power. Uncontrollable, raw energy coursing through him, from his core to his fingertips. It was as if his soul was waking up.
He opened his eyes just in time to see the dragon's enormous jaws closing in on him. The terrifying darkness of its eyes locked onto his. It was too fast. He tried to move, to fight, but his body wouldn't obey. The jaws snapped, teeth sharp like spears, and then—
Darkness.
His world turned into a void, silent and cold, like a deep, endless ocean. He couldn't feel his hands or his feet. His mind seemed to drift away, lost in the vastness. The darkness pressed in from all sides, suffocating, yet empty, hollow.
Then—there was a light.
A flicker, a tiny glimmer far off in the distance. It was soft, at first, just a dot against the blackness. But it pulled at him. Instinctively, Kaelen reached for it, his fingers stretching, desperate to grasp it. His body—his soul—yearned for the light as if it were the only thing that could save him.
The farther he reached, the clearer the whispers became. At first, they were distant, impossible to understand. But as he pushed on, they grew louder, more distinct, until he could hear the voice. It was a voice he knew well. Lira.
"Kaelen…"
His name echoed, soft but powerful, like a wind blowing through a vast canyon. There was a weight to it, a command. He felt the pull in his chest, the power of the call dragging him closer to the light.
"Kaelen, listen to me…"
Her voice trembled now, filled with something Kaelen couldn't name. Fear? Worry? The words were urgent, pleading. But it wasn't just her voice he heard. There was something else, a deeper sound beneath it. A rumble, low and ominous, like the very earth itself, was shaking.
"Kaelen, you must choose."
Choose? His mind swirled with confusion. What was he choosing? His body, still trapped in the darkness, felt like it was being torn apart by the force of the choice.
The light ahead of him grew brighter, almost blinding until he could no longer see anything else. The light was no longer a glimmer. It was a flood. And it was coming for him.
Before he could understand what was happening, the light engulfed him.
And then—everything shifted.
Kaelen found himself standing, on solid ground beneath his feet, air heavy with a strange, powerful energy. He could feel the change instantly. The air was thick, charged, full of an ancient magic that hummed beneath his skin. His head spun as he tried to make sense of it. The world was… different. Not the Spirit Realm. No. It was something older. Something far more dangerous.
He looked around, heart pounding, taking in his surroundings. The sky above him was dark, but not like the black void he had been in. This was a sky that felt alive, swirling with clouds that crackled with energy. The earth beneath his feet was hard and ancient, covered with sharp rocks and deep crevices. In the distance, he saw mountains towering high, their peaks lost in the swirling clouds.
Then, he saw her.
Lira.
But not the way he remembered her. She stood before him, towering, her scales gleaming in the dim light. Her wings, wide and majestic, stretched high into the sky. But her eyes—those eyes. They were no longer warm, no longer the reassuring gaze of a guide. They were cold. Dark. Tired.
She looked at him, her gaze filled with a mixture of pride and sorrow.
"This is the past," Lira spoke. Her voice was like the rumbling of thunder, deep and resonant. "This is where it all began. Your awakening. The true beginning of your power."
Kaelen's mouth went dry. "What… what is this place?"
"This is the land of the ancients," she replied, her voice lowering. "The place where dragons like me and… others were born. But it is not as it was before."
Her words hung in the air, heavy with meaning. Kaelen could feel the truth of her words, as though the land itself was calling out to him. His body—his dragon side—was awakening, but it was not without cost. He felt the power in him, but it was raw, untrained, untamed.
Suddenly, the air around them shifted, the earth beneath his feet cracking. A shadow passed over him, blocking out the dim light from above.
A dragon.
Kaelen's heart skipped a beat. He spun around to face it. The creature was massive, towering over him, its wings spread wide, blocking out the sky. Its scales were pitch black, dark as night, and its eyes burned with a deep, red fury.
"This is what awaits you," Lira's voice was barely a whisper. "The end of the dragon's age. His age. You must face him."
Kaelen's breath caught in his throat as the dark dragon's red eyes locked onto him. It growled low, a sound that shook the very ground beneath them. He could feel its power, thick and heavy, like a wall he could never climb.
The dark dragon's lips curled back, revealing razor-sharp teeth. It was ready to strike.
Before Kaelen could react, the dark dragon lunged toward him with terrifying speed. Kaelen's instincts screamed at him to move, to dodge. But his body was heavy, like lead. The power inside him was stirring, but it was chaotic, untamed. The dragon's jaws were closing in.
And Kaelen—
Was frozen.
Everything went black.
His eyes shot open just in time to see the dragon's jaws snap shut, teeth glittering like swords, so close he could almost feel them. Kaelen couldn't move. His body was frozen in place, as though the fear itself had paralyzed him.
The dragon's breath burned the air, filling his lungs with heat, but the creature didn't strike.
For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of his own heart thundering in his chest. His thoughts raced—this was it. He was going to die. This was how it all ended.
But then, a roar.
It didn't come from the dragon. It was a sound that seemed to shake the very air around him, echoing through his body like a shockwave. The ground trembled beneath him, a low growl vibrating in his bones. Something else was coming.
"Kaelen!"
The voice rang out like a bell. Lira.
Before he could even think, the world around him swirled and spun, pulling him away from the dragon and into a darkness so deep, so empty, it felt like the very fabric of reality had been torn apart.
He gasped for breath, but it felt like there was no air there. No sound. No weight. Just... nothing. He was floating, weightless, like a leaf caught in a storm, spinning through endless darkness.
The heat faded. The dragon's roar grew distant. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but drift through the void. Panic began to rise in him—was he dead? Was this where he would stay forever, lost in this endless black?
A shape appeared before him, cutting through the darkness like a flash of light.
It was Lira.
Her presence was as fierce as it was calming, like a storm that could both destroy and protect. She hovered in front of him, her eyes glowing with an intensity that made him feel small.
"You're not ready for this," she said, her voice not just heard, but felt in his chest. "But it is the only way."
He wanted to ask her what she meant, to ask why he was here, but his voice was gone. All he could do was stare at her, desperate for answers.
"I cannot protect you forever," she continued, her face softening, her gaze filled with sorrow. "You have to face it. You have to face your power. Only then will you understand."
Kaelen's heart raced. He didn't understand. What was she talking about? What power?
Before he could process her words, something inside him stirred. A shift, like the ground cracking open beneath his feet. He gasped as the air around him crackled, a wave of raw energy slamming into him.
The world around him warped and twisted, and he felt himself being pulled—like a rope snapping taut, dragging him against his will. The force was too much, too sudden. His chest tightened, his breath quickened, and before he could do anything, everything around him collapsed into nothingness.
When he opened his eyes again, the change was instant.
The air was thick with smoke. The ground was hard beneath him, and the smell of blood and metal hit his senses like a punch to the gut. The sound of clashing swords, war cries, and roaring flames filled the air, all around him. He couldn't understand how he had gotten here, but there was no mistaking it—he was in the middle of a battlefield.
Chaos was everywhere. Men and women, warriors dressed in armor, clashed with one another, fighting for something Kaelen couldn't grasp. The ground was stained red, and bodies were scattered like broken dolls. Above, dragons circled in the sky, their wings beating so powerfully it made the earth shake.
Kaelen stumbled back, his heart pounding as he looked around, unsure of what was happening. The battle raged on, and yet, it felt as if no one even noticed him.
He wanted to run. He wanted to get away from this madness. But something—something deep inside him—pulled him forward, urging him to move through the chaos. His feet moved on their own, his legs carrying him toward a place he couldn't understand.
Through the battlefield, past the fighting, the screams, and the destruction, he found himself in front of a massive temple—ancient and worn, half-destroyed, its stone walls cracked and crumbled from years of neglect. Vines climbed up the sides, and the air around it felt... heavy as if something was buried here, hidden beneath the earth.
He stepped inside. It was eerily quiet, the sounds of the battlefield distant now, muffled as if he had stepped into another world entirely. The air was cool, and the walls were lined with carvings of dragons—ancient symbols, their shapes twisted in ways Kaelen couldn't understand.
In the center of the temple, something caught his eye.
A figure stood there, a massive dragon, its body covered in shining silver scales that shimmered like moonlight. Its eyes were deep, ancient, and filled with a wisdom Kaelen felt in his very bones. The dragon's presence was overwhelming, like an endless storm, its power so intense that Kaelen's breath hitched in his chest.
The dragon lowered its massive head, its eyes locking onto Kaelen's. And in that moment, Kaelen understood.
This dragon was not just a beast—it was something else. Something older. Something more powerful.
"You are ready."
The words were not spoken aloud, but Kaelen heard them clearly as if they were planted directly into his mind.
The dragon's voice rumbled again, deeper this time.
"But the truth you seek... can you handle it?"
Before Kaelen could answer, the earth trembled beneath him. The walls of the temple cracked open, and the ground beneath him split wide, a dark abyss opening up in front of him.
Kaelen stumbled back, his heart racing, and before he could move, the ground gave way completely.
He fell...