The ground beneath him shattered like glass, sending him plummeting into nothingness.
His stomach lurched as the air whooshed around him, his body falling faster and faster. The darkness around him swallowed everything—he couldn't see, couldn't hear. He was falling into an endless void, the pressure of the fall crushing his chest. His heart pounded so loudly in his ears that it drowned out everything else.
And then, with a sudden jolt, the world stopped.
Kaelen gasped for air, his lungs burning. His eyes shot open, but all he saw was a bright light, too intense for him to focus. His head spun as he tried to stand. The ground beneath him was strange—soft yet solid, pulsing with an energy that made him feel as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff, about to fall into something much deeper than he understood.
The light around him twisted, swirling in colors that shouldn't have existed together—green, purple, and gold. The air was thick, charged with a strange power, and Kaelen's skin prickled with the force of it. He felt small here, insignificant in the face of whatever was happening.
"Where am I?" he whispered, his voice trembling.
A low rumble shook the ground. Kaelen's heart stopped. The sound was deep, ancient—like the earth itself was waking up.
He spun around, searching for the source of the noise, his pulse quickening. Then he saw it.
A dragon. But not just any dragon.
It was massive—bigger than any dragon Kaelen had ever heard of. Its scales shimmered like molten gold, reflecting the shifting light around them. Its wings spread wide, casting shadows over the ground. This wasn't just a creature; it was a force of nature, something that belonged to a time long before his own.
The dragon's eyes locked onto him. They glowed with an ancient fire, and Kaelen felt as if the very core of his being was being pulled into them. His knees weakened, his heart racing in fear and awe.
"You are in the place between," the dragon spoke, its voice echoing inside Kaelen's mind. It was deep, like a storm rolling across the sky, and Kaelen could feel the power behind every word. "The realm of truth. And here, you must face what you have tried to avoid."
"What… what do you mean?" Kaelen stammered, his voice shaky.
The dragon's eyes narrowed, a glint of something like sorrow flickering within them. "You are not ready, Kaelen. But you must be. To stop what is coming, you must understand the truth of who you are."
"I don't understand," Kaelen said, taking a cautious step back. His heart was pounding, every part of him screaming to get away, but his body felt frozen in place. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the dragon's intense gaze.
"You are a descendant of the dragons," the dragon continued, its voice softer now, almost gentle. "The bloodline you carry holds power—ancient, untapped power. You must awaken it, or all will be lost."
Kaelen's mind raced. "Dragon blood?" he whispered. "But that's just a myth. A story told to scare people."
The dragon's eyes glowed brighter, piercing into him. "It is no myth, Kaelen. And you are the key. But you must first face the truth of your past. The lies that have kept you from knowing your true self."
Kaelen felt his heart tighten. "What lies? What are you talking about?"
The dragon spread its wings wide, the movement so powerful that it shook the very ground beneath Kaelen's feet. "You must remember. The power you carry was never meant to be hidden. Your destiny is written in the blood of those who came before you."
Kaelen stepped back, his mind reeling. "I don't… I don't understand. I don't know what you mean."
The dragon's gaze softened, almost as if pitying him. "You are not the first to be chosen, Kaelen. Many have come before you, and many have failed. But you are different. You are the last hope. The last chance to stop what has been set in motion."
A shudder ran down Kaelen's spine. "Stop what?"
But before the dragon could answer, the ground trembled again, more violently this time. Kaelen's legs buckled beneath him as the air thickened with an energy that was almost suffocating.
Something was coming.
Something dark.
Kaelen's breath caught in his throat as a shadow passed overhead, blocking out the strange light. He looked up, his eyes widening in horror.
The dragon's eyes flashed with alarm. "It's here."
Kaelen barely had time to react before the ground beneath him cracked open, and from the darkness, a terrible, deafening roar filled the air.
"Run," the dragon commanded, her voice laced with urgency.
But it was too late.
But Kaelen couldn't move. His feet were glued to the ground. The air grew thick, the pressure in his chest rising as if the world itself was closing in on him. His breath came faster, harder.
And then, the ground beneath him split with a sickening crack.
Kaelen barely had time to react before he fell.
Falling, freefalling, like the world itself had opened up and swallowed him whole. His stomach lurched, his heart pounding in his chest. The air rushed past him like a wave crashing against a shore, the wind whipping his hair back.
He couldn't breathe. He couldn't see. Everything was dark, cold, and spinning.
A violent force shook his body, pulling at his very core. He wanted to scream, but the words wouldn't form. He felt the terrifying sensation of the ground rushing toward him, but he couldn't stop. He couldn't even move.
His body was paralyzed, weightless, caught in a nightmare where the world had no mercy.
Then, out of nowhere, a voice boomed, deep and ancient, as if it were coming from all around him.
"You are not meant to fall."
The voice was the only thing solid in the emptiness. Kaelen's heart stopped for a moment. He had heard that voice before—the dragon's voice. It was calling to him again, but it sounded... distant, faint like it was coming from the farthest corner of his mind.
Something was happening to him. He didn't know what, but he could feel it—the heat rising in his chest, the power that pulsed just under his skin. Something ancient was waking inside him.
With a sudden jolt, he landed. The shock of it slammed into his body, sending pain through his spine. His legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
Kaelen blinked. His vision cleared, and he saw nothing but an endless, swirling fog. It wasn't like the fog from before. This was different. It wasn't something physical. It felt... like a barrier. A realm beyond the one he knew.
He pushed himself to his feet, his hands shaking. His heart still raced, his body tense, as if waiting for the next strike. But there was no sound. No movement. Just the oppressive silence that seemed to swallow him whole.
"Where am I?" Kaelen whispered, his voice weak, unsure if the words even reached his ears.
"You are in between," the voice replied. It wasn't the dragon now. This voice was colder, smoother, and somehow... older. It echoed from every direction.
Kaelen's stomach twisted. "In between what?"
"Between your world and the one you must face. The place where the past and future meet," the voice said.
A shiver ran down his spine. Kaelen clenched his fists, trying to steady himself. His legs still felt like jelly, but he forced himself to stand taller, to face whatever was in this strange place.
And then, something moved in the fog.
A shape—huge, looming—rose from the mist. It was massive, like a shadow that shifted into something solid. The fog parted as it grew, revealing a figure unlike anything Kaelen had seen before.
It was a creature—no, a being—part dragon, part something else, something he couldn't even begin to understand. Its body shimmered with a glow that seemed to pulse with power, and its eyes—its eyes glowed with the fire of an ancient storm. Its wings stretched wide, unfurling like the night sky itself.
Kaelen froze. His heart hammered in his chest. This... this was not just a dragon. This was something beyond anything he had ever imagined.
"Who are you?" Kaelen managed to croak, his voice barely a whisper.
The dragon's eyes locked onto him, its gaze steady, powerful. "I am Lira, the Guardian of the Realms. The one who will guide you through this trial."
Kaelen's mind spun. A guardian? A trial? He didn't understand. None of this made sense.
"Trial?" he repeated, his voice barely audible, "What trial?"
Lira's form seemed to shimmer with ancient energy like she was both there and not there, a being caught between worlds. "The trial to awaken the power within you. To face the darkness that has been following you."
Kaelen's breath hitched. The darkness. The same darkness that had been chasing him since the day he set foot on this path. The one that had taken everything from him.
"I... I'm not ready," he whispered, his hands trembling at his sides.
Lira's gaze softened, just for a moment. "You were born ready, Kaelen. You are the last of the dragon blood. The power lies dormant inside you. But you must face it. You must accept it, or you will never defeat what is coming."
The words rang in Kaelen's ears, heavy, impossible. How could he face something like that? He wasn't strong enough. He wasn't prepared. He was just a man, a boy thrown into a world he didn't understand.
But then, something stirred inside him. A heat. A fire. It was small, but it was there. It had always been there, lying just beneath the surface.
Kaelen's breath caught. Could he do this? Could he face the darkness that had haunted him? Could he even hope to survive whatever was coming?
Before he could gather his thoughts, Lira's voice rang out again, urgent.
"The trial is now," she said. "Do you accept?"
Kaelen looked up, his body burning with uncertainty and fear. But deep down, beneath the layers of doubt, something else was waking up.
"I..." he started to say, but the words froze in his mouth.
And then, the ground beneath his feet cracked open. Again.
But this time, the darkness below wasn't empty. It was alive.
To be continued...