The torches burned low as Kade was led through the winding tunnels beneath the temple. The scent of damp stone and ancient incense clung to the air, mixing with the metallic tang of his own dried blood. His wrists were bound in iron, the heavy chains clanking with every step. The priests walked ahead of him, their crimson robes flowing like rivers of blood. Behind him, the guards marched in perfect rhythm, spears tipped with dragon bone, their expressions cold.
Tonight, he would die.
He had always known this day would come. Every slave in the empire did. The temple would choose one among them—an offering to the last living dragon, the guardian of the empire, the god-beast that slumbered beneath the holy mountain. It was said that only by feeding it a human life could its hunger be appeased.
And now, that life was his.
The grand chamber opened before him, an enormous cavern carved into the heart of the mountain. At its center lay a stone altar, slick with the blood of past sacrifices. Above it, a massive skeleton coiled around the chamber's walls—great, empty eye sockets staring down at him. The remains of the so-called last dragon.
The emperor stood at the altar, clad in black and gold, his expression impassive. The high priest raised a dagger, its blade engraved with runes that pulsed in the torchlight.
Kade felt no fear. He had made peace with this long ago. Death was mercy compared to the life of a slave.
The priest began to chant. The guards forced Kade to his knees. Cold stone bit into his skin as his head was pressed down against the altar. The whisper of steel cut through the silence.
Then, pain.
The dagger plunged deep into his heart, a white-hot agony that exploded in his chest. Kade gasped, his vision tunneling, his body convulsing as his life drained away. The world blurred. Darkness consumed him.
And then—
He woke up.
Gasping, Kade shot upright, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He clutched his heart, expecting to feel the fatal wound—but there was nothing. No blood, no scar, no pain.
His eyes darted around. He was no longer in the sacrificial chamber.
Instead, he stood in a vast, empty field beneath a dark sky. Jagged mountains loomed in the distance, and the air was thick with something ancient. A strange energy pulsed beneath his feet, whispering to him, calling him.
A gust of wind rushed past him, carrying the scent of fire and ash. Then—shadows moved.
Figures emerged from the darkness. Massive creatures with gleaming scales, razor-sharp claws, and piercing eyes that burned like molten gold.
Dragons.
Hundreds of thousands of them.
Their forms shimmered, as if caught between this world and another, yet their presence was undeniable. They circled him, watching, waiting. Not with hunger, not with malice—but with recognition.
Then, a voice echoed in his mind. Deep, commanding, and ancient.
"You are mine now."
Kade stumbled back, his breath catching. The words weren't a threat. They were a vow. A claim.
He clenched his fists—and felt something cool and solid in his grip. He looked down.
A dagger.
It wasn't the ceremonial blade that had slain him. This was different—sleek, dim red coloured, its surface shimmering with strange markings. It hummed in his grasp, as if alive. As if it was a part of him.
His heart pounded. His body felt… different. His fingers trembled as he clenched the dagger.
Power.
It surged through him, untamed and raw.
He didn't understand what had happened. He didn't know why he was still alive, why these dragons surrounded him, why he felt like he could move faster than the wind, strike harder than steel, or command flames with a mere thought.
But one thing was clear.
He was no longer a slave.
He was something more.
And in a world where dragons had been extinct for nearly a century and feared greatly in the time of their existence—
He was their first master---
"THE KING OF DRAGONS"