Kai froze, watching the dragon as it flew overhead.
Its silhouette passed over them, and for a moment, they saw it in full: obsidian scales shimmering with flecks of rust-red, a tail lined with twitching hooks, a maw half-open as if testing the heat of the land below with its breath.
Then it flew on, disappearing into the vast desert beyond the woods.
But the tension didn't fade.
Not immediately.
It took a long while before any of them dared to breathe too loud.
Kai finally managed a whisper. "Tell me that was just some weird bird."
He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it wasn't.
It was a dragon. Bigger than the one in Ebonbrand's dungeon. At least twice the size and still alive.
Orlin's face was blank. "Another stroke of luck. Probably didn't see us. That was Averneth. One of the old ones."
"You know its name?" Vepice asked, still trembling.
