The wind howled over the shattered ridge, carrying ash and whispers that had no source. Elyra stood with her eyes closed, letting the wind speak. Something had shifted since Bloodroot Hollow. Something within her. The god's voice no longer haunted her only in dreams. It was beginning to pulse with her heartbeat, flare with her breath, whisper in her flame. Every flicker of her magic now trembled with the echo of something older, deeper, less human.
Kael stood a few paces behind, arms crossed, watching her. His blade was sheathed, but his fingers twitched as though they ached to hold steel. Every day since the Hollow, he'd seen the change bloom in her—more power, yes, but also something unnameable, something ancient that coiled around her soul like ivy.
"You're changing," he said finally.
She didn't turn to him. "I know."
He stepped forward, boots crunching against loose shale. "We should leave these heights. The storm isn't natural."
She opened her eyes. They shimmered faintly, glowing like embers. "Neither am I anymore."
Kael looked away. Not because he feared her, but because what he saw in her eyes reminded him too much of the enemy they were now chasing—The Herald and the god he served.
A distant roar echoed across the peaks. Not thunder.
Wings.
They both turned. Out of the clouds burst a formation of dragons, their riders clad in storm-black armor. The symbol on their breastplates chilled Elyra's blood—the Crescent Sigil of Aerenthal, the lost order of rogue Dragon Riders from her homeland. Traitors. Exiles. She had once trained beside some of them—shared meals, sparred under moonlight, whispered dreams. Now, they came as enemies.
"They've found us," she said, drawing her sword. Fire licked along its edge as if it, too, thirsted for the battle.
Kael grabbed her arm. "We can't fight them all, not in the open. We fall back."
But it was too late. The dragons dove. Flame and lightning rained from the sky like divine fury.
Elyra raised her blade, shouting an incantation she barely remembered learning. A dome of fire snapped into place around them just in time. Kael drew his obsidian dagger, and as the first enemy rider dismounted mid-flight, he met him blade-to-blade.
Steel rang. Screams echoed.
Vespera appeared through a ripple in reality, stepping from shadow like it was a door. Her hair was wild, eyes alight with dark power. "We hold the pass," she said simply. No fear. Only fire.
The battle was chaos incarnate. Elyra and Kael moved in tandem, a deadly rhythm of flame and steel. Kael's dagger danced between ribs and armor, his cloak becoming a blur of motion. Elyra's sword sang a deadly tune, each arc painting fire in the air. Vespera stood at the heart of it all, weaving wards and illusions, turning dragons against their riders with whispered curses.
But it wasn't enough. A horn sounded—low and mournful.
More riders. Too many.
Elyra fell to one knee, her shield flickering. Her breathing was ragged, magic fraying at the edges.
"We can't hold!" she gasped.
And then, the sky broke.
A streak of white fire tore through the heavens. A dragon, massive and radiant, wings trailing stardust, descended like a comet.
Starflame.
Elyra's dragon.
He was changed—wreathed in celestial fire, eyes burning with knowledge no beast should possess. Reforged. Reborn. He landed with an earth-shaking crash, unleashing a roar that split stone and sky alike.
His arrival turned the tide.
Enemy dragons faltered. Their riders hesitated.
Starflame unleashed a breath not of fire, but of starlight. A blast of pure incandescent fury that tore through the enemy ranks like a divine judgment. The rogue riders were blinded, their dragons stunned. Kael surged forward, seizing the moment, and struck down their commander with a single precise thrust.
The rest scattered. Chaos turned to retreat.
Silence returned, broken only by the crackle of burning sky and the hiss of cooling embers.
Elyra approached her dragon, touching his muzzle. He leaned into her hand, but she could feel it—the otherness now inside him. Just like her. His scales shimmered like the night sky, galaxies spinning within their depths.
"You came back different," she whispered.
The dragon rumbled, a deep resonance that vibrated through the stones beneath their feet.
Kael joined her. "He's not just yours anymore. He's the god's mark. Just like you."
Elyra looked at the stars. They were closer now. Brighter. Burning.
She didn't speak for a long time.
Then, quietly, she said, "We were chosen. But I don't know if it was to save the world—or end it."
Kael didn't answer. There was nothing he could say that wouldn't sound like a lie.
Above them, the stars pulsed. Watching. Waiting.