The brig shuddered.
Karl stiffened as the suppression field flickered, the hum in the walls suddenly louder, deeper, like the ship itself was bracing for something.
Kaelis stepped back from him, claws clicking against the steel floor. His small frame rippled—then began to grow.
Scales stretched, glowing brighter with molten veins. His wings unfurled, each one tearing space wider until the walls themselves bent. The chamber expanded around him, panels pulling back, steel folding open as if the Sanctum had been waiting for this moment.
Karl's mouth went dry. He had seen dragons before. His father. His brother. Ancient lords in the capital. But this… this was different. Kaelis wasn't a beast. He was a world taking shape in front of him.
The little dragon was gone. Before him stood a mountain of fire and scale, horns brushing the chamber's expanded ceiling, claws digging trenches into the steel. Heat radiated off him, thick enough to choke.
