Valyria – Seven Days Before the Doom, Duskfall Harbor
The sea churned as if the world itself sensed its approaching death.
Kaelarys stood on the prow of the Nightkiss, cloak billowing behind him, the chill wind whipping his silver hair. The fleet was nearly ready. Seven ships, their hulls imbued with enchantments stolen from forgotten sea-bound temples, lay anchored in secret. Their sails—black with crimson runes—looked like wings spread wide for escape.
But Kaelarys wasn't escaping. Not truly. He was withdrawing, like a blade from a sheath. Soon, he would plunge it into the heart of the world.
The harbor below buzzed with veiled activity. Mercenaries, loyal slaves, former assassins, and mages—all handpicked—moved in shadows, readying supplies, checking cargo holds, and sealing the last of the dragon egg containers in magical shock-absorbing crates.
His internal system pulsed.
System Update: Fleet Departure Timer Activated
Current Time Until Launch: 06 Days, 11 Hours, 19 Minutes
Escape Vector: Stormbreak Route – Northern Cleft
Priority Objectives:
Evade Coastal Patrols
Create Southern Diversion
Ensure Artifacts and Dragons Are Secure
System Bonus Active:Warlord's Gambit – +15% Success Rate on High-Risk Escape Plans
He turned from the ship's edge as Lyanna approached with her usual quiet grace. She was dressed not in ritual silks, but in boiled leather and enchanted bone-mail. Her sword—a whisper-thin Valyrian steel rapier he had forged for her—rested at her hip.
"We've intercepted two scouts near the high pass," she said. "Both silenced. But their minds were branded. House Gaeron is sniffing close."
Kaelarys narrowed his eyes. "They suspect, then."
"They suspect something. They still think you're searching for ancient lore. Not fleeing."
"Good."
A long silence passed between them.
Then, Kaelarys spoke, his voice low. "Are they all ready?"
Lyanna nodded. "The officers await your word. Varyn has the war slaves marching in formation. Mira's mages are cloaking the fleet. The dragons—"
"They're with me," Kaelarys said. He could feel them even now—restless, bound, powerful.
Kaezion, his crimson fury. Vaeryx, the silent frost-biter. Nyssar, venomous and cunning. The Vault dragons—Draxion and Vhoryl—brooding with unstable power. Each day they matured unnaturally fast, their bond to him deepening.
Skill Notification: Draconic Link II
Telepathic Commands Now Range: 3 Miles
Dragon Growth Accelerated by 12%
Passive Buff: Fire & Frost Resistance +30%
The bond wasn't just magical. It was personal. Kaezion stirred now as if sensing his thoughts, letting out a deep, guttural trill from the volcanic cave beneath the estate where the dragons rested.
Lyanna watched him with wary eyes. "When the Doom comes… will they be enough?"
Kaelarys didn't answer at first. He gazed to the east, where the horizon shimmered unnaturally. The land itself was changing—earthquakes more frequent, volcanoes glowing like open wounds.
"No," he said finally. "Nothing will be enough. Not against that storm. Not against what's waking beneath the Flame."
"Then why stay so long?"
His gaze darkened.
"Because I need one more thing."
That night, in the depths of the estate's vaults, Kaelarys descended with only his shadow for company.
His torch flickered across ancient murals—Valyrian dragonlords in prayer before a creature not of this world. A wyrm without end, a god-beast worshipped before recorded time.
He found the final chamber.
A circle of black stone. At its center—floating above an obsidian pedestal—was a sphere.
The Eye of Urron.
An artifact lost to legend, believed to allow its bearer to peer beyond space and time, to anchor their mind across future paths. Sorcerers had died for centuries trying to find it.
Kaelarys reached out.
And the sphere pulsed.
System Alert: World Artifact Acquired – Eye of Urron
Function: Temporal Perception
Passive Ability: Future Threads (Occasional Glimpses of Possible Outcomes)
Active Ability: Chrono Anchor (Can Lock One Major Decision Per Week)
Warning: Severe mental fatigue possible. Artifact draws power from soul well.
He took it. The sphere bonded to his flesh, then vanished into his storage ring, now glowing with unstable magic.
Space Ring Storage: 72% Capacity
Valyrian Steel: 120+ units
Dragon Eggs: 7 (3 fertile, 2 dormant, 2 corrupted)
Magical Artifacts: 14 total
Provisions, Forge Tools, Maps, Slave Brands, Rare Herbs
Secret Codices from the Library of Shadowtongue
He rose and returned to the surface.
Three days passed in a blur.
The city around them fell further into madness. The noble Houses sensed something—though they did not know what. Famines erupted as food supplies mysteriously spoiled. Magical wards around the capital pulsed irregularly. Sorcerers were dying in their sleep, coughing blood and ash.
Kaelarys attended his final council meeting under a cloak of shadows, unseen, unheard. He watched as dragons clashed in the skies above, as political tensions frayed like dried sinew.
Let them feast. Let them squabble. Soon, they would all burn.
The night before departure, he stood atop the tallest spire of his estate. Below, the fleet was hidden in sea caves, cloaked by Lyanna's mages. The final preparations were complete. The dragons were armored. The crew was loyal. The artifacts were sealed.
He whispered a single command to the sky:
"Fly."
And five dragons answered.
Their wings spread. Their roars cracked the heavens.
System Notification: Final Phase InitiatedQuest Updated: Ashes of Empire (Final Countdown)
Time Until Doom: 5 Days
Escape Route Set
Artifact Capacity: 95% Full
Final Objectives Remaining:
Complete Southern Diversion Operation
Unlock Final Blood Seal on the Obsidian Archive
Signal the Exodus Flame
Kaelarys stared into the black waves.
The world would burn.
But he—he would rise.