The Starling screamed as its engines tore free from Joren's docking clamps, shadow-fire melting the steel that tried to bind it. Tessa's hands gripped the controls, weaving through a storm of Imperial fire. Kaelen sat beside her, pale, blood seeping through his side where the soldier's blade had cut deep.
The dragon thrashed in his chest, demanding to be unleashed. Let me burn them. Let me end this betrayal in fire.
Kaelen's voice was hoarse. "If I let it out now, Tess, I won't come back."
Her jaw tightened, but her hand covered his. "Then we'll find another way. I'm not losing you too."
But outside, the void filled with fire. More frigates warped in. The trap was closing.
And in the center of it all, Joren's outpost glowed with the Imperial beacon, the friend who had betrayed him watching from within.
Kaelen's heart cracked, grief and rage colliding.
---
The first barrage struck. The Starling spun, shields buckling. Warning sirens wailed. Tessa fought the controls, but her arms trembled with the strain.
Kaelen reached for her hand, gripping tight. "If we don't stop them here, they'll hunt us forever. And if the dragon falls into their hands…" He didn't finish. He didn't need to.
Her eyes glistened, fury and fear clashing. "You're not saying—"
"I am." He coughed, blood streaking his lips. "I can end this, Tess. But not both of us. You need to live. Someone has to carry the story."
The dragon roared with savage joy. Yes. Sacrifice. Fire eternal. Let us blaze until nothing remains.
Tessa shook her head violently. "No. Don't you dare talk like that. We fight together, we die together. That's the deal."
Kaelen smiled weakly. "No. The deal was survival. You promised me always, remember? Always means you live, even if I don't."
Tears broke down her cheeks, but she gripped his face and kissed him fiercely—desperate, trembling, real. "Then you damn well come back to me, Kael. Or I'll find you in whatever afterlife this galaxy has left."
---
The frigates closed in. Boarding craft locked. The sky filled with Imperial fire.
Kaelen stood, shadows already spilling from his body, his wound burning with dark flame. He turned toward the viewport, spreading his arms wide.
"Tess," he whispered, "let go of me now."
Her voice cracked. "Never."
But she felt it—the dragon tearing at the bond, ready to consume him fully. She unclasped her hand from his, choking on the pain.
And the Shadow Dragon unfurled.
---
The Starling vanished into shadow.
From its heart, wings of endless flame erupted, blotting out the stars. Kaelen's scream became the dragon's roar, shaking the void itself.
The Imperial fleet opened fire, but their bolts dissolved in the storm. The dragon flew—through frigates, through swarms, through everything—burning steel and flesh alike to ash.
Inside, Tessa clung to her seat, tears streaming as she felt him slipping further with every blaze. "Come back, Kael," she whispered. "Please."
For a heartbeat, she felt him answer. His voice in her mind, faint, fragile.
Tess… always.
And then the fire took him.
---
The Imperial fleet was gone. Nothing but drifting husks and molten wreckage remained. The outpost shattered, Joren's beacon silenced in the flames.
The dragon shrieked one last time, its body unraveling into shadow and light, until nothing was left but the battered shell of the Starling, floating silent in the void.
Inside, Tessa dragged herself to the cockpit. The fire was gone. The bond was gone. Kaelen was gone.
Her hand shook as she touched the empty seat beside her.
But then, faint—like a dying ember—she felt warmth in her chest. Not the dragon's fire, but Kaelen's.
A whisper. Live.
---
Weeks later, the galaxy buzzed with whispers. Entire Imperial fleets destroyed in a single night. Survivors spoke of wings of shadow, a dragon that burned brighter than the stars.
Tessa walked among the scattered remnants of the Resistance, silent, scarred, carrying Kaelen's story. Some called him a martyr, others a myth. To her, he was simply Kael.
At night, when the stars burned quiet, she felt the faintest warmth on her skin. A reminder that fire never truly dies—it only waits.
And though her heart ached, she smiled through the tears.
Because the Shadow Dragon was gone. But Kaelen's promise remained.
Always.
The End .