The Dragon-Bonding Hall stood like the heart of the Academy ancient, vast, and echoing with memories of legends.
The ceiling arched high above, painted with murals of riders soaring beside dragons whose wings split the clouds.
Golden braziers lined the long marble aisle, their enchanted flames burning in hues of blue, green, and crimson, casting dancing light over the rune-etched walls.
Every corner of the chamber hummed with ancient magic the air itself felt alive thick, expectant, vibrating with unseen power.
Students stood in rows, their whispers weaving through the hall like rustling leaves before a storm some looked awestruck, others tense, but all shared one thing the hunger to bond with a dragon. It was the dream of every child born in their realm: to touch an egg and be chosen.
Alex's heart beat hard beneath his chest as he walked through the bronze doors, joining the sea of young dragon-bond hopefuls.
The vastness of the place swallowed him whole his eyes drifted toward the long line of pedestals in the center each carved from polished obsidian, each holding a dragon egg so beautiful they looked like the heart of the elements themselves.
Some shimmered with frost; others burned with inner flames or flickered with streaks of lightning that danced across their surfaces.
The eggs pulsed softly, alive, aware.
But at the farthest end of the hall, separated slightly from the rest, was one egg that did not shine.
Alex's egg.
Its shell was dark as midnight stone, veins of dull crimson barely visible beneath its surface. Unlike the others, it neither glowed nor pulsed. It just sat there still, cold, silent.
He stared at it, and something heavy twisted in his gut. He could already hear the whispers forming.
"There he is."
"The late flame."
"I can't believe they're letting him bond."
Alex kept walking, jaw tight. He tried to ignore them, but every step echoed louder than the last.
At the front of the hall, the Headmaster Elder Seraphiel stood in his ceremonial robes his long silver hair glimmered like threads of starlight, and his staff, crowned with a crystal dragon's head, hummed faintly with power. When he raised it, the hall fell silent in an instant.
"Students of the Dragon-Rider Academy," his voice rolled through the chamber, deep and commanding, "today, you stand upon the edge of destiny. Before you lie the eggs of the First Brood descendants of the ancient dragons that shaped our world."
The flames in the braziers flared as if answering his words.
"Remember this," Seraphiel said, his gaze sharp as a blade. "Dragons do not answer to bloodlines, wealth, or titles. They answer to spirit to strength to the flame that burns within your soul. Those who try to deceive will be devoured by their own weakness. Those who are true… will soar."
The words rippled through the hall like a current of fire some students stood taller, their eyes gleaming with pride. Others swallowed nervously.
Alex felt both pride and fear, tangled together.
He had come too far to fail not after surviving the trials, not after being called "the weakest" by every noble student who thought him unworthy.
"Step forward one by one," Seraphiel said. "Let your flame call to theirs. If your hearts align, the dragon will awaken."
A deep tone resonated through the hall the start of the ritual.
The first student moved.
It was Lady Lira Elenith of House Elenith, her silver hair braided with threads of froststeel the hall watched as she stepped gracefully toward a pale blue egg, bowing before it.
Her hands touched the shell; her eyes fluttered closed.
For a heartbeat, nothing. Then light burst forth.
Cracks raced across the shell as cold wind howled through the hall. Shards of ice spiraled around her, and when the light dimmed, a tiny dragon hatchling emerged scales like frozen glass, eyes the color of the sky.
The crowd erupted.
"An ice dragon!"
"She's bonded instantly!"
Lira smiled, tears of pride shining in her eyes as the hatchling nuzzled her hand.
More students stepped forward eggs hatched. Flames, lightning, wind every element roared to life in brilliant colors.
The air trembled with the sounds of newborn dragons crying for the first time.
Every new bond drew applause and gasps of admiration.
But not for Alex.
He stood at the end of the line, watching, the noise fading into a dull roar in his ears his fingers clenched into fists for each egg that hatched, his anxiety deepened. For each cheer, his chest tightened.
When the student before him a tall boy in golden robes bonded with a radiant fire dragon, Alex realized he was next.
The hall quieted.
Hundreds of eyes turned to him.
Kaele's voice broke the silence, smooth and venomous. "Oh? Is it his turn already? Let's see if the 'late flame' can even warm a rock."
Laughter followed.
Alex inhaled sharply, forcing his trembling hands to still. He walked forward, ignoring Kaele's smirk and the whispers that chased him. His steps echoed off the marble floor.
When he reached the pedestal, his heart nearly stopped. Up close, the egg looked even more lifeless than before black, dull, with only faint crimson lines beneath its shell. It felt wrong, like holding something ancient and asleep.
He stared for a long time, then exhaled and placed both hands on the shell.
Cold.
A deep, lifeless cold seeped through his skin, crawling up his arms.
He closed his eyes and reached inward, toward the flame inside his chest his spirit fire, weak but stubborn. He remembered the years of ridicule, the long nights of training, the desperate wish to prove he was more than "the boy with the late awakening."
He focused. Pushed his flame outward.
Please… hear me.
The world fell silent.
Then a tremor.
It was faint at first, like a heartbeat from deep within the stone his eyes flew open. The crimson veins along the egg brightened, pulsing faintly in rhythm with his own heart heat brushed his fingertips.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"Wait… it's moving?"
"No way…"
The trembling grew stronger the dull shell began to glow faintly, crimson light bleeding from the cracks forming across its surface the air itself vibrated.
Alex's chest surged with hope.
Yes! Come on… wake up!
He poured everything into that moment every dream, every ounce of will.
The glow flared brighter, the veins burning like molten lines and then, suddenly, it stopped.
The light flickered once, dimmed, and vanished. The heat faded. The egg turned cold again, as lifeless as before.
Silence.
Then laughter.
"Oh no…" someone snickered. "It died again!"
"Hahaha! The egg rejected him!"
"Sleeping dragon! Perfect for the cursed weakling!"
Their words hit like daggers.
Alex's face burned his throat tightened as humiliation clawed up his chest. He pressed his palms harder against the shell, desperate.
Please. Please don't leave me like this.
Nothing. No tremor. No warmth.
Elen's voice sliced through the laughter, louder than all. "How poetic! Even a dragon would rather sleep forever than bond with a failure like you."
The nobles roared with laughter. Mira, standing in the second row, frowned her hands curling into fists. She wanted to speak, but Seraphiel's staff struck the floor before she could.
CRACK!
A shockwave of thunderous energy silenced the hall.
"Enough!" the Headmaster's voice boomed his gaze swept over the students, eyes glowing faintly with power.
"You mock what you do not understand not all dragons awaken at first touch. Some bonds… are deeper than time itself. Some flames need darkness before they burn."
His words hung heavy in the air.
The laughter died down, but the sneers remained.
Alex barely heard him his heart pounded in his ears, his vision blurred. He wanted to run to disappear. But his feet refused to move.
He looked down at the egg again, the faint red veins barely pulsing beneath the shell. He could almost feel something… faint and distant, as though something inside was listening.
He whispered under his breath. "I don't care how long it takes. I'll wait."
No one heard him.
He stepped back slowly, hands trembling. His flame felt hollow, drained, but something deep within whispered that this wasn't over.
Then
A soft chime.
[System Notice: Hidden Event Detected.]
His breath froze the faint blue text shimmered in front of him, unseen by anyone else.
[Dragon Bond Status: Dormant]
[Condition: Locked — Special Awakening Required]
[Hidden Trait Detected: ???]
A heartbeat later, another message appeared one he didn't summon.
[Do not despair. The dragon sleeps… but its eyes are watching.]
Alex's eyes widened. He turned toward the egg, pulse hammering.
And there faint but real two glimmers shone deep within the shell eyes watching him.
It lasted only a moment before fading away, but he knew what he saw. The egg wasn't dead. It wasn't rejecting him.
It was waiting.
Waiting for something for him.
As the ceremony continued around him, Alex barely noticed. The laughter, the applause for the next bond it all blurred into distant noise. His mind was fixed on that whisper, those eyes, that faint heartbeat.
He clenched his fists.
If the dragon was sleeping… he would wake it. No matter what it took.
And when it did the world that mocked him would tremble.