The mountains burned.
Even from miles away, Arka could see them a range of jagged peaks that shimmered like molten gold, their ridges veined with rivers of fire.
The locals called it The Dragon's Spine, a scar across the world where gods once bled.
Every breath he took tasted of ash.
Every step closer made the mark on his chest flare hotter, as if warning him or welcoming him.
"This place remembers our war,"
the wolf's voice growled from deep within.
"My flame-born brother sleeps beneath these ridges."
Arka's jaw tightened. "Zhyral."
"Once he was called the Flame Serpent. The first of dragons. The one who burned the stars to challenge me."
"And he lost?"
The wolf's silence was the answer.
✦ The Path of Ash
As Arka climbed higher, the air shimmered with heat.
The ground glowed faintly, cracked like dry skin leaking magma.
Bones of ancient dragons jutted from the cliffs wings melted into stone, eyes crystallized into gems.
Each one pulsed faintly as Arka passed. The same whisper followed him everywhere:
"Sovereign blood… returned…"
At the summit, a colossal gate awaited made of black obsidian carved with runes shaped like fire.
It opened at his touch.
Inside was a cavern of light and flame.
The air was thick with power, heavy enough to crush weaker beings.
And at the center of it all lay a serpent vast as a mountain, scales glowing with molten gold, eyes closed as if in eternal sleep.
"Do not speak," the wolf warned.
"He will know your voice."
But the serpent's eyes opened.
✦ The Serpent Awakes
"Brother…"
The word rolled through the cavern like thunder wrapped in sorrow.
"I smelled your blood long before you arrived."
The Leviathan's voice had been vast — but Zhyral's was ancient. It carried authority.
Every flicker of his gaze scorched the air.
Arka stepped forward, every instinct screaming to kneel but he stood tall.
"I'm not him. I'm just the heir."
Zhyral's golden eyes narrowed. "Heir? The Star Wolf left no heir. Only ruin."
Flames coiled around him, shaping memories in the air visions of a war that burned the skies. Wolves of starlight and serpents of flame clashing across galaxies, until the heavens cracked.
"He betrayed the covenant," Zhyral hissed.
"He devoured the light that should have been shared. And now, his echo dares return."
Arka clenched his fists. "Then test me. If I'm his echo, I'll end the sins he left behind."
Zhyral's smile was both pride and wrath. "Then burn with me."
✦ Battle of the Flames
The mountain roared.
Fire cascaded like waterfalls as the serpent rose to full height. Arka's aura erupted in silver and crimson the power of sea and star combined.
He leapt through the storm of fire, his movements fluid, every strike tracing constellations through the smoke.
Zhyral countered, each swing of his tail summoning waves of molten wind.
"He moves like you," the serpent said darkly.
"But your fire… is incomplete."
Arka's eyes burned brighter. "Then I'll steal the rest from you!"
He slammed his palms together, drawing on both seals silver light and crimson flame twisting into one.
The power shattered the air.
Zhyral reared back and unleashed a torrent of fire that could melt stars.
Arka roared back, meeting it head-on.
The impact split the mountain in two.
✦ The Third Seal
When the smoke cleared, Arka was kneeling, one arm bleeding silver, the other wreathed in fire.
Zhyral's massive body trembled, a wound glowing bright across his chest.
"You carry both the sea's rage and the star's will," Zhyral whispered. "Perhaps… you truly are not him."
He lowered his head until one golden eye met Arka's.
"Then take my flame, little heir. Let it temper your blood… or consume it."
The serpent dissolved into rivers of fire, flowing into Arka's body.
Every vein burned.
Every heartbeat was an explosion.
He screamed and the mountain answered.
Flames shot into the sky, painting the clouds gold and scarlet.
The mark on his chest transformed again now shaped like a wolf encircled by a dragon's wing.
"The Third Seal… broken," the wolf whispered, awe in its tone.
"You now bear the heart of the Dragon Flame."
Arka collapsed to one knee, smoke rising from his skin. His silver eyes now carried flecks of gold.
He exhaled slowly. "Three seals down… one remains."
"Yes," the wolf said softly. "But the last one does not rest in this world."
Arka looked up at the sky and for a heartbeat, saw stars forming a path that shouldn't exist.
A path to the heavens.