The night seems to tear apart.
The platform trembles under the distant footsteps of a giant.
Lunaya clings to the stone ledge, her breath short.
The forest below is lit up with glowing flashes, as if someone were blowing fire between the trees.
A wolf-like howl echoes.
Then a deep, cavernous growl, almost... reptilian.
"Kael..." she whispers, a lump in her throat.
The scarlet light suddenly goes out.
A terrifying silence descends.
Then
WHOOSH.
A gigantic shadow passes over her.
The wind pins her to the ground.
Scales glisten in the night.
Massive wings beat the air.
A serpentine body lands on the lower platform, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Lunaya tries to get up, but the creature folds its wings and slowly rises, taking on human form.
Or at least... partially human.
A man of enormous stature appears, bare-chested, his skin covered in dark red streaks like living tattoos.
His golden eyes catch the moonlight.
Two dark horns emerge from his temples.
And behind him, a dragon-like tail swings heavily, menacingly.
He looks at her.
Longly.
Intensely.
He tilts his head, intrigued.
"So it's you... the Resonant One."
His voice resonates like a volcanic rumble.
Not aggressive.
Not soft either.
Powerful.
Relentless.
Lunaya takes a step back.
"I... I don't know what you're here for, but..."
"You," he replied without hesitation.
She froze.
He takes three steps forward, each one making the platform vibrate.
Yet his movements remain strangely graceful for a creature of his size.
"I am Dravik, of the Red Scales."
Her vertical pupil dilated.
"And your scent drew me from the sky."
Lunaya swallows.
"My... what?"
He takes a deep breath.
A shiver runs down her spine.
As if he were tasting the air around her.
"Your Resonance doesn't belong to any clan."
He smiled, revealing disturbingly white fangs.
"So it belongs to me."
"I am not an object to be taken," she retorted, despite her fear.
Her words had barely left her lips when another growl erupted... but this time, behind her.
A wolf leapt onto the platform.
A flash of gray.
Kael.
His entire body trembles with rage.
His wild eyes fixed on Dravik.
"Don't you come near her."
Dravik raised an eyebrow.
"You, the puppy... Still alive? I thought I crushed you in the woods."
Kael growled, his muscles ready to explode.
"She's not yours."
"She's not yours either," Dravik replies with a predatory smile.
The two males face each other.
The air grows heavy.
Electric.
Almost burning.
Lunaya feels her skin tingle, her power reacting on its own to their tension.
Dravik points at her, fascinated.
"Her Resonance is awakening further."
He chuckles softly.
"She responds to rivalry. Interesting."
Kael leaps forward, fangs bared.
Dravik parries the attack with a sudden flap of his wing.
The impact sends Kael rolling several meters.
"KAEL!" cries Lunaya.
He gets up immediately, panting but alive, wiping the blood from his lip.
"Touch her again, reptile, and I'll tear you apart."
Dravik sighs.
"You Moonfangs are far too primitive.
A Resonant is not a toy. She is...
He slowly turns his head toward Lunaya.
His eyes soften, just for a moment, too brief to be sure he really saw it.
"She is a force. A calling."
His gaze darkens.
"She is the key."
The key to what?
Lunaya opens her mouth to ask, but Dravik approaches her, slowly, cautiously, like a predator who doesn't want to scare her away.
He stops a few steps away.
"I'll be back for you, little human."
He suddenly spreads his wings, the scarlet shadow covering the entire plateau.
"And next time, I won't let anyone come between us."
A suffocating flap of wings.
A burning gust.
The beast flies away in a whirlwind of red embers, disappearing into the night.
Silence falls once more.
Kael runs towards her, torn between anger and concern.
"Are you hurt? Did it touch you? Tell me!"
She shakes her head, trembling.
"Kael... what am I?"
Why do they... feel this way?
Kael clenches his fists.
" Because you are more than you think you are."
His eyes remain fixed on the sky where Dravik has disappeared.
"And now we have less time than I thought."
He places a hand on her shoulder, this time with a new gentleness.
"Lunaya. You must learn to control your Resonance.
And quickly.