>"You have given me a sunrise,"_ he murmured, voice softer now,_ "so I shall give you the fragment. But remember, the moon's power comes with a price. Should you ever turn its light upon the world in anger, the shadows will claim what you love most."
He placed the shard into Elshara's outretched palm. A surge of energy cursed through her, and the scarlet light wrapped around her like a cloak.
Suddenly, the ground cracked open behind them. A massive iridescent dragon–*Aurelius*– emerged, scales shimmering with the colors of dust. Its eyes locked onto the fragment.
>"You both think you can bargain with the moon?"_ Aurelius boomed, voice reverberating through the abyss. _ The fragment belongs to the cosmos, not to the kingdom or curses."_