The dragon Aurelius unfurled massive Wings, sending a gale of ash and ember that made the obsidian throne crack like thin ice. His voice rumbled, " You think a single shard can change fate? I've watched sunrise and fall —your little pact ends here!"
Elshara tightened her grip on the fragment. Its heat seared her palm, but the sunrise memory pulsed, filling her with a fierce resolve. Beside her, varkhal's horns glowed a dangerous violet, his eyes flickering between curiosity and wariness.
*Varkhal's whisper;* two paths, princess. We can fight him together, or we can let the dragon take the shard and watch the world burn."
Elshara's mind raced. She recalled the ancient rune etched on the palace wall:
*"when light and shadow clash, a third force rises."* An idea sparked.
*Scene 1– The unlikely alliance*
>* Elshara:* Aurelius, you want the fragment? Take it... But you'll have to survive my promise first!"
She thrust the shard toward the dragon, the ruby light shooting upward and forming a *blinding arc* that struck the cavern ceiling, raining down a cascade crystal shard. Varkhal, quick as shadow, leapt and sliced a massive crystal with his blade_umbraclaw_ turning it into a *shimmering shield* for Elshara.
Aurelius roared, swiping a claw that shattered the shield, sending shards scattering like meteorites. One shard embedded itself in varkhal's shoulder, siphoning a silver of his demonic energy and turning it *silver*.
*Scene 2– The turning tide*
Varkhal, now half-silver, felt a strange sensation –*human emphaty* flooding his veins. He let it out a guttural howl that resonated with the dragon's own sorrowful lament. The two sounds intertwined. Forming a *harmonic frequency* that cracked the cavern Walls revealing an ancient altar inscribed with the *Moon covenant*.
On the altar lay a *second fragment*,
Its a surface swirling with night-sky constellation. Form shivered, scales flickering between gold and midnight.
*Aurelius (voice trembling):*"The covenant... It was hidden here all along. Only a heart bound by promise can claim it."