POV: Serina
I woke up screaming.
Pain exploded through my chest like someone had shoved burning coals under my skin. The dragon mark was alive, pulsing and twisting like it was trying to crawl right through my heart.
"Stop moving, you fool. You'll make it worse."
I jerked my head up and saw him. The dragon. Standing in the corner of our tiny shack like some dark prince who'd wandered into the wrong neighborhood. His golden eyes glowed in the darkness, watching me like a cat watches a mouse.
Then I remembered everything. The shrine. The blood. The contract.
Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no.
"Finn!" I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn't cooperate. Every muscle felt like it had been beaten with rocks.
"Your brother is fine," the dragon said coldly. "I removed the curse. You're welcome."
I turned my head and there he was—Finn, sleeping peacefully next to me. His face wasn't pale anymore. The black veins were gone. He looked... healthy. Actually healthy.
Tears burned my eyes. "You saved him."
"I told you I would." The dragon stepped closer, and I realized how tall he was. How dangerous. "Now it's time to discuss payment."
My stomach dropped. "What do you want?"
His smile was sharp as a knife. "Everything."
Before I could ask what that meant, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me off the bed. My legs barely held me up.
"We're leaving," he announced. "This place isn't safe anymore. The magisters know someone broke my seal. They'll send hunters to investigate, and when they find you..." He didn't finish the sentence, but his meaning was clear.
They'd kill me.
"I can't leave Finn alone!"
"Then wake him and bring him. I don't care. But we're going now."
"Where?"
"Somewhere they won't think to look. Somewhere I can figure out what you really are."
What I really am? What was that supposed to mean?
But the look in his eyes told me arguing would be pointless. This wasn't a request. It was an order.
I shook Finn awake gently. His eyes opened, and when he saw the dragon, he went very still.
"Finn, it's okay," I said quickly. "He's... he saved you. We need to go with him."
"Is he really a dragon?" Finn whispered.
"Yes."
"Cool."
I almost laughed. Only my little brother would think being kidnapped by a dragon was cool.
We gathered our few belongings—which took about thirty seconds since we owned basically nothing. The dragon watched us with barely hidden impatience.
"Hold on to me," he ordered. "Both of you. And don't let go unless you want to end up scattered across three different dimensions."
Finn grabbed my hand. I grabbed the dragon's arm. His skin was warm—almost hot—and I felt power humming beneath it like electricity.
The world twisted.
I squeezed my eyes shut as everything spun. My stomach lurched. For a horrible second, I thought I was going to throw up.
Then solid ground appeared under my feet again.
I opened my eyes and gasped.
We were standing in an old tower—but not abandoned like I expected. Someone had been living here. There were books stacked everywhere, ancient weapons mounted on walls, and a fireplace that roared with flames that burned black instead of orange.
"Welcome to your new home," the dragon said, releasing us. "Don't touch anything. Half of these items could kill you if you look at them wrong."
Finn's eyes went huge. He started to reach for a glowing sword, but I grabbed his hand.
"Listen to him," I said firmly.
The dragon pointed to a corner. "Sleep there. We talk in the morning."
"Wait," I said. "I don't even know your name."
He turned, those gold eyes burning into mine. "Kaelion. My name is Kaelion. Remember it, little thief, because you're bound to me until one of us dies."
Then he walked away, disappearing into another room.
Finn tugged my sleeve. "Serina? I'm scared."
I pulled him close. "Me too. But it's going to be okay. I promise."
I was lying. I had no idea if anything would ever be okay again.
We curled up in the corner on some old cushions. Finn fell asleep almost immediately, exhausted from being sick for so long. But I couldn't sleep. My mind was racing.
What had I done? I'd freed a dragon—the World-End Dragon—and now I was stuck with him. Bound to him. If I died, he went back to prison. If he died, I died too.
And he'd said something about figuring out what I "really was." What did that mean?
I touched the mark on my chest through my shirt. It was still warm, still pulsing. I could feel Kaelion through it somehow—his emotions, his presence. Right now, he felt... confused. And angry. And something else I couldn't name.
Hours passed. The black fire in the fireplace never went out. I watched shadows dance on the walls and tried not to panic.
Then I heard it.
Footsteps. Multiple footsteps. Outside the tower.
I sat up slowly, my heart pounding. Through the window, I saw lights moving in the darkness. Torches. Lots of them.
And voices. Cold, commanding voices.
"—detected the dragon's signature here—"
"—find the one who broke the seal—"
"—Grand Magister wants them alive, but if they resist, kill them—"
The magisters. They'd found us already.
I shook Finn awake, clamping my hand over his mouth before he could make noise. His eyes went wide with fear.
"Hide," I mouthed silently. "Don't come out no matter what."
He nodded and crawled under a table, pulling dusty cloth over himself.
I stood up on shaking legs and looked for Kaelion. Where was he? Could he feel the danger through our bond?
The door exploded inward.
Five figures in white robes swept into the tower, magic crackling around their hands. Elite magisters. I could tell by the golden symbols on their chests.
The leader pulled back her hood, and my blood turned to ice.
A woman. Beautiful and terrible, with silver hair and eyes like blue ice. She smiled when she saw me.
"There you are," she purred. "The little rat who broke the World-End seal. Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"
I backed up until I hit the wall. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Liar." She stepped closer. "I can smell the dragon bond on you. Where is he? Where is Kaelion?"
"Not here."
She laughed. "Brave. Stupid, but brave. It doesn't matter. We'll find him. But first..." Her magic flared bright and deadly. "First, we're going to cut that mark right out of your chest."
I tried to run, but two magisters grabbed my arms. The woman raised her hand, and I saw a blade made of pure magic forming in her palm.
This was it. I was going to die.
Then the entire tower shook.
Black fire erupted from every wall. The magisters screamed and jumped back as flames roared around us. But the fire didn't burn me—it protected me.
Kaelion materialized from the shadows behind the woman. He moved so fast I barely saw it. One second he was across the room, the next his hand was wrapped around her throat.
"Touch what's mine," he said quietly, "and I'll show you why they called me World-End."
The woman choked, clawing at his grip. The other magisters launched attacks at Kaelion, but he didn't even flinch. Their magic hit him and just... stopped. Like hitting a wall.
"Impossible," one magister gasped. "He should be weak from the seal—"
"I'm not weak anymore," Kaelion said. His eyes found mine across the room. "I have an anchor now."
He released the woman, letting her drop. She scrambled backward, fear finally showing on her face.
"Tell your Grand Magister," Kaelion said softly, "that I'm coming for him. Tell him I remember everything he did. And tell him that this time, I have something he fears more than my fire."
"What?" the woman spat.
Kaelion's smile was terrifying. "I have the last Dragon-Keeper. And she's going to burn his empire to ash."
The magisters fled, teleporting away in flashes of light.
The black fire died down. Kaelion turned to me, and for the first time, I saw something other than anger in his eyes.
Fear.
"We need to talk," he said. "Right now."
"About what?"
"About why your blood could break my seal when no one else's could in a thousand years. About why the wards recognized you as friend. About why I can feel power in you that shouldn't exist."
He stepped closer, his golden eyes burning into mine.
"You're not just some random thief, Serina. You're her. The reincarnation of the woman I loved. The woman who died because of me. The last Dragon-Keeper."
My world tilted.
"That's impossible—"
"Look at your hands."
I looked down. My hands were glowing. Silver light poured from my palms, and as I watched in horror, my weak, pathetic magic exploded outward.
The entire tower lit up like a star.
And somewhere deep inside me, I felt something wake up. Something ancient and powerful and absolutely terrifying.
Something that whispered in a voice that wasn't mine: Finally. I've been waiting so long.
Kaelion grabbed my shoulders. "Serina, listen to me carefully. That power inside you? The magisters built their entire empire by stealing it. They've been hunting your bloodline for a thousand years. And now that you're awakening—"
The tower exploded with silver fire.
When the light cleared, I was floating. Actually floating in the air, surrounded by magic that felt like sunshine and lightning combined.
And standing in the doorway, having just teleported in, was a man in gold robes. His face was cold and cruel, and his smile made my skin crawl.
"Perfect timing," he said smoothly. "The Dragon-Keeper awakens at last. I was beginning to think the bloodline had died out completely."
Kaelion moved in front of me, protective and deadly. "Aldric."
"Hello, old friend." The man—Aldric—smiled wider. "Miss me? I certainly missed draining your power every day for the last thousand years. But now..." His eyes fixed on me. "Now I have something even better. The girl who can command you."
"She commands nothing," Kaelion snarled.
"Not yet. But she will." Aldric raised his hand, and I saw symbols glowing on his palm. "See, I've been studying the old contracts. And I discovered something fascinating. Dragon-Keepers can give their bonded dragon orders that can't be refused. Absolute commands that override even the dragon's will."
My blood turned to ice.
"So here's what's going to happen," Aldric continued pleasantly. "You're going to come with me, little Keeper. And you're going to order your dragon to go back into his seal. Peacefully. Forever. And if you refuse..." He snapped his fingers.
An image appeared in the air—Finn, crying and struggling, held by guards in a white prison cell.
"Your brother dies. Slowly. Painfully. And you'll watch every second of it through this spell before I kill you too."
I couldn't breathe.
Kaelion's hand found mine, squeezing once. Through our bond, I felt his message clearly: Don't do it. I'd rather die.
But I was looking at Finn. My baby brother. The only family I had left.
Aldric smiled like he'd already won. "Choose carefully, Dragon-Keeper. Your brother's life... or your dragon's freedom. You have ten seconds."