POV: Serina
"You're lying."
I stared at Commander Drace, the man who'd hunted me through the slums for years, who'd arrested my friends, who'd served Aldric without question. Now he knelt before us, claiming he wanted to help?
"I understand your distrust," Drace said calmly. "But I'm telling the truth. Aldric murdered my sister, and I've been waiting for a chance to destroy him ever since."
"Then why did you serve him?" Kaelion's voice was deadly soft. "Why hunt innocents for him? Why burn homes and arrest children?"
Drace's jaw clenched. "Because he has my daughter. Locked in the Citadel. If I betray him, she dies."
The pain in his voice was real. I felt it like a physical thing.
"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Mira asked, stepping forward. "You could be leading more guards to us right now."
Drace stood slowly and tossed the glowing crystal to Kaelion. "That seal fragment is worth more than my life. If I wanted to trap you, I wouldn't give you the one thing that could help you fight Aldric."
Kaelion caught it, studying the pulsing magic. Through our bond, I felt his surprise. "This is real. And incredibly dangerous. If Aldric has six more like this..."
"He does. Hidden throughout the Citadel." Drace looked at me. "That's why I need your help. Not just to stop the ritual, but to rescue my daughter. Her name is Elena. She's eight years old and she's been imprisoned since she was three."
My heart twisted. Eight years old. The same age Finn had been when our mother died.
"We'll help you," I said before I could stop myself.
"Serina—" Kaelion started.
"No. If there's a child in danger, we help. That's not negotiable."
Kaelion looked like he wanted to argue, but something in my expression stopped him. He sighed. "Fine. But first we get somewhere safe. Somewhere Aldric can't find us easily."
"I know a place," Mira said quietly. "Follow me."
We walked for hours through the dark forest. Finn rode on Kaelion's shoulders, half-asleep. Azura flew in short bursts, still learning to use her wings, always returning to perch on my arm. Drace and his five rebel fighters flanked us, keeping watch.
Finally, Mira stopped at what looked like a solid rock wall covered in vines.
"Here?" I asked doubtfully.
She smiled and pressed her hand against a specific stone. Magic rippled outward, and the vines pulled back to reveal a cave entrance.
"Welcome," Mira said, "to the Sanctuary."
Inside, the cave opened into a massive network of tunnels lit by glowing crystals. And it wasn't empty. People were everywhere—families, children, elderly folk, all refugees. They looked up as we entered, hope and fear mixing on their faces.
"Mira!" A young woman ran forward, hugging her. "Thank the saints! We heard the slums were burning—"
"They are. Aldric's purging anyone suspected of helping the Dragon-Keeper." Mira gestured to me. "This is her. This is Serina."
Every eye turned to me. I wanted to shrink back, to hide, but Kaelion's hand pressed against my back, steadying me.
"She freed the World-End Dragon," Mira continued. "And she's going to help us end Aldric's tyranny."
Silence. Then someone started clapping. Then another. Soon the entire cave was cheering, and I felt sick.
They thought I was a hero. But all I'd done was accidentally start a war that got people killed.
"Stop," I whispered. Then louder: "STOP!"
The cheering died.
"I'm not a hero," I said, my voice shaking. "I'm just someone who made a desperate mistake. People died tonight because of me. Your homes burned because I freed a dragon without understanding what I was doing. I don't deserve your praise."
The crowd murmured, confused.
Then an old man stepped forward. His face was scarred, his hands twisted from old burns. "Child, do you know what I am?"
I shook my head.
"I worked in the dragon harvesting facility beneath the Citadel. For thirty years, I watched them torture sealed dragons, draining their essence to fuel the magisters' power. I watched dragons weep and beg for death. And when I finally spoke out, they did this." He held up his ruined hands. "Then they threw me into the slums to die slowly."
He smiled through broken teeth. "You didn't start this war, girl. Aldric started it a thousand years ago when he chose to build his empire on stolen lives. You just gave us hope that we might finally win."
Tears burned my eyes. Other people came forward, sharing their stories. A woman whose son was killed for having dragon-blessed blood. A man who lost his wife when she tried to heal a dragon in secret. Children orphaned by Aldric's purges.
So many victims. So much pain.
"We've been waiting," Mira said softly, "for someone like you. Someone brave enough to stand against them."
"I'm not brave," I protested. "I'm terrified."
"Bravery isn't the absence of fear," Kaelion said quietly. "It's choosing to fight despite it."
I looked up at him, surprised. His golden eyes were softer than I'd ever seen them.
Mira led us deeper into the caves to a quieter section. She gave Finn and Azura a room to sleep in, then took me aside.
"I need to tell you something," she said. "Something I should have told you years ago."
My stomach tightened. "What?"
"I'm not just a random healer who got exiled. I used to work in the Golden Citadel. High-level healing division. I had access to restricted archives, forbidden texts." She took a deep breath. "That's where I discovered the truth about dragon harvesting. And about the Dragon-Keepers."
"You knew?" My voice rose. "You knew what I was and you never told me?"
"I suspected. Your magic signature was wrong—too suppressed, too hidden. But I couldn't be sure, and if I'd been wrong, asking questions would have gotten you killed." Mira grabbed my shoulders. "Serina, the magisters have been hunting your bloodline for generations. Your mother knew. That's why she hid you in the slums, why she sealed your power before she died."
The world tilted. "My mother... she knew?"
"She was trying to protect you. And it worked. You survived. You made it to adulthood without being detected." Mira smiled sadly. "She'd be so proud of you."
I couldn't speak. Couldn't process this.
"There's more," Mira continued. "I've been building this network for years. Gathering others who learned the truth—exiled healers, disgraced guards, mages who refused to participate in the harvesting. We've been waiting for someone who could unite us. Someone with the power to actually challenge Aldric."
"I don't have that power! I can barely control my magic—"
"But you will. With training." She looked past me to where Kaelion stood. "And you have the best teacher possible."
That night, as refugees settled in to sleep, I sat alone at the edge of the cave, staring out at the dark forest. Guilt pressed down on me like stones.
Dozens arrested. Homes burned. Lives destroyed.
All because of me.
"You're thinking too loud."
I jumped as Kaelion appeared beside me, moving silently despite his size. He sat, which surprised me. Usually he kept his distance.
"This is my fault," I whispered. "All those people—"
"Were victims of a system that was already broken," Kaelion interrupted. "Serina, listen carefully. The moment my seal broke, Aldric's power began failing. For decades, he's ruled through stolen dragon magic—my magic—draining it from my imprisoned body. Now that source is cut off."
"So he's weaker?"
"Weaker, yes. But also desperate. And desperate enemies are the most dangerous." Kaelion's eyes glowed in the darkness. "He needs to recapture me or find another power source. That's why he's purging the slums so viciously. He's afraid."
"Of me?"
"Of what you represent. A Dragon-Keeper can free the other sealed dragons beneath the Citadel. Can bond with them as equals. Can turn his own weapons against him." Kaelion looked at me intently. "You're not just a girl who accidentally freed me, Serina. You're the beginning of the end of his empire."
I wanted to believe him. But I felt so small. So powerless.
"I don't know how to be this person everyone needs," I admitted. "I'm just a thief. I steal food and pick locks. I'm nobody."
"You're the girl who walked into a death trap to save her brother," Kaelion said softly. "Who freed a dragon without asking for anything in return. Who protects a hatchling she just met like it's her own child. That's not nobody. That's someone worth fighting for."
Something warm spread through my chest. Through our bond, I felt his emotions—respect, determination, and something else. Something that felt almost like... care?
"What do I do now?" I asked.
Kaelion stood, offering his hand. "Now? You survive. You get stronger. And then you burn their empire to ashes."
I took his hand and let him pull me up.
"I'll train you," he continued. "It won't be easy. It will hurt. You'll want to quit a thousand times. But if you can survive it, you'll become powerful enough to protect everyone you love."
"When do we start?"
"Tomorrow at dawn." He almost smiled. "Get rest while you can. You'll need it."
I started to walk back inside, then stopped. "Kaelion? Thank you. For saving us. For... everything."
He didn't respond, just nodded once before disappearing into the shadows.
I found Finn already asleep, Azura curled up beside him. Both looked peaceful. Safe.
I would keep them that way. No matter what it cost.
I lay down on the thin bedroll Mira had provided and closed my eyes. Sleep came quickly, dragging me under.
But my dreams were dark and full of fire.
I dreamed of Aldric standing in a circle of power, six glowing crystals floating around him. I dreamed of Kaelion chained and screaming. I dreamed of Finn's terrified face as guards dragged him away.
And I dreamed of a woman who looked like me but older, stronger. She wore armor made of dragon scales and her eyes glowed silver. She spoke with a voice that echoed across time:
"Wake up, child. The blood moon rises. Two weeks until he completes the ritual. Two weeks until everything ends. Are you strong enough yet?"
"No," I tried to say. "I'm not ready—"
"Then you'd better learn fast. Because he's coming for you tonight."
I jerked awake, gasping.
The cave was dark. Silent. Everyone was sleeping.
But through our bond, I felt Kaelion's sudden alarm.
Then I heard it. A sound that made my blood freeze.
Screaming. Coming from the cave entrance.
I ran toward the sound and found chaos. Guards were pouring into the sanctuary—dozens of them, led by Lady Isadora herself. She was slaughtering refugees, burning them with red magic, laughing as they died.
"Found you!" she called out gleefully. "Did you really think you could hide from us?"
Drace and his rebels were fighting back, but they were outnumbered.
Kaelion appeared beside me, already shifting. "Get Finn and the hatchling. We're leaving—"
"They're trapped!" Mira screamed, pointing.
I looked and my heart stopped.
The section where Finn and Azura were sleeping was cut off by flames. Guards surrounded it. And standing in the center, holding a knife to Finn's throat, was Commander Thane—Drace's second-in-command.
"Drace!" Thane called out. "I knew you were a traitor! I followed you straight to this rat's nest."
Drace's face went white. "Thane, please—"
"Tell the Dragon-Keeper to surrender, or the boy dies. You have ten seconds."
Finn was crying, terrified. Azura was hissing, trying to protect him but too small to fight.
I felt Kaelion tense beside me, ready to attack. But there were too many guards, too much distance. He couldn't reach Finn in time.
Isadora smiled at me. "Your choice, Keeper. Come quietly, or watch your brother bleed."
My mind raced. There had to be a way. There had to be—
Then I felt it. A pulse of power from deep in the cave. Ancient magic stirring.
And a voice—not through the bond, but in my actual ears—whispered:
"Use me."
I turned and saw something impossible.
At the back of the cave, partially hidden by shadows, was a dragon. Not Kaelion. Not Azura.
Another dragon.
Sealed. Chained. Barely alive. But awake. And looking right at me with eyes that blazed with desperate hope.
"Free me," it whispered. "And I'll save your brother."
Kaelion saw it too. "No! Serina, don't—"
But I was already moving. Running toward the sealed dragon while guards shouted and Isadora screamed for them to stop me.
I reached the chains, pressed my hands against them, and felt my power surge.
"I free you!" I shouted.
The chains shattered.
And the world exploded with silver fire.