DRAKTHAR POV
The girl was going to get herself killed within the hour.
I watched Serina Ashveil march through the Dead Forest like she owned it, her small frame radiating determination that would've been admirable if it wasn't so reckless. She had no weapons except a dull knife, no magic she could access, and no understanding of the world she'd just stepped into.
And yet she'd freed me. This slip of a girl with Elara's bloodline running through her veins had broken chains forged by gods themselves.
"Can we move faster?" she asked, glancing back at me. "We're wasting time."
"You have fifty-seven hours left," I said. "Running blindly toward the Academy won't save your brother. It will just get you captured too."
"Then what's your plan?" She stopped walking and faced me, hands on her hips. "You said you'd help me. So help me."
I'd forgotten how infuriating Ashveil descendants could be. Elara had been the same way—all fire and stubborn courage with no sense of self-preservation.
"The Academy's underground holding facilities are protected by wards that kill anyone who enters without proper authorization," I explained. "We can't just walk in."
"You're a dragon. Can't you burn through the wards?"
"I could burn through the entire Academy," I said flatly. "But your brother would die in the flames along with everyone else. Is that what you want?"
Her face went pale. "No. Of course not."
"Then we do this carefully." I pulled the stolen map from her bag and spread it on a fallen log. "The auction where they're holding children is here, in the sub-level beneath the Academy's west wing. There's a black market entrance through the old sewers. If we can get fake identification papers, we can pose as buyers."
"How do we get fake papers?"
"I know someone in Silver Moon City who specializes in forgeries. We head there first, get what we need, then infiltrate the auction." I rolled up the map. "But before any of that, you need training."
"Training in what?"
"Not dying." I gestured to a clearing ahead. "Your seal is cracking. You'll start leaking Void Magic uncontrollably soon. If you don't learn basic control, you'll either blow up accidentally or attract every Academy hunter within fifty miles."
Serina bit her lip, looking torn between arguing and accepting that I might be right. "How long will training take?"
"For basic control? A few hours if you're a fast learner." I studied her carefully. "But I should warn you—accessing Void Magic for the first time is painful. Your body isn't used to channeling that much power. Some people pass out. Some people scream. Some people break."
"I won't break." Her voice was steel.
"We'll see."
I led her to the clearing and made her sit cross-legged on the ground. "Close your eyes. Feel for the magic inside you—it's there, trapped behind the seal. Like a river dammed up, waiting to burst through."
She closed her eyes and I watched her face scrunch up in concentration. Nothing happened for several minutes.
"I don't feel anything," she said, frustrated.
"Because you've spent nineteen years being told you're powerless. Your mind believes the lie." I crouched beside her. "But your blood knows the truth. Think about your brother. Think about how the Academy took him. Think about every person who called you worthless because of that fake Zero mark."
Her jaw clenched. Her hands balled into fists.
"Now let that anger burn," I whispered. "Let it crack the seal."
Purple light exploded from her body.
Serina's eyes snapped open—glowing violet instead of their normal color. Magic crackled around her like lightning, wild and uncontrolled. The grass beneath her turned to ash. The air itself seemed to ripple and bend.
"What's happening?!" she gasped.
"You're accessing Void Magic. Don't panic—just breathe and focus."
"It hurts!" Her voice was desperate. "It feels like I'm being torn apart!"
I grabbed her hands, channeling some of her excess power through our bond to stabilize her. "The seal is breaking faster than I expected. Your emotions are making it worse. You need to calm down."
"How can I calm down? My skin feels like it's on fire!"
The violet marks on her wrist were spreading, climbing up her arm like living vines. More of the seal breaking. More power flooding through a body that wasn't ready for it.
If this continued, she'd burn herself out completely.
I did the only thing I could think of—I pulled her against my chest and wrapped my arms around her, using my own ancient magic to create a buffer around her overloading system.
"Listen to my heartbeat," I commanded. "Match your breathing to mine. Slow. Steady."
She was shaking violently, but she tried. Her breathing gradually slowed. The wild magic calmed slightly.
"Good," I murmured. "You're doing well. The pain means the seal is losing its grip. Soon you'll be able to control this power instead of it controlling you."
"Will it always hurt this much?"
"No. Your body will adapt. Give it time."
We stayed like that for several minutes, her small form pressed against mine while I stabilized her through our bond. I could feel her exhaustion, her fear, her determination not to give up.
So much like Elara. And yet completely different.
"Why?" Serina's voice was muffled against my chest. "Why did you really wait for me specifically? You said you felt my whole life through the bond, but I don't understand. Why me?"
I considered lying. Considered giving her a simple answer.
But she deserved the truth.
"Because three thousand years ago, I failed to protect Lady Elara Ashveil," I said quietly. "I was bonded to her—true dragon bond, not this forced contract we have now. We were partners. Equals. And when the Academy came to murder her family, I wasn't there. I was away on a diplomatic mission, and by the time I returned, she was already dead."
Serina pulled back to look at my face. "That wasn't your fault."
"I tore apart half the continent in my rage. Killed thousands trying to avenge her. The gods imprisoned me not as punishment, but to stop me from destroying everything." I met her violet-glowing eyes. "For three thousand years, I've been chained in that shrine, conscious and aware, feeling the Ashveil bloodline through our ancient bond. Feeling it get weaker and weaker as your family was hunted to extinction."
"Until me," she whispered.
"Until you. The last ember of a bloodline I failed to protect." I brushed a strand of hair from her face. "So yes, little Ashveil. I waited for you specifically. Because I owe your family a debt I can never repay. Because I will not fail a second time. And because—"
The words caught in my throat. Because I'd watched her grow up through our bond. Watched her fight and survive and protect her brother with the same fierce courage Elara had shown. Watched her become someone worthy of the Ashveil name even without knowing her heritage.
Because somewhere in those three thousand years of watching, I'd started to care.
But I couldn't say that. Not yet. Maybe never.
"Because it's my duty," I finished lamely.
Serina studied me with those too-knowing eyes, like she could see through my lie. But she didn't push.
"The magic stopped hurting," she said instead, looking down at her hands. The purple glow had faded to a soft shimmer beneath her skin. "I can feel it now. Like a warm current in my blood."
"That's your Void Magic settling into your system. It will be unstable for a few days, but you can start learning basic techniques." I released her and stood. "We should keep moving. Silver Moon City is another three hours' walk."
"Drakthar?" She caught my wrist. "Thank you. For... for everything. I know you didn't ask for this bond. But I'm glad it's you."
Something twisted in my chest. "Don't thank me yet. You haven't seen what I'm capable of."
"I don't care what you're capable of. You're helping me save Kael. That's all that matters."
As we walked toward Silver Moon City, I felt the bond between us pulse stronger. She was growing more powerful by the hour, her seal cracking piece by piece.
Soon she'd be dangerous. Soon she'd be unstoppable.
But there was something I hadn't told her. Something I'd seen in the depths of her magic when I'd stabilized her.
The Academy hadn't just tattooed a Zero over her Ashveil marks. They'd bound her power with blood magic—dark, forbidden magic that required a sacrifice to create.
Someone had died to seal Serina's magic. Someone she'd probably known.
And when she learned the truth about who had been sacrificed to make her powerless, it would break her heart.
I glanced at the girl walking beside me, chattering nervously about her plans to disguise herself at the auction.
"Serina," I said suddenly. "When we get your brother back—and we will—what will you do after?"
She looked surprised by the question. "I... I don't know. I never thought past saving him. Maybe try to find somewhere safe? Build a new life?"
"The Academy won't stop hunting you. Not now that they know the Ashveil heir survived."
Her face went hard. "Then I'll fight back. I'll learn to use this power properly and I'll make them regret ever coming after my family."
There it was. That Ashveil fire.
"Good," I said. "Because you're going to need that anger for what's coming."
We crested a hill and Silver Moon City spread out below us—a sprawling mess of markets, taverns, and criminal enterprises where rogues and outcasts thrived outside Academy control.
But something was wrong. I could smell it on the wind.
Blood. Recent blood. And underneath it, the metallic scent of Academy uniforms.
"Drakthar?" Serina's voice was worried. "Why are you stopping?"
"They're here," I said grimly. "Academy hunters. In the city. Probably looking for survivors from the shrine wards."
"Looking for us, you mean."
"Yes."
She straightened her shoulders. "Then we'll have to be careful. Come on—we don't have time to wait."
I caught her arm before she could march down the hill. "Serina. If we're caught, I can escape. I'm a dragon—they can't hold me. But you..."
"But I'm just a girl with barely any training and a cracking seal?" She smiled grimly. "I know. But Kael's counting on me. So I guess I'd better not get caught."
She pulled free and started down the hill toward the city full of hunters.
And I followed her, this small, brave, reckless girl who'd freed me from eternal imprisonment just to save her brother.
I'd failed Elara.
I would not fail Serina.
Even if keeping her alive meant burning the entire world to ash.