The road to the northern cliffs was silent — too silent. Kael and Lira walked through ruins that seemed to hum faintly with life, the air thick with the scent of old magic. The Man of Riddles' words echoed in Kael's head like a heartbeat: "Find the place where dragons sleep."
After two days of travel, they found it.
The valley opened into a vast crater lined with obsidian stone. Great shapes jutted from the earth — not mountains, but bones, smooth and silver, stretching miles into the sky. Lira's breath caught.
"Kael… are those…?"
Kael nodded. "Dragon remains. Dozens of them."
The air shimmered with ancient energy. Each breath Kael took seemed to stir something deeper beneath the ground. The veins of silver that marked his skin began to pulse, glowing brighter the closer he walked to the heart of the crater.
"They're calling to you," Lira whispered.
"No," Kael said softly, eyes narrowing. "They're warning me."
At the center of the crater stood a vast stone seal, cracked down the middle. Runes older than language burned faintly across its surface. The seal wasn't holding something in — it was keeping something asleep.
Kael knelt, tracing the markings. They responded to his touch, flaring to life in molten silver. The ground trembled.
"Kael, maybe don't—" Lira began, but it was too late.
The seal split open with a blinding flash. A rush of wind knocked them both back as a deep, resonant voice filled the air.
"Who dares disturb the slumber of the First Brood?"
Kael shielded his eyes as a colossal shape rose from the fissure — a dragon unlike any he had ever imagined. Its scales shimmered between silver and shadow, its wings folding around it like mountains. But its eyes… one glowed pure white, the other black as the void.
"You…" Kael whispered. "You're—"
"The First," the dragon rumbled. "The one who forged both flame and shadow. You, my fractured heir, carry the curse I left behind."
Kael took a step forward, the air shaking with power. "Then tell me why! Why was our bloodline cursed? Why must we burn for your mistakes?"
The dragon's gaze pierced through him.
"Because your ancestor begged for power beyond what was meant for mortals. To save his people, he bound his soul to mine — and in doing so, bound all who followed to my flame and my grief."
Lira whispered, "His grandfather's bloodline…"
"The Silver Dragon was no gift, child," the great beast said. "It was punishment wrapped in mercy. The light that kills as easily as it saves."
Kael's fists trembled. "Then tell me how to end it!"
The dragon lowered its head, its breath hot as fire.
"End it? You cannot. You can only choose which half of you survives. Light… or shadow."
The ground cracked again. The dragon's wings began to dissolve into ash, its voice fading.
"When the twin flames meet beneath the eclipse, your choice will burn the world… or save it."
Then it was gone — the seal closing with a thunderous roar. The valley fell silent again, but Kael felt the dragon's essence coiling inside his chest like molten fire.
Lira touched his shoulder. "Kael… what did he mean by 'twin flames'?"
Kael's golden eyes glowed faintly silver around the edges. "I think… he meant me."
The last light of dusk fell over the bones of dragons as something deep below them shifted — a low growl rumbling like the heartbeat of the earth itself.