Age 15 — The Kaelith Ritual
The moon hung low—fat, glowing, sacred. The great bells of Vaelora Temple echoed across the plains, calling every heart to stillness.
Tonight was the Kaelith.
The Binding.
The day fate chose mates.
---
Inside the dressing tent, Nain tugged at the edge of her ceremonial robe.
Nain: "Mom, why do I have to dress up like this? I look like I'm about to marry the moon."
Nain's Mother: "Because tonight, you might find your mate. Now stand still."
Her mother tightened the silver thread across her shoulders, eyes misting. Nain looked at herself in the mirror—soft waves of black hair, eyes lined in gold, a calm face that hid too much.
Tae (from outside the tent): "Don't go."
Nain peeked past the curtain.
There he stood, arms crossed, a scowl on his face.
Tae: "I bet none of them are your mate. This ritual is stupid anyway."
Nain (smirking): "Fate decides, Tae."
"First grow tall. You're still shorter than me... and even the other boys your age."
He didn't laugh. He didn't argue.
He just looked away—eyes dark, unreadable.
---
The ritual grounds were a glowing circle surrounded by silver flames.
Male dragons—in their majestic forms—knelt in rows, heads bowed in silence. Their scales gleamed under the moonlight: crimson, emerald, sapphire, bronze...
And one—only one—black-scaled dragon sat at the far edge.
Isolated. Still. Radiating something… ancient.
Taehyung.
Too young to participate. Too strange to ignore.
---
The females entered, one by one. Dressed in white, they moved like stars across the night sky—each walking slowly, hand brushing the dragons' foreheads.
Some gasped—bound by glowing Threads of Aeons.
Some walked silently by—no connection, no fate.
Then came Nain.
Eyes focused. Expression unreadable.
She walked down the rows.
One dragon. Two. Three.
Twenty. Forty. Sixty.
She touched their scales.
Warmth. Breath. Nothing.
No thread.
No bond.
No mate.
She reached the end.
And for a breathless moment…
Nothing.
---
In the distance, the black-scaled dragon lifted his head.
Eyes glowing faintly…
Gold.
But no one noticed.
Not yet.
---
🖤 World Note:
No dragon in history has ever had black scales... or golden eyes.