Draeven's POV
Magic slams into my barrier like a thunderstorm.
I shield Serina with my body as fire and lightning explode around us. The shrine walls crack. Stone rains down.
"Stay behind me," I growl.
Lord Corwen's voice booms through the chaos. "Surround them! Don't let the dragon fully manifest!"
Fifteen mages. Twenty guards. All of them want my contractor dead.
Rage burns through me hotter than dragon fire. These humans dare attack what's mine?
"Draeven!" Serina grabs my arm. Her hands are shaking, but her eyes are fierce. "What do we do?"
I look down at her. This small, broken girl who freed me. Who trusted me. Who just awakened power she doesn't know how to control.
Something protective and possessive roars to life in my chest.
"We fight," I say. "And I teach you what it means to have a dragon's fury."
I turn to face our enemies. The incomplete bond limits my power—I can't fully transform, can't stay manifested for long. But I don't need to be at full strength to destroy these insects.
"Dragon!" Cassian steps forward, magic crackling around his fists. "Release the girl. She's a criminal. This doesn't concern you."
I laugh. It's not a nice sound.
"She summoned me. She bound me with blood. She owns me." My smile shows too many teeth. "Which means anyone who hurts her dies screaming. Does that concern me enough?"
Cassian's face goes pale.
Good. He should be terrified.
"Capture them both!" Lord Corwen shouts. "We need the girl alive for the ritual!"
The mages attack as one. Fire, ice, lightning—all of it crashes toward us.
I raise one hand. Golden flames erupt from my palm, forming a wall that swallows their magic like it's nothing. The shrine fills with light.
"Serina," I say calmly. "Feel the fire in your chest. The piece of me that lives in you now."
"I—I feel it," she gasps. "It's warm. It's—"
"Let it out."
"But I don't know how—"
"You do. You've always known. They just made you forget." I glance at her. "Trust yourself, little flame. Like you trusted me."
She closes her eyes. Takes a breath.
Then opens her hands.
Golden fire bursts from her palms.
It's wild. Uncontrolled. Raw power with no direction. The flames shoot everywhere—up, sideways, nearly hitting me.
But it's beautiful.
"I'm doing it!" Serina's eyes are wide with shock. "I'm actually—"
A guard rushes at her from the side.
My hand shoots out. Dragon fire incinerates him before he takes two steps. Nothing left but ash.
Serina stares at the ash pile. Her face goes white.
"You killed him," she whispers.
"He tried to hurt you." I turn back to the other attackers. "Anyone else want to try?"
Three guards charge. I kill them just as fast.
"Stop!" Serina's voice cracks. "Draeven, stop! You're killing them!"
"Yes." I don't understand her distress. "That's generally what happens to people who attack you."
"But—" She looks sick. "They're just following orders. They don't deserve to die."
Ah. She still has mercy. How... human.
"They would have killed you without hesitation," I tell her. "They betrayed you. Used you. Stole from you. And you want to show them mercy?"
Lord Corwen laughs from across the shrine. "The girl is weak! She'll never complete the bond. She doesn't have the stomach for real power!"
Something in Serina's expression changes. Hardens.
"I'm not weak," she says quietly.
The fire in her hands grows brighter.
"I'm not weak!" she screams.
The golden flames explode outward like a bomb. They slam into the remaining guards, sending them flying. The shrine shakes. Cracks spread across the floor.
I feel her power through our bond. It's enormous. Terrifying. Completely out of control.
She's going to burn herself out. Kill herself with her own magic.
"Serina, stop!" I grab her shoulders. "You have to control it!"
"I can't!" Tears stream down her face. "It's too much! I can't—"
I do the only thing I can think of.
I pull her against my chest and wrap my arms around her, channeling the excess power back into myself. The flames flow from her into me,循环 through the bond between us.
Slowly, her power settles. The fire dims.
She collapses against me, sobbing.
"I almost killed everyone," she chokes out. "I almost—"
"But you didn't." I hold her tighter. "You stopped. That's what matters."
Around us, the guards are groaning. Burned but alive. Serina's attack was powerful but not deadly. She held back without realizing it.
Even in rage, she couldn't bring herself to kill.
My fierce little contractor with a soft heart.
It should annoy me. Instead, I find it... endearing.
"How touching." Lord Corwen stands at the entrance, untouched by the chaos. Cassian and Liora flank him. "The mighty World-End Dragon, reduced to playing nursemaid for a crying girl."
I carefully set Serina down and step in front of her.
"You have five seconds to leave," I say softly. "Or I show you why they call me World-End."
"Empty threats. The bond is incomplete. You can barely stay in this realm for more than minutes." Corwen smiles. "And I have something you need to see."
He snaps his fingers.
Two guards drag someone forward.
A boy. Twelve years old. Dark hair. Unconscious.
Serina screams.
"KAI!"
My blood turns to ice. They have her brother. The one she sacrificed everything to save.
"Release him," I snarl. "Now."
"Or what? You'll kill us?" Corwen laughs. "If you do, my men have orders to slit the boy's throat. If I don't return in ten minutes, they kill him. If the girl attacks, they kill him."
He's trapped us perfectly.
I feel Serina's terror through our bond. Her desperation. Her complete helplessness.
"What do you want?" she asks, voice breaking.
"You. Specifically, your blood and your life." Corwen's smile is cruel. "Come with us peacefully. Let us complete our ritual. And the boy lives."
"Don't," I growl at Serina. "Don't you dare—"
"I'll go." She steps around me before I can stop her. "Let Kai go and I'll come with you. I won't fight."
"NO!" I grab her arm. "Serina, they'll kill you both anyway!"
"Maybe." She looks up at me with tears streaming down her face. "But maybe they won't. And I can't risk Kai. Not for anything. Not even for this."
She means the bond. Our contract. Me.
She would throw it all away for her brother.
Respect and fury war inside me. How can someone be so brave and so foolish at the same time?
"I won't let them take you," I say.
"You don't have a choice." She pulls free from my grip. "The bond isn't complete. You can't stay here much longer. And I won't let Kai die because of me."
She walks toward Corwen.
Every instinct screams at me to stop her. To burn these humans to ash. To protect what's mine.
But I'm fading. The incomplete bond is dragging me back to my realm. I can feel myself becoming less solid, less real.
"Draeven." Serina looks back at me one last time. "Thank you. For everything."
"This isn't over," I snarl. "Do you hear me? This isn't—"
The world goes dark.
I'm ripped back to my realm, pulled away from her by the incomplete contract.
I slam my fist into my throne. It cracks.
"NO!"
But I'm alone. Trapped. Again.
And Serina—my contractor, my little flame, the first person in three thousand years to treat me like something more than a weapon—is in the hands of people who want to kill her.
I close my eyes and reach through our bond. I can still feel her. Terrified. Brave. Walking into a trap to save her brother.
Then I feel something else.
Pain. Sharp and sudden.
They're hurting her.
Rage explodes through me so violently that my realm shakes. Rivers of lava boil over. The black stone of my throne room cracks in a thousand places.
I look at my hands. The bond is incomplete, yes. I'm still mostly trapped, yes.
But Serina's awakening changed something. Made the bond stronger. Gave me more power in the human world.
Not enough to fully manifest.
But maybe... maybe enough to reach her. To help her.
To show these pathetic humans what happens when you hurt a dragon's contractor.
I start preparing. Planning. Gathering my strength.
They think they've won.
They have no idea what's coming.