The dragon moved, sand rippling outward as his massive form shifted. His wings unfurled, riling up a gust of wind that blew against their faces, prompting each of them to raise their arms against it.
He slowly turned and took a step forward while the shadows retreated, revealing black scales darker than the desert night. Star took a step back, his heart hammering with both enthusiasm and fear.
At this point in his life, not many things surprised him. Well, unless it was a black dragon the size of a small house. He watched in awe as the dragon lowered his head, staring at the very person who had summoned him.
A menacing voice boomed enough to make the desert sands tremble, prompting Star to take another step back.
"Master."
The hooded man stood up and caressed the side of the dragon's face. The massive creature's eye was at least the size of the man's head, and after a moment, he raised his head, allowing it to rise over their small house.
As he did so, he took a step forward, sending rings of sand outward and causing the earth to tremble. He stopped in front of the other four—Star, Katerina, Kate, and the elf—and then it bent its head once more, but this time not in servitude.
It was gesturing for them to get on.
Star marveled.
'Incredible.'
Meanwhile, Kate jumped up in excitement, her tail swinging wildly. She dashed forward before anyone else and jumped on top of the dragon's shoulder, her voice echoing with glee.
"It's a dragon!"
Next, it was the elf who walked forward with a bit of subtle grace. Taking each step with poise, she ascended the dragon and then took a glance at the other three who were still on the ground.
Then came Star's turn. He walked forward and carefully placed his hand on the scales of the dragon's neck. It felt warm… alive. He hesitated for a moment as his heart raced unevenly, and then took a cautious step forward.
And then he paused abruptly, his already racing heart almost jumping out of his chest. He hadn't seen it clearly, but he could have sworn he saw the dragon's grey eyes move toward him.
For a moment, he thought it was him going crazy, but then the menacing voice of the dragon echoed once more.
"A Divine?"
Star turned and looked back at the other two. He couldn't see the man's face, while Katerina didn't have any particular expression on her face.
In the end, it was the hooded man who spoke in his usual flat tone.
"He is only a vessel, and his soul is still dormant."
The dragon snorted, and then his gaze slowly moved away from Star, allowing the boy's heart to settle. He heaved a sigh and then slowly began to ascend.
The short conversation between the dragon and its master continued to linger in his mind. It reminded him of something… something he had read about in the story that filled him with both awe and dread.
'This doesn't make any sense.'
Beasts, just like humans, possessed souls and Lifebond, and they scaled in the exact same manner. If the dragon had been able to determine his Soul Class with only a simple glance, then he had to be undoubtedly knowledgeable and powerful.
But more than that, he had to be Divine as well.
If that were the case, then…
He stole a glance at the hooded man, who was now ascending the dragon, and gulped.
'Master? Is he a Primordial Vessel or one of the Sovereigns…?'
His gaze trailed back to the dragon.
'… None of the Archons match his description.'
Soon, the man climbed onto the dragon's back as well, and Katrina quickly followed behind him. By the time he could make sense of his thoughts, everyone had already taken suitable positions atop the dragon's back.
And as for Star, he carefully lowered himself onto the dragon's neck, settling between two raised ridges of scale that ran along his spine. The surface beneath him was warm—uncomfortably so—and quite solid.
As he shifted his weight, the dragon's muscles moved beneath him, rolling under his tough skin—subtle but powerful. Each breath it took caused a slow rise and fall, causing Star to instinctively lean forward, gripping the rough edges of its scales.
He could have never imagined sitting on top of a dragon one day. His heart raced with excitement and fear.
Then, the dragon rose, and even with the ground still beneath them, the world suddenly felt distant. The earth seemed… smaller. Star didn't want to think about what would happen if they fell from such a height.
Katerina sat slightly to his right behind him while the hooded man sat before him, cold and uncaring as ever. Slightly next to Katerina was the elven lady.
Further behind her, Kate was having the time of her life.
Unlike the rest of them, she stood on the dragon's back, her face raised to the sky as the cool night breeze gently brushed against it.
Then she mumbled.
"Ahh… This is bliss."
Afterward, the dragon shifted, his muscles rippling and rolling slightly beneath his skin. Star swallowed hard as the creature slowly unfurled his wings, strong gales pushing away the sand beneath it.
Then, with a subtle flex of its legs, the dragon began to rise. Star's stomach lurched as gravity shifted, the wind immediately tugging at their cloaks and hair. The world became smaller with each passing second, and the desert flattened into a distant canvas of gold and shadow.
The dragon flapped its wings once, twice, and then, with a forceful beat, lifted up into the night sky. Star gripped the ridges tighter. His pulse raced—he felt fragile against such raw, ancient power, and through it all, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the beautiful night sky.
The stars seemed to draw closer to him, like he could grab hold of one if he would just reach out. Below, the desert ground disappeared from view, and above, the winds grew intense, but he remained steady on the back of the black dragon.
It was almost impossible to see anything with the pale silver glow of the moonlight, so all he could do was gaze emptily into the distance or up at the stars scattered across the vast expanse of the sky.
Their journey to the Nameless Ruins atop the black dragon was mostly silent but, at the same time, thrilling. Well, it had been Kate doing most of the talking, but Star was equally filled with awe.
They flew for a while—he had no way to tell the time—perhaps an hour, and then the dragon began to descend slowly. The frequency of the flaps of his wings slowly began to reduce, and afterward, he began to glide.
Star gripped the ridges of the dragon's scale tighter as the dragon's speed slowly began to reduce, and after what felt like a minute, it came to a stop. He lingered for a moment and then slowly lowered his neck.
Star's gaze shifted upward, his eyes narrowing slightly. At first he wasn't sure of it, but his gaze was now fixed on the peak of a mountain. But that wasn't the only strange thing about this place… He sniffed the air.
It still smelled like sand, but rather… how could he put it… ancient. And more than that, it was isolated, darker than everything else in the desert.
And down from the peak, his gaze trailed past the dragon and the hooded man who was quickly descending to what lay below them: a massive cleft that split the mountain from base to shoulder. It was so deep that all he could see was a deep, boundless, and impenetrable darkness.
His gaze lingered longer than usual, and then his heart raced.
'Why does this feel… familiar?"