On the floor of the throne room, a dragon slept.
It was colossal. Its body coiled in a massive spiral—scales the color of deep storm clouds, each one the size of a carriage. Blue-white lightning veins pulsed beneath every scale, creating a web of light that traced the dragon's entire form. Its claws were buried in the stone floor—each one longer than Kael was tall. Its wings were folded against its back, and even folded, they spanned the width of the chamber.
The dragon's eyes opened.
Flicker.
Two orbs of pure lightning fixed on the three intruders. The pupils were vertical slits of condensed electrical energy.
CLICK.
The golden doors sealed behind them.
WHUUUUUUM.
A suffocating aura erupted from the dragon. It wasn't mana. It wasn't soul power. It wasn't aura. It was something beyond all three—a presence so dense, so absolute, that reality itself bent around the creature.
