Chapter 22: The Path of the Dragonlords

The silence left in the wake of the dragon's disappearance was deafening. Shira stood frozen, the weight of its words pressing heavily against her mind. Her heart still pounded from the encounter, and her body trembled—not out of fear, but from the sheer magnitude of what she had just faced.

To control it, you must become one with it.

The words echoed inside her, stirring something deeper than her flames. Until now, she had thought she merely needed to practice, to refine her willpower so the fire wouldn't consume her. But the dragon's warning had been clear—her power wasn't something she could simply wield like a sword. It was a force greater than herself, one that demanded true mastery.

There must be more to it.

Shira closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, trying to recall every detail of the encounter. The dragon had spoken of an ancient force. Could that mean… there was a structured way to harness it? A method passed down through the Dragonlords?

She took a deep breath and let the embers of her power flicker to life, calling upon the fire within her, but this time, she didn't try to control it. She simply let it be, allowing it to flow and expand at its own pace. The warmth spread through her veins, and as she focused, she felt something beneath the surface—something deeper than the fire itself.

A foundation.

A presence as old as the flames, locked within her very essence.

Her mind drifted back to her bloodline, to the legends of the Dragonlords. They had once ruled over the strongest flames, their power surpassing anything seen in the modern world. Yet, the knowledge of their cultivation, of how they achieved such control, had been lost to time.

No, she thought. Not lost. Just hidden.

Determination flared inside her. If she was truly a descendant of the Dragonlords, then she would find this knowledge. She had to. There was no other way forward.

She turned away from the cliffside, her mind made up. If the path to mastering the fire existed, she would find it, even if it meant searching the ends of the world.

The Hidden Knowledge

Her journey led her deep into the ruins of an ancient temple—one far older than the First Temple of the Dragonlord, one that even the elders had spoken of only in hushed whispers. The temple was hidden within the heart of a mountain, concealed behind layers of illusions and natural barriers. It had taken her days of travel and careful searching to reach it, but as she stood before its towering stone doors, she knew she was in the right place.

Strange symbols covered the entrance, glowing faintly as she approached. Shira reached out hesitantly, her fingers grazing the surface. The moment she made contact, a surge of energy shot through her, and the symbols flared to life.

The doors groaned, ancient mechanisms grinding as they slowly creaked open, revealing a dimly lit chamber beyond.

The air inside was thick with the scent of ancient dust and something else—something powerful. Shira stepped forward, her footsteps echoing off the stone walls. Carvings lined the halls, depicting figures wreathed in flame, their wings spread wide, their eyes burning with an inner fire.

And then she saw it.

A pedestal sat in the center of the chamber, and upon it lay a single tome, its pages bound in leather blackened with age. The title, inscribed in gold, sent a shiver down her spine.

The Path of the Dragonlords.

Her hands trembled as she picked it up, her breath catching in her throat. This was it—the lost knowledge of her ancestors.

She carefully opened the tome, her eyes scanning the aged parchment. The text was written in an old dialect, but she could make out enough to understand.

"The power of the Dragonlord is not wielded; it is cultivated."

Her pulse quickened as she read on.

"There exists a path, a sacred cultivation technique, one that only those of the Dragonlord's bloodline can access. It is called the Ascendant Flame."

Shira swallowed hard, her fingers tightening around the pages. Cultivation wasn't just about strength—it was about reaching higher realms of existence. It was about refining the soul, shaping the energy within until it became something greater.

She turned the page, her eyes devouring the words.

"The Ascendant Flame is divided into five stages. Only by reaching the pinnacle can one become a true Dragonlord."

Her heart pounded.

Ember Awakening – The first stage, where one learns to stabilize their fire, preventing it from consuming them.

Infernal Bloom – The second stage, where the fire begins to evolve, taking on a form unique to its wielder.

Draconic Embodiment – The third stage, where the wielder's body fuses with the flame, unlocking greater physical power.

Celestial Pyre – The fourth stage, where the flames transcend mortality, becoming near-divine.

The Eternal Dragon – The final stage, where the wielder no longer commands the fire—the fire is them.

Shira exhaled sharply. She was nowhere near the first stage, let alone the last.

She clenched her fists. If she had known this sooner, she could have prevented so much. She could have controlled herself before Darin's death, before Elias was taken. But wallowing in regret wouldn't help her now.

She inhaled deeply and straightened her shoulders. The past was unchangeable. The future was hers to shape.

Ember Awakening. That was her next step. That was where she would begin.

The First Step

Shira spent the following days within the temple, pouring over every word of the tome, committing its teachings to memory. Each passage revealed more about the nature of her power, about how to cultivate her flames without letting them consume her.

Her training was grueling. She had to meditate for hours, drawing in the essence of fire from the world around her, feeling its rhythm, its movement. She learned to circulate it within herself, guiding it through channels within her body she had never known existed. At first, it was agonizing—like trying to hold onto a raging inferno without being burned.

But she endured.

Through patience and persistence, she began to feel the shift. Her flames no longer lashed out wildly. They obeyed, flickering in steady, rhythmic pulses. She could call upon them without fear of losing herself, could contain them without them threatening to consume her mind.

Days turned into weeks, and slowly but surely, she felt herself change. She was no longer just a girl wielding fire. She was becoming something more.

She was ascending.

And when she was ready, she would find Darkwind.

And she would burn him out of existence.