Chapter 5: Wings of Warning
The raven cut through the clouds like a shadow across snow. Its wings beat against wind and cold, carrying a single scroll sealed with the emblem of Sapphire—a silver flame on black wax.
It was a warning. A secret. A spark.
And soon, every kingdom would feel its heat.
—
Ironholde
The raven arrived at dusk, landing on a steel perch beside Lord Varran's war chamber.
The warlord of Ironholde tore the wax and read the message aloud, voice echoing in the stone hall.
> "Flame stirs in the East. The forest has cracked. The line of kings may not be whole. Watch for the signs."
Varran's lieutenants murmured.
The warlord crushed the letter in his iron fist. "Flame? Bah. The Daemons cling to fairy tales. But if dragons do return, I will break their bones and use their skulls as thrones."
"Shall I summon the legions, my lord?" one asked.
"No," he growled. "Not yet. But we sharpen the blades."
—
Velmora
Queen Selene Marros sat among scrolls and candlelight, the raven perched beside her as she traced the words over and over again.
"The line of kings may not be whole," she whispered.
She stood and turned to her council of sages. "Begin searching the old bloodlines. If the bastard son lives… if he is bonded to the flame… then Sapphire has a claim it cannot control."
She looked east.
"And we will be the ones to guide—or destroy—him."
—
Zar-Khalan
The scroll was read aloud before Empress Vireya and the Ember Priests beneath the open sky.
As the words echoed, the flames of the temple—long cold—ignited without oil or spark.
The priests fell to their knees.
"The Flameborn walks," Vireya said, eyes wide with reverence. "It begins again."
Her voice echoed into the firelit night: "Find the egg. Find the heir. Bring him to Zar-Khalan alive. Or burn any kingdom that stands in the way."
—
Thalorwyn, Morvain, and Drel'Thar received the raven as well. But their responses were silence, steel, and shadow.
Each ruler made their own move. Some lit beacons. Some summoned assassins. And some simply waited for fire to reach their doorstep.
—
Back in Sapphire, King Levi Daemon held a second letter—one not meant for other kingdoms.
This one was sealed in black wax, with no sigil. Just one word burned into the parchment: He Lives.
The king sat in silence.
He thought of Marcus's mother. The secret he buried.
And the son who now held the flame of dragons.
"The realm is not ready," Levi whispered.
But the realm never was.
—
Far beyond the castle, in the heart of the forest, Marcus stood barefoot in the snow.
The dragon egg had split.
And inside, wrapped in golden fire, eyes opening for the first time in centuries—
The last dragon had awakened.