CHAPTER 23
The morning after the Keepers' departure, Kael and Rynn set out toward the eastern highlands — the place where the last traces of the Hunger's corruption still clung to the land like stubborn scars.The skies were clear now, but the air grew colder the further they traveled, as if something still lurked just beyond sight, just beyond sense.
Veyrion hummed softly at Kael's side, resonating with the Dragon King's blood sealed in the glass bottle tied securely to his belt.Each step he took felt heavier, like invisible eyes watched from the jagged rocks and twisted trees.
"We're getting close," Rynn said quietly, scanning the ridges ahead.Her usual sharpness was edged with something else — something Kael caught but couldn't name.
He gave a nod. "Stay close."
They pushed onward.By midday, the mountain trail ended at a vast, broken plateau — a place where no grass grew, where blackened stone jutted like the bones of a long-dead beast.And at its center, curled around a cracked obelisk, the False Dragon waited.
It was not a dragon in the true sense — not like the visions Kael had seen of proud, golden-scaled rulers of the skies.No, this creature was a mockery, a stitched-together nightmare of scales, bone, and rot, its wings torn and dripping with foul black ichor.
When Kael and Rynn stepped into the clearing, its crimson eyes snapped open.
And it screamed.
The air shuddered under the force of its roar.Chunks of stone splintered and fell away. Kael staggered back, his body screaming warnings even as his mind sharpened to a single point.
Time Dilation activated — the world slowing around him.Every heartbeat stretched. Every movement of the beast became predictable, almost sluggish.
He dodged the first lunge with inhuman grace, Veyrion flashing in a clean arc to deflect the monster's claws.Lightning crackled along the blade, his Elemental Affinity flaring to life as he struck.
The False Dragon shrieked again, black bile splattering the ground, burning it where it fell.
Rynn was already moving, arrows flying from her bow with deadly precision. She moved with a deadly, desperate beauty — every shot landing true, every step in perfect rhythm with Kael's strikes.They fought like they had trained for this moment their whole lives.
Still, the False Dragon was no ordinary beast.
It spun with terrifying speed, tail whipping out. Kael tried to dodge — but it clipped his side, sending him flying across the plateau.He slammed into the stone with a gasp, feeling ribs crack.
"Kael!"Rynn's voice sliced through the haze.
His Enhanced Regeneration kicked in instantly, knitting torn flesh, dulling the pain — but not fast enough.
The False Dragon loomed over him now, maw gaping, rotten fangs dripping venom.
Kael gritted his teeth, forcing himself to move.Shadowstep.He vanished in a blur of dark mist, reappearing behind the beast in a flicker of movement.
His sword plunged deep into its exposed spine.The monster howled, thrashing — but it wasn't enough. It shrugged him off, roaring in mad rage.
And in that moment, Kael felt it.
The bottle at his belt pulsed.
The Blood of the Dragon King burned hot against his side, as if pleading to be used.
No… not yet, Kael thought. He didn't even know how.
But then he heard Rynn cry out.
He spun — just in time to see the False Dragon lash out with a claw bigger than she was.She dodged, but not fast enough — the edge of the strike sent her sprawling, blood blooming across her shoulder.
"Rynn!"Something inside Kael snapped.
Without thinking, he ripped the glass bottle free.
The moment he did, the blood within flared — a molten gold radiance bursting from it.Before he even realized it, the blood evaporated into tendrils of light that wrapped around his arms, his chest, his heart.
Pain lanced through him.His muscles locked, his breath seized — but he welcomed it, because he knew instinctively: this was the Dragon King's power.
Energy roared through his veins, ancient and wild.His skin shimmered faintly, scales flickering like an afterimage across his arms. His eyes glowed faint gold.
The False Dragon recoiled — it could feel the difference.
Kael stood, Veyrion crackling violently in his grip, the ground trembling beneath him.
He whispered one word, the language not of men, but of dragons — ancient, resonant.
"Seryth'Ka."(Break the false.)
Lightning blasted from him in a storm of pure fury.
The False Dragon screamed as the storm tore into it — flaying its rotting flesh, tearing its patchwork wings to ribbons.
Kael moved like a force of nature.Sword strikes blurred into arcs of electricity.Every blow shattered bone, split scale, cracked the creature's false heart.
The battle was over in seconds.
The False Dragon collapsed with a final whimper, smoke rising from its ruined corpse.
Kael stood over it, panting, Veyrion humming with barely-contained power.
And then — the golden glow around him began to fade.The Dragon King's blood retreated, settling deep within him, silent — for now.
He staggered, the exhaustion of it all crashing down at once.
"Kael!"
Rynn was there in an instant, catching him before he could fall completely.
Her hands gripped his arms, her touch grounding him.
"Idiot," she whispered fiercely, tears shining in her eyes. "You could have died."
Kael gave a tired laugh. "Had to make sure you were safe."
She stared at him — and then, before she could stop herself, she threw her arms around him, holding him tight against her.
He stiffened for a second — and then, slowly, his arms came up around her, holding her back just as tightly.
"I thought I'd lost you," she whispered into his chest, her voice breaking.
"You won't," he said, pressing his forehead against hers, feeling her warmth, her heartbeat pounding against his. "Not now. Not ever."
They stayed like that for a long moment, the wreckage of the battlefield forgotten, the broken skies weeping soft, cleansing rain around them.
Aftermath
They made their way back to Virestead slowly, both wounded, both changed.
The villagers greeted them like returning heroes once again, but Kael barely heard their cheers.
His mind was on Rynn — the way her hand kept brushing his as they walked.The way she smiled — a little softer now, a little more vulnerable.
That night, after the fires died down and the village slept, Kael sat alone at the cliff's edge, staring out into the dark.
Rynn found him there, barefoot, her cloak wrapped tight against the chill.
Without a word, she sat beside him, their shoulders brushing.
They didn't speak — they didn't need to.
After a long silence, she leaned her head against his shoulder.
And Kael, for once, let himself believe that maybe — just maybe — he wasn't meant to walk this path alone.