The raptor
The hallways of the Tainer Royal Palace stretched endlessly through the darkness. Athenas moved with silent grace, her black scales shimmering beneath the torchlight like fragments of the night sky itself. Beside her walked Prince Jojutsu. Though they shared the same dark scales, there was something far more intimidating in his crimson eyes — a quiet intensity that always seemed one step away from violence.
Suddenly, Jojutsu stopped.
The sharp sound of his claws echoed softly against the polished stone floor. He tilted his head slightly, listening. Then, for the first time that night, warmth flickered across his face.
“Listen, Athenas,” he whispered. “Our son… Raglat is laughing.”
For a brief moment, Jojutsu allowed himself to relax. Perhaps Raglat was playing with Basil again. He imagined the two hatchlings together — two shadows moving through the palace halls, one with burning red eyes, the other with a bright green gaze full of life.
But then the realization struck him.
Basil wasn’t there.
He was downstairs bothering his grandfather again.
Which meant Raglat was alone.
Jojutsu’s expression instantly darkened, his voice lowering into a dangerous growl.
“Athenas… someone is with Raglat.”
A cold silence filled the corridor.
“It’s not Basil,” he continued. “And it’s no one from this family.”
Fear hit Athenas like lightning.
Without hesitation, she hurled herself against the chamber doors. The wood exploded inward beneath the force of the impact.
Inside, the sight froze her heart.
Raglat was not alone.
Standing beside the hatchling was a dragon made of living shadow — not a Tainer, but a Nightfall Ninja. Darkness seemed to crawl across the intruder’s body like smoke, his pale eyes widening the instant he realized he had been discovered.
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
Then the ninja slammed a black sphere against the floor.
A violent cloud of magical smoke erupted through the chamber, swallowing everything in thick gray darkness.
“RAGLAT!”
Athenas’s scream tore through the palace with such raw terror that every guard in the kingdom heard it. Bells began ringing in the distance. Armor clashed. Footsteps thundered through the halls.
But it was already too late.
When the smoke finally faded, the nursery stood silent.
The window was open.
And Raglat was gone.
