Chapter 1: The Road to the Dragon Kingdom
The road east had become mud three hours after they left the capital.
Kaelan stopped looking at his boots after the second puddle swallowed half of his left foot.
“This is your grand expedition?” Cassian asked from behind him. “Because I’ve had more heroic mornings.”
Kaelan glanced back.
Cassian was sitting on the driver’s bench of the supply wagon, hood pulled low against the rain. A blanket covered his legs. It had once been white.
It was no longer white.
“You could walk,” Kaelan said.
“I could.”
Cassian looked down at the mud.
“I choose not to.”
Elena, riding beside the wagon, snorted.
“You complained for twenty minutes before we even reached the gate.”
“I was hungry.”
“You were awake.”
“Those things are related.”
A laugh escaped someone farther back in the convoy.
It wasn’t much.
But after the last few days, it was enough.
Kaelan turned forward again.
The road climbed gradually through thick forest. The trees were taller here than those near the capital, their branches knitting together overhead until the rain came through in thin streams instead of a downpour.
Beyond the forest lay the eastern mountains.
And somewhere beyond those mountains was the Dragon Kingdom.
Kaelan touched the ring hidden beneath his glove.
Asterion’s ring.
He hadn’t taken it off since the First Sovereign gave it to him.
He wasn’t sure why.
Maybe because removing it felt like admitting Asterion was truly gone.
“You’re doing it again.”
Lyriana’s voice came from beside him.
Kaelan looked over.
She was riding without a helmet, despite the weather. A few strands of silver hair had escaped the braid behind her head and stuck to her cheek.
“Doing what?”
“Thinking too loudly.”
He frowned.
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“It is with you.”
She smiled.
Then she looked at his hand.
“You still have it.”
Kaelan knew what she meant.
He nodded.
“I thought you might.”
“Why?”
He shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
Lyriana didn’t push.
That was one of the things he’d started noticing about her.
She asked questions, but she didn’t always demand answers.
Sometimes she just stayed.
The road dipped sharply.
The horse beneath Lyriana’s saddle stumbled.
Kaelan reached for her reins without thinking.
She caught herself.
“I had it.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you grab me?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked at him.
He looked ahead.
A second later, she laughed.
“You’re getting better at that.”
“At what?”
“Not knowing.”
Kaelan almost smiled.
Almost.
By midday, the rain stopped.
The convoy made camp near an old stone bridge.
There were twelve soldiers, three wagons, Kaelan, Lyriana, Cassian, Elena, Orion, and Ignivar.
Ignivar had refused the wagon.
He’d been flying above them since morning.
Apparently, dragons didn’t appreciate mud either.
Kaelan sat near the fire while a soldier prepared dried meat.
Cassian appeared beside him.
“Want some?”
Kaelan looked at the piece of bread in Cassian’s hand.
“You have one.”
“I have two.”
“You have one.”
Cassian glanced down.
He did.
“Right.”
He tore it in half and handed Kaelan the smaller piece.
Kaelan stared at it.
“You’re generous.”
“I know.”
Cassian sat down.
For a while, they ate without talking.
Then Cassian said, “Do you think Asterion was telling the truth?”
Kaelan’s chewing slowed.
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Cassian poked at the fire.
“The First Sovereign. The Architect. All those timelines.”
Kaelan didn’t answer immediately.
“Yes.”
Cassian looked at him.
“Just like that?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Kaelan rubbed his thumb against the ring beneath his glove.
“I don’t know what parts were true. But I’ve seen enough to stop pretending none of it happened.”
Cassian nodded.
“Fair.”
A pause.
“Still think he was too dramatic.”
Kaelan raised an eyebrow.
“He literally fought the sky.”
“Exactly.”
Cassian leaned closer.
“Nobody needs to make an entrance like that.”
Kaelan laughed.
It surprised him.
Cassian grinned.
“There. That’s the first laugh I’ve gotten out of you in days.”
“You didn’t get it.”
“Sure.”
“Someone else did.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
Across the camp, Lyriana was speaking with Orion.
She glanced over.
Their eyes met.
She smiled.
Kaelan looked away first.
The bridge behind them began to hum.
No one noticed at first.
Then one of the horses reared.
A soldier shouted.
“Hold the line!”
Kaelan stood.
The stone beneath his boots vibrated.
The old bridge was covered in carvings he’d assumed were decorative.
They weren’t.
The symbols were beginning to glow.
One by one.
Silver.
Then red.
Ignivar dropped from the sky.
His claws struck the earth hard enough to throw mud across the nearest soldiers.
“Everyone away from the bridge.”
Kaelan moved toward him.
“What is it?”
Ignivar stared at the carvings.
His expression changed.
“I’ve seen this mark.”
“Where?”
“In the Dragon Kingdom.”
The humming grew louder.
Lyriana approached.
“What does it mean?”
Ignivar didn’t answer.
He walked closer to the bridge.
Then stopped.
His wings lowered.
“This bridge shouldn’t be here.”
Orion looked confused.
“What do you mean?”
“It was destroyed.”
“When?”
Ignivar looked toward the mountains.
“Nine hundred years ago.”
The fire behind them suddenly went out.
Every horse went still.
The carvings flared.
A voice came from beneath the bridge.
Old.
Weak.
Almost human.
“Moon...”
Lyriana froze.
The voice came again.
“Sovereign...”
Kaelan’s hand went to Eclipsebreaker.
The sword responded immediately.
Silver light ran along its edge.
The stone bridge cracked.
Something moved beneath it.
Cassian stepped backward.
“Please tell me that’s not a dragon.”
Ignivar’s eyes narrowed.
“No.”
A pause.
“That’s worse.”
The bridge exploded.
Stone fragments flew through the camp.
Kaelan raised his arm.
A silver barrier formed around Lyriana.
The creature that emerged from beneath the bridge was small.
Too small to be a dragon.
It had four legs, dark scales, and a pair of half-grown wings.
Blood ran from its mouth.
It stumbled onto the road.
Then collapsed.
Kaelan lowered his sword.
The creature looked at him.
Its eyes were bright gold.
It whispered one final word.
“Run.”
Then it died.
Nobody moved.
Rainwater dripped from the trees.
Cassian stared.
“That...”
He swallowed.
“That was definitely not a good sign.”
They buried the creature before sunset.
Nobody knew what it was.
Ignivar wouldn’t say.
He stood apart from everyone, staring toward the mountains.
Lyriana eventually walked over to him.
Kaelan followed.
“You recognize it,” she said.
Ignivar’s jaw tightened.
“It was a Dragonborn.”
Kaelan frowned.
“A dragon?”
“Not exactly.”
Ignivar looked at the small grave.
“Dragonborn are descendants of dragons who can take human form. They’re rare.”
“Why was it here?”
“Because someone drove it out.”
Lyriana exchanged a glance with Kaelan.
“Who?”
Ignivar didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked toward the mountains.
“The Dragon Kingdom has been closed for centuries.”
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“You don’t understand.”
He pointed toward the distant peaks.
“Those mountains aren’t the border.”
“Then what are they?”
Ignivar looked at Kaelan.
“The border is thirty miles behind them.”
Kaelan felt a chill despite the fading heat of the fire.
“Then what’s between here and the kingdom?”
Ignivar’s expression was grim.
“War.”
That night, Kaelan couldn’t sleep.
The camp had gone quiet.
He sat beneath a tree, Eclipsebreaker across his knees.
The sword felt heavier than usual.
Not physically.
Something else.
A pressure.
A pull.
He drew the blade halfway from its sheath.
Silver light appeared.
Then—
A second light answered from somewhere in the mountains.
Kaelan stood.
The ring on his finger became warm.
A whisper passed through the forest.
Not words.
A memory.
A woman standing beneath a red sky.
A dragon kneeling before her.
A man beside her.
Kaelan couldn’t see his face.
But he knew the voice.
“If the Crown wakes...”
The vision broke.
Kaelan grabbed the tree.
His breathing was uneven.
“Kaelan?”
Lyriana stood behind him.
He turned.
She was wearing a dark cloak over her night clothes.
“I heard you.”
“I’m fine.”
“You say that a lot.”
He looked away.
She stepped closer.
“Was it another memory?”
He nodded.
“What did you see?”
“A dragon.”
“That’s not surprising.”
“Not like Ignivar.”
She waited.
Kaelan struggled to describe it.
“There was a woman.”
Lyriana’s expression changed.
“Me?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer hurt more than he expected.
She noticed.
So did he.
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Then Lyriana said quietly, “Maybe that’s the point.”
Kaelan looked at her.
“What?”
“We keep trying to remember who we were.”
She glanced toward the mountains.
“Maybe we should find out who we’re supposed to become.”
Kaelan stared at her.
Then smiled.
“That’s almost wise.”
“Almost?”
“I don’t want you getting arrogant.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Go to sleep.”
“You’re the one who woke me.”
“I didn’t.”
“You were standing there.”
“I was checking on you.”
“That counts.”
She walked away.
After three steps, she stopped.
“Kaelan.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t stay awake all night.”
He looked at the sword in his hands.
“I’ll try.”
She nodded.
“Good.”
Then she disappeared into the camp.
Kaelan remained beneath the tree.
The mountains stood beyond the darkness.
For the first time since leaving the capital, he wasn’t thinking about the war.
He was thinking about the small Dragonborn creature.
Its final warning.
Run.
Kaelan looked east.
They were already too far in to turn back.
And somewhere beyond those mountains, something had been waiting for them for a very long time.
End of Chapter 1
Season 3 - Flames of the Dragon Crown
Affection Level: 80%
Moon Authority: 47%
Sovereign Synchronization: 96%
Current Location: Eastern Frontier
Next: Chapter 2 - Beyond the Dragon’s Border
