My Dragon System

CHAPTER 009

That night, Caleb could not sleep.

He lay in bed staring at the ceiling, turning the little brass disc over and over in his fingers. His father's face still hung in his mind, the weary eyes, the sad half smile. Find the Council vault. Find the third Ember Stone. And whatever you do, never trust.

Never trust who?

[Hatchling Progress: 74 percent. You should rest.]

"I cannot rest. My father left me a message."

[Your father left you a mystery. Mysteries are best solved with sleep.]

"Who made you?"

[I am the Dragon Sovereign System. I was made long before your world had names for such things.]

"That is not an answer."

[It is the only answer I can give. Insufficient Dragon Heart.]

Caleb sighed and rolled over. Then, with a sudden jolt, he sat bolt upright. The brass disc was glowing.

It pulsed in his hand, bright red and gold, like a tiny heartbeat. A thin beam of light shot from its surface and pointed through the window, aimed at the dark shape of the Ridgemont campus on the hill.

[Quest Received: The Hidden Vault. Follow the beam.]

Caleb grabbed his hoodie and ran.

The night air bit at his cheeks, but he barely felt it. Every few blocks he stopped and let Dragon Sense wash over the street, counting the warm shapes of sleeping neighbors and the slow-moving heat of a security patrol rolling past in a golf cart. 

Twice he flattened himself behind a hedge while the patrol's flashlight swept over the grass. The second time, the beam passed so close that he could smell the guard's coffee.

[Your heartbeat is very loud. Dragons are famous for stealth. Try to be more famous.]

"I am trying," Caleb whispered. "You could help by being quieter yourself."

[I am a voice in your head. I am the quietest thing on this hill.]

He slipped out of his apartment before dawn, the disc glowing in his fist, the beam pointing straight toward Ridgemont. 

He climbed the hill in the dark, past the front gates and the sleeping lawns, past the silent stands where the Games had been held. 

The beam led him to the oldest building on campus, a crumbling stone tower behind the library that had been closed for decades.

A rusted iron door stood at its base. The beam shone directly on its lock. Caleb pressed the brass disc into a small hollow beside the handle, and the door swung open with a long, creaking groan.

Stone stairs spiraled downward into the dark.

Carved into the doorframe above the stairs was a line of tiny letters, worn smooth by time. Caleb ran his thumb across them and felt the metal of his pendant tingle against his chest. 

The words were not English, but somehow he understood them anyway: Only the blood may enter. Only the flame may leave.

"That second part sounds ominous," he said.

[It is poetry. Poetry is always ominous.]

"This is a terrible idea," Caleb whispered.

[Probably. Proceed.]

He descended. The air grew colder with every step. Torches flickered to life along the walls as he passed, their flames burning gold and red. At the bottom of the stairs, a heavy stone door stood half open.

Caleb pushed through and stopped.

He was standing in a vast underground chamber.

Rows of glass cases lined the walls, each one holding a glowing crystal about the size of a fist. Red, blue, green, violet. 

Dozens of them, humming softly in the dark. At the far end of the room stood a pedestal, and on the pedestal, behind thick glass, sat a stone that glowed with a blinding gold light.

The third Ember Stone.

But Caleb was not alone.

A tall figure stood in front of the pedestal with his back to the door. He wore a black suit. His fingers drummed against the glass.

"Mr. Reeves," Caleb said hoarsely.

The man turned. His face was calm. His eyes were cold.

"Ah, Mr. Turner," he said softly. "I was wondering when you would arrive."

"What are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are, I suspect. Looking for a stone." Mr. Reeves smiled thinly. "Though I have a slightly different purpose than you. I work for the Council. We collect Ember Stones. They are very valuable."

"What are they?"

"Power," Mr. Reeves said simply. "Raw, concentrated System energy. A student who consumes one can jump an entire rank in a single night. A fighter with an A rank and an Ember Stone can become something close to an S."

Caleb's blood ran cold. "Brandon Cole."

"Yes. Brandon has been eating them for three months. A most cooperative young man." Mr. Reeves smiled again. "He thinks he is winning the Games on his own merit. He has no idea he is a test subject."

"You are using students as experiments."

"Do not be dramatic. I am helping them. The Council needs stronger Systems. The world is changing, Mr. Turner. Darkness is coming. We need soldiers."

"By stealing from kids?"

"By guiding them." Mr. Reeves raised his hand. A thin blue light gathered in his palm. "Now. Hand over the brass disc, and I will let you leave."

Caleb stepped back. His fist tightened around the disc. "No."

"Mr. Turner. Please. I am trying to be reasonable." "My father wanted me to find this."

"Your father was a fool." Mr. Reeves's voice turned cold. "He tried to steal the stones for himself. He was punished."

Caleb's heart stopped. "Punished. What do you mean, punished?" Mr. Reeves did not answer. He only smiled.

"Your father stood exactly where you are standing," Mr. Reeves said at last, almost kindly. "He had the same stubborn jaw. The same foolish loyalty. He thought he could protect a school full of children from the Council's plans. He thought he could take the stones and walk away."

"Where is he?"

"That is the one question I will never answer for free." Mr. Reeves's smile thinned. "But the disc in your hand is the key to finding out. Which is why I need it."

[Warning: Hostile System detected. Rank S. Do not fight.]

"Rank S?" Caleb whispered.

[He is far beyond your current level. Run.]

"I cannot run. He knows something about my father."

[Caleb. Run. Now.]

Mr. Reeves raised his hand. A beam of blue light shot toward Caleb's chest.

Caleb threw himself sideways. The light struck the wall behind him, blasting a hole in the stone. Dust rained down. His ears rang.

"I do not want to hurt you," Mr. Reeves said calmly. "But I will if I must."

Caleb scrambled to his feet. His Ember Core blazed in his chest, brighter than ever before. The heat flooded his body, filling every muscle with fire.

[Hatchling Progress: 80 percent. Warning: Unauthorized Release. Dragon Sovereign cannot suppress your power.]

"What?"

[Your Ember Core is reacting to the Ember Stones. You are about to evolve.]

"Now?"

[Now. Hold on.]

Light exploded from Caleb's chest.

Gold and red fire poured out of his body, wrapping around him like wings. His hair lifted. His eyes blazed with gold. The glass cases around the chamber shuddered, and the Ember Stones began to hum in unison.

Mr. Reeves took a step back. For the first time, his calm expression cracked. "Impossible," he whispered. "That is a Dragon System."

The roar that came out of Caleb's throat shook the walls.