Obsidian Heir

CHAPTER 2: A DRAGON REBORN

Zachary couldn't describe the sensations he was currently feeling.

The weakness that had plagued him for months, the anemia from the transplant and the exhaustion from working like a slave for a woman who apparently never loved him, was incinerated in an instant.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

His shattered ribs knitted back together with audible snaps. His muscles, once withered from overwork, surged with a density that defied human biology.

Boom!

Something seemed to crash in his brain and a flood of information exploded in his mind, thousands of years of forbidden combat arts and profound cultivation techniques.

It was a legacy of blood and power he didn't yet understand, but he felt the result immediately.

When the tide of sensations finally simmered out, Zachary was left breathing heavily, mouth gaping as he sucked in harsh bursts of air.

‘What just happened?’ he thought, swallowing thickly from the shock of it all.

He looked down at his hands, the veins in his arms and what little he could see of his feet glowing with a faint, pulsing light that dimmed and flared in time with his heartbeat.

“What the hell is this?" He muttered in disbelief, mind struggling to process what was happening and why he had knowledge of techniques that were supposed to be lost to the world in his mind.

Before he could even begin to start digesting this, the lead dog, having regained it's courage lunged at him in his distraction, its jaws aimed at his throat.

But he didn't flinch.

To his new senses, the beast moved in slow motion.

He shifted his weight, and with a speed that blurred the air, he delivered a single kick that connected with the dog’s chest.

SWISH.

The three-hundred-pound beast was sent flying like a ragdoll, its chest caving in instantly.

It slammed into the fence and fell limp to the dirty floor.

The other dogs froze, their primitive instincts screaming at them that the "prey" had suddenly become an apex predator.

Meanwhile, after scrambling away from the dead animal, Zachary stood up, his clothes tattered and blood-stained, but his posture was straight for the first time in years.

He felt a hundred times stronger than he had ever been.

Suddenly, the roar of jet engines drowned out the whimpering of the dogs.

High-powered searchlights cut through the night, pinning Zachary in a crosshair of blinding white light.

“Ah!" The man lifted a hand and covered his face, squinting through the oppressing flare.

Through teary eyes he could see not one but three sleek, black helicopters descending from the clouds, the downdraft forcing the remaining dogs into the corners of the cage.

The side door of the lead chopper slid open as soon as the machine touched down, and a woman stepped out onto the muddy earth.

She was stunningly beautiful, it was the first thing he noticed about her, with features carved from ice and eyes that held a sharp, professional chill.

Dressed in a sleek, charcoal-grey suit, she moved with the grace of a trained killer.

Behind her, a dozen men in tactical gear followed, but they stayed five paces back, their heads bowed in deference.

She walked straight to the blood-stained cage and looked at the orphan and without a word, she and her subordinates knelt in the mud.

Zachary blinked in shock.

"My Lord," the woman said, her voice soft like silk over steel. "I am called Seraphina Knowles. It is an honor to finally meet you."

Zachary felt his jaw drop.

"What?”

But the woman only leaned further into the dirt, pressing her forehead toward the blood-stained floor. 

Her men promptly followed, all of them kowtowing like he was the Prism emperor himself.

"The Dragon Group officially greets the Young Lord," she continued, her voice a clear, ringing bell.

"We have searched the heavens and the earth for you."

Zachary backed away, his back hitting the cold bars. "Dragon what now? Wait! You’ve got the wrong guy. I’m an orphan. I-I’m a nobody! I have no parents!”'

The woman looked up, her gaze icy. "Those who have lied against the Dragon's blood will have their tongues harvested in due time. But for now, the King demands your presence.”

Zachary felt like pulling out his own hair, “What king are you talking about?!" He asked with frustration, his veins glowing in time with his erratic heart rate.

Seraphina's eyes immediately strayed to his wrists, mouth thinning slightly.

Nodding sharply, she rose to her feet smoothly, almost like she was gliding, signaling to the men to do the same.

Facing him on equal footing, she spoke gravely, "You are the 'Son of the King of the World.' The most powerful man on this planet. And he has been waiting for his heir.”

Zachary stared at her, his mind reeling. 

‘The King of the World? My father?’ 

Zachary couldn't believe that. This felt way too sudden…. But what with everything that was happening it would be nice to have a-

"Explanation," he finally whispered. "If you're telling the truth…..I want an explanation for why I was left to rot for twenty years".

Seraphina bowed her head again. "The truth is complicated, Young Master. Your father will provide the answers you seek".

Zachary didn't really want to do this. But despite the absurdity of this woman's claims, the raw power humming in his body told him that this was mere coincidence.

He sighed, “Fine.”

He stepped out of the cage, leaving the wreckage of his old life behind, and boarded the helicopter.

***

The flight was a blur of neon city lights and high-altitude silence, Seraphina seeing fit to ignore him and Zachary not really being in the mood to talk with any of the strange people.

They arrived at a hidden estate nestled within the mountains, a palace of white jade and ancient wood.

Inside the main hall, a man stood with his back to the door. He was tall, his hair tinged with silver, wearing an all white suit.

This was the man, his father, Valerius Paravous, the apparent King of the World.

"You're late," Zachary blurted, his voice dripping with twenty years of bitterness.

"So very late for a family reunion, don't you think? It's been what? Twenty years? And in all that time you couldn't spare the time to find me. Only moments ago, I was dying in a cage while you were here playing God!"

At his outburst the man turned. 

His face was a mirror of Zachary’s and Zachary nearly stepped back in shock at the resemblance.

The exact same shade of black hair, same almond grey eyes, even their heights were nearly identical, the older man only towering over him with two or three inches.

It was like looking in a mirror.

"Zachary..."

"Don't," Zachary snapped. "Where were you? Why was I left in that hellhole of an orphanage? Why did I have to suffer all these years!?"

The King’s eyes clouded with a rare, stinging pain. "You were the crown jewel of the Dragon Group. But twenty years ago, during the Great Eclipse, a traitor among the elders used a forbidden ritual to bypass our wards. You were snatched from your cradle and cast into the mortal realm. Your aura was sealed by that very ring to protect you from being tracked and killed by our enemies. We could only find you once your blood reached a breaking point and awakened the seal."

He stepped forward, reaching out a hand that Zachary didn't take.

"I cannot erase your suffering," Valerius said solemnly. "But I can give you the world as an apology. From this moment, you are the hidden Chairman of the Prism Dragon Group. It is the largest conglomerate in this country, it owns the banks, the land, and the very air the citizens of Nerov breathe."

Turning to the still bowing Seraphina, he took the object the woman was holding up for him.

Lifting it, the low light flashed across the slick body.

It was a limitless black card.

He pushed it into his palm before he could shy away, Zachary's hands closing around it reflexively.

"This is the Void Card. It holds wealth that can buy nations. And Seraphina will be your CEO. She is the deadliest blade in our clan; she will be your servant and your protector. Use the wealth, use the power, and most importantly, use the techniques the ring has placed in your mind."

Zachary looked at the black card, then at his own hands. Just hours ago, he was a "pathetic bastard" being beaten for sport. Now, he was being told he owned the world.

It felt like a fever dream, a cultivation story he’d read to pass the time between shifts at a part-time job.

"The Prism Dragon Group," Zachary muttered, his mind flashing back to Elise’s mocking smile and Bennett's insults.

"So I can get whatever I want?"

He didn't even know when he said out loud.

The King let out a short, almost mocking laugh. "Aya, Aya, who do you take your old man for? I told you, I would lay the world at your feet Zachary. I can give you everything, anything you ask for.”

He tipped his head to the side, mercurial eyes flashing red for a second. "All you have to do is ask.”

Zachary’s grip tightened on the card.

The red light in his eyes flared in response.