The fire inside the ruined garage crackled as Evans stared at the mysterious old man who stood clapping in the smoke.
The golden aura around Evans still pulsed like a living flame, and patches of scales shimmered along his jaw and neck. Every instinct in his body warned him that this stranger could be a threat. His muscles tightened, and his dragon force responded with a low, dangerous hum. The old man took another step forward. Evans’s aura flared instantly as he surged forward with the force of a predator. “Step back,” he growled, his voice was deeper and rougher than before. “Or you will die where you stand.” Heat rolled from his body in a wave. The flames on the walls bent toward him, responding to his rising power. The old man paused, but he didn’t flinch. He simply lifted his hand in a calm gesture, the polished surface of his cane tapping lightly against the floor. “Peace, Lord Evans,” he said with a gentle smile. “Calm yourself. I am not here to harm you.” Evans narrowed his glowing eyes. “Who are you?” “My name is Patrick Johnson,” the old man said. He gave a small bow, stiff but respectful. “I am… a businessman.” Evans raised an eyebrow. “How is a businessman of any use to me?” Patrick exhaled softly as if he expected that question. “Sometimes business reveals more secrets than warfare. And sometimes a man comes across knowledge he was never supposed to have.” His gaze shifted to the scorched floor. “I happen to know something about the power inside you.” Evans watched him carefully. The aura around him flickered but didn’t fade. “You know about the Primordius Dragon?” Patrick adjusted his tie, trying to keep his composure. “Even though the Primordius Dragon hasn’t appeared anywhere in our world for more than a thousand years, I can boldly say that the power you carry is far more complex than anything you imagine.” He stepped closer, though cautiously. “But I can guide you. I can help you understand it… and control it.” Evans shook his head. Distrust tightened in his chest. “Why should I believe you?” “You don’t have to,” Patrick replied calmly. “But many lives will be at risk if you don’t learn to control what awakened inside you today. You are powerful, Lord Evans, but power without knowledge is a danger to you and to everyone around you.” Evans wanted to argue, but a small part of him recognized the truth in those words. Patrick continued, “You can read my mind. Go on. Look. You will see that I tell no lies.” Evans hesitated, then extended his senses. Patrick’s mind opened like a fragile window. There was fear—raw, honest fear—but it wasn’t fear of Evans personally. It was fear of the destruction Evans could cause if left untrained. Behind that fear was another emotion: desperation. Not greed or ambition—desperation to protect the realm from the chaos that he Evans could unleash. Evans drew back slightly, surprised by what he saw. “You really are afraid… not of me killing you, but of what could happen if I don’t learn control.” Patrick nodded. “Yes. Your power is magnificent, but one wrong moment could reduce a city to ashes. I’ve seen what dragon energy can do. Yours is far beyond that.” Evans looked around the ruined garage, the bodies, the melted machines. Patrick wasn’t wrong. His control had slipped during the fight. If civilians had been nearby… He clenched his jaw. “Why help me? I’ve been exiled. My brother tried to kill me. The council branded me a traitor. If the people find out I survived and I am still anywhere around Drakarion, they’ll want me executed.” Patrick met his gaze without fear. “You want to know the truth? Your exile, combined with the awakening of this ancient dragon force, puts you in a position even more complicated than treason, or even when will happen if you are found in Drakarion.” He leaned on his cane. “You cannot face this alone. You need guidance, as someone who wants the realm safe.” Evans crossed his arms slowly, golden aura dimming. “You want to help me, right?” Patrick nodded once, firmly. Evans’s voice lowered. “I hope you understand the punishment for accommodating someone accused of treason. It’s death.” Patrick chuckled softly, though his eyes remained serious. “I understand the risk. But I also understand the greater danger if I leave you here. Lord Evans… you’ve gone through enough for one day. Come with me. By the way, I reside in Rovek, the neighbouring country. You will have very little business in Drakarion.” Evans let the last of his golden aura fade. His scales slowly receded into his skin until only faint patterns remained along his cheekbones. His clothes were burned and torn, but he managed to stay upright. His mind felt heavy, worn from the awakening and the constant threats. Patrick stepped closer. “Can you walk?” Evans nodded. “I’ll manage.” They made their way out of the burning garage, stepping over scattered debris. The cold night air hit Evans’s skin sharply. A sleek, dark luxury car sat under a broken street lamp outside the building. Patrick pressed a button on his cane, and the vehicle unlocked with a click. Evans raised an eyebrow. “Not exactly a subtle escape.” “I didn’t expect to find you in the middle of a battlefield,” Patrick replied as he opened the door. “Get in, my lord.” Evans slid into the passenger seat. The interior smelled like leather and faint cologne. Patrick got behind the wheel and started the engine. The dashboard lights illuminated his calm face. As the car rolled away from the burning structure, Evans watched the flames shrinking in the distance. His life had changed in a single night. He was no longer a noble, no longer a scientist, no longer Drakarion’s heir. He was something far more dangerous. And he had no idea what came next. Evans turned to the old man beside him. “Why do I get the feeling you want something from me?” Patrick didn’t flinch. He simply tightened his grip on the steering wheel and spoke with quiet honesty. “Well… that is because I do.”Latest Chapter
THE FOUNDATION OF POWER
“This is not hoarding,” he said. “This is preparation.”Stacks of gold bars sat in neat rows like bricks. Crates were sealed with heavy locks and labels that read like inventory, not treasure. Transparent cases held diamonds and rubies that caught the light like trapped stars. Bundles of cash were packed in towers, wrapped, stamped, and organized like a private bank.Evans felt his throat close.For a second, his mind refused to accept what his eyes were seeing.He turned slowly toward Patrick. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked with a rough voice. “What is this place?”Patrick rolled forward until the wheelchair crossed the threshold. “This,” he said calmly, “is Rovek.”Evans took a step in, then another. The air felt dead in here, protected from the world, preserved. “Rovek is starving,” he snapped. “Rovek is children with no shoes and clinics with peeling paint.”Patrick’s gaze stayed steady. “Yes,” he said. “And Rovek is also this.”Evans’ anger surged back. “So you lied,”
GOLD BENEATH THE KINGDOM
Patrick did not wait for Evans to agree.Arlen and the attendants moved with quiet speed, sliding Patrick into the wheelchair like they had done it a hundred times. The drip stand rolled beside him, and Patrick’s thin fingers closed around the armrest as if it was a throne.“Hold that,” Patrick said to Evans, nodding at the drip line.Evans caught the stand automatically. “You’re treating me like a nurse now.”Patrick’s eyes lifted. Even sick, they carried that same cold order. “No,” he said. “I’m treating you like someone I trust not to spill my blood on marble.”Arlen opened the door wide. “This way, sir,” he said, addressing Patrick first, then Evans with a lower bow.Evans followed, pushing the drip stand, his shoulders tight. The hallway outside the medical suite was bright and silent, the kind of silence money buys. A carpet swallowed every footstep. Wall lamps glowed soft, as if harsh light was not allowed inside this house.Evans looked down at Patrick’s pale hands. “Where a
BEFORE I DIE
Patrick stared at him for a long moment, and the drip line clicked softly like a clock. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and final. “I don’t wish to answer that,” he said.Evans took a step forward. “Patrick—”Patrick cut him off. “And don’t bother trying to get anything out of me,” he added, eyes steady. “It will be futile.”Evans’ fists clenched. “So you’ll die, refuse answers, and leave a ruined city behind you,” he said, with a tight voice. “That’s your legacy?”Patrick’s expression didn’t soften. “You don’t understand legacy,” he said. “You understand guilt.”Evans felt that line hit harder than any insult. He opened his mouth to respond, but the words tangled. Guilt? Was that what Patrick thought drove him? Was saving a child guilt? Was questioning leadership guilt? His jaw tightened, but beneath the anger was something uncomfortable — doubt.Patrick watched him closely, as if studying a reaction in a controlled experiment. Even weakened, he was observing, measuring, calcul
THE RIGHT TO DIE
Evans reached for Patrick’s wrist, careful, testing. He let his senses open, just a fraction, and the air around Patrick felt wrong. It was not just illness. It was corrosion, like a spiritual wound that did not heal. Evans’ own aura flickered without permission, answering the threat.Patrick felt it at once. His eyes locked on Evans. “Stop,” he said quietly.Evans held his gaze. “You’re dying,” he said, the words coming out like a verdict. “And you think I will just stand here and watch.”Patrick’s fingers tightened around the sheet. “You watched a chancellor kneel today,” he said. “You watched a city swallow cruelty. You think you understand watching.”Evans’ throat tightened. “Then let me do something,” he said.Patrick’s voice hardened, still controlled. “I have managed this before you,” he said. “I was managing it before I entered Drakarion.”Evans swallowed, and his anger shifted into dread. “So what changed?” he asked. “Why does it look worse now?”Patrick stared at him for a
CELESTRO BLOOD DECAY
Evans had walked into palaces before, but he had never walked into a sickroom that felt like a confession.Mr Patrick lay propped on pillows in a wide bed that looked too clean to hold pain. His skin was pale, his frame thinner, and the red patches across his body looked wrong in a way Evans could not explain. A drip line ran into Patrick’s arm, and the room carried a faint smell of medicine under expensive air freshener. The luxury did not hide the truth. It only made it sharper.Evans stayed at the doorway for a second too long. His mind reached for words and found none.Patrick turned his head slowly, eyes tired but focused. “Ah, Evans,” he said, voice weaker now. “You are here.”Evans stepped in, slow, as if the floor might change under him. “What is this?” he asked, keeping his voice level. “You were healthier in Drakarion. You were driving, talking, threatening people like you had endless strength.”Patrick’s mouth moved like he wanted to smile, but his face didn’t have the en
BREATH OF THE PRIMORDIUS
The warning did not pass.It deepened.The first ostrich lowered its head slightly, not in hunger but in tension. Its pupils tightened, black within black. The feathers along its back lifted in uneven ripples, and its breathing grew sharper—shorter pulls of air through a throat that vibrated with something older than instinct.Evans felt it then.Not around him.From him.A pressure beneath his ribs stirred, faint at first, like heat rising through stone. It was subtle, almost playful. The Primordius Dragon did not roar—it breathed. And animals felt breath long before men did.The second ostrich backed up two steps. The first shifted again, stamping harder now. Its body angled toward him fully, neck stiff, ready either to flee or to strike.The woman’s hand trembled slightly. “What is wrong with them?”Evans did not answer immediately.He let the pressure rise another inch, deliberately.The air thickened.A shimmer of unseen authority settled across the space like a weight laid ge
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