2026-07-14 20:49:58The impact sent Eryx sliding across the training grounds before crashing into a stone pillar at the edge of the arena. Pain instantly surged in his body, his body squeezing in discomfort as he struggled to take in breaths.
Across the arena, laughter erupted instantly.
“Sill of me to have thought that he would last longer than one hit.”
“I have seen children put up better fights than him and his ridiculous excuse of a dragon, Ha-ha!”
Cael rolled his shoulders lazily, feeling a deep sense of pride and accomplishment.
“I was expecting at least a little… entertainment.”
His Stoneback Dragon stomped forward with slow, crushing steps. It’s heavy steps shooked the earth beneath it. Every breath it released came out a rings of hot steam.
The instructor nodded approvingly.
“Excellent balance,” he commented. “Your dragon’s physical foundation is solid.”
Cael smirked at the comment and gave a respectful nod. Everyone thought the battle was over and the instructor was just about to announce him the winner when Eryx suddenly pushed himself up with a knee.
His vision was blurry as he tried to regain his balance, blood dripped from the corner of his mouth onto the ground.
Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t only feeling his pain but the pain of his dragon. It burned through his chest sending another agony spiraling through his body.
He slowly turned and his dragon lay where it had landed, unmoving.
For a beat, Eryx thought it had died but those soulless black eyes opened making him exhaled a relieved sigh.
Grow!
The word echoed down the bond again. Eryx raised a confused brow at his dragon.
“Eryx Varyn, do you yield?!” The instructor asked with a scowl on his face.
Before Eryx could respond, Cael’s dragon charged once more at the skeletal dragon as it struggled to stand. The impact sent the creature rolling across the area.
Dust exploded upwards covering it for a moment. A sharp pain instantly struck Eryx’s ribs.
“Arghh!” He cried before collapsing to the floor again, holding his side.
Every injury the dragon suffered was intensifying inside him.
“You won’t survive another exchange!” The instructor announced, irritated with Eryx’s lack of compliance to yielding.
Eryx forced himself up, staggering as he did. His breathing had become haggard as he slowly looked towards where his dragon led, the Stoneback standing beside it.
A thought struck him instantly. His dragon was starving! He remembered the mocking words of one of the instructors.
“If your dragon was too weak to hunt then, it is not supposed to exist.”
The word returned again and this time, it was louder that Eryx had to cover his ears.
GROW!
The Stoneback charged forward again, it’s jaws were wide open enough to swallow half the smaller dragon or instead to incinerate it.
“No!” Eryx shouted, his eyes widening with fear.
At that instant, the skeletal dragon didn’t dodge, it leaped forward, attaching itself to the neck of the Stoneback.
The crowd laughed.
“What the hell is it trying to do?”
“Perhaps it’s trying to hide or give up by coaxing Cael’s dragon since it’s master is being stupid,” another said, bringing out another round of laughter.
Then—
CRUNCH!
The laughter stopped instantly as everyone looked at the dragons. The skeletal dragon had buried its teeth into the Stoneback’s shoulder!
The Stoneback roared violently, twisting, bucking and slamming itself against the ground and rocks trying to shake the creature off its body.
But the skeletal dragon didn’t let loose, instead, it held on tighter. Its black eyes began to glow, dark veins spreading beneath its paper-thin skin.
A pindrop silence spread across the arena as some turned to look at Cael, whose face had gone pale instantly.
“What’s going on?!”
The movements of the Stoneback gradually slowed. Its furious roars became weaker by the minute, its powerful limbs began trembling. Meanwhile, the skeletal dragon’s ribs were no longer visible as before. It’s dull scales darkened from faded gray into polished Obisidan.
Eryx froze. He could feel a sense of warmth, strength and energy pouring through the bond like a rushing river. His wounds were slowly healing like a refreshing breeze, his aching relaxed and his breathing steadied.
Whatever it’s dragon was doing was refreshing both not itself but also him.
Across the arena, panic erupted immediately the Stoneback fell to the floor.
“Separate them!”
The instructor rushed forward instantly but before he could reach them, the skeletal dragon released its bite and walked gracefully towards Eryx.
It still looked small but no longer weak as before. The Stoneback however, wasn’t in a good shape. Its once muscular body looked unbelievably thinner, its breathing became labored, it tried to stand but ended up falling back to the ground.
The arena fell into complete silence.
Cael stared at his dragon.
“No!” He ran towards it. “Get up!”
The Stoneback blinked at its master. A low steam cloud came out of its nose. It no longer possessed the strength it had before. The instructor immediately examined it, his expression changing by the second.
“There are no fatal wounds, no internal injuries and no broken bones,” he slowly looked toward Eryx’s dragon clearly confused. “Then where did its strength go?”
No one could answer that, they all looked at the skeletal dragon standing obediently by Eryx’s side. It’s eyes staring back at the crowd.
The instructor cleared a voice, staring at his students. “The winner of this round is…”
He inhaled a breath, trailing off as if the words itself sounded bitter.
“Eryx Varyn.”
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108
The suppression cuffs dug into Lira's wrists, cold and heavy, blocking the spirit-fire in her veins.Commander Vane marched three paces behind her, one hand resting on the brass pommel of his long blade. Six grey-coated Rift Trackers surrounded them, their lead-lined cloaks moving through the dark, fog-covered trunks of the southern ash-woods.In Vane's left hand, the brass compass glowed in the dim light. Its violet needle pulsed in a steady rhythm that seemed to match every beat of Lira's heart."Focus your mind, girl," Vane growled, his rough voice cutting through the rustling leaves. "If the needle flickers because you're trying to suppress the blood resonance, I'll have my men break your fingers one by one."Lira didn't look back. She kept her chin raised, her eyes cold, and her boots sinking into the wet black soil with every step.Let them hold the brass, Lira thought, her jaw tightening beneath her bruised skin. Let them follow the needle.She knew how the paired-bond compass
107
The Vanguard Academy was silent, save for the rhythmic metallic clicking of the projection array mounted atop the Spire of Order.Thousands of students, nobles, and junior instructors stood shoulder to shoulder across the cold marble plaza. No one spoke or cheered. A suffocating dread hung over the crowd as the massive blue spirit-lens projected the recovered memory crystal's contents onto the white stone face of the central tower.The footage was shaky but clear.It showed the narrow, fog-covered entrance to the Devil’s Trench. It captured the exact moment Lieutenant Vane’s gilded spear snapped like a dry twig. It showed Eryx, barefoot and drenched in blood, his chest covered in jagged scars, taking down twelve fully armed lieutenants with frightening efficiency.Then came the part that made even the hardened third-year instructors turn away in disgust.The lens zoomed in on Drogo. The massive shadow dragon didn't simply kill the marsh drakes. It pinned them against the granite roc
106
The evening wind was cold, leaving the Devil’s Trench in a deadly silence.The six upper-house recruits drinking by the campfire weren’t alone. As the yellow dusk faded into darkness, six more figures dropped from the high cedar canopy, landing in their iron stirrups. Twelve lieutenants in silver-and-crimson cloaks formed a curved wall of steel across the narrow canyon exit, blocking the only path south toward the river delta.Their mid-tier marsh drakes lined the stone ledge, their scaled wings half-spread and their nostrils releasing thin streams of orange spirit-fire into the damp air.The lead lieutenant was a tall, broad-shouldered noble named Vane. He held a gilded dragon-killer spear in his gloved hand and urged his mount three paces forward. His silver breastplate gleamed in the torchlight, free of dents, rust, or blood.“Come out into the light, stray!” Vane shouted, his voice echoing off the granite walls. “We know you’re hiding in the ditch! The Directorate put three hundre
105
For seven days, the routine continued without a break. Every morning, before the yellow mist cleared from the high granite walls, Eryx dragged his broadsword through the narrow, sunless ravines, searching for the oldest and most territorial beasts in the unmapped reaches of the Outer Wilds. He never let Drogo strike first. He wouldn’t let the shadow dragon spread his wings or open his jaws until the steel had done its work.Eryx launched himself from the rock ledges with frightening precision. He severed the tendon of a mountain drake, shattered the jaw plate of an iron-scaled boar, and pinned each beast to the canyon floor with his bare hands and the weight of his broadsword.Only when the creature lay gasping and helpless in the mud would Eryx step back, wiping sweat and blood from his eyes.“Feed,” Eryx rasped, his voice low and firm.Drogo stepped out of the shadows. The dragon didn’t thrash or roar. He lowered his broad snout, clamped his jaws around the beast’s chest, tore out i
104
The cold wind carried the metallic stench of fresh spirit-drake gore. It clung to the damp air and mingled with wet stone.Eryx didn’t lower his broadsword. The cold steel tip remained planted two inches from the center of Drogo’s broad, obsidian-scaled snout. His chest heaved with shallow gasps, every rib aching, but his dark eyes held a desperate focus that did not waver.“Look at me,” Eryx rasped, his rough voice cutting through the canyon breeze. “Look at my eyes, Drogo.”The shadow dragon didn’t move. His dark-violet pupils remained locked on Lira, who stood ten paces back against a jagged wall, her hands clenched over her empty dagger sheaths. She had little room to retreat, and she knew it.Then, slowly, Drogo shifted his massive head back toward his rider.“We set the line again,” Eryx said, his voice dropping into a deliberate growl, carrying what remained of his authority despite his drained spirit-core. “Just like in the lower pens. Right now.”He gripped Drogo’s broad snou
103
Eryx and Lira stood alone amid the wreckage of the Hundred Wings. The basin was covered with the remains of high-house war drakes and shattered vanguard galleys. Iron breastplates lay split across the white soil, and torn reins moved in the damp wind. The bodies were still warm, sending thin plumes of grey mist into the freezing morning air.The wind carried ash across their faces, and every gust stirred the wreckage underfoot. Lira shifted her weight carefully, wincing when the cut on her jaw pulled. Her arms felt heavy from the fight, but she kept watching Eryx. She was too tired to run, and too frightened to turn her back on him. Even the distant sounds of retreat had done little to ease the fear pressing against her ribs.Far above the cloud line, the wild, unbonded dragons that had bowed their heads turned and vanished into the mist, their wings beating in a silent, eerie rhythm.Drogo kept moving.The shadow dragon passed from one fallen war drake to the next with slow, heavy st
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