Then we reached an exposed, elevated balcony where the wind howled fiercely, threatening to sweep away anything that was not firmly anchored.
And there he was.
Nyktis, the black dragon, crouched on the edge of the balcony, the size of a small mountain. His scales absorbed the faint remaining light, and his red eyes burned like embers from another world.
His chest rose and fell with powerful breaths, and from his throat came a sound like a rough, low rumble.
I froze in place. The sight was more terrifying than anything I had imagined in my worst nightmares.
"Don't be afraid," Cairn said, his voice very close to my ear. "He won't hurt you."
"And how can you be so sure?" I whispered, my eyes fixed on the dragon who could have swallowed me in a single bite.
"Because I tell him so."
With one smooth movement, Cairn raised his hand. He did not touch the dragon, and he did not speak, but Nyktis lowered his massive head until it was level with Cairn.
There, in the fiery eyes of the beast, I saw something I had never expected: awareness, intelligence… and even loyalty.
This was the power of the bond he had spoken about, a connection that went far beyond a simple rider and dragon. It was something closer to a spiritual exchange.
"This… this is impossible," I murmured.
Cairn said, gently running his hand along Nyktis's snout with an affectionate touch,
"In Nevis, they taught you that dragons are monsters that must be tamed. Here, we learned that they are partners… and that they are part of us."
I watched the scene, dizziness washing over me. Everything I had known about dragons, about the enemy, was collapsing before my eyes.
If this was true, then our hatred throughout all these centuries had been nothing but foolish ignorance.
"Why are you showing me this?" I asked in a trembling voice.
Cairn turned to me, his gray eyes reflecting the torchlight.
"Because if you want to understand your enemy, you must understand what protects him. Iliana… you are no longer just an enemy."
Before I could respond, the sound of an ominous warning echoed from afar—the blast of an alarm horn.
Cairn and Malakai exchanged a quick glance.
"There's trouble," Malakai said briefly.
Cairn gestured toward his dragon.
"Go and see what it is."
The black dragon launched himself from the edge with astonishing silence and vanished into the darkness.
Cairn looked at me, his eyes blazing with challenge.
"It seems the third lesson will come early. It seems your uncle Valkar did not tell you all of his plans."
A coldness sharper than the mountain wind crept into my heart.
Cairn pulled me through the corridors with incredible speed, gripping my arm firmly—strong enough to keep me from falling, but also strong enough to keep me from escaping.
We were not heading back to the dungeon. Instead, we moved toward the command hall in the heart of the fortress.
Voices rose all around us—warriors preparing, shouted orders, and the grinding sound of metal.
He pushed me into a small room connected to the main hall. It contained a table covered with maps and a leather couch.
Through a large stone arch, I could see the command center where Malakai was directing the men.
"Stay here," Cairn ordered, his voice like cold steel.
"What happens tonight will determine all of our fates."
"What is happening?" I asked, clinging to the last of my courage.
"Valkar. He sent a group of hunters," Cairn said, his eyes burning with restrained anger.
"Not to attack us… but to hunt a dragon."
My heart stopped for a moment.
"Glacier…"
He shook his head, and a brief flash of pain crossed his eyes.
"No. Not your white dragon. They were targeting Nyktis."
I was stunned.
"That's impossible. No one would dare hunt the black dragon."
"Valkar would," Cairn said quietly. "Because he knows a secret."
He stepped closer, his presence like a storm.
"He knows that Nyktis is not just a dragon… and that the bond between us is stronger than anyone could imagine."
From outside the window, we heard a familiar roar—Nyktis's roar.
But this time it was different.
It was a roar of pain.
Cairn turned toward the sound, and his face paled. He was fighting alongside his dragon, feeling his pain.
I saw how his grip tightened around the hilt of his sword and how the muscles of his jaw tensed.
"He's hurt," I whispered, terror gripping me.
"Not seriously," Cairn replied quickly.
"But the message is clear. Valkar doesn't only want war. He wants to destroy the symbol of our power… he wants to destroy a part of me."
He looked at me, and in his eyes I saw something that made me tremble more than any threat before.
It wasn't just anger.
It was fear.
The fear of a legendary prince for the partner of his soul.
"Do you understand now?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"This is not a war of kingdoms. This is a war of existence. And Valkar is willing to burn the world to win it."
Before I could answer, a massive explosion sounded outside.
The ground shook beneath our feet.
Through the window, I saw an orange glow tearing across the sky.
"Greek fire," Malakai said as he entered the hall, smoke swirling around him. His face was covered in dust.
"They've set the forests at the foot of the mountain on fire."
Cairn looked at the flames, then at me.
In his gray eyes, I saw a decision forming.
A dangerous decision.
"It's time," he said.
"It's time for you to see the whole truth."
He extended his hand toward me again, but this time it was not the grip of a jailer.
It was the hand of a man leading you to the edge of the abyss.
"What truth?" I asked, my heart pounding violently.
"The truth about me," he whispered.
"And the real reason I brought you here."
And that night, while the flames devoured the world outside, another truth began to devour my old beliefs.
And it was more terrifying than any fire.