Chapter 15
The sky above the mountain darkened.
Not with clouds.
With wings.
Something enormous tore through the torn sky above the hidden city, its shadow swallowing the last light across the battlefield. The very air seemed to tremble as the shape descended through the clouds.
Even the dragons already circling the palace froze.
The golden dragon standing protectively beside Ariana stiffened, its massive body lowering instinctively.
The hunter dragon that had been stalking toward the chamber stopped mid-step.
Its wings folded halfway.
For the first time since the attack began—
the predators looked afraid.
Ariana felt the change immediately.
The strange power inside her chest tightened again, pulsing like a second heartbeat that did not entirely belong to her.
Something ancient was coming.
Something the world had not seen for centuries.
Across the shattered terrace, Kael slowly pushed himself up from the cracked marble floor where the hunter dragon had thrown him. His shoulder burned where claws had torn through flesh, and blood ran down his arm.
But he barely noticed the pain.
His eyes lifted toward the sky.
And for the first time since becoming Alpha
Kael Vaughn felt something dangerously close to dread.
The creature descending from the clouds was larger than anything he had ever imagined.
Its wings stretched across half the sky.
Each slow beat of those wings pushed storms of wind through the ruined city, rattling broken towers and sending loose stones tumbling down the mountainside.
Black scales gleamed like polished obsidian beneath the fading light.
And its eyes—
burned with ancient gold.
The golden dragon beside Ariana bowed its head even lower.
The hunter dragon crouched lower to the ground, wings partially folded in submission.
Kael felt his wolf growl uneasily inside his chest.
Every instinct screamed the same thing.
Predator.
But not one that could be challenged.
The Dragon King had arrived.
The enormous creature landed on the broken palace terrace with a thunderous impact that shook the entire mountain.
Stone cracked beneath its weight.
Dust exploded into the air.
Fragments of marble slid across the floor like scattered bones.
For several seconds, no one moved.
No one breathed.
The Dragon King slowly folded its wings.
Each movement was deliberate.
Controlled.
Ancient.
Its massive head lowered toward the open chamber.
Silence fell across the battlefield.
Ariana's heart pounded so loudly she could hear it echoing in her ears.
Beside her, the man dressed in black and gold stared at the dragon with something close to disbelief.
"This should not be possible," he whispered.
Kael stepped forward slowly, positioning himself closer to Ariana despite the creature towering above them.
"Why?" he demanded.
The man swallowed.
"The Dragon King vanished when the last Sovereign died."
Ariana blinked in confusion.
"So he's been asleep this whole time?"
The man shook his head slowly.
"No."
His eyes remained fixed on the enormous creature.
"He's been waiting."
The Dragon King's golden gaze moved across the chamber.
First to Kael.
Then to the shattered palace walls.
Then,
to Ariana.
The moment their eyes met, the power inside Ariana's chest surged violently.
Heat rushed through her veins.
The dragon lowered its massive head further.
Ariana felt something shift inside her mind.
A presence.
Ancient.
Immense.
And suddenly—
a voice echoed inside her thoughts.
Not loud.
Not threatening.
But powerful enough to make her knees weak.
So…
You have returned.
Ariana's breath caught.
"You can talk?"
The dragon's voice rumbled through her mind like distant thunder rolling across mountains.
I always could.
Kael glanced between Ariana and the dragon.
"What's happening?"
Ariana swallowed.
"He's… talking to me."
The man beside them nodded grimly.
"That's the Sovereign bond."
Kael frowned immediately.
"I don't like it."
The Dragon King's gaze flickered briefly toward Kael.
Then returned to Ariana.
The wolf Alpha.
Interesting.
Kael's wolf growled violently inside him.
"I don't care if you're a king," Kael said coldly, stepping protectively in front of Ariana.
"Or a mountain with wings."
"You're not taking her anywhere."
The dragon's golden eyes narrowed slightly.
Bold.
The golden dragon beside Ariana lifted its head proudly.
She is the Sovereign.
The Dragon King remained still.
Studying Ariana as though weighing something invisible.
Perhaps.
Ariana frowned.
"Perhaps?"
The throne has been empty for centuries.
The dragon's voice grew colder.
Many have claimed it.
Ariana felt her stomach drop.
"You think I'm lying?"
I think you are untested.
Behind them, the hunter dragon suddenly roared again.
It had recovered from the earlier attack.
Now it crept closer across the broken terrace, red eyes burning with furious hatred.
The Dragon King did not even glance at it.
Instead, his golden gaze remained fixed on Ariana.
The Sovereign commands dragons.
Prove it.
Ariana blinked.
"What?"
The dragon's voice hardened.
Command me.
The entire chamber froze.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Kael looked at her immediately.
"You don't have to do that."
But the man in black and gold shook his head slowly.
"Yes," he said quietly.
"She does."
Ariana's pulse raced.
"What happens if I can't?"
The man answered without hesitation.
"Then the Dragon King will decide you are not the true Sovereign."
Kael's eyes darkened dangerously.
"And?"
The man's voice turned grim.
"And he will burn this entire city to the ground."
Ariana stared up at the enormous dragon.
The creature's golden eyes waited calmly.
Patiently.
Judging.
Her chest tightened.
"I don't know how," she whispered.
The voice returned inside her mind.
You do.
Your blood remembers.
Ariana's golden eyes flickered brighter.
She could feel it again.
That strange instinct pulling at her bones.
The same force that had answered her call earlier.
Behind them, the hunter dragon lunged suddenly.
Fire exploded toward the chamber.
Kael shifted instantly, launching toward the creature.
"Now would be a good time!" he shouted.
Ariana took a breath.
Then stepped forward.
The golden dragon beside her spread its wings slightly.
The Dragon King remained perfectly still.
Watching.
Judging.
Ariana slowly raised her hand.
The power inside her veins surged like wildfire.
Her golden eyes burned brighter than ever before.
And she spoke the first command rising from the deepest part of her blood.
"Kneel."
For one terrifying second
nothing happened.
The hunter dragon roared.
The city shook.
Kael braced himself against the incoming fire.
Then,
the impossible happened.
The Dragon King lowered his massive head.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The mountain itself seemed to tremble as the ancient ruler of dragons bowed.
The entire chamber fell silent.
The man beside Ariana whispered in stunned awe.
"She did it."
Kael stared.
But Ariana barely noticed.
Because the moment the Dragon King bowed
something else answered from the sky.
A roar.
Far louder than the others.
Far more furious.
Everyone looked up.
And Ariana's heart stopped.
Because emerging from the clouds above the mountains
was an army of dragons.
Hundreds of them.
Their wings darkened the sky like a storm.
And every single one of them
had glowing red eyes.