Chapter 18
The sky seemed to split apart.
Hundreds of wings tore through the clouds at once as the hunter dragons dove toward the palace like a living storm. Their roars rolled across the mountains, shaking the towers of the hidden city.
Fire lit the sky.
The first blast struck the outer wall of the palace with explosive force, sending chunks of white stone crashing onto the terraces below.
Ariana flinched.
The golden dragon beside her roared in response, spreading its massive wings in front of the chamber like a shield made of living gold.
Kael stepped closer to her immediately.
"Stay behind me."
Ariana shot him a look.
"Behind you? Kael, there are dragons."
"I noticed."
Another wave of fire slammed against the palace walls. Heat surged through the broken windows, carrying the sharp smell of burning stone.
Below them, warriors of the hidden city rushed across the terraces, raising glowing barriers as more dragons poured out of the clouds.
But the swarm was overwhelming.
Too many.
Too fast.
Too furious.
Ariana lifted her gaze toward the sky.
"They're all targeting the palace."
The man in black and gold nodded grimly.
"They can sense the Sovereign."
Kael's wolf shifted uneasily beneath his skin.
"Then maybe standing on the tallest building in the city isn't our best strategy."
Ariana barely heard him.
The power in her veins had started pulsing again.
Not violently like before.
But steadily.
Like something ancient inside her was slowly waking up.
The golden dragon beside her let out a low rumble.
They challenge you.
Ariana blinked.
The dragon's voice echoed clearly in her mind now.
"They're not challenging me," she muttered under her breath.
"They're trying to kill me."
Both can be true.
Another dragon dove toward the terrace.
Its massive jaws opened wide, fire building in the back of its throat.
Kael moved instantly.
His body shifted as the black wolf exploded forward just as the dragon released its flames.
The blast scorched the stone floor where Ariana had been standing seconds earlier.
Kael slammed into the dragon's jaw mid-attack, forcing its head violently to the side.
The creature roared in fury.
The golden dragon lunged a heartbeat later.
With one powerful beat of its wings, it collided with the attacker and drove the hunter dragon backward through the shattered balcony.
Both dragons crashed into the palace courtyard below.
Ariana stared down at the chaos unfolding beneath them.
"You really expect me to control all of them?"
The man beside her didn't take his eyes off the sky.
"If you are the Sovereign… yes."
Kael shifted back into human form beside her, breathing hard.
"Less talking," he muttered.
"More surviving."
Ariana looked back up.
More dragons were coming.
Dozens now.
Their red eyes burned like coals in the storm clouds.
Above them, the Dragon King roared as he clashed with two hunter dragons in midair, his massive wings tearing through the wind.
But even he couldn't stop them all.
Ariana felt the pull again.
The same strange instinct she had felt when she called the golden dragon earlier.
But now it was stronger.
Much stronger.
Almost impossible to ignore.
"Kael…"
He glanced at her.
"What?"
"I don't think they're just hunting me."
"What do you mean?"
"They're waiting."
Kael frowned.
"For what?"
Ariana slowly raised her hand toward the sky.
"For this."
The golden light inside her veins surged.
Her eyes burned brighter.
The air around her began to shimmer.
The dragons noticed.
Every single one of them.
Dozens of enormous heads turned toward the palace.
Toward Ariana.
Toward the power radiating from her.
Kael's voice dropped.
"Ariana… what are you doing?"
"I don't know," she said quietly.
"But I think my blood does."
The Dragon King's voice echoed through her mind again.
Command them.
Ariana swallowed.
"That's a lot of dragons."
You are the Sovereign.
Another dragon dove toward the palace.
Ariana didn't look away from the sky.
Instead, she stepped forward.
Golden light erupted from her body.
"STOP!"
The word cracked through the air like thunder.
For one impossible moment,
every dragon froze.
Wings beating.
Fire still burning in their throats.
But their bodies locked in place.
The entire battlefield went silent.
Kael stared upward in disbelief.
"Well…"
"That's new."
Ariana's breathing grew uneven.
The power inside her felt like trying to hold back a tidal wave.
Dozens of dragons hovered in the air.
Waiting.
Listening.
Then,
a pulse of dark energy rippled across the sky.
Malrec.
The runes carved into the flying fortress flared to life.
The moment that dark magic touched the battlefield,
Ariana's control shattered.
The dragons roared.
The swarm broke free.
And this time,
they all dove toward the palace at once.
Kael grabbed Ariana's arm.
"RUN."
But suddenly the sky exploded with golden light.
Not from Ariana.
From the Dragon King.
The ancient dragon roared with terrifying force as he dropped from the sky directly in front of the palace.
His enormous wings spread wide across the terrace.
Shielding it.
Protecting Ariana.
But even he hesitated when he saw what was coming next.
Because the flying fortress had begun to move.
Slowly.
Directly toward the palace.
The glowing runes along its black walls burned brighter.
Malrec stood at its front.
Watching Ariana.
Waiting.
Then he raised both hands.
And the sky above the city tore open.
Something enormous began to emerge from the darkness beyond the clouds.
Even the Dragon King froze.
Ariana's voice trembled.
"What… is that?"
The man in black and gold stared upward in horror.
"Malrec wouldn't…"
But the thing pushing through the sky answered him.
A roar.
Deeper than any dragon.
Older.
More powerful.
When its head finally emerged from the clouds,
Kael felt his blood run cold.
Because it wasn't a dragon.
It was something far worse.
A creature made of living shadow.
Its scales were darker than night.
Its wings swallowed the stars.
And its eyes burned with the same silver light as Malrec's.
The man beside Ariana whispered a single word.
"Abyssal."