Ace bled into the pages.
His lip was split, his ribs bruised, but he didn't care. He sat hunched over a pile of books scavenged from the manor's forgotten library—dusty tomes no one touched, their spines cracked, their words fading into time.
He read because it numbed him. Because it was the only thing that silenced the echo of his parents' laughter, the only thing that dulled the memory of John's smile.
But tonight, the words refused to stay still.
The page before him shimmered, the letters twisting like snakes. His breath caught as the familiar lines of ancient history melted, re-forming into something older, sharper, alive.
Runes.
They glowed faintly, pulsing in rhythm with the ring on his finger.
Ace's hands shook. He tried to turn the page, but the ink slithered across, etching new words where none had been before. And then—
A voice.
Not in the room. Not in his ears.
Inside him.
"So… the heir of betrayal finally breathes life into my prison."
Ace jerked back, his chair scraping the stone floor. "Who's there?"
"Do not shout. No one but you can hear me. And if you wish to live, you will listen."
The ring burned against his skin. Heat surged up his arm, filling his veins like molten fire. Ace clutched his wrist, gritting his teeth. "Get out of my head!"
A laugh, deep and ancient, rolled through him.
"If only it were that simple, child. You called to me the moment you bled rage into this ring. I am bound to you now… and you, to me."
The room darkened. Shadows spilled across the walls, curling like smoke, and in their depth a shape formed—vast, coiling, terrible. A dragon.
Its eyes glowed gold, ancient and sharp as blades, and though its body was made of shadow and memory, Ace could feel the weight of its presence pressing against him, crushing the air from his lungs.
"I am Orpheus," the dragon rumbled. "The Immortal of Knowledge. Long have I slept, sealed by my own will until the Child of Betrayal wore the Ring of Dragons."
Ace staggered back, but the shadow followed, filling his vision until there was nothing else. "Why me?" His voice cracked, raw. "Why not someone stronger?"
"Because strength without pain is hollow. You were broken, and only the broken can hold me. Your suffering carved the space for truth."
Ace shook his head, tears stinging his eyes though he refused to let them fall. "I don't want truth. I don't want destiny. I just want John back!"
For a heartbeat, silence. The dragon's golden eyes flickered.
"And yet John's death forged you. Without his fall, you would be nothing. Remember that, Ace Dragon. Remember it well."
The name struck him like a blade—Ace Dragon. Not the weak boy his parents despised. Something more. Something terrifying.
The shadows receded slightly, and Orpheus's voice lowered.
"You will learn. You will suffer more than you already have. But with me, you will see the shape of eternity. And when the darkness rises, only you will have the power to stand against it."
The words buried themselves in Ace's soul, heavier than chains, sharper than promises.
And though he hated the dragon, though he wanted to scream, though he wanted to deny everything—deep down, he felt it.
This was not the end of his breaking.
This was the beginning of his becoming.