Chapter Seventy One: The Blood of the Dragon
Kael didn't waste time. The weight of Selindra's words burned in his chest like a second heart, each beat echoing with his mother's legacy. He turned from the southern wall, cloak trailing shadows, and said flatly,
"Come. The council will hear this."
Selindra's pale eyes crinkled with something between pride and sorrow. "As your mother hoped."
Umbra padded beside Kael as he strode back into the Hollow. Lanterns lit the paths, the snow reflecting their glow. The guards at the gate tensed as Selindra passed, but Kael's sharp nod stayed their hands. They didn't question him. No one dared when his jaw was set like stone and his shadows whispered in the torchlight.
The Council Convenes
The council chamber erupted in murmurs the moment Kael entered with the old elf at his side. Fenrik's ears twitched, Thalos folded his arms across his massive chest, and the dwarves exchanged wary looks. Lyria and Druaka were already there, their eyes flicking from Kael to the stranger.
"This is Selindra Vaelor," Kael announced, his voice cutting through the whispers. "An old friend of my mother. She carries truths about me… and about what lies within my blood."
The room fell still.
Selindra stepped forward, staff tapping against the stone floor. "What I speak may sound like myth, but it is not. Kael's mother was a True Dragon. The last of her kind. Her blood flows in him, and with it, the potential for powers beyond shadow and flame."
Gasps, mutters, clenched fists. One of the elves leaned forward sharply. "A dragon? You mean to say—our king is not merely gifted but half-divine?"
Kael's shadows writhed across the chamber floor, silencing them. His tone was iron. "She speaks truth. I've felt it all my life. Fire and shadow weren't the end of it. Something deeper calls to me, and this woman knows how to unlock it."
Thalos's golden eyes narrowed, distrust clear. "Unlock it? And what then? If what she says is true, such power could unmake the Hollow as easily as protect it."
Druaka leaned forward, her tusked jaw tight, her voice heavy with something close to reverence. "He saved me, saved this town, fought overlords and armies. If anyone can bear such blood, it is Kael."
Lyria placed her hand on the table, her tone calm but unwavering. "He doesn't walk this road alone. If he undergoes this ritual, I go with him. If it changes him, I'll see it with my own eyes. And if it threatens the Hollow… I'll be the first to stop him."
Kael turned to her, shadows curling softer around his frame. Her loyalty was steel wrapped in tenderness. Then he looked to Druaka, whose fierce gaze burned like an ember. Both had spoken not as lovers, but as warriors bound to him.
"I'll need both of you," Kael said. "Fenrik, Thalos — the Hollow is yours until I return. Keep our people safe. If anything threatens them, kill it."
Thalos grunted, his tusks bared. "I don't like this, Kael. But I'll honor your command."
Fenrik dipped his head, wolfish eyes gleaming. "You've earned our trust. We'll hold the line."
Selindra raised her staff. "Then it is decided. The ritual cannot be done within walls. It must be beneath the naked sky, where fire, shadow, and blood can breathe. We leave before dawn."
The Journey to Power
The Hollow still slept when Kael, Lyria, Druaka, Selindra, and Umbra left through the southern gate. Snow muffled their steps, the moonless night heavy with silence. Lyria walked at Kael's right, Druaka at his left, both alert and watchful.
"You trust her quickly," Lyria murmured, glancing at Selindra's bent frame.
Kael's eyes were forward. "She knew my mother's name. Knew truths only my blood remembers. That's enough."
Druaka's deep voice rumbled low. "And if she lies?"
Kael's shadows flickered across the snow, darker than night. "Then she'll see what dragon blood looks like without rituals."
Selindra said nothing, only leaned on her staff, her expression unreadable.
They crossed the frozen forest in silence until Selindra raised a hand, pointing to a clearing where frost clung to ancient stones carved with runes so old they seemed born of the earth itself. A faint hum hung in the air, thick with dormant power.
"This place," Selindra whispered. "Older than kingdoms. It will answer you, Kael."
The air itself seemed to shiver as Kael stepped forward, fire sparking across his fingertips, shadows curling behind him like a cloak. Lyria and Druaka flanked him, blades drawn, ready for anything.
Selindra knelt, her staff tracing symbols in the snow. "We begin when you are ready. Know this, Kael: when you speak your word, there is no return. The dragon within will rise, and it will change you forever."
Kael's breath misted in the cold. He thought of his mother's smile, of his father's death, of every scar and battle since. He thought of the Hollow, of the people who now looked to him, of the women at his sides who had pledged more than loyalty.
He clenched his fists, fire and shadow intertwining until they danced together.
"I'm ready."
The ritual began.