The heroes exchanged silent glances, breaths shallow. Slowly, Itsuki motioned for them to retreat, fingers trembling as they gripped her weapon.
Step by step, the group began to withdraw, boots barely grazing the stone floor. No one dared to breathe too loudly.
"Easy… easy…" Riota whispered, sweat beading on his forehead.
"If we can just reach the door… maybe we'll have a chance…" another murmured.
But then…
A deep, rumbling growl shook the entire hall.
The floor vibrated beneath their feet.
The dragon's massive eyelids slowly parted, revealing two golden irises, radiant as molten suns.
Suffocating heat filled the chamber as the immense creature lifted its head, its horns nearly brushing the ceiling.
Then its voice rang out—deep, terrible, filling every corner of the hall:
"Pathetic ants… you dare disturb my slumber?"
The heroes froze, paralyzed with fear.
"H-he… he's speaking…" one whispered, throat tight.
"We… we need to run… now!" another panicked, but his legs refused to move.
The dragon snapped its jaws, fangs gleaming in the shadows.
"Flee, weak creatures… but know this: none of you will leave this place alive."
Yuki felt her chest tighten, eyes locked on the mountain of scales.
"We're going to die here…"
The oppressive silence was broken only by the young heroes' ragged breaths, caught between flight and absolute paralysis.
A shiver of terror swept through the group as the dragon slowly opened its jaws.
A low rumble, like distant thunder, resonated from its throat.
Then… a pure, blinding blue sphere began to form deep within its gaping mouth.
It pulsed like a living heart, each vibration sending tremors through the chamber walls.
"No… no… this can't be…" one hero stammered, face pale.
"It's… a dragon's breath…" another whispered, eyes wide.
"We… we're dead."
The blue light expanded, radiating oppressive heat that forced several of them to instinctively step back. The floor cracked under the surging energy of the unstable sphere.
Itsuki gritted her teeth, hands trembling.
"If this hits us full-on, we're finished… move!"
The heroes scattered in a panic, boots clattering against the stone as the hall filled with a supernatural blue glow.
The dragon, impassive, tilted its head slightly toward them, voice rumbling like divine judgment:
"Perish."
The sphere swelled to its full size—a miniature sun ready to erupt.
The blue orb pulsed one final time… then, suddenly, the dragon halted its breath.
The light dissipated in ethereal shards, vanishing into the air like a luminous mist.
The creature slowly closed its jaws, golden eyes narrowing with a flicker of surprise.
Its enormous head tilted slightly, as though listening to something the others could not perceive.
An even heavier silence fell over the hall. The heroes, frozen mid-flight, dared not even breathe.
Then, in a voice that rumbled like an earthquake:
"…Telekinesis?"
Its pupils constricted, a spark of suspicion glinting in its gaze.
It was as if someone, somewhere, had just spoken to it—an invisible, foreign presence.
The heroes exchanged confused looks.
"W-what? Is… is it talking to someone?" Riota gasped, still panting.
"No… that's impossible…" Itsuki whispered, fingers clenched around her weapon.
The dragon no longer seemed to regard them. Its attention was elsewhere, fixed on a voice only it could hear.
One thing was clear: this respite was only temporary, and with every second the creature hesitated, the young heroes felt their hearts hammer in their chests.
A cold gust swept through the hall.
Torch flames flickered, casting grotesque shadows across the walls.
Slowly… the darkness beneath the heroes' feet began to move.
At first, like a shiver through the stone, then coalescing into a liquid mass taking shape.
"M… my shadows… they're moving?!" one stammered, horrified.
"This… this isn't normal…!" another cried, stumbling back.
The black silhouettes stretched, thickened… until they rose like inky arms, wrapping around their legs, torsos, and necks.
An invisible vise tightened around their throats.
They gasped, struggling for air, eyes wide with panic.
"Am I… going to die here?" Itsuki thought, breathless, fingers desperately trying to slash the shadow with her blade.
"No… not now… not like this…" Riota groaned inwardly, his unfinished spell dying on his lips.
"Riji… am I… going to join you…?" echoed the painful thought of one of the boys, just before his eyes rolled back.
"Again… I'm losing someone…" Yuki thought, tears rising despite herself, as the darkness engulfed her consciousness.
The colossal shadow of the dragon suddenly trembled, like a black lake stirred by an invisible breeze.
It spread, extending far beyond the creature's outline, devouring part of the floor around it.
A shiver ran through the hall as, slowly, a silhouette emerged.
Her footsteps were silent, gliding across the stone as if floating between two worlds.
The shape took form: a woman in a servant's outfit, yet every fold of her attire seemed to swallow the light.
Her long silver hair shimmered with a supernatural glow, a stark contrast to the darkness from which she had been born.
Her icy eyes swept the chamber—indifferent to the collapsing heroes, the majestic dragon, or the chaos reigning around them.
She advanced with cold confidence, as if she already owned this place.
The dragon tilted its head slightly, golden pupils fixed on her.
A heavy, almost reverent silence settled.
Katarina.
The shadow that had birthed her closed behind her like a sealed door, leaving no trace of her arrival.
Her own shadow spread across the floor, first as a dark puddle, then as a tidal wave of darkness.
It flowed, fluid and voracious, engulfing the heroes' prone silhouettes.
One by one, their bodies were swallowed, disappearing into the impenetrable black as if devoured by an invisible maw.
In a single breath, nothing remained.
Katarina lifted her head, silver hair glinting under the dim torchlight.
"Their safety is my responsibility, by direct order. Like it or not."
The dragon remained motionless for a moment, golden eyes narrowed, as if measuring the strange balance of amusement and suspicion she inspired.
A long silence followed, golden eyes locked on Katarina. Then, in a voice even deeper, tinged with a hint of nostalgia, it spoke:
"Hmph… I preferred the days of our first meeting. When you were just a child… a little girl with eyes full of innocence."
The words rumbled like distant thunder but carried a strange softness, rare for a creature of its magnitude.
Katarina parted her lips, briefly surprised, then a glacial gleam crossed her silver eyes. She looked away, as if refusing to be touched by that memory.
"Innocence has never protected anyone, god-dragon. It shatters the moment one opens their eyes to the world."
The dragon tilted its head, scales creaking under the movement.
"Perhaps. But that day, when you came to me, tears still fresh on your face… I already knew the shadow would become your home."
Memories surfaced despite herself—fragments of a distant time, hesitant steps in a dark forest, the gigantic silhouette that had observed her for the first time. She banished them, tightening her fingers on the fabric of her servant skirt.
"The child I was died long ago," she replied coldly.
"Hahaha… yet I still see her, hidden behind that mask of ice."
The dragon stared, its guttural laugh reverberating through the hall.
Katarina, unmoved, let her shadows stir at her feet, a silent reminder that the little girl was truly gone.
The dragon lowered its colossal head, warm breath trembling the air, and Evelyra, now fully grown, stepped forward without fear. Her slender fingers glided over the dark scales, caressing the rough surface as one tames a beast. Her half-lidded blue eyes reflected the golden light of the hall, yet another image was forming in her mind—a vision of a bygone time, fragments of her past…
The scent of damp stone and dust rose in her memory. The dungeon walls, carved from raw rock, dripped with glistening droplets. Pale mushrooms faintly illuminated the corridor, casting an unreal, almost dreamlike glow. There, around a corner, the shadow had begun to undulate like a black sea ready to swallow everything.
From that darkness emerged a small figure—a fragile girl with long silver hair falling in silky strands around her pale face. Her hands trembled against the oversized fabric of a servant's dress, and her timid eyes seemed to shrink from the world. Katarina. She stepped forward hesitantly, gaze wavering between fear and curiosity.
But from the shadow also emerged another child, more lively, more self-aware. Evelyra. Her tangled blonde hair caught the faint light like streaks of gold. Her piercing blue eyes already gleamed with a strange confidence no child should possess. She moved forward without flinching, hand outstretched to Katarina as if she already knew exactly what to do.
The contrast was striking: Evelyra walking with the assurance of a princess in the underground corridor, her light footsteps echoing despite the stone, while timid Katarina seemed to want to retreat once more into darkness.
The shadow closed behind them, cutting them off from the rest of the world. Evelyra turned then, lips curving into a smile both gentle and commanding.
"You don't have to be afraid. As long as I'm here… you will never have to hide alone."
And the golden hand found the silver one, fragile, trembling. Thus began their bond.