The screams of battle echoed through Telmar as Kael ran towards the burning square. The silver necklace clutched tightly in his fist. Demons leapt across the rooftops, their claws raking through the wood and stone. Every step felt heavier, as though the weight of generations pressed upon his shoulders.
Behind him, Lira called out, "Kael! Wait! Don't do this alone!
He didn't stop. Not until he reached the heart of the village, where the great statue of the first Silver Dragon stood. Flames licked its base, casting the dragon's stone wings into dancing shadows.
Kael's grandfather appeared beside him, his staff trembling in his hand. "This is where it all began, Kael. This is where your ancestor made the pact. Look at the statue, see that mark on his chest?
Kael's eyes found the symbol: a cracked circle with wings etched inside it. The same as the back of his necklace.
His grandfather continued, "He gave up his human form to save this land, just as you may have to. But he never returned to who he was. That is the truth behind the legends.
The demons were drawing closer now, their leader in a hulking beast with horns curved like sickles, stepping forward his every step, bringing fear to Telmarians with a roar that shook the square.
Kael raised his necklace. It pulsed in his hand, silver light seeping through the cracks. "If I do this..., will I become him?"
"You will become what this land needs, "his grandfather said softly. " But the dragon remembers its past... and so will you"
A memory not his own flickered through Kael's mind: a great dragon soaring over mountains, chains breaking as light poured from its wings.
And for the first time, Kael felt the dragon's heartbeat inside his