The sky split open with flame.
The Iron Phalanx froze.
For a moment, no one moved.
No one breathed.
Then someone screamed.
"Dragon!"
The word tore through the formation like lightning.
Knights scattered. Mage circles flared to life across the battlefield. Spears lifted. Shields locked.
Above them, the massive dragon burst through the collapsing ruins, wings spreading across the sky like a storm.
And on its back, clinging to one of the scales along its neck, was Aric Vale.
Aric barely held on.
Wind ripped across his face as the dragon climbed higher into the air. The ground dropped away beneath them.
His fingers dug into the burning-hot scales.
"This was not part of the plan!" he shouted.
The dragon's voice rumbled inside his mind.
"You survived."
"That was not the part I was worried about!"
The dragon banked sharply.
Below them, the Iron Phalanx formed a defensive ring.
Mage lights ignited.
A storm of glowing runes spiraled into the air.
Aric's stomach dropped.
"They're preparing spells!"
"Yes," the dragon said calmly.
"Of course they are!"
A blast of lightning shot upward from the formation.
The dragon twisted midair.
The bolt missed by inches.
Aric screamed.
"Can you warn me before doing that?"
"You are still alive."
"That is not comforting!"
Below them, Sir Caldor stepped forward from the line of knights.
His armor glowed with wind magic.
He raised one hand.
"Hold formation!" he shouted.
The soldiers steadied.
Mage circles expanded across the battlefield.
Caldor's eyes locked on the sky.
On Aric.
His expression turned cold.
"That should be impossible," he muttered.
Another knight beside him spoke nervously.
"That is Vale."
Caldor's jaw tightened.
"I can see that."
Another mage stepped forward.
"We must eliminate the dragon before it escapes the containment zone."
Caldor nodded slowly.
"Yes."
His gaze sharpened.
"And retrieve the knight."
Above them, Aric looked down and felt the weight of every eye on him.
"They're staring," he said.
"Yes."
"That's not good."
The dragon tilted its massive head.
"You expected celebration?"
Aric groaned.
"I expected them to panic."
"They are."
"That's organized panic."
The dragon circled the ruins.
Its wings beat slowly, effortlessly.
Aric felt the power inside his chest respond to the movement.
The flame pulsed stronger now.
Alive.
Awake.
He glanced at his hands.
The golden runes still glowed faintly beneath his skin.
"What did you do to me?" he asked again.
"I awakened your potential."
"I had no potential."
The dragon chuckled.
"That is what they believed."
Below them, the Iron Phalanx launched another attack.
Three mages raised their staffs.
A spiral of blue fire shot into the sky.
The dragon rolled sideways.
The spell missed again.
Aric clenched his jaw.
"They're not stopping."
"They cannot."
"Why?"
"Because if they allow me to leave," the dragon said calmly, "their entire kingdom changes."
Aric looked down again.
Sir Caldor now stood at the center of a massive spell circle.
Wind magic roared around him.
Aric frowned.
"That one is going to hit us."
"Yes."
"Can you dodge it?"
"Perhaps."
Caldor thrust his hand upward.
The air exploded.
A tornado of compressed wind shot toward the dragon.
Aric's eyes widened.
"Oh that is definitely going to hit us!"
The dragon folded one wing.
The tornado slammed into them.
Aric lost his grip.
For a second, the sky vanished.
He was falling.
Then a massive claw caught him midair.
The dragon pulled him back onto its neck.
Aric gasped.
"I almost died!"
"You did not."
"That was too close!"
The dragon climbed higher into the clouds.
Below them, the Iron Phalanx shrank into tiny figures.
The battlefield disappeared behind drifting smoke.
Aric finally exhaled.
"Did we lose them?"
"For the moment."
Aric lay flat against the dragon's scales.
His heart pounded.
"I cannot believe that worked."
"You bonded with a dragon," the creature replied.
"Your expectations should expand."
Aric laughed weakly.
"You are insane."
The dragon's voice softened slightly.
"And yet you trusted me."
Aric stared at the clouds rushing past them.
"I trusted survival."
The dragon circled above the mountains.
For the first time since the ruins collapsed, things grew quiet.
Aric slowly sat up.
"Alright," he said.
"Let's talk."
"Yes."
"What now?"
The dragon studied the horizon.
"Now they hunt you."
Aric blinked.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"I was the bait."
"Now you are the weapon."
Aric rubbed his face.
"That is worse."
"It is also inevitable."
Aric sighed.
"Fantastic."
The dragon tilted its head slightly.
"You regret the bond?"
Aric looked down at his glowing hands.
Then back at the dragon.
"No."
He smiled faintly.
"But I regret how loud the entrance was."
The dragon laughed again.
"A dragon rarely arrives quietly."
Below them, far away, Sir Caldor stood in the ruins of North Ashfall.
He watched the distant dragon vanish into the clouds.
A mage approached cautiously.
"Sir."
Caldor did not look away.
"Yes."
"The dragon escaped."
"I noticed."
The mage hesitated.
"And the knight?"
Caldor's eyes hardened.
"He did not escape."
The mage frowned.
"Sir?"
Caldor turned slowly.
"He stole something that belongs to the kingdom."
Wind magic swirled violently around him.
"Prepare a report for the Mage Council."
"What shall we tell them?"
Caldor smiled coldly.
"That the powerless knight has become a national threat."
The mage swallowed.
"And the dragon?"
Caldor's gaze returned to the sky.
"That," he said quietly, "is now our problem."
High above the mountains, Aric clung to the dragon's back as they flew toward the unknown.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
The dragon's wings cut through the clouds.
"To a place where they cannot reach us yet."
Aric frowned.
"That does not sound permanent."
"It is not."
The dragon's voice lowered.
"Because your story has only begun."
Aric looked toward the horizon.
Storm clouds gathered in the distance.
"And what exactly is my story?"
The dragon answered without hesitation.
"You are the knight who woke a dragon."
Aric smirked.
"That sounds dramatic."
"It will become worse."
Aric sighed.
"I had a feeling."
The dragon's eyes burned brighter.
"Because soon," it said, "the world will learn your name."
Far below them, alarms spread across the kingdom.
Messengers rode through the night.
Mage towers lit their signal fires.
And in the highest chamber of the Mage Council, ancient records were opened for the first time in centuries.
One phrase appeared again and again in faded ink.
Dragon Rider.
A legend long believed extinct.
And now…
It had returned.