The sky above the Bonecrag Peaks was a haunting canvas of crimson clouds and flickering black lightning. A constant roar of wind lashed across the jagged ridges like the growl of a slumbering beast warning intruders. Renji stood beside Zach atop a narrow cliff trail, his coat flapping wildly, boots crunching on frost-bitten bones long buried beneath volcanic ash.
"Is this the place?" Renji muttered, staring up at the obsidian spires twisting skyward like the ribs of a fallen titan.
Zach grinned, the wind unable to move his wild silver hair. "This is where the last of her kind sleeps. The temple of Sealed Wrath. Get ready—this is no sightseeing tour."
Renji's heart pounded. His aunt—the woman from his dream—was near. But so was the monster. The venom-scale dragon. He felt it in his bones. This land radiated something ancient, sacred… and angry.
They descended the final stretch into a stone basin. Bonecrag's base opened into a vast, circular chasm, walls engraved with glowing glyphs and strange draconic patterns. At the center stood a colossal temple, half-sunken into molten black rock, shrouded in silence.
Zach walked forward like he owned the place. "We're stepping into a divine zone, Renji. Don't screw up."
"I never asked for a damn divine anything," Renji muttered, his nerves taut as thread.
Zach placed a hand on the temple's gate—a gate made of interlocking dragon fangs and metal scales—and a sharp, thunderous chime echoed across the mountains. It wasn't just sound—it was presence, like a divine being was stirring from centuries of slumber.
And somewhere inside, something began to move as the echo of Zach's divine chime faded, the temple responded.
The ancient doors rumbled open with a slow, grinding groan, revealing a dimly lit interior bathed in hues of emerald and crimson. Massive pillars carved with dragon-like serpents coiled up toward a ceiling lost in darkness. Stained glass windows shimmered with eerie depictions—dragons offering their hearts to queens, blood rituals under red moons, a woman standing atop a slain beast with a serpent's crown.
Renji stepped inside, feeling his lungs tighten, the air thick with divine energy and something far darker—like venom coiled around his throat.
Zach's boots clicked confidently across the marble, his fingers glowing faintly with runes. "This place honors the Old Blood Pact," he said. "Where dragon and divine became one. She sleeps beneath the altar."
Before Renji could ask who she was—exactly—Zach raised his hand again, this time slamming his palm against a stone altar.
The temple screamed.
A celestial bell rang out, booming and sharp, as if a god had struck it from the heavens. Light erupted from the altar, shooting up like a holy geyser, shattering parts of the ceiling. The floor trembled. The glyphs on the walls pulsed with crimson.
Then came the hiss. A hiss that split the air like a whip.
From the molten cracks in the temple floor, something uncoiled—massive, black and green, dripping in venom. The dragon was awakening, its scales shimmering with iridescent poison, its eyes like two golden orbs of hate.
Renji barely had time to breathe before the creature lunged.
He dove behind a collapsed stone column, the dragon's tail smashing into it and blasting the side apart. Dust and rubble swallowed him as heat surged through the chamber. He coughed, blood trickling down his chin, ears ringing, body aching.
Half-dead—and the fight hadn't even begun.
Renji gasped, his ribs screaming in protest as he pulled himself from the rubble. The world spun around him, a blur of firelight and venomous shadows. The dragon hovered above, its wings scraping the stone ceiling, fangs dripping black ichor. Every movement radiated raw, divine hatred—as if it resented simply being seen.
Zach stood in the center of the chaos, unfazed, arms crossed.
"She's awake," he said. "Now, earn her heart."
Renji spat blood. "Are you insane?! That thing just—just fried me!"
"Good," Zach replied coldly. "Now tap into it. Your rage. Your bloodline. Her blood runs through you."
The dragon's tail whipped again, forcing Renji to roll sideways, pain flaring down his spine. His instincts screamed to run—but something inside him flickered. A memory—his mother's eyes, her final scream. The weight of this world. The need to survive. Dominate.
He clenched his fists, eyes glowing faintly red. His breath slowed, grounding in the pain. A strange force stirred beneath his skin, ancient and primal, like chains snapping inside his soul. With a roar, he launched himself forward.
He ducked under the dragon's fangs and struck—his blade slashing deep into its side. The scales cracked, venom sprayed. But before he could dodge, the tail lashed around and struck his arm with bone-breaking force.
"Ah—fuck!" Renji screamed, dropping his blade as his arm twisted unnaturally.
He collapsed, clutching it, his vision dimming.
Zach sighed.
"You had your chance," he muttered, raising a single hand.
With one swift motion, Zach moved—faster than lightning, his blade of pure spirit light slashing upward in a radiant arc.
The dragon's body halted mid-air. A silence fell, broken only by the dripping of venom onto stone.
Then, with a final breath, the beast split apart—neatly cleaved in two.
But instead of gore… came transformation.
The dragon's corpse did not fall.
It shimmered.
The twin halves of the beast hovered midair, caught in a slow, graceful unraveling—scales turning to wisps of light, flesh shedding like layers of divine mist. Renji blinked through the haze of pain and blood as the monstrous form dissolved before him, revealing something unexpected… something human.
She emerged like a phoenix from flame.
A woman with skin like flawless ivory and eyes like golden fire. Her hair flowed behind her in dark emerald waves, laced with strands of silver and venom-green. A sheer, silken robe clung to her curves, marked with ancient runes and draconic sigils. Her feet hovered inches above the ground, bare, untouched by the blood-soaked stone.
She stared down at Renji, unreadable.
Her voice, when it came, was soft but carried weight. "You bled for my heart."
Renji tried to rise, arm useless, bones grinding. "What… are you?"
"She's the guardian," Zach answered, finally stepping forward. "And the last Venom-Scale of the First Order. Her heart was your trial. But fate's a bitch, and it seems it had something else planned."
The woman turned to Zach, then back to Renji. Her gaze softened. "You carry her scent… the Queen of the Dark Order. My blood recognizes hers."
Renji's breath caught. His mother?
"You are her son," the woman whispered, eyes glowing. "Then I am your… cousin."
Zach smirked. "Family reunion complete."
The woman floated closer, touching Renji's chest with two fingers. A searing warmth surged through him, knitting his wounds, his arm snapping back into place. He gasped, eyes wide.
"I will guide you," she said. "For her sake."
Renji looked up at her, still shaking, barely believing what just happened.
This wasn't the end of a fight.
It was the beginning of an ancient legacy.