Chapter 3 The Fire Beneath the Storm
The city bled light into the rain.
Rin and Elias moved fast through the alleys of the lower ring, their shadows stretched long by flickering holo-signs. Every corner hummed with danger surveillance drones circling overhead, Order patrols sweeping the streets in iron-gray armor.
The wet air smelled of ozone and rust.
Rin kept her hood low, her breath sharp in the cold. Her body still burned with that faint, unholy glow that no amount of willpower could smother. The suppressant she’d taken was fading, and with every step, the dragon inside her stirred again.
Why do you run, little flame? The voice was quieter now, but not gone. You cannot flee what you are.
“Shut up,” she muttered under her breath.
Elias glanced at her but said nothing. He moved like someone trained to kill fluid, alert, reading the city as if every window hid a scope. Whatever he’d been before she saved him, soldier wasn’t the half of it.
When they reached the edge of the district, Elias raised a hand, signaling her to stop. “The patrol routes split here,” he murmured. “If we cut through the market tunnels, we can reach the upper lift before dawn.”
Rin frowned. “The lift’s locked to citizen tags. We’ll need a bypass.”
“I have one.” He reached into his coat and pulled out a sliver of metal, etched with runes. It shimmered faintly with power. “Stolen from an Inquisitor.”
Rin arched a brow. “Remind me not to piss you off.”
He almost smiled. “Noted.”
They moved again, darting into a narrow passage between collapsed buildings. The air grew colder here, heavier. Graffiti burned faintly on the walls sigils drawn by resistance cells, long abandoned.
As they descended into the tunnel network, the city’s hum faded behind them, replaced by the dripping of water and the faint whisper of current flowing through the walls.
The tunnels were older than Caelumspire itself remnants of the first settlement before the spires were built. Some said dragons had flown here once, carving molten paths beneath the earth. Rin had never believed it.
Until now.
As they moved deeper, faint lines of crimson shimmered through the stone, veins of something alive pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat. She reached out, brushing the wall with her fingertips. The stone was warm.
Elias noticed. “You feel it too.”
“It’s not stone,” she whispered. “It’s scale.”
“What?”
“This whole place…” She swallowed. “It’s part of something buried.”
Before he could reply, a sudden hum cut through the silence.
Rin froze.
Above them, faint red beams of light swept the tunnel scanning drones, three of them, gliding silently through the dark.
Elias grabbed her hand. “Move!”
They sprinted through the corridor, boots splashing in shallow water. The drones followed, red eyes cutting through the dark, their mechanical voices echoing:
UNREGISTERED ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED. IDENTIFY OR BE PURGED.
Bolts of light ripped through the tunnel, searing stone. Rin ducked behind a support column, her heart hammering. Elias drew a small black device from his belt, pressed a rune, and hurled it down the tunnel.
A pulse erupted a shockwave of electromagnetic energy. The drones convulsed mid-air and crashed into the water, sparks hissing.
The light died.
Elias exhaled, lowering the device. “That’ll bring more of them.”
Rin nodded. “Then we keep moving.”
They ran until the tunnels widened into a massive chamber. A forgotten subway line rusted rails, cracked platforms, ancient signs written in the old tongue.
Rin slowed, chest heaving. The air here felt different charged, almost reverent.
Elias scanned the shadows. “We can rest here. For a minute.”
She sank against a pillar, trying to steady her breath. The dragon’s voice was still there, faint and coiled beneath her skin, but quieter. Watching.
Elias crouched beside her, tearing a strip from his sleeve to wipe the blood from his cheek. He studied her for a long moment. “You’ve done this before.”
“Run? Yeah. I’m practically a professional fugitive.”
“That’s not what I meant.” His eyes narrowed. “You’ve used that power before. The flame.”
Rin hesitated. “Once. A long time ago.”
He waited.
“My master sealed it after,” she continued. “Said I wasn’t strong enough. Said it would burn me alive before I ever controlled it.”
Elias leaned back against the pillar. “Maybe he was right.”
She gave a sharp laugh. “Comforting.”
“I’m not trying to comfort you.” He met her eyes. “I’m trying to keep us alive. Whatever that thing is inside you, it’s calling attention we can’t afford.”
Rin looked away. “You think I don’t know that?”
For a while, they said nothing. Just the sound of dripping water, the faint hum of the city far above.
Then Elias spoke again, quieter this time. “When you healed me… I saw something. Not a dream. A memory. A great fire, spreading across the sky. Dragons falling like stars. A voice whispering ‘Two shall remain.’”
Rin’s breath caught.
She’d heard that line before.
From the ancient prophecies her master once recited, the ones whispered in the temples before the Order burned them all.
“‘Two shall remain,’” she repeated softly. “The Twin Flames. The last of the dragon-blooded.”
Elias nodded slowly. “Then it’s us.”
Rin shook her head. “That prophecy was thousands of years old. If it were real, the Order would have wiped us out long ago.”
“Maybe they tried.” His gaze was steady. “Maybe they failed.”
Rin didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Because deep down, the dragon inside her purred a sound of recognition, not denial.
The silence shattered with a scream.
Rin and Elias were on their feet instantly, weapons drawn. The sound echoed from the far end of the chamber human, terrified.
Elias motioned to her, and they moved, silent and quick. As they rounded the corner, the light from a flickering lamp revealed the source.
A man was pinned against the wall by a blade of pure light, an Inquisitor’s weapon. His robes were scorched, his eyes wide. The attacker a figure in Order armor turned at their approach.
The mask was smooth, featureless, save for the crimson insignia burning across its forehead.
“Inquisition,” Elias hissed.
The armored figure raised its hand. “Unregistered mages. Step forward.”
Rin didn’t. Her eyes locked on the wounded man. Something about him…
Then she saw it the faint flicker of red under his skin, like hers. Dragon blood.
Without thinking, she moved.
The Inquisitor swung its blade, slicing through air. Rin ducked under it, slammed her palm into the ground, and the world exploded.
Flame burst outward in a spiral, crimson and gold, carving a ring around them. The heat was unbearable, the power raw. She felt her veins ignite, her body screaming in both pain and release.
The Inquisitor staggered back, armor melting at the edges.
Elias was beside her in an instant, drawing his blade a weapon that shimmered like liquid fire and drove it through the Inquisitor’s chest. The figure convulsed, sparks bursting, then fell.
Silence.
Rin stood in the center of the scorched circle, trembling. The fire faded slowly, retreating into her skin. Her breath came ragged.
Elias caught her arm before she could fall. “You all right?”
She nodded weakly. “Yeah. Just… burned a little bright.”
The wounded man slid to the ground, coughing. Rin knelt beside him. His eyes were fevered, glowing faintly.
“You… you’re like me,” he rasped. “You carry it too.”
“Who are you?” Rin asked.
The man smiled faintly. “A herald. I was sent to find you before they did. The Ascendant Corps… they know the prophecy is real.”
He coughed again, blood dark against his lips. “They know the dragons will rise… and they want to control them.”
Rin’s pulse thundered. “Control us, you mean.”
He nodded. “They’ll burn the world before they let you ascend.”
Then his eyes went still.
The glow faded.
Rin rose slowly, staring down at him. “He found us before they did.”
Elias looked toward the dark tunnel beyond. “Then others will too.”
Rin tightened her grip on her dagger, the faint light flickering once more beneath her skin.
“Let them come,” she said softly. “The flame’s awake now.”