Chapter 36 The Dragon Within
The world returned in fragments of sound and light.
Drip. Drip.
Rin opened her eyes to darkness, her breath shallow. The air was heavy with the smell of ash and molten stone. Faint amber light pulsed through cracks in the ground rivers of energy threading the earth like glowing veins. She pushed herself upright, wincing as pain seared through her limbs. Her clothes were half-burned, her armor warped. Around her, the remains of the citadel’s lower vaults stretched like the ribs of some ancient creature, broken and smoking.
“Rin! Can you hear me?”
The voice cut through the haze. Kalen.
Her head snapped toward the sound. A beam of golden light flickered, and through the smoke, she saw him fighting his way down a collapsed staircase, his blade glowing with faint runes.
“I’m here,” she rasped. “Don’t don’t come closer. Something’s wrong.”
He froze instantly. His eyes locked on her, widening.
“Your aura,” he whispered.
Rin followed his gaze and her stomach clenched.
Her veins glowed like molten threads, tracing from her hands up her neck. Every breath she took released faint wisps of gold flame, curling and vanishing into the air. She could feel the thing inside her now awake, restless, furious.
“It’s not just the Elder Flame anymore,” she said hoarsely. “Something else was buried beneath it.”
Kalen’s voice was calm, but his hand tightened on the hilt of his sword. “The Dominion must have known. That’s why they tried to breach the Chamber they were never after your power. They were trying to free it.”
Rin’s pulse quickened. “Free it? What is it?”
He stepped carefully closer, the glow of his runes throwing faint light across her face. “A soul fragment. An ancient dragon sealed during the First War. The Ascension Chamber was built to contain it. When you shattered the seals, it bound to you instead of escaping.”
The revelation struck like a hammer.
“So… I’m the cage now.”
Kalen nodded grimly. “And the cage is cracking.”
A tremor shuddered through the floor subtle at first, then violent enough to send shards of crystal clattering from the ceiling. The glow beneath the ground flared, spreading outward in serpentine patterns.
Rin stumbled back, clutching her chest. You can’t contain me, the voice hissed within her. You borrowed my fire. Now it’s time to burn.
Flames burst from her palms uncontrollably, splashing across the shattered stones. Kalen lunged forward, raising a protective barrier of light just in time.
“Rin! Listen to me focus on my voice!”
“I can’t”
“Yes, you can!” he shouted. “You’ve controlled worse than this! You faced gods and refused to kneel. This is no different!”
She squeezed her eyes shut, her body trembling as the dragonfire surged. Memories flickered her mother’s face, the orphanage rooftop, the day she found her first spark of magic, the faces of everyone who had stood with her.
The fire raged against her ribs, trying to devour everything that made her Rin.
But she refused to yield.
“No,” she whispered. “You don’t own me.”
Her hands clenched. The flames roared higher and then imploded inward, sucked back into her chest in a single, shuddering breath.
When she opened her eyes again, the air was still. The ground stopped shaking. The glow under her skin dimmed to a faint shimmer.
Kalen exhaled slowly, lowering his sword. “You did it.”
Rin sank to her knees, shaking. “No,” she murmured. “I just paused it.”
He stepped closer, kneeling beside her. “Then we’ll find a way to seal it properly.”
She looked up at him, exhausted but resolute. “If this thing breaks free, Kalen… there won’t be a world left to save.”
“Then we make sure it doesn’t.”
Before she could answer, footsteps echoed from the rubble above. Eira emerged through the broken archway, her silver armor dented, one arm bandaged. Relief flashed across her face when she saw Rin.
“Thank the stars. We thought you were dead.”
“Not yet,” Rin said faintly.
Eira surveyed the molten ground, the scorch marks. “Looks like death would’ve been the easier option.”
Malik appeared behind her, coughing. “The entire upper level’s gone. Half the alliance is scattered. The Dominion’s forces are regrouping beyond the eastern cliffs. We’ve got hours at best before they strike again.”
Rin pushed herself up, leaning on a fragment of stone for support. “Then we move before they do. Gather the survivors. Evacuate the civilians through the south pass. We’ll make our stand in the Vale of Embers it’s the only terrain that still favors us.”
Eira blinked. “That’s suicide. The Vale is unstable.”
“So am I,” Rin said, her voice low but unwavering. “If that dragon inside me wants out, maybe we use it on our terms. One last time.”
Malik grimaced. “You’re planning to bait the Dominion with a possessed mage?”
Rin’s lips twitched into a tired half-smile. “I prefer ‘strategically weaponized demigoddess.’”
Kalen’s jaw tightened. “You’ll destroy yourself.”
She turned to him. “Better me than the rest of the world.”
Their gazes locked an unspoken argument passing between them. He finally looked away, muttering something under his breath.
“Fine. But if you die, I’ll find a way to drag you back just so I can yell at you.”
“Deal.”
Eira sighed. “You two are insane.”
“Probably,” Rin said. “But it’s worked so far.”
They began moving through the ruined corridors, rallying survivors, pulling together what supplies and weapons they could. Outside, the sky had darkened to a bruised violet. Black clouds gathered over the horizon, shot through with streaks of crimson lightning the Dominion’s war magic flaring to life.
As Rin stepped out into the open air, she paused. The dragonfire within her pulsed once, in time with her heartbeat. A shadow moved in the clouds above massive wings, ancient and spectral, unfurling for just an instant.
She whispered to herself, “If you want to burn, then you’ll burn with me.”
And as the first storm winds tore through the valley, Rin Ashborne led her people toward their final stand.