The betrayal hit me like a physical blow to the chest. For a moment, I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but stare at Ryze's guilt-ridden face.
"You lied to me." My voice came out flat, emotionless. "Everything. From the moment we met."
"Not everything." Ryze's hand was still on the door handle, but he hadn't moved to open it further. "The threats are real. Your bloodline is real. The danger you're in—all of that is true."
"But this isn't a sanctuary."
"No." He looked older suddenly, the weight of whatever secret he'd been carrying finally showing. "It's a trial. One that every dragon heir must face if they want to survive what's coming."
From beyond the door, something let out a sound that made my bones ache. It wasn't quite a roar, wasn't quite a scream—it was the sound of pure, concentrated rage given voice.
[EXTREME HOSTILE PRESENCE DETECTED]
[ENTITY CLASS: UNKNOWN]
[THREAT LEVEL: BEYOND CURRENT ASSESSMENT CAPABILITIES]
[WARNING: PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS LEVELS CRITICAL]
[DRAGON BLOODLINE: RESPONDING TO BETRAYAL TRAUMA]
The system's warnings were flashing so fast I could barely read them, but I didn't need to. I could feel my dragon instincts responding to the double threat—Ryze's betrayal and whatever was waiting in that darkness. Heat was building in my chest again, but this time it felt different. Wilder. Harder to control.
"How long?" I asked, my hand tightening on my crystal sword. "How long have you been planning this?"
"Since the moment I felt your awakening in Realm One." Ryze finally let go of the door and turned to face me fully. "The Dragon Gate opening wasn't random, Liam. It was triggered by your bloodline activating. That kind of power signature... it draws attention from all seven realms."
"So you decided to drag me here and throw me to whatever's in that place?"
"I decided to give you a chance to survive!" His calm facade cracked, showing genuine emotion underneath. "Do you think I wanted this? Do you think I enjoy watching kids walk into trials that might kill them?"
"Kids? How many others have you brought here?"
The silence that followed told me everything I needed to know.
"How many came out alive?" I pressed.
"You're the first dragon heir in three centuries," he said quietly. "The others... they weren't like you."
[EMOTIONAL TRAUMA THRESHOLD EXCEEDED]
[DRAGON'S WRATH: BUILDING BEYOND SAFE PARAMETERS]
[WARNING: UNCONTROLLED AWAKENING IMMINENT]
Fire was spreading through my veins now, and I could taste copper in my mouth. The rational part of my mind knew I should stay calm, should think this through. But the dragon part—the part that was growing stronger by the hour—only understood one thing.
Betrayal demanded retribution.
"Get away from that door," I said, raising my sword. The crystal blade was beginning to glow with golden fire. "Now."
"Liam, you don't understand. The trial isn't meant to kill you—it's meant to force you to evolve. To unlock abilities you can't access any other way." Ryze raised his hands, showing empty palms. "The entity in there... it's ancient, yes. Powerful, yes. But it's not evil. It's a guardian, designed to test dragon heirs."
"Designed by who?"
"The original dragons. Before their imprisonment." His storm-cloud eyes met mine. "They knew that someday, an heir would emerge. They wanted to ensure that heir would be strong enough to free them."
From inside the temple, chains rattled. Heavy ones, the kind meant to hold something massive. The sound was followed by a voice that spoke in words that bypassed my ears and went straight to my soul.
"ANOTHER COMES. ANOTHER HEIR TO THE FLAME. WILL THIS ONE PROVE WORTHY, OR WILL HE JOIN THE BONES OF THE WEAK?"
"Bones?" I looked at Ryze with horror. "There are bones in there?"
"Failed candidates. Those whose bloodlines weren't pure enough, whose will wasn't strong enough." He gestured toward the temple. "The guardian doesn't kill them. The trial does. It forces them to awaken completely or die trying."
[GUARDIAN ENTITY IDENTIFIED: ANCIENT DRAGON SPIRIT]
[PURPOSE: BLOODLINE TRIAL]
[HISTORICAL SUCCESS RATE: 0.003%]
[ESTIMATED SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 8%]
Eight percent. Better than three, but not by much.
"Why didn't you tell me?" The fire in my chest was getting harder to contain. "Why the lies about sanctuary and safety?"
"Because if you'd known what this place really was, you never would have come. And without the trial, you'll never be strong enough to survive what's hunting you." Ryze's expression was pleading now. "The Shadow Dragon was just the beginning, Liam. There are things out there that make it look like a house cat."
"So you decided to make that choice for me."
"Yes." His admission was simple, direct. "Because sometimes the people we're trying to save don't know what's best for them."
The rage that had been building in my chest exploded outward. Fire erupted from my sword in a torrent that lit up the entire clearing. Trees at the edge of the light began to smolder, and the very air seemed to catch flame.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" I roared, and my voice carried harmonics that definitely weren't human. "Don't you dare stand there and tell me you know what's best for me! I've been making my own choices since I was fourteen years old!"
[DRAGON'S WRATH: CRITICAL OVERLOAD]
[UNCONTROLLED AWAKENING: IN PROGRESS]
[NEW ABILITIES UNLOCKING PREMATURELY]
[WARNING: SPIRITUAL ENERGY OVERFLOW DETECTED]
Ryze staggered back from the heat of my flames, his own crystal blade coming up defensively. "Liam, you need to calm down. If you lose control here—"
"Control?" I laughed, and it sounded nothing like my normal laugh. "You want to talk about control? You manipulated me, lied to me, and brought me here to face some ancient killing machine. And now you're worried about my control?"
The fire was spreading beyond my sword now, wreathing my entire body in golden flames that didn't burn me but made the air around me shimmer with heat. I could feel new pathways opening in my mind, new abilities trying to force their way into existence.
"IMPRESSIVE." The voice from the temple carried approval now. "THIS ONE BURNS WITH TRUE FIRE. PERHAPS HE WILL NOT DISAPPOINT AS THE OTHERS DID."
"Shut up!" I turned toward the door, rage making my vision red around the edges. "I don't care what you are or what test you think I need to pass. I'm done being pushed around!"
"THEN COME, YOUNG HEIR. SHOW US THE STRENGTH OF YOUR CONVICTION."
The chains inside rattled again, and I could hear something massive shifting in the darkness. Whatever was in there was getting ready to meet me.
"Liam, don't." Ryze stepped forward, despite the heat radiating from my flames. "Not like this. If you go in there angry, unfocused, you'll die in the first minute."
"Maybe," I said, walking toward the temple door. "But at least I'll die making my own choice."
[DRAGON PRIDE: MAXIMUM LEVEL]
[FEAR SUPPRESSION: ACTIVE]
[COMBAT READINESS: 100%]
[WARNING: EMOTIONAL STATE COMPROMISING TACTICAL JUDGMENT]
I ignored the system's warnings and pushed through the doorway. The moment I crossed the threshold, the world changed.
The temple was impossibly vast inside, with a domed ceiling that disappeared into darkness above. Ancient pillars stretched up like the ribs of some massive beast, and the floor was made of black stone that reflected my flames like a mirror.
In the center of the space, surrounded by chains that glowed with binding runes, was the guardian.
It was a dragon.
Not a Shadow Dragon, not some corrupted abomination—a real dragon. Fifty feet of scales that shifted between gold and silver, wings that could have covered a football field, and eyes that held the wisdom of millennia.
It was also clearly imprisoned, bound by chains that pulsed with the same energy as the temple's seals.
"So," it said, its mental voice carrying amusement now. "Another heir comes to face the trial. Tell me, young one—do you seek power, or do you seek understanding?"
"I seek the truth," I said, my flames still burning bright around me. "Starting with why everyone keeps lying to me."
The dragon's laughter was like the sound of distant thunder. "Truth? Very well. Here is truth: You are the last. The final heir of a bloodline that once ruled all seven realms. Your ancestors created the very barriers between worlds, and their power flows in your veins."
"And?"
"And they were betrayed by those they trusted most. Sealed away not by enemies, but by the very people they sought to protect." The dragon's gaze shifted to where Ryze stood in the doorway. "Much like someone else you know."
I turned to look at Ryze, who had gone pale.
"Is that true?" I demanded. "Are you planning to betray me too?"
"It's... complicated," he said.
The dragon laughed again. "Complicated. Yes, that is one word for it. Would you like to know who sent your 'mentor' to find you, young heir? Would you like to know whose order s he truly follows?"
Before Ryze could answer, the binding chains around the dragon began to crack.
"The trial begins NOW!"
The chains shattered with a sound like breaking worlds, and suddenly I was facing an unbound ancient dragon with more questions than answers and flames that might not be enough to save me.
What had I gotten myself into this time?