The ancient dragon rose to its full height, and I suddenly understood what the word "majestic" really meant. Even freed from its chains, it didn't attack immediately. Instead, it studied me with eyes that held the weight of centuries, and I felt like an ant being examined by a scholar.
"Interesting," it said, its mental voice carrying notes I couldn't quite identify. "You burn with rage, young heir, but also with pain. Someone has wounded your trust."
"Yeah, well, that seems to be going around." I kept my crystal sword raised, though it felt laughably inadequate against something this massive. "Are we going to fight, or are you planning to psychoanalyze me to death?"
The dragon's laughter rumbled through the temple like distant thunder. "Fight? Oh, little flame, if this were about fighting, you would already be dead. No—the trial you face is far more dangerous than mere combat."
"Then what—"
"Truth."
The word hit me like a physical blow, and suddenly the temple around us began to shift and change. The black stone walls became transparent, showing glimpses of other places, other times. I saw dragons soaring through skies that burned with aurora light, vast cities that floated between the stars, and armies of beings I couldn't even begin to identify.
[TRIAL INITIALIZATION: MEMORY NEXUS ACTIVATED]
[WARNING: MENTAL INTRUSION DETECTED]
[DRAGON BLOODLINE: ACCESSING ANCESTRAL MEMORIES]
[PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFENSES: STRAINED]
"What's happening to me?" I staggered as images flooded my mind—not my memories, but older ones. Ancient ones.
"You wanted truth, young heir. But truth is not something that can be simply told—it must be experienced, understood, lived." The dragon's eyes began to glow with inner fire. "You carry the memories of every dragon who came before you, locked away in your bloodline. The trial will unlock them."
"I don't want—"
"What you want is irrelevant. What you need is to understand why your ancestors made the choices they did. Why they allowed themselves to be imprisoned. Why they trusted those who would betray them."
The images were coming faster now, overwhelming my senses. I saw a massive war, dragons fighting alongside humans and other beings against creatures that looked like living nightmares. I saw the creation of the Realm Gates, the forging of bonds between worlds that had never been connected before.
And I saw the moment it all went wrong.
"No," I whispered, but the memory played out anyway.
A council chamber, vast and filled with representatives from all seven realms. Dragons sitting alongside humans, their scales gleaming in the light of floating crystals. At the center of the room, a figure I somehow knew was my ancestor—the first Dragon Emperor.
He was speaking, his voice carrying the authority of absolute power: "The barriers between realms must be strengthened. The void creatures grow bolder, and soon they will break through entirely. We will seal ourselves away if necessary to maintain the balance."
A human woman stood, her face beautiful but cold as winter. "And what guarantee do we have that you won't simply break free when it suits you? That this 'sacrifice' isn't just a temporary inconvenience?"
"You have my word," the Dragon Emperor replied. "The word of the bloodline that has protected these realms since their creation."
The woman smiled, and something in that smile made my blood run cold. "Words can be broken. But proper bindings... those last forever."
[ANCESTRAL MEMORY: BETRAYAL SEQUENCE]
[EMOTIONAL TRAUMA: INHERITED]
[DRAGON'S WRATH: BUILDING TO DANGEROUS LEVELS]
"She tricked him," I snarled, fire erupting around me as the memory played out. "They all tricked him. He was trying to save the realms, and they turned it into a prison!"
"Yes," the ancient dragon said, its mental voice heavy with old pain. "Valeria the Truthseeker, they called her. First of the Mage Council, architect of the Great Binding. She convinced our ancestors that temporary imprisonment was the only way to save the realms from the void creatures."
"But it wasn't temporary."
"No. The bindings were designed to be permanent. To ensure that dragon power could never again threaten the balance between realms." The dragon's eyes fixed on me. "She feared what we might become, you see. Feared that our power would corrupt us as it had corrupted the void creatures."
From the doorway, Ryze's voice cut through the memory: "She was right to fear."
I spun around, the ancestral memories still flooding my mind. "What did you say?"
"Valeria was right." Ryze stepped into the temple, his storm-cloud eyes reflecting the light of my flames. "Dragon power corrupts. Always. It's not evil—it's just too much for any one being to handle without losing themselves."
[BETRAYAL CONFIRMATION: RYZE]
[TRUST LEVELS: CRITICAL FAILURE]
[DRAGON PRIDE: MAXIMUM OFFENSE]
[RECOMMENDATION: EXTREME CAUTION]
"You're one of them," I said, understanding flooding through me like ice water. "The Mage Council. You're here to make sure I don't get too powerful."
"I'm here to make sure you don't make the same mistakes your ancestors did." Ryze's hand was on his crystal blade now. "The trial isn't just about unlocking your memories, Liam. It's about proving you can handle the truth without being consumed by it."
"Clever mage," the ancient dragon said, amusement coloring its mental voice. "You understand the trial's true purpose. But do you understand the consequences of failure?"
"If he fails, he dies," Ryze said simply. "If he succeeds but can't control the power, he becomes exactly what Valeria feared—a corrupted dragon who will destroy the realms to remake them in his image."
"And if he succeeds and can control it?" I asked, though I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer.
"Then you become the key to freeing the imprisoned dragons," Ryze said. "And the seven realms go to war."
The weight of that statement hit me like a physical blow. War. Not just conflict, but actual war across multiple realities, with me as the catalyst.
"Now you begin to understand," the dragon said. "The trial is not about proving your strength, young heir. It is about proving your wisdom. Your ancestors had the power to reshape reality itself, but they lacked the wisdom to see how that power would be perceived by others."
"So what's the test?" I demanded. "What do I have to do?"
"Choose."
The word hung in the air like a death sentence.
"The memories you carry will show you three paths. The first: embrace your full power immediately, break free the imprisoned dragons, and reclaim your birthright by force. The second: reject your heritage entirely, let your bloodline die with you, and ensure the dragons remain sealed forever. The third..."
"The third?"
"Find a way to prove that dragon power can coexist with the other realms. Show that the fears which led to the Great Binding were unfounded."
"And if I choose wrong?"
"The first path leads to war and destruction. The second leads to the eventual death of all seven realms when the void creatures finally break through without dragon power to stop them. The third..." The dragon's mental voice carried something that might have been hope. "The third is the only path that leads to true peace. But it is also the most dangerous, because it requires you to change the very nature of what it means to be a dragon."
[TRIAL PARAMETERS ESTABLISHED]
[CHOICE REQUIRED: IMMEDIATE]
[WARNING: NO OPTION FOR DELAY OR RECONSIDERATION]
[ANCESTRAL PRESSURE: BUILDING]
I could feel it now—the weight of every dragon who had come before me, their hopes and fears and desperate need for freedom pressing against my mind. They wanted me to choose the first path, to embrace the power and damn the consequences.
But I could also feel something else. The pain of the realms, the fear of billions of beings who would suffer if I chose wrongly.
"How long do I have to decide?"
"The trial began the moment the memories started flowing. You have until they finish—perhaps ten minutes of your time—to make your choice. After that, the decision will be made for you by the accumulated will of your ancestors."
Ten minutes to choose the fate of seven entire realms. No pressure.
"Liam," Ryze said quietly, "whatever you choose, know that I believe you can handle it. That's why I brought you here, despite the risks."
"Even though you work for the people who betrayed my ancestors?"
"Especially because of that." His expression was pained. "The Mage Council has made mistakes—terrible ones. But they're also the only thing standing between the realms and total chaos. Someone has to maintain the balance."
"Balance," the dragon spat. "A pretty word for oppression."
"Sometimes they're the same thing," Ryze replied.
The ancestral memories were reaching a crescendo now, showing me the full scope of dragon power. I saw my ancestors moving mountains, stopping time, rewriting the laws of physics themselves. The temptation was incredible—all that power, just waiting for me to claim it.
But I also saw what that power had cost them. The isolation, the fear in others' eyes, the gradual corruption of absolute authority.
[DECISION POINT APPROACHING]
[ANCESTRAL PRESSURE: CRITICAL]
[DRAGON INSTINCTS: DEMANDING ACTION]
[WARNING: MENTAL DEFENSES FAILING]
I raised my burning sword and pointed it at the ancient dragon.
"I've made my choice."
But before I could speak it aloud, the temple shook violently. Cracks appeared in the transparent walls, and through them I could see something that made my blood freeze.
Shadow Dragons. Dozens of them, circling the temple like vultures.
And leading them was a figure I recognized from the ancestral memories—Valeria herself, looking exactly as she had a thousand years ago.
She was holding something that pulsed with dark energy, and when she smiled, I knew that whatever choice I made, she was ready for it.
The trial had just become infinitely more complicated.