The first thing Kael Stormbond heard was Cinder's roar—not one of rage or defiance, but pain.
The air above the ruined cliffs of Hollowspire was thick with smoke and lightning. The sky had torn itself open, and dragons clashed like gods in a battlefield painted with fire. Vraxion was there, his massive shadow slashing across the moonlight like a scar on the heavens, and Raven Drake rode atop him—his cloak snapping like wings of darkness.
Kael barely had time to think before Cinder dove—straight into a wall of corrupted flame.
The Clash Begins
"He's faster now," Kael muttered, gripping the reins tight. Vraxion was different—stronger, darker, like the dragon was feeding off something wrong. Cinder grunted beneath him, wings flaring wide to catch the wind.
"We are not outmatched," Cinder growled inside Kael's mind. "But we are not ready, either."
Cinder's fire met Vraxion's bloodflame mid-air—the sky ruptured. The blast sent Kael spinning in the saddle, barely hanging on as the searing heat nearly tore his arm from the reins.
Below them, Finnel and Zephyron circled low, trying to get civilians out of the ruins of Hollowspire. Zephyron's shimmering wind-trail cut through the smoke like silk—but Finnel looked overwhelmed, scared.
"Kael! There's too many of them!" Finnel's voice crackled through the comm-runes, desperate. "The Ashborn are summoning something from the ground—I think it's a gate!"
The Ground Breaks
Suddenly the earth split near the center of Hollowspire. Blackened tendrils of void-ash poured upward, coiling into a spiraling vortex. Kael's blood turned cold. He recognized it—Ashborn magic. Forbidden, ancient, and deadly.
Raven stood on a broken tower, blade drawn and smiling like a boy with too many matches in his hands.
"Did you think this was a duel, Kael?" Raven called across the sky. "No. This is a lesson. Watch as your fire means nothing."
Cinder's chest flared with heat, runic lines glowing like magma.
"Let me burn him, Kael."
"No," Kael said through gritted teeth. "Not yet."
Lira Appears
Just as the Ashborn Gate pulsed with dark energy, a bolt of lightning screamed down from the heavens. It struck the ground near Raven's position, scattering his soldiers and collapsing half the tower.
Lira emerged, lightning dancing around her arms, her dragon—a sharp-winged Stormscale Wyvern named Thalorin—landing beside her in a blur of thunder.
"Nice of you to wait," she called, brushing soot from her braid.
Kael exhaled. "Could use your help."
"Thought you'd never ask."
The Bond Deepens
Kael turned his eyes to the chaos below—the portal, the monsters forming, Raven readying Vraxion for another charge. He realized something. He wasn't afraid anymore.
Because this wasn't just about revenge. It was about resisting the darkness, about holding the line so others could live. He looked down at the villagers scrambling for cover and felt the fire stir—not in rage, but in purpose.
"Cinder," he said quietly. "Let's burn a path."
"Together."
Their fire surged not in anger, but in unity. A golden glow burst from Kael's chest as the second Rune of Flame awakened—"Solari", the Flame of Guardianship. Cinder's flames turned white-hot, shielding Zephyron and Thalorin from the Ashborn corruption below.
Final Scene
As Kael charged downward, fire spiraling from his blade and wings ablaze, Raven leapt into the sky with a mad grin.
"Let's see what your fire is worth, Stormbond!"
And so, under a shattered moon, dragon met dragon, and the battle for Hollowspire began.