Chapter 27
The massive eye blinked slowly as golden light filled the chamber and the enormous dragon rose from beneath the throne. Stone cracked and fell away from its body as it lifted its head higher, dust drifting through the glowing air like ash caught in sunlight. The ground trembled beneath its weight, and for a moment, it felt as if the mountain itself was waking with it.
Kael took two slow steps back, his voice quieter than usual. "Okay… that is definitely not a statue." The creature continued rising until its massive form filled the opening beneath the throne, claws gripping the stone as if it had been sleeping there for centuries. Its scales were unlike any dragon Ariana had seen. Not gold, not red, but a deep bronze aged by time, with thin silver lines glowing faintly between them like restrained lightning. Two long horns curved back from its head like a crown, and its eyes held something ancient. Not just power. Memory.
