The throne chamber split open.
A claw of cosmic iron tore through the wall, shattering stars and fragmented reality like shards of glass. Darkness flooded through the rift — not an absence of light, but a presence of devouring, seething entropy.
Astraxion entered.
Not fully — just its arm.
Yet even a single limb of the Dragon of Endings made the chamber shudder like a dying sun.
Aiden stood before it, shoulders squared, breath steady. The constellations swirling beneath his skin pulsed in rhythm with the Throne's awakening.
For the first time in countless cycles, Astraxion hesitated.
Then the dragon growled, a sound like meteors scraping against the bones of dead worlds.
"SO.
THE HEIR WEARS THE THRONE."
Aiden clenched his fists. "Back away."
The dragon tilted its head, amused.
"COMMANDING ME?
YOU ARE STILL A CHILD, AIDEN SOLARYN."
Power surged through Aiden's arms, circuits of starlight spiraling into his palms.
"I'm not a child."
He slammed his fists together.
And the throne chose that moment to unleash its first pulse.
◆ ◆ ◆
A wave of ancient light erupted from Aiden, hitting Astraxion's claw head-on.
The dragon recoiled — not from damage, but from surprise.
The shockwave blasted the chamber wide open, revealing the Celestial Orchard outside. Seris looked up, eyes widening as Aiden stepped out onto a floating platform of stardust forming beneath his feet.
"Aiden…?" she breathed.
But the dragon overshadowed him.
Astraxion tore through the sky, wingbeats reshaping clouds into spirals of collapsing matter. Mountains bowed under the pressure of its presence. The orchard trembled, petals rising like lost souls in a storm.
The dragon's voice boomed:
"SHOW ME YOUR INHERITANCE, LITTLE KING."
And Astraxion lunged.
◆ ◆ ◆
Aiden barely reacted in time.
He swept his hand across the air, summoning a barrier — a dome of swirling constellations that shaped themselves instinctively to his intent.
Astraxion's claw struck it.
The impact cracked the world.
Aiden stumbled back, boots grinding into the platform.
Not enough. Not nearly enough.
But something inside him — a memory not fully his, not fully forgotten — whispered:
"The Throne bends to the heart, not the hand."
Aiden exhaled sharply.
And he shifted his stance.
Not defensive.
Commanding.
He raised both hands — and the barrier thickened, strengthened, brightened until the cracks welded themselves shut.
Astraxion's eyes narrowed.
"…INTERESTING."
The dragon coiled back for a second strike.
But Aiden moved first.
He thrust his palm forward.
A beam of stellar force blasted outward — pure Archivist Authority, a line of light that carved the clouds clean in half.
It struck Astraxion's chest.
The dragon roared — not in pain, but irritation.
"YOU LEARN QUICKLY.
BUT POWER WITHOUT MEMORY IS JUST NOISE."
Astraxion inhaled.
The sky darkened.
Seris's face paled. "Aiden! Move!"
Aiden didn't understand — until the dragon exhaled.
◆ ◆ ◆
A black star erupted from Astraxion's mouth.
Silent.
Compact.
Dense enough that light bent around it.
Aiden's instincts screamed.
He dodged — barely — as the black star smashed through the orchard behind him, erasing an entire grove of golden trees in absolute silence. Not burning them. Not destroying them.
Erasing them from existence.
Aiden's breath hitched. "He's wiping out the orchard—!"
Seris raised her staff with trembling hands.
"Every black star he releases permanently erases whatever it touches. Aiden, you must keep him from firing again!"
But Astraxion was already inhaling.
Aiden flung himself upward, floating on threads of starlight. The dragon followed, wings unfolding like event horizons.
Aiden gritted his teeth.
His constellation veins flared.
"If I can't block it…"
He soared higher, gathering light into his palms.
"…then I'll outshine it."
He slammed both hands together above his head.
A newborn sun ignited.
A sphere of blinding, roaring radiance — the energy raw and unrefined, but potent.
Astraxion loosed another black star.
Aiden hurled his sun.
The two collided.
The explosion was silent but world-shattering — a ripple that rolled across the orchard, bending space like a warped mirror. Aiden shielded his face from the storm of cosmic shockwaves.
When the light faded—
Astraxion hovered there, unfazed.
Aiden panted, sweat dripping down his temple. "Seriously…?"
The dragon's laughter rumbled across the dimension.
"YOU HAVE WILL.
YOU HAVE COURAGE.
BUT YOU HAVE ALREADY LOST."
It lowered its head.
"THE MORE YOU AWAKEN…
THE FASTER I RETURN TO FULL STRENGTH."
Aiden froze.
"What?"
Seris gasped. "Aiden—!"
Astraxion spread its wings, revealing a horrifying truth:
The more the Throne awakened,
the less the seals constraining the dragon held.
The dragon grinned.
"YOUR POWER IS MY KEY."
Aiden's blood turned to ice.
"You mean— every time I get stronger…"
"…I UNLEASH MORE OF ME."
Aiden's mind reeled.
That meant—
He couldn't win by ascending.
He would free Astraxion fully long before reaching full power.
Seris shouted desperately from the ground:
"Aiden! Break the bond! Stop synchronizing or the dragon will—!"
But Astraxion cut her off with a single sweep of its wing, sending her flying across the orchard.
Aiden's eyes widened.
"SERIS!"
He dove toward her.
Astraxion blocked the path.
"LOOK AT ME WHEN I END YOU, HEIR."
Aiden raised his hands, ready to strike—
But the dragon vanished.
Reappearing right behind him.
A massive claw closed around Aiden's torso.
Pain exploded through his ribs.
The dragon squeezed.
Aiden choked.
Stars flickered in his vision. His veins dimmed.
Astraxion's voice rolled through him like thunder:
"YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF THE THRONE
NOR THE NAME YOU BEAR."
It hurled him downward.
Aiden crashed through the orchard floor, shattering crystalline roots and skidding across the ground. Pain tore through his spine. He coughed, tasting iron.
Somewhere above, Astraxion descended — slowly, deliberately — savoring the kill.
Aiden pushed himself up on trembling arms.
"Not… done…"
His legs shook beneath him.
He couldn't breathe.
The Throne's power flickered.
And Astraxion loomed over him, a mountain of molten galaxies.
"YOUR ANCESTORS DIED SCREAMING."
It opened its maw.
Cosmic fire built inside.
Seris writhed on the ground, trying to crawl toward him.
"Aiden— run…"
He couldn't.
He wouldn't.
Aiden lifted his head, glaring at the dragon through blood-blurred eyes.
"Then I'll die fighting."
Astraxion inhaled deeply—
And unleashed annihilation.
A burst of white-gold light hit Aiden's back.
A barrier formed around him.
A voice — old, warm, familiar — whispered at his ear:
"Not today, my king."
A celestial figure descended behind him.
A woman in silver armor.
Long braided hair.
Eyes like stormlight.
It was—
Lyra.
Alive.
Returned.
Summoned by the Throne.
Astraxion snarled.
Aiden whispered her name in disbelief:
"…Lyra…?"
She smiled through the glow.
"I told you once, Your Highness. No ruler ever stands alone."
She drew her celestial blade.
"Now stand up.
We fight together."