The scream echoed long after the sound should have died.
Kai staggered back, ears ringing, heart hammering so hard it hurt. The shadows recoiled with the sound, then flowed inward again, wrapping around the small dragon's body like a living shroud.
The creature lay still.
For a terrible moment, Kai thought he had killed it.
"No," he whispered. "No, no. I am sorry. I did not mean to hurt you."
He waited.
Slowly, painfully, the dragon's chest rose.
Then fell.
A breath. Weak, but real.
Kai sagged against the stone, shaking. His hands burned where the arrow's shaft had scorched his skin during the pull. Blood ran freely now, both his and the dragon's, pooling dark in the shallow water.
The dragon stirred.
It did not roar. It did not breathe fire. Instead, the shadows thickened.
Darkness peeled itself from the cave walls and ceiling, folding inward, wrapping the hatchling tighter. The arrow wound vanished from sight beneath layers of moving black, as if the world itself were trying to hide it.
Kai had read stories about dragons. Firestorms. Clawed fury. Sky-shattering roars.
This was none of that.
This dragon hid.
The shadows pulsed once, then settled into a slow, steady rhythm. The dragon's breathing evened. Its head lifted slightly, eyes opening just enough to fix on Kai again.
Gold, dim and wary.
Not grateful. Not trusting.
Assessing.
"I will leave if you want," Kai said quickly. "I just could not let them kill you."
The dragon did not blink.
Kai realized then that the shadows were not random. They bent away from him where he stood, leaving a narrow, clear space between them. The darkness was watching him, measuring him, the way the dragon was.
He swallowed.
"You were hurt by them," he said softly. "By Ironhold."
At the word, the shadows rippled sharply.
The dragon hissed, low and broken, and an image pressed into Kai's mind without warning.
Steel. Black banners. The scream of metal cutting scale. Pain, sharp and blinding. Then flight. Desperate. Failing.
Kai gasped and dropped to one knee.
"I saw that," he breathed.
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
The connection snapped.
Kai pressed a hand to his chest, heart racing. That was not memory as he knew it. It had not been seen. It had been felt.
He looked at the arrow lying beside him.
Imperial make. Clean forged steel etched with a faint sigil that glimmered even in low light. The mark of Ironhold.
"They are hunting you," Kai said.
The dragon shifted, a soft growl vibrating through the stone. The shadows tightened reflexively, hiding the arrow wound completely now.
"You do not breathe fire," Kai said slowly. "You hide."
The dragon's head tilted.
Something like approval flickered through its gaze.
Kai exhaled. "That is fine. Hiding is something I understand."
Carefully, he tore another strip from his shirt and pressed it to his burned palm. Blood welled immediately. He hissed in pain, then hesitated, looking at the dragon.
An idea came to him. Not a thought exactly. More like a pull.
He reached out.
The shadows surged.
Kai froze, half expecting his hand to be torn away. Instead, the darkness thinned where his fingers approached, parting just enough to let him touch the dragon's side.
Warm. Not with fire, but with something deeper. A steady pressure, like a heart beating inside the world.
When his blood touched the dragon's scale, the cavern changed.
Sound vanished.
The drip of water. The distant forest. Even his own breathing fell away, swallowed by a silence so complete it hurt.
Light dimmed, not darkening but folding inward, collapsing into a single point between Kai and the dragon.
The point flared.
Symbols formed in the air, not glowing, not carved, but existing. Old shapes that felt older than language. Circles. Lines. Broken chains bound by threads of shadow.
Kai's vision blurred as heat surged through his veins. Not burning. Binding.
His blood pulsed in answer.
A voice echoed, not in his ears but beneath his thoughts.
Not loud. Not commanding.
Observant.
Oath detected.
Kai gasped and clutched his chest. The symbols shifted, rearranging themselves with slow deliberation.
Bond incomplete.
The dragon's eyes widened.
The shadows reacted violently, spiraling outward before snapping back, tighter than before. The pressure in the cave intensified, as if reality itself had leaned closer to watch.
Kai felt something brush against his mind.
Not words. Intention.
Question.
"I did not swear anything," Kai said hoarsely. "I just helped you."
The presence lingered.
Then withdrew.
The symbols faded, sinking into Kai's skin like ink into water. The silence broke all at once. Sound rushed back into the grotto in a dizzying wave.
Kai collapsed to his hands and knees, coughing.
The dragon shifted closer.
Its head lowered, just slightly, close enough that Kai could feel its breath against his cheek. Cool. Heavy with shadow.
Not trust.
Not yet.
But not rejection either.
Above them, somewhere far beyond the stone and roots, the Whisperwoods rustled uneasily.
The hunt had not ended.
And something ancient had taken notice.
Oath detected.
Bond incomplete