The sky had lost its peace.
It used to be a vast blue realm where dragons soared on warm currents and sang ancient songs to the winds. Now it was a bleeding wound, pouring black smoke and glowing embers. Burned wings—once bright and beautiful—fell slowly like dying petals, crumbling to ash before they touched the scorched ground.
The air smelled of charred flesh, melted stone, and dragon fire turned against its own kind. Distant explosions rumbled like the final heartbeat of a dying world.
At the center of the destruction floated its creator.
**Hydra Ixcan.**
A monster that should not exist—swollen with stolen power, his scales the color of dark oil mixed with blood. Seven heads rose from his massive body on long, snake-like necks. Each head was a nightmare. Eyes like burning coals glowed with cruel intelligence. Jaws lined with sharp fangs dripped molten fire that hissed as it fell.
He did not roar. He didn't need to.
Below him, the once-mighty Dragon Legions lay destroyed. No banners waved. No war songs rose. Only broken bodies, shattered wings, and rivers of cooling lava remained where proud fortresses had stood hours earlier.
Except for one lone figure.
**Fai.**
She hovered unsteadily, her small dragon body cut and bleeding. Her scarlet scales, which usually shone like living flame, were now dull, cracked, and covered in soot. Deep gashes wept across her sides. One wing hung at a wrong angle, its membrane torn, but she refused to fall. Her chest rose and fell with painful breaths, sending weak sparks of fire across her scales.
Her golden eyes, still burning with defiance, scanned the ruined battlefield.
*Where are you…? Anyone… please…*
But the wind offered only silence and the soft whisper of falling ash.
"They're all gone…" she whispered, her voice breaking.
A deep, rumbling sound rolled through the broken sky. Not a roar. Not a growl.
A laugh.
One of Hydra's heads lowered slowly, bringing its huge jaws level with hers. Then another. Then a third. They circled her like snakes around prey, their breath hot enough to warp the air.
"So this is all that's left?" the central head said, its voice smooth and mocking. "The last spark of a dying bloodline?"
Another head tilted, eyes narrowing in fake pity. "How very… sad."
Fai clenched her talons into fists. Weak flames flickered along her forelimbs, struggling like candles in a storm.
"You came here to stop me," a third head continued, almost casually. "All your noble legions. All your ancient families. And now…"
He paused.
"…you stand alone."
Her throat tightened. Images of her friends and allies flashed behind her eyes. But she lifted her chin and refused to look away.
Hydra drifted closer. His sheer size pressed down on the air itself. The heat from his body was enough to blister her scales.
"Tell me, little one…" one head whispered, almost gently, "did you watch them die?"
Fai's breath caught.
"Did you see their wings melt as they fell?" another added, voice thick with pleasure. "Or did you run away with your tail between your legs, like the cowards before you?"
"…Be quiet."
The words came out as a broken growl.
For a brief moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.
Then all seven heads laughed together—a sound that shook the fractured clouds and sent new tremors through the ground far below.
"There it is," Hydra chuckled, voices overlapping. "That pathetic little spark of anger. How delightful."
Fai's flames burned brighter, though they still flickered wildly.
"You are powerless," he continued, almost tenderly. "Not even worth the breath it would take to remember your name."
Her eyes narrowed into slits of molten gold.
"Then remember this," she snarled, her voice gaining strength despite her body's protests.
Hydra's seven pairs of eyes narrowed with mild interest. "Oh?"
Power gathered in one of his mouths—a swirling vortex of black and red fire, dark enough to swallow light itself.
"You think you're special?" he taunted.
Fai raised her head and spread her wings despite the pain.
"I am the one who will destroy you."
A stunned silence fell.
Then Hydra's laughter returned, deeper this time, vibrating through her bones.
"Destroy me?" One head leaned so close she could see her own reflection in his burning eye. "You couldn't even save them."
Fai froze.
"Your brother…" another head murmured, voice dripping with cruel joy, "he burned so quickly. Screaming your name until the fire took his tongue."
Something inside her chest shattered.
"STOP!!"
Flames exploded outward from her body in a wild, desperate surge—raw and uncontrolled, born more from pain than skill.
Hydra didn't even flinch.
"So loud…" one head sighed.
"…for something so small," another finished.
He opened his jaws.
Fai roared and unleashed everything she had left.
Their fires collided.
**BOOOOOOOOOOM—**
The sky erupted in a blinding explosion of gold, crimson, and deep black. Shockwaves tore through the heavens. For one bright, terrible moment, the last dragon blazed with every ounce of power she possessed.
And then—
Darkness swallowed the light.
---
**Present Day**
Fai's eyes flew open with a sharp gasp.
She bolted upright on the couch, heart pounding against her ribs. Sweat soaked her nightclothes and stuck strands of dark red hair to her forehead and neck. Each breath came quick and shallow, as if she were still choking on smoke.
She was safe.
In her room.
The familiar stone walls of her family's aerie rose around her, warm morning sunlight streaming through the arched window. Soft silk sheets tangled around her legs. The faint scent of lavender and burning frankincense—her mother's touch—filled the air.
Everything was calm.
Everything felt wrong.
Her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Fai lifted one trembling palm and stared at it. Slender fingers, marked with faint calluses from training. No blood. No burns. Only the ghost of flames that had never truly obeyed her.
"…Again," she breathed, voice rough.
She pressed the same hand to her chest. Her heart hammered wildly under her palm, refusing to slow.
No explosions. No final screams. No stench of death.
Only the distant, joyful cries of dragons flying through the clear blue sky—strong, graceful, free.
Fai let out a shaky breath and summoned a small flame above her fingertips.
It appeared… weak. Flickering. Unsteady. The fire danced erratically, threatening to die with every beat. She focused, willing it to steady and grow.
It sputtered.
And went out.
Her fingers slowly curled into a tight fist until her knuckles turned white.
*Why can't I…*
Outside the window, a group of young dragons wheeled through the bright sky, their scales sparkling like jewels in the sunlight. Laughing. Playing. Living.
Fai watched them with quiet, aching envy.
"I haven't reached that level yet…" she said softly, frustration threading through every word.
Her eyes softened as an old memory surfaced.
---
**Flashback**
Bright sunlight bathed the training cliffs. The wind carried the clean scent of pine and distant sea.
"I want to fight too," young Fai declared, planting her feet stubbornly, her small wings half-spread. "I want to fight beside you."
Her older brother, tall and shining in deep scarlet scales, looked at her with a mix of exasperation and fondness. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"You can't even hold a steady flame for more than ten seconds, little spark."
Fai's face burned. She looked away and crossed her arms. "I'll get stronger. I promise."
He smiled—gentle, protective—and reached out to ruffle the soft scales on top of her head.
"Then do that first," he said quietly. "The battlefield is no place for half-prepared dragons. You'd only put yourself in danger… and I'd never forgive myself."
---
**Present**
Fai's fists tightened until her claws dug into her palms.
"…I was unprepared."
The words tasted like ash.
*Rap. Rap.*
"Fai?" Her mother's voice came softly through the heavy wooden door, warm but carrying a note of seriousness. "An emissary is here to see you. It's important."
Fai blinked, pulled from her thoughts.
"…Me?"
She pushed aside the sheets and stood. Her legs felt heavy, as if the nightmare still clung to her bones. Every step toward the door carried the weight of unspoken fear.
She had no idea that beyond that threshold waited the first thread of a destiny that would either consume her…
…or reshape the world in flames.
---
**End of Chapter 1**