Kaelith stood still as the dragon let out a deep, rough laugh that echoed across the stone walls like grinding rock.
"It seems like you take me for a fool. Why will I grant something that I've led to the death of my kind? So you send me to join them?"
Kaelith didn't reply right away. There was no point pretending. He knew exactly who he was, and what he had once been.
"This time is different," he said calmly, brushing off the ash from his sleeve. "I just have different goals now. I'm not interested in hunting dragons."
The dragon tilted its huge head slightly. The glowing cracks along its black scales brightened, then slowly dimmed.
"You want my blood," it said again. "But you'll get nothing until you earn it."
Kaelith's eyes darkened, his jaws clenching from suppressed anger. "How do I earn it?"
"Free me first."
