The wind screamed louder as they descended.
Kaela and I trudged down a craggy spiral of stone steps, barely visible behind thick sheets of ice. Behind us, the light of the surface had vanished completely. Before us—only shadows.
But somewhere down here, the first Skyborne Vault awaited.
A sanctuary of lost power.
Or a grave.
> [Quest Updated: Legacy of the Skyborne – Vault I]
Location: Elarian Cliffvault
Objective: Reach the Inner Sanctum
Danger Level: Unknown
Kaela's torch flickered with dragonfire—a faint, golden glow only possible because of our bond. Her sigil pulsed on her skin, each beat syncing with mine.
"You alright?" she whispered.
I nodded silently, though unease clawed at my insides.
There was something here. I could smell it—rotten mana, stale air, and something colder than frost. Something watching.
Finally, we reached the bottom.
An arched gate stood before us, carved in obsidian and rimmed with frozen gold. Etched above it, words in the lost Skyborne tongue.
> "To bleed for fire is to burn as kin."
Kaela looked at me. "I think that means we're about to be tested."
I stepped forward and placed a claw against the center of the door.
> [Blood Resonance Detected – Skyborne Hatchling Identified]
Door Status: Opening…
The gates rumbled open.
Inside, the vault glowed faintly—runes danced across walls and ceiling, illuminating statues of long-dead dragons. Some were winged. Some headless. One had blades protruding from its sides.
Kaela shivered. "What the hell happened down here?"
Then we heard it.
Skittering.
Scraping metal.
Wet breathing.
I growled and turned, tail poised to strike.
But the darkness moved faster.
A blur of white and blue leapt from the ceiling—its body long and sinewy like a centipede, with shards of ice for legs and a jaw too wide for anything natural.
> [Hostile Detected – Frostbound Aberrant]
Species: Draconic Parasite (Icebound Type)
Mutation Level: High
Weakness: Flame / Soulfire / Mana Burn
Resistance: Cold, Psychic Drain, Darkbinding
It wasn't just a beast.
It was a corrupted fragment of dragon blood.
Twisted. Starved. Cold.
"MOVE!" I barked.
Kaela dove just as the creature slammed down, ice-shards impaling the stone where she'd stood. I unleashed a jet of flame—but the thing writhed through it, burning but still moving.
> [Inferno Pulse – Activated]
Damage Applied: 62%
Status Effect: Burn (Stacking x2)
Kaela rolled beneath it, her dagger igniting with soul-linked fire.
She jabbed once, slicing off a spindly leg. The creature shrieked.
Then it turned to her—eyes glowing a pale, soulless blue.
And it spoke.
"Skyyy…bornneee…"
Kaela froze. "It talks?"
No. It remembered.
This thing was once a dragonkin too. Before the Frostbound curse ate it alive.
> [Soul Alert – Host Under Mental Assault]
Triggering Skill: Flamebind Tether – Soul Shield Mode
Our bond surged.
I hurled myself into the beast, slamming it back into the wall. Flame burst from my throat, and Kaela jumped in again, plunging her dagger into its mouth.
The shriek it let out was deafening—but final.
The body spasmed, then slumped.
Steam rose from its carcass as frost cracked off its joints and plates.
> [Victory – Aberrant Frostbound Slain]
EXP Gained: 360
New Passive Unlocked: Frostbane Hide (Lv. 1)
Bond Progression: 81% – Bond Sync Level: High
Vault Access Cleared
---
Once the creature's body finished burning, the room lit again.
A pedestal rose from the ground—on it, a single shard of crystal shaped like a dragon's tooth. It pulsed with heat, brighter than fire, older than sun.
> [Vault Relic Obtained – Skyborne Emberfang]
Effect: Grants access to Draconic Memory Chain: Ember Age I
Unlockable Skill: Flamewake Flight (Lv. 1)
Notes: First of Seven Ancestral Relics
Kaela exhaled shakily. "That thing… it remembered us. It hated us."
"They always will," I said. "Corrupted kin. Failed legacies."
I glanced at the pedestal again.
And knew this was just the beginning.
---
Far above, on the surface, a man cloaked in white robes stood at the cliff's edge. His staff was carved from dragonbone, and his breath misted despite the sun.
He watched the mountain pulse with hidden heat.
And smiled.
"The hatchling stirs. Good."
He turned—and vanished in a blink of frostlight.
Kaela and I stepped out of the vault's maw, blinking as the cold sunlight stabbed our eyes. But even the pale glow of dawn couldn't warm the knot in my gut.
We weren't alone anymore.
> [Warning – Entity Detected: Observing from High Altitude]
Tracking Source: Unknown
Estimated Threat Level: ???
Host Soul Status: Uneasy / Reactive
My scales prickled. Someone—or something—had been watching the entire fight below.
I stretched my wings, now larger and stronger thanks to the relic we recovered. The Emberfang had awakened fragments of my past self's power… memories, flashes of flame-filled skies and battles over blackened cities.
Kaela brushed her frost-covered hood back. "Did you hear it too?"
I nodded. "A presence. Cold. Distant. But ancient."
She unsheathed her dagger slowly, then pointed northeast—toward the high cliffs overlooking the mountain path.
There he stood.
A silhouette in white robes, unmoving.
And though he was impossibly far, I knew his eyes met mine.
> [New Character Detected – The Watcher of the Last Flame]
Alignment: Unknown
Affiliation: Frostborne Sect (Extinct)
Objective: Observation… and Judgement
Kaela gasped. "That robe… he's a Frost Priest. But they're supposed to be dead."
"No," I growled. "Not dead. Hidden."
He raised one pale hand. A staff materialized, carved from pure white dragonbone. Then—without a word—he slammed it into the ground.
And the sky cracked.
Stormclouds rolled in from nowhere. A ring of frost erupted around the base of the mountain, sealing the only known path back to the lowlands.
> [World Event Triggered – Frostbinding Storm]
Effect: Region Locked – Travel Disabled for 12 Hours
Hidden Quest Activated: The Watcher's Trial
"Kaela. He doesn't want us leaving yet."
She gritted her teeth. "Then we make our own exit."
---
We descended into the gorge beneath the vault—an ancient trade tunnel long buried beneath centuries of snow. But now it shimmered with dormant runes, glowing faintly under my presence.
> [Ancestral Pathway – Skyborne Transit Tunnel I]
Estimated Time to Exit: 3 hours
Warning: Hostile Presences Detected Within
I sniffed the air. Not the Frostbound this time… something older.
And deeper.
"Stay close," I murmured.
We entered the gloom.
---
Meanwhile, above the mountain, the Watcher turned his gaze away.
He stood on nothing—suspended in a space between reality and memory, his body only half-tethered to time.
Another man stood beside him now. Taller. Armored in dragonbone. Masked.
"The hatchling survived the first vault," the armored figure said. His voice was steel over ice.
"Barely," the Watcher replied. "The bond is strong. Stronger than we predicted."
The masked man glanced toward the southeast. "Should I move?"
"Not yet. Let them walk the path." He paused, then added, "If he truly is the Last Flame, he must survive what comes."
"And if he fails?"
"Then the world ends cold."
---
Back below, the tunnel narrowed.
Kaela ducked beneath jagged crystal growths—raw aether frozen in time. I crawled through them, senses sharp, fire at the ready.
Then we found it.
A stone gate sealed with seven claw marks. In the center—an ancient carving of a dragon eye, wide open, staring straight into the soul.
> [Draconic Vault Gate: Incomplete Sync]
Required: 2 Relics to Access
Current: 1 / 2
Kaela frowned. "We'll need more relics to go further."
"But someone's already been here," I said.
Because the scent was fresh.
Smoke.
Ash.
And blood.
Kaela tensed as the torchlight fell upon something horrific—an explorer's body, half-melted, clutching a journal soaked in frozen gore.
We leaned closer.
The last line read:
> "It watches from mirrors. It feeds on flame. If you find this—turn back."
Kaela closed the book slowly. "That was no Frostbound. Something worse is down here."
I didn't respond.
Because I could feel it too.
In the tunnels ahead, a mirror shimmered with a face that wasn't mine.
And it smiled.