Kingdoms of Ohm: The Dark Inferno #2

~ 𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔭𝔥𝔢𝔠𝔶 + ℜ𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔭 ~

In brightest night, in blackest light-

A whisper of man calls upon a winter's blight.

When the crisp white frosts of Jorryn glows red

Shall deem thy fate: dragonkind is dead.

And upon the second moon of a humbled summer star-

When the heavens dare crack from a talisman in spar.

The crust shall tremble, and Ohm will descend-

To a beast of pure fire, and all worlds shall end.

~ ▬ι═══════ﺤ ~

RECAP [Kingdoms of Ohm: The Lonely Dragon Book #1]:

Vaanku is a storm dragon and member of the royal guard of Az'hark, in charge of the safety and well being of his species (and the king and queen: Xikori and Vicaya). He has a mate, Nayre (also a part of the guard), who is expecting to lay eggs in a few months. They share a bond like no other dragon, something that, while the king and queen acknowledge, most of their guardmates disapprove of.

The day before their annual holiday [Day of the Firestar], a messenger dragon (Ez'kal) returns alone and injured to the guild, sharing the news that other dragon species are going extinct, and that the group he was traveling with were just killed by man. The news frightens the guild; they fear that mankind was losing control. King Xikori calls Vaanku to be a part of the meeting to share his input on what to do, but neither dragon has the answers to the problem. They dismiss it as a problem for after the coming holiday.

During the celebration that following day, Az'hark is attacked by Scorn (Bug-like creatures that carry fatal venom). They use a strange rune that tracks and assassinate creatures. Vaanku is found to be their next target, and, after a long struggle, they succeed. Vaanku manages to kill one and scare the rest off, but ultimately succumbs to the venom before his mate.

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He suddenly finds himself alive, stranded 150 years ahead of his untimely death. He is captured by werewolves as a war-prize to use. One by the name of Luna decides to help him survive by offering him food and water to keep his strength for the month that followed. He learns that dragonkind is dead, and that werewolves and vampires have now been at war for years. Both species have started to lose their magic, too (they can't turn human, and are growing sicker each day). He decides to help when an attack ensues at their camp, and fends off the vampires from killing any werewolves. The alpha of the werewolves (Lykaios) sees this as a threat to him and challenges Vaanku; he loses. As an accidental award, Vaanku now takes command of the clan, and a magical source called the Sight. 

Vaanku tries to end the war himself by vouching to travel to Heil, a cavern hosting the vampire kingdom. There, he meets Vulkar, an unlikely ally willing to trade his captures and well-needed information for dragon blood. The war is put to a standstill.

Vaanku learns from Vulkar that a prophecy had birthed the day he died a decade ago, threatening one of his kind as the creature responsible for ending all of Ohm. With him as the last living dragon, certain creatures are seeking his head to prevent the prophecy from coming true. Vaanku struggles to see how this ties to what killed him at Az'hark, but realizes that the war that caused werewolves and vampires to clash was set up the same way as his death to the Scorn, who have mysteriously died out, too. 

They return to the werewolf clan, only to find one of the werewolves was killed by a shadow of witchcraft (one of the many hunters after Vaanku). Now out of Heil and out in the open, Vaanku is attacked by three of them, but not before werewolves and vampires alike join the fight. They kill off the perpetrators using the Sight, but lose their home to a wildfire, along with several other members. Luna is put into a coma, and, fearing another attack, Vaanku directs what remains of them back to the dragon kingdom [Az'hark] to hide.

~ ▬ι═══════ﺤ ~