The Last Dragon Rider

Chapter 2 : Embers Of Destiny

"Though darkness devours the light, and hope is but a dying ember, remember this brother. You and your Rider shall fall, and with you, the night shall break. A new dawn will rise, even if I am not there to see it."
- Aurelius

•The early morning sun crept across the fields of Hillshade, casting long, slender shadows as it climbed. The chill of dawn still hung in the air, but for Salomon, a different kind of tension stirred. He watched from a distance as his parents, Garron and Mira, shuffled nervously around the old barn, their heads bent close together. They had been out there since the break of day, moving back and forth between the house and the barn, glancing around as if expecting eyes to peer out from every corner of the farm.

Garron lifted the heavy wooden trapdoor that led to the basement beneath the barn, his face grim.
"Mira, help me with the blankets," he said quietly. Mira nodded and hurried to drape the thick woolen cloths over the egg's crimson shell. They layered it several times until the glow from within was completely hidden, its warmth muted and concealed. Then they tucked the egg into a corner, stacking old hay bales and unused wooden crates around it, transforming the spot into just another neglected storage pile.

"Are you sure this is enough?" Mira's voice was strained, her eyes darting anxiously between the door and her husband.

"It will have to be," Garron muttered. He stepped back, eyeing the hidden space critically.
"No one would suspect anything in this part of the barn. It's barely used."

"But what if someone does? What if they come searching?" Her voice dropped to a whisper, barely audible over the rustling of straw.
"The Dark King's spies could be anywhere, Garron. We're risking everything. Salomon's life.."

"We're doing what we must to keep him safe," Garron interrupted, his tone gentle but firm. He placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes softening.
"If what the book says is true... if that mark on his chest really is the sign of a new Rider... this egg might be the only thing that can stop the Dark King."

Salomon stood at the threshold of the barn, his stomach twisting as he listened to their hushed words. He could feel the faint warmth of the mark on his chest, a tingling sensation that seemed to pulse in rhythm with the heart of the egg. He wanted to say something, to reassure them, but what could he say? That everything would be fine? That he was ready for whatever was coming?

He wasn't. Not yet.

His parents turned toward him, their faces pale and lined with worry. Garron straightened, masking his concern behind a strained smile.
"Son, remember what we said. You can't speak of this to anyone. No one."

"I know," Salomon replied, his voice barely above a whisper. But as he turned and walked away, the weight of his father's words pressed down on him, heavy and suffocating.

Somewhere deep inside, the egg pulsed faintly, as if answering his thoughts.

That night, the house was wrapped in uneasy silence. Salomon lay awake in bed, his body tense and restless. Every creak of the floorboards, every sigh of the wind outside made him flinch. He kept replaying his parents' whispered fears, the urgency in their voices.

When sleep finally claimed him, it was not the peaceful oblivion he craved. Darkness enveloped him, a suffocating, cold void. He stood on cracked earth, surrounded by a wasteland of ash and shadow. The sky above was a swirling mass of black clouds, streaked with veins of crimson lightning. There, in the center of the desolation, a dragon was bound.

It was unlike any creature Salomon had ever seen. Its scales shimmered with a radiant, golden light, and its eyes blazed like twin suns. But thick, shadowy chains wrapped around its body, constricting tighter each time it struggled. The beast roared, the sound reverberating through the emptiness, shaking the very ground beneath Salomon's feet.