Dragon Savior A New Beginning ( Update Version)

Shattered Serenity (37)

The castle seemed to breathe in low, held breaths—corridors narrowing into the shadow, torches guttering as if the flame itself feared speaking. Footsteps clicked against the stone like a watch counting down; every step drew the hush tighter around the halls. A lone soldier paced near a heavy oaken door, the leather of his boots squeaking on the flagstones. Lines of worry cut his face; his jaw worked as if chewing on the words he was about to speak. When the summon finally came, it felt like a bell tolling. He moved toward the throne room, past two silent sentries, who raised their spears and inclined their heads, granting him passage.

The chambers swallowed him whole; he dropped to one knee before the Keeper's throne, the cold of the floor seeping into his knee.

" Your Lordship," he said, his voice taut, " Cesar has failed to finish the task. The creature still walks free—Virex Boneflare remains unbound, and the girls' bond grows stronger each day. It waits. It watches."

The Keeper's face, lit by the hearth, closed like a shutter. The firelight carved his features into a mask of midnight and bone; his eyes were coal under ash. He did not blink for a long moment. When he spoke, the words slid out, measured and thin as steel.

" We cannot leave such things to chance." His voice carried without raising—an authority that made the torches lean closer. " Rouse the vanguards. Ready the runners. We ride at dusk."

The soldier rose, urgency flaring in his stance. He turned and vanished into the corridors, his cloak trailing like a comet of night as he went to marshal men who trusted steel more than prophecy. The Keeper watched him go, fingers steepled, the two dragons coiled behind the throne like living sentinels. Once the door clicked shut, the Keeper allowed himself a small, wintry smile that did not reach his eyes. He stepped down from the throne; the cloak drawing a darkness around him, and for a heartbeat his voice was only a wind-chocked whisper.

" Cesar was given a chance to bind what threatens his realm," he muttered. " He failed. Pride and sentiment blind him. Tonight, we will remind him of the duty's cost."

His grin widened into something like appetite. In the deep hush that followed, the fire's glow bent and warped as if listening, reflecting the Keeper's intent back into the stone. The chamber seemed to agree with him—the air itself tightening in preparation. Outside beyond the castle's bones, the first sentinel riders were already saddling horses; the Keeper's order was a spark, and the kingdom's quiet would soon be ash. He melted back into a column of shadow; the cloak swallowing him whole. In the dark he lingered, one thought returning like a chant: Let the lesson begin. The words hung in the corridor long after the last footstep faded.