Shuang Yan Chronicles : 01

First Stand

As the twin suns Sui Ming and Chi Yao dipped beneath the mountains, their dying rays painted a fierce twilight over the forests of Long Yuan. For a moment, the world held its breath. Here in the western kingdom, silence was the song of the enslaved.

A shadow flickered through the dense trees—a Druid woman, moving swiftly but carefully. She clutched the roots of her cloak and pulled them close, hiding the fear behind her steady gaze. Her heart pounded as she crossed into forbidden territory, praying the Gangshaos would overlook her among the thick roots and twisted branches. But fate was merciless.

"Where do you think you are going?" The voice cut through the silence, harsh as iron, halting her mid-step. A Gangshao, with ears long and pointed and skin the color of sand, loomed over her. His bifurcated tongue flicked from his mouth, scenting the air.

"I—I was lost in the forest," she stammered, feigning innocence. Druids didn't get lost in their homeland woods, but the Gangshao didn't seem to notice—or care.

The Gangshao glanced at his partner. "Best to escort her back to her flock. We don't want a border skirmish."

The other Gangshao chuckled, leering at her with eyes that promised cruelty. The Druid woman clenched her fists, helpless to change her fate.
Long Yuan's forests bordered four vast kingdoms, each ruled by ancient dragons, great beasts adapted to the harsh extremes of their territories. But the Druids, once keepers of the land, had been reduced to slaves. Now they whispered of a time when the freedom of trade brought prosperity—not slavery and exploitation. Their whispers carried little weight, drowned beneath the iron rule of dragon kings and Gangshaos.

The woman's world faded to black as a sharp blow to her temple struck her down. When her eyes fluttered open, she was chained, far from her forest. Beside her sat a creature in a cage—a Draconian, his scales dulled from captivity, his eyes glassy and lost. She tried to speak, but he only grunted, resigned. Before long, he was dragged from his cell by hulking, blue-skinned guards. His scream echoed, then fell silent.
Hope seemed as scarce as freedom in this fractured world, even as far as the Northern Kingdom, where dragons and Draconians paid homage at the temple of the Ovoid. Beneath the temple's jewel-encrusted dome, a barren platform lay—a constant reminder of an ancient theft. Ages ago, a young dragon prince named Sai Si stole the "God of the Ovoid." In truth, Sai Si hadn't understood what he'd taken. He only knew it was beautiful—an ornate gem, gleaming with promise.

But the gem was more than it seemed; it was an egg. Pursued by furious Draconians and the Green Dragons of the East, Sai Si fled to the Eastern shore. There, he saw his first sunrise—a sight that blinded him instantly. Staggering, he fell into the sea, drifting into a hidden cave beneath the waters, where he would remain for centuries. He named his prize Dan, the silent egg that shared his prison.

Sai Si grew old, his scales turning to stone in the darkness. His voice filled the cave, imparting all his knowledge to the silent Dan, until his words turned to whispers and the centuries wore him down. The volcano by the shore trembled, smoke rising in dark clouds as the earth beneath shuddered.

Long Yuan itself seemed to shift, the kingdoms and their rulers oblivious to the ancient bond between the dragon and his egg. The world outside changed little, unaware that beneath the surface, the dragon's end was near, and with it, perhaps a new beginning.

***

Lava surged from unseen crevices, flooding the cavern with waves of heat that stung even through the dense humidity of the sea. Sai Si, the ancient dragon, closed his eyes against the burning glow, his sightless world only amplifying the rush of molten rock. Yet the rise of this inferno was unlike anything he'd felt in his millennia of wandering.