CHAPTER TWO — THE DRAGON KING RISES
977 Words
TIANLONG’S POV
The ocean did not obey kings.
It devoured them.
That was the first thing Tianlong had ever learned.
The second… was that he was not like other kings.
The waves roared violently beneath the cliffs of the Draco Hegemony, smashing themselves
against jagged black stone.
The storm above churned like a living beast—lightning splitting the sky, thunder shaking the earth.
And yet—
Tianlong stood at the very edge, unmoving.
Unbothered.
Watching.
His dark curls whipped across his face, streaks of blue catching flashes of lightning.
His sharp jaw was set in calm indifference, his piercing blue eyes—flecked with gold—locked onto the raging sea below.
“Still trying to outstare the ocean?”
The voice behind him carried amusement.
Tianlong smirked slightly but didn’t turn.
“It blinked first yesterday.”
A soft laugh followed.
“You’re insufferable.”
Now he turned.
Leaning casually against a stone pillar was Kael—his closest general, arms crossed, expression somewhere between loyalty and exhaustion.
“You didn’t come here to admire my charm,” Tianlong said.
“No,” Kael replied.
“I came to tell you something you’re not going to like.”
Tianlong sighed dramatically.
“That narrows it down to everything.”
Kael’s expression hardened.
“The Blood Moon Crescent Pack is moving.”
Silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The dangerous kind.
Tianlong’s gaze slowly drifted back to the sea.
“Finally,” he murmured.
For years, tension had been building.
The Lycans believed themselves superior—rulers by blood, conquerors by nature.
They enslaved weaker species, bent territories to their will, and expanded without hesitation.
The Draco Hegemony did not bow.
They never had.
They never would.
“They’ve crossed the eastern ridge,” Kael continued.
“Scouts say it’s not a raid.
It’s a full advance.”
Tianlong rolled his shoulders, as if preparing for nothing more than a mild inconvenience.
“Who’s leading them?”
Kael hesitated.
“…Cain.”
That got his attention.
A slow, dangerous smile spread across Tianlong’s face.
“The cursed prince.”
“The unstable one,” Kael corrected.
“Same thing.”
Tianlong stepped forward—just one step—
And the ocean responded.
The waves surged higher.
The wind shifted.
Water rose from the crashing sea below, twisting unnaturally into the air like serpents answering a silent command.
Kael didn’t flinch.
He had seen this before.
But it never felt normal.
“Do we engage?” Kael asked.
Tianlong’s eyes darkened slightly, something ancient flickering beneath the surface.
“No,” he said softly.
The water stilled.
Froze midair.
“Not yet.”
A King Who Didn’t Care
Tianlong walked past Kael, his long stride effortless, his presence commanding without trying.
“Let them come closer,” he continued. “Let them believe they have the upper hand.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game.”
Tianlong stopped.
Turned slightly.
His gaze was sharp now.
Calculating.
“I don’t play games,” he said. “I end them.”
Kael exhaled slowly. “And if the cursemakes him unpredictable?”
Tianlong smirked again.
“I hope it does.”
Later That Night
The storm hadn’t stopped.
If anything—it had grown worse.
Tianlong sat alone in his chambers, a glass of dark liquor untouched in his hand.
The room was vast, carved from obsidian stone, lit only by flickering blue flames that cast shifting shadows across the walls.
But his mind wasn’t on the war.
Not entirely.
Something felt… Off.
He couldn’t explain it.
Didn’t like it.
His fingers tightened slightly around the glass.
A flicker.
A sensation.
Heat.
Out of place.
His eyes narrowed.
“Strange…”
Then—
A flash.
Not seen.
Felt.
Fire.
Screaming through his veins like something calling to him across distance.
Ancient.
Powerful.
Alive.
The glass shattered in his hand.
Tianlong stood instantly, his heart beating faster—not from fear…
But recognition.
“What was that…”
For the first time in years—
The Dragon King looked uncertain.
THE EMBERS AWAKENING
BELLA'S POV
The fire wouldn’t stop.
Bella curled into herself, gasping as waves of heat tore through her body.
It wasn’t like before—not like pain, not like punishment.
This was different.
This was…
Alive.
“Make it stop…” she begged, her voice breaking.
No.
The voice was stronger now.
Clearer.
You are not meant to break.
Her nails dug into the stone floor as another surge hit her, her entire body trembling as something burned beneath her skin.
“I can’t—”
You can.
Flames flickered along her arms again—but softer this time.
Controlled.
Listening.
Bella stared at them, her breath uneven.
“They’re… not hurting me…”
They never would.
Her chest tightened.
“Who are you?”
A pause.
Then—
I am what you were born to become.
The flames rose slightly.
Shaping.
Shifting.
Wings.
Bella’s eyes widened.
“No… no, that’s not possible…”
But deep down—
Something in her already knew.
ABOVE THE DUNGEON
Footsteps echoed.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Cain.
He stopped just outside her cell, his expression unreadable, his golden eyes shadowed.
Something had woken him.
Something had disturbed the balance.
And he didn’t like it.
At all.
He stepped closer to the bars—
And froze.
Heat.
Real heat.
Coming from inside.
Bella slowly lifted her head.
Their eyes met.
For a moment—
Neither of them spoke.
But something passed between them.
Something old.
Something buried.
Something dangerous.
Cain’s jaw tightened.
“What… did you do?”
Bella swallowed, her voice barelysteady.
“I don’t know…”
The flames flickered again.
Reflected in her orange eyes—
Now burning brighter than ever before.
And for the first time in ten years…
Cain felt something he had not felt since he was a child.
Fear.
- Writer
