Timely Love ( A were story)

Chapter 67

The sky would not calm.

The phoenix continued to circle above the battlefield, its wings blazing brighter with every turn. Each screech it released tore through the air with violent force, sending shockwaves crashing across the land.

Hills flattened.

Ground cracked.

The very air trembled.

Below, no one could stand steady.

Dylan dropped to one knee, forcing himself upright as the heat pressed against his skin like a living force. Kaelen braced himself against the shattered ground, while Theon struggled to remain standing, his already weakened body pushed to its limits.

“…She’s getting worse,” Kaelen muttered.

Another screech rang out—

louder.

Stronger.

At the castle, panic spread.

Flames scorched everything they touched, the rising temperature overwhelming even the strongest defenses. Cooling spells layered upon each other, cast by Queen Maltida and King Herald, but they barely held.

“It’s not working!” a mage shouted.

The air burned.

And it kept rising.

Back on the battlefield—

Theon turned sharply to Dylan.

“…Aren’t you her mate?” he said, his voice strained. “You should be able to calm her down.”

Dylan didn’t answer immediately.

Instead—

he asked quietly,

“…Have you ever seen me transform?”

Theon froze.

“…No.”

Dylan exhaled slowly.

“It’s because I’m a dark dragon.”

Silence fell.

Even Kaelen turned fully toward him, shock written clearly across his face.

“…That’s not possible,” he said.

“It is,” Dylan replied.

His voice had gone calmer now.

Too calm.

“Darkness is where I rule. That’s why I couldn’t transform before.”

Theon’s expression shifted.

“…The last two—”

“Didn’t end well,” Dylan finished.

A pause.

Then—

he spoke again.

“I can’t let my indecisiveness… or my fear…” he said quietly, his gaze lifting toward the raging phoenix above,

“…stop me from helping the one I love.”

And then—

everything changed.

The air stilled.

The heat—

dropped.

Shadows gathered beneath Dylan’s feet, spreading outward unnaturally as the light around him dimmed.

His body tensed—

then shifted.

Not explosively.

Not violently.

But inevitably.

His form expanded, bones stretching, reshaping as darkness coiled around him like something alive. The ground beneath him cracked under the pressure, the very air bending as his presence deepened.

Sound dulled.

Heat receded.

His eyes were the last to change.

Then—

they vanished into the void.

A massive black dragon stood in his place.

Silent.

Dominant.

And then—

it took to the sky.

The phoenix screeched again—

but this time—

something answered.

Darkness met fire.

The dragon surged upward, cutting through the burning air, its presence forcing the flames to bend and recoil. The phoenix turned sharply, sensing it—

reacting instantly.

They collided.

Fire exploded outward.

Darkness pressed back.

The sky itself seemed to split between them.

The phoenix lashed out, flames surging violently, but the dragon held steady—its presence suppressing the chaos, pushing against it with cold, overwhelming force.

Another clash.

Another shockwave.

Then—

something shifted.

The dragon didn’t strike again.

It hovered.

Close.

Unmoving.

Its presence changed.

Not attacking.

Not resisting.

Calling.

The phoenix faltered.

Just slightly.

Its flames flickered.

Its movement slowed.

Another screech—

but weaker this time.

The dragon moved closer.

And the fire began to dim.

Slowly.

Painfully.

The phoenix trembled—

then began to descend.

Flames collapsed inward, folding into themselves as the massive form shrank, losing shape, losing power—

until—

she fell.

Dylan followed.

Both forms breaking—

fading—

returning.

Two bodies dropped from the sky.

“Catch them!” Kaelen shouted.

He moved instantly, Theon beside him despite his condition. Together, they reached them just before impact, barely managing to break the fall as both landed heavily in their arms.

Silence followed.

Diana didn’t move.

But she breathed.

Dylan—

barely held on.

His body trembled violently as the darkness receded, his form struggling to hold human shape again. For a moment—

it almost didn’t.

Then—

it did.

He collapsed fully.

“…They’re alive,” Theon said quietly.

Kaelen exhaled, tension leaving his shoulders as he glanced at the two of them.

“…Yeah.”

A brief pause.

Then—

he looked away slightly.

“…We should probably… find something to cover them.”

Even after everything—

some things still mattered.

Above them—

the sky finally began to cool.

And for the first time—

everything was quiet.