The last Wishkeeper

Chapter 3 – Bound by Fire

The ruins still smoldered when dawn finally broke across the sky. Ash drifted in the air like gray snowflakes, coating Selene’s skin, clinging to her lashes. The stench of burnt flesh hung heavy, a cruel reminder of how quickly everything had changed. Hours ago she was a prisoner, chained and beaten. Now… she stood unbound, the only living witness to a m******e.

Except she wasn’t alone.

The dragon loomed before her, its vast body crouched low as though it had descended from the heavens only to kneel before her. Bronze scales shimmered in the rising light, each the size of a shield, each rippling with fire beneath the surface. Its golden eyes fixed on her—not cruel, not even threatening, but patient. Watching. Waiting.

Selene’s hands trembled. “Why did you save me?”

The dragon tilted its head, smoke curling lazily from its nostrils. The voice returned, not carried on the air but inside her skull, vast and unyielding.

“Because you are mine.”

She staggered back a step. “Yours? I don’t even know you!”

The dragon rumbled, the sound vibrating through the ground. It wasn’t quite a laugh, yet it carried an edge of amusement.

“Names mean little. Still, you may call me Kaelthar.”

“Kaelthar,” she repeated, the word foreign on her tongue. “And what do you mean, I’m yours?”

The golden eyes burned brighter. “Wishkeeper and Dragon are bound. Your kind calls it fate. I call it survival. Without me, your gift will consume you. Without you, I am little more than flame and rage. Together, we endure.”

Selene shook her head, the words hammering against her skull. Bound? To a dragon? It sounded like madness. Yet her chest still tingled where the chains had broken, the echo of power coursing through her veins. She hadn’t freed herself—the wish had answered, and Kaelthar had been its vessel.

She forced her voice steady. “If that’s true, then what do you want from me?”

Kaelthar lowered his head until his snout hovered inches from her face. His breath was hot, carrying the scent of smoke and iron.

“What I want does not matter. What matters is what hunts you now.”

Selene frowned. “The Queen?”

The dragon’s growl rumbled through the clearing. Birds scattered from the trees in a flurry of wings.

“The Queen commands shadows older than your bloodline. She will not stop until she owns you—or destroys you.”

Her stomach clenched. She thought of the soldiers, of the officer’s cruel smile when he called her Wishkeeper. She thought of her father, dying to protect her, and Lyra running into the night. If the Queen’s reach was so long, so merciless… was Lyra safe at all?

Her voice broke. “I have to find my sister.”

Kaelthar’s eyes narrowed. “In time. But first, you must learn to live. Your power is raw. Untamed. Every wish you make tears at the fabric of this world. Without guidance, you will bring ruin upon everything you love.”

“I never asked for this,” Selene whispered, anger bubbling beneath the fear.

The dragon’s gaze softened—or perhaps she only imagined it. “No one asks for destiny. It comes, whether you want it or not.”

Silence fell between them, broken only by the crackle of dying flames. Selene wrapped her arms around herself, shivering though the air was hot. She wanted to scream, to run, to pretend none of this was real. But the ruined bodies of the Queen’s soldiers reminded her that the world she had known was already gone.

She lifted her chin, meeting Kaelthar’s gaze. “Then teach me.”

For a long moment, the dragon did not answer. Then Kaelthar lowered his massive body further, wings spreading wide, casting her in shadow.

“Climb.”

Her heart skipped. “Climb?”

“Do you wish to walk when you can soar?”

Selene stared at the ridged scales along his spine, at the wings that stretched like banners of fire. Every instinct screamed at her to refuse. To ride a dragon was to place her fragile life in claws and flame. Yet deep within, another voice stirred—a voice of defiance, of yearning. If she was bound to this creature, if this was truly fate, then fear would no longer save her.

Swallowing hard, she approached. The heat radiating from Kaelthar’s body was almost unbearable. She grasped a ridge, hoisting herself up, her palms slipping against the slick scales. With effort, she settled between his shoulders, gripping tightly. Her heart thundered so loud she thought he must hear it.

“Hold,” Kaelthar’s voice echoed. Then, with a single beat of his colossal wings, the world dropped away.

The ground vanished beneath them as they shot skyward. Wind tore through Selene’s hair, stung her eyes, ripped the breath from her lungs. She clung desperately, every muscle screaming in protest. Higher they climbed, until the ruins below were nothing but a scar on the earth.

Panic gave way to awe. The sun crested the horizon, flooding the clouds with gold and crimson. The sky stretched endlessly, vast, beautiful. Selene gasped, a sound torn between fear and wonder.

Kaelthar’s voice resonated inside her head, steady as the heartbeat of the world. “This is what it means to be bound. My strength is yours. Your will is mine. Together, we will burn a path the Queen cannot follow.”

She closed her eyes, letting the wind carry her. For the first time since her father’s death, since the chains, since the betrayal of fate itself, she felt something other than fear.

She felt free.

But freedom was fleeting. As the dragon soared, a shadow moved across the clouds. Another shape, massive and winged, emerged from the horizon. Its scales gleamed obsidian, eyes burning red. Selene’s breath hitched.

“Another dragon?”

Kaelthar’s growl shook her bones. “Not a dragon. Traitor.”

The black beast roared, a sound that split the heavens, and Selene realized the truth with a shiver of dread.

She was not the only Wishkeeper bound.