THE CRIMSON VOW CHAPTER 4
1098 Words
THE CRIMSON VOW
Chapter Four: The Dragon's Secret
The sky was on fire.
Dante Moretti had faced assassins, kings, monsters, and warlords.
None of them compared to being carried through a storm by an ancient dragon.
Wind howled past them.
Lightning split the heavens.
The dragon's massive wings beat against the darkness, carrying them far beyond Noctara.
Below, the world continued to break apart.
Crimson fractures spread across forests, mountains, rivers, and kingdoms.
Entire landscapes trembled.
Reality itself seemed wounded.
Beside him, Seraphina stared downward.
For once, she had no sarcastic remark.
No sharp insult.
Only silence.
And fear.
Dante understood.
He felt it too.
The voice from the eye still echoed inside his mind.
The Heirs have returned.
The words felt less like a statement.
More like a warning.
The dragon suddenly descended.
Fast.
Very fast.
Seraphina grabbed one of the creature's scales.
"We're falling!"
"We're landing," Dante corrected.
"That doesn't look like landing."
She pointed downward.
A mountain range emerged from the darkness.
Black peaks pierced the clouds like giant spears.
Lightning danced across their summits.
Ancient ruins clung to the cliffs.
Massive statues stood among them.
Broken.
Weathered.
Forgotten.
The dragon headed directly toward them.
Moments later, its claws released their captives.
Dante landed smoothly.
Seraphina was slightly less graceful.
She nearly fell before catching herself.
Dante smirked.
"Elegant."
She glared.
"I hope the next monster eats you first."
The dragon lowered its enormous head.
Golden eyes studied them.
"You argue like them."
Dante frowned.
"Like who?"
The dragon was silent for several seconds.
Then it answered.
"The First King and the Crimson Queen."
The names sent an uneasy feeling through both of them.
Again.
The same titles.
The same mysterious references.
Every clue pointed toward people they had never met.
People somehow connected to them.
Seraphina crossed her arms.
"Enough riddles."
Her voice echoed through the ruins.
"Tell us what's happening."
The dragon stared at her.
Then at Dante.
Finally, it sighed.
The sound resembled a mountain collapsing.
"Very well."
The ruins trembled.
Ancient symbols carved into the stone floor began to glow.
Blue light spread across the ground.
A massive circle appeared beneath their feet.
Then images emerged.
A memory.
A vision.
Thousands of years old.
A magnificent kingdom rose from the light.
Golden towers.
Silver rivers.
Endless skies.
A paradise.
At its center stood a man.
Tall.
Powerful.
Wrapped in silver shadows.
Beside him stood a woman surrounded by crimson fire.
Dante felt his chest tighten.
The man looked like him.
Not exactly.
But enough.
The resemblance was impossible to ignore.
Seraphina noticed it too.
Her face paled.
The woman looked remarkably similar to her.
The dragon watched their reactions.
"They were the first Heirs."
The vision continued.
The king and queen ruled together.
Not as conquerors.
As protectors.
For centuries they defended the realm from creatures that existed before recorded history.
Creatures older than dragons.
Older than magic.
Older than the gods themselves.
Then the vision darkened.
A crack appeared in the sky.
A massive wound in reality.
Something moved inside it.
Something enormous.
Countless eyes opened.
Entire armies vanished.
Cities burned.
Kingdoms fell.
The First War had begun.
"The gods could not defeat them," the dragon said quietly.
"The dragons could not defeat them."
The vision showed endless battles.
Death.
Destruction.
Sacrifice.
Then the king and queen appeared again.
Standing before a black crystal floating above an abyss.
The Heart of Midnight.
Even in the vision, its power felt terrifying.
The relic pulsed.
The world shook.
And the king made a choice.
"He used the Heart."
The dragon's voice grew heavy.
"He sealed the enemy beyond the Veil."
The vision shattered.
Silence returned.
Only the storm remained.
Dante processed everything.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Then he asked the question neither of them wanted answered.
"What happened to them?"
The dragon looked away.
For the first time, sadness entered its eyes.
"They died."
Seraphina frowned.
"But the enemy was sealed."
"Yes."
"Then why are we here?"
The dragon's gaze hardened.
"Because the seal is failing."
The answer struck like a hammer.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The fractures.
The monsters.
The eye.
The attacks.
The Blood Vow.
All of it.
Something imprisoned beyond reality was breaking free.
And somehow they were connected to stopping it.
Dante hated that.
He preferred problems that could be solved with bullets and shadows.
This felt bigger.
Far bigger.
Then another thought occurred to him.
A dangerous one.
"If the First King used the Heart..."
His eyes narrowed.
"...where is it now?"
The dragon became silent.
Too silent.
A terrible feeling settled over the ruins.
Then a new voice answered.
"It is hidden."
Dante spun.
So did Seraphina.
Neither had sensed anyone approaching.
A young woman stood among the ruins.
Silver hair.
Golden eyes.
A black cloak.
She appeared no older than twenty.
Yet the power radiating from her felt ancient.
Impossible.
The dragon immediately bowed its head.
Actually bowed.
Dante's hand moved toward the dagger at his side.
The woman smiled.
"Relax."
That only made him more suspicious.
"Who are you?"
Her golden eyes met his.
Then Seraphina's.
Recognition flashed across her face.
As if she already knew them.
"I have many names."
"I dislike mysterious answers."
Her smile widened.
"So does your predecessor."
Dante froze.
The woman stepped closer.
Rain never touched her.
The storm curved around her.
Avoiding her.
Respecting her.
Which was somehow even more unsettling.
"My name is Elyria."
The dragon lowered its gaze again.
"Last Keeper of the Heart."
The world seemed to stop.
The Heart.
She knew where it was.
Before either could speak, Elyria's expression changed.
The amusement vanished.
Something darker appeared.
Something fearful.
Her golden eyes lifted toward the horizon.
"No."
The single word sent a chill through everyone.
The dragon instantly spread its wings.
"What is it?" Seraphina asked.
Elyria didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she stared into the darkness beyond the mountains.
Watching.
Listening.
Waiting.
Then they heard it.
A horn.
Ancient.
Deep.
Terrifying.
The sound rolled across the world.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The dragon's face turned pale.
Dante had not even known dragons could look afraid.
Elyria slowly closed her eyes.
"They found us."
The ground began to shake.
Cracks raced across the ruins.
Massive shadows appeared beyond the mountains.
One.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
An army.
Not human.
Not Nightborn.
Something worse.
Much worse.
Elyria opened her eyes.
And for the first time since meeting her...
Dante saw genuine terror.
"The Veil has been breached."
Far beyond the mountains, a colossal gate of darkness began to rise from the earth.
And something ancient started walking out.
- Writer
