The steel door shut with a heavy clang, muffling the sounds of the halls beyond. The air in the chamber shifted instantly—thicker, quieter, as though even the stone knew what it was hiding.
Kaelen exhaled slowly, and with that release, the half-dragon guise unraveled. His scales dulled and vanished, claws sliding back into blunt human nails, his jawline smoothing where bone had pushed forward. Across from him, Kairos followed, his own transformation shedding in silence until both stood as men—human, vulnerable, and for once, honest.
They never revealed this out of their soldiers, teaching the same to the younger ones. To look too human was to look breakable. But here, with the door shut and no eyes to judge, they let the weight of the dragon fade.
Kaelen rolled his shoulders, stretching
