The wind screamed across the mouth of the ravine as Kael Stormbond knelt beside Cinder's slumped form. The battle at Obsidian Deep had left both dragon and rider drained — scorched earth, shattered stone, and echoes of lightning still hummed in the aftermath.
Kael clenched his fists.
"Too slow again…" he whispered. His voice was hoarse — not from shouting, but from the weight of realization.
Raven had escaped once more, and this time… with the Vault Key of Echo.
A Glimmer of Hope
Lira wrapped a makeshift bandage around Kael's shoulder. "You took a spear through the air and survived. That counts for something."
Kael didn't answer. His storm-gray eyes watched the horizon, where Raven's shadow dragon, Vraxion, had vanished into the twilight.
Finnel limped toward them, dragging a half-broken satchel of ancient scrolls. "I found something… in the ruins of the vault," he said breathlessly. "It mentions a place beneath the world… something called the World Spine."
Kael turned. "What is it?"
Finnel looked up, bloodied and pale. "It's not just a place. It's where all dragon souls are reborn."
The Howl Beneath the World
That night, Kael sat alone beside Cinder, whose scales still shimmered faintly with stormlight. The dragon's breathing was slow, steady — but weak. Too weak.
The fire between them flickered, casting long shadows across the camp.
And then—Kael heard it.
Not a sound in the air... but a sound beneath the earth.
A long, distant howl — ancient, mournful, vast. It resonated in his bones, like the voice of the world itself crying out.
"Stormbond."
The voice wasn't human. It came from the ground, the air, from Cinder's heart. For the first time, Kael understood. The connection between Rider and Dragon wasn't just emotional — it was ancestral, embedded into the foundation of the world.
Cinder opened one eye.
"The Spine calls…" he rumbled, smoke curling from his nostrils. "I am dying, Kael. But in the Spine… I may rise again."
"No." Kael stood up. "You're not dying. I won't let you."
But Cinder only looked at him, calm and eternal.
"All dragons die. Not all are reborn. But if you're brave enough to follow me… perhaps we both can be."
The Journey Into the Spine
By morning, Kael had made his decision.
The group would split — Lira and Finnel would follow the Empire's next move and try to intercept Raven. Kael would journey deep into the underworld caverns of the Titan Wastes, alone with Cinder.
Lira protested. "You're walking into the unknown! What if the Spine isn't real?"
Kael paused, then whispered:
"Even if it's a myth… I'll chase it. Because Cinder believed in me long before I believed in myself."
Ending Scene – Descent Begins
Wrapped in a rune-carved cloak, Kael climbed onto Cinder's back. The dragon's wings were too damaged to fly, so they descended on foot, step by step into the dark, echoing chasms of the world.
The light faded above. And with each step deeper, Kael heard them — whispers of old riders, fragments of their final words…
"He who reaches the Heart shall not return the same.""Only one may enter — but two may emerge."
And far below, the howl came again.
It wasn't calling Kael.
It was waiting for him.