I say nothing. Just watch. Assess.
“Look at what’s become of us.” Creed gestures at the Aurora facility. His voice carries conviction. Passion. “Dragons hiding in corporate towers. Bowing to councils and committees.” He steps closer to the barrier. “Is this what you envisioned when you went to sleep? Your kind reduced to… this?”
“The world changed,” I call back. “Adaptation is survival.”
“Adaptation?” Creed’s laugh is bitter. “You call this adaptation? We were apex predators, Kael. We ruled this world for millennia. And now we negotiate. We ask permission. We apologize for existing in a world we once dominated.”
He pauses. Lets the words hang.
“You understand this. You ruled when dragons were feared. Respected. When we didn’t hide our nature or diminish our power.” His expression shifts. Almost pleading. “Join us. Take your rightful place. Lead us back to what we were meant to be. The clans are fractured. Weak. They need a true king—not corporate CEOs playing at leadership.”
“You want me to lead a war. I will not do that.”
“I want you to lead us to freedom!” Creed’s voice rises. “To reclaim what was stolen by time and human expansion and our own cowardice. You could unite the clans. Restore our glory. Be what you were born to be.”
I let the silence stretch. Let him think I’m considering.
Then: “No.”
Creed’s expression hardens. “You would choose them? These modern dragons who’ve forgotten what it means to be dragon?”
“I choose adaptation over extinction. The age of Dragon Kings is over. I won’t resurrect it for your nostalgia.”
“Then you’re a fool.” His voice goes cold. Calculated. “But perhaps we can still negotiate. Give us Vex. Return our operative. He’s clan, Kael. Dragon blood. Surely you remember what that meant—the bonds of clan above all.”
“Vex betrayed those bonds when he attacked us,” Caleb says. Not me. Him. “He stays in our custody.”
Creed’s attention shifts to Caleb. Assesses. Dismisses.
“I’m not speaking to you, boy—”
“I’m not a boy.” Caleb’s voice is steel. “I’m the leader of this clan. The one who’s been holding it together while fanatics like you tried to tear it apart. Vex committed crimes against Aurora. He answers to Aurora justice.”
“Aurora.” Creed spits the word. “A mongrel organization of rebels and outcasts. You have no authority over dragon blood.”
“We have authority granted by the people we serve,” Viktor interjects. “By international supernatural law—”
“Based on human laws!” Creed’s composure cracks. “As if we should bow to their systems? Their ways? This is exactly what I mean. Dragons answering to human authority. Dragons made small by human fear.”
His eyes find mine again. One last attempt.
“Is this really what you want, Kael? To watch dragons become footnotes in human history? To let everything we were fade into nothing?”
“What I want,” I say quietly, “is for dragons to survive. Even if that means we’re no longer at the apex.”
Creed stares. Then something in him breaks.
“So be it.” His voice goes flat. Hard. “If you won’t join us, won’t negotiate, won’t even grant the basic courtesy of returning clan blood—” He raises his hand. “Then we take what we want by force.”
The weapon’s assault intensifies. The barrier shudders violently.
“Kael!” Viktor shouts. “We need your fire! Now!”
“Where?” I ask Caleb. Making it clear. His command.
“Center point,” he says without hesitation. “Reinforce the barrier.”
I move to position. Behind me, footsteps.
