The corridor vibrated with distant alarms, metallic shrieks bouncing from wall to wall like a thousand ghosts clawing for freedom. Smoke curled along the ceiling in long, suffocating ribbons. Midarion's lungs burned as he and the silver-haired girl crept deeper into the forbidden wing of HELION, each step stealing more of their strength.
He didn't know why he had come this way. Instinct? Desperation? Something had tugged at his mind—a pull just strong enough to make him deviate from the escape route every trembling captive was following. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to flee, to survive.
Then it came.
A low, guttural growl seeped through the metal of a sealed iron door. Not loud. Not threatening. But ancient—like the grinding of mountains.
Midarion froze.The girl clutched his sleeve.
"That… that wasn't human," she whispered, breath trembling.
No, it wasn't.But something in him stepped forward anyway.
A small vent above the door rattled, exhaling a gust of heated, foreign-smelling air. The stench of chemicals, old blood, and something deeper—something primal and mournful—hit his senses like a blow.
Before he could think, his hand lifted.Fingers met rust.The lock, corroded and neglected, gave way with a brittle snap.
The door creaked open.
A sickly green light flickered from shattered bulbs suspended above, casting fractured shadows across the chamber. Chains clinked softly, stirred by the air that seeped in.
And in the center of the room, half-collapsed under the weight of metal restraints and poison—
—lay a dragon.
But not the monstrous, winged terror from legends whispered by terrified guards. She was beautiful, even in agony. Dark scales dulled by sickness clung to her frail frame. Her wings, bound tight by iron clamps, drooped lifelessly. Each shallow breath rattled like broken glass in her chest.
Yet her eyes…Her eyes burned with a glow older than nations. Older than the sky itself.
The girl at his side choked on a gasp."A… a dragon…?"
Midarion couldn't speak.The air itself vibrated.Not with fear——with reverence.
As the dragon's gaze settled on him, something invisible brushed his soul. A ripple of forgotten starlight. A whisper of skies made of silver flame. Of mountains split open by song. Of wings beating against newborn constellations.
Memories that weren't his…but somehow called to him.
Pain radiated from the creature—unbearable, suffocating, infinite. But beneath it pulsed something unwavering. A will that refused to die.
Protect.
With trembling effort, she lifted one claw. Chains groaned. The pale light exposed deep wounds carved by scalpels and experiments. Yet she moved—slow, agonizing, purposeful.
She nudged something forward.
A small shape huddled beneath her wing, until the push forced it out into the light.
A hatchling.
Barely larger than a cat, its scales iridescent like morning frost. It stumbled forward, eyes unfocused, seeking warmth.
The girl inhaled sharply.Midarion's heart caved in.
The hatchling wavered… then pressed weakly against his chest, as if recognizing him.
"No way…" Midarion whispered, arms tightening around the tiny form. "She… she wants me to take him?"
The dragon's chest heaved, breath rattling with finality. A long, tortured exhale rolled through the room, carrying years of suffering, of captivity, of lost freedom. She attempted to lift her head—one last time.
Her eyes told him everything.Please.
And then her body convulsed violently, wings twitching against their bindings. The poison that had kept her alive just long enough for their arrival finally claimed the last of her strength.
One final breath.One final push toward her child.One final look—soft, resolute—
—and she went still.
Her eyes dimmed like dying stars.
The silence that followed tore through him sharper than any blade.
Midarion's knees buckled.He sank to the floor, clutching the hatchling as tears spilled over his cheeks.
Tears.Forbidden.Punished.Beaten out of him.
But now they came anyway.
She tugged on his sleeve gently."We… we have to go," she whispered, her voice thin but steady.
For the mama dragon.For himself.For the hatchling trembling against him.
He nodded and stood. His legs felt carved from stone, but he forced them to move.
They slipped into an adjoining shaft—an air vent cracked open by the explosion that had rocked the facility earlier. The metal tunnel was narrow, suffocating, and scorching from the smoke trapped inside. Their crawling hands slipped on grime and soot. Midarion shielded the hatchling with his own body, taking every cut and scrape.
Behind them, the world burned.Ahead——a faint glow.
Light.Natural light.
The kind HELION walls never allowed them to see.
The girl exhaled shakily, hope flickering across her face.
But salvation proved fleeting.
As they crawled out of the vent and dropped into a corridor near the outer perimeter, two silhouettes stepped out of the haze. Helmets. Visors. Blades drawn.
Guards.
One sneered, brandishing his sword lazily."End of the line, rats."
The other twirled his blade, amusement twisting his lips."Shame. I liked the brave ones."
Midarion froze.The girl's nails dug into his arm.The hatchling whimpered in fear.
He backed up until his shoulders hit the vent's metal rim. Nowhere left to run. No weapon. No strength. Just trembling limbs and terror threatening to split his chest open.
He had escaped hell to die two steps from freedom.
No.No.NO.
Not like this.Not while she depended on him.Not with the baby dragon's frail heartbeat fluttering against his ribs like a dying flame.
The guards' laughter warped the air, echoing in his skull. The corridor seemed to shrink. Smoke pressed in. Blood roared in his ears.
And then—
A hum.
Soft.Deep.Like the pulse of some buried power waking from centuries of slumber.
Heat coiled through his veins, hot and violent. His skin prickled. Breath hitched. His vision blurred—then sharpened, as if the world had been dipped in burning silver.
The moment before the guard's blade fell—
something inside him broke open.
Light—not bright, but raw and dangerous—flooded his senses.
Heat exploded from his core.The corridor trembled.The guards faltered, eyes widening.The hatchling lifted its head, sensing the surge.
Midarion's breath came out in a shudder—half terror,half awakening.
The world was no longer the same.