Lady Draconis drifted forward again, her voice thinning into something weary yet composed.
"But enough dwelling on the betrayals of the past. Come. There is still much to show you."
Cassius nodded silently, letting the weight of history settle.
His head swam with everything he'd learned—Excalibur forged from a Primordial's fang, the true Grail's impossible miracles, Merlin as a manipulator rather than a sage, the fall of Camelot…
It was too much.
And yet—he wanted to know more.
They moved deeper into the castle, leaving the murals behind.
The corridors grew narrower, the torches brighter, the air thicker with magic.
Eventually, the carved stone gave way to smooth, silver-veined walls that seemed less built and more grown.
Serepha padded quietly behind him, far more subdued than before.
Her tail dragged low, wings tucked tight against her body.
She had not spoken a single word since the mention of "egg laying."
Cassius didn't blame her.
He still felt his soul trying to crawl out of his body at the memory.
"Just inject a shot of your magic into each egg to fertilize them," Lady Draconis had said earlier in the day.
He would hear that sentence in his nightmares.
Like being told by a parent to just spank the monkey right then and there for all to see... all for the greater good.
~
Finally, Lady Draconis stopped before a tall, arch-shaped door of pearlescent stone.
Intricate patterns spiraled across it—runes Cassius didn't recognize, glowing faint gold like embers beneath ash.
"This," she announced softly, "is the Inner Sanctum."
Cassius blinked.
"You've shown us your throne room. Camelot's heart. But… what is this place?"
Her expression became unreadable, though a faint tenderness seeped through.
"This room was the most sacred place in Camelot. More sacred than Arthur's council chamber. More protected than the treasury."
She laid a ghostly hand upon the door.
"It is the Chamber of New Fire. The nursery of my children."
Serepha froze.
Cassius did too.
The door opened.
Slowly.
Silently.
And the air changed.
Warmth rushed out in a wave—gentle, nurturing, tinged with the unmistakable scent of life and magic.
The chamber inside was vast, circular, almost cathedral-like.
Soft red sand covered the floor in smooth bedding.
Enchanted braziers glowed with dragonfire—not hot, but radiating a soft, soothing warmth.
If he would name it as anything, the room itself was like one gigantic womb, capable of housing a dozen egg laying dragons, all while dozens of eggs rested waiting patiently for their hatching times.
Along the curved walls sat cradled alcoves.
Twenty.
No—twenty-four.
Each shaped into the perfect hollow where a dragon egg would rest.
Most were empty.
But some…
Some still held cracked shells, shimmering with memories of a forgotten age.
Serepha stared.
She hadn't moved an inch.
Lady Draconis floated forward into the chamber, her ethereal gown trailing behind her.
"This is where I raised my broods. Where my children slept before they first opened their eyes. Where our future was molded."
Her voice was soft—too soft.
"This place is meant for dragons. And for their kin."
Cassius stepped inside, swallowing hard.
He could feel something in the air—an instinctive pull.
A resonance.
As if the room recognized him, calling out to him to fufill his purpose in making the room itself have a purpose once more.
Or perhaps recognized the blood that now flowed in him.
Serepha finally crept forward, talons sinking into the warm sand.
Her massive form nearly filled the entrance… yet she seemed small.
Very small.
"Oh, I meant every word." Lady Draconis smiled gently. "It is only right that the last true dragon be given the chance to restore her kind."
Serepha folded her wings so tightly against her body that Cassius felt a sympathetic ache in his own chest.
She turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
Cassius reached forward instinctively, touching her scales.
"Serepha? Hey. You okay?"
She didn't answer.
Didn't even lift her gaze.
Lady Draconis chuckled lightly.
"Oh dear. I think she believed I expected her to start producing eggs immediately. Such a sweet, bashful creature."
Serepha let out a mortified whine.
Cassius sputtered.
"W–wait. I mean—you implied—and the way you said it—"
Lady Draconis blinked.
"I never said you needed to mate right now, dear Cassius. I merely showed you what could be done."
Cassius stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
"…That distinction was NOT clear."
"Was it not? Hmm. I suppose modern students are more… literal."
Serepha's tail covered her face.
Cassius's soul briefly attempted to leave his body.
Lady Draconis floated around the chamber as though nothing was amiss whatsoever.
"This sanctum exists for the future. For whenever you choose. Or perhaps never. That is your right as Heir. I have no desire to force such intimacies."
She shrugged.
"I simply wished you both to know that the means exist."
Cassius opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
No sound came out.
Lady Draconis beamed proudly.
"There you have it. Knowledge is power."
Cassius and Serepha stood side by side, both completely frozen.
Both red-faced—well, Serepha's version of red-faced—and both utterly broken.
Lady Draconis drifted past them, humming cheerfully.
"Come, there is still much to see! The ritual hall where young dragons learn to breathe true fire is just ahead—"
Cassius did not move.
Serepha did not move.
After several long, agonizingly silent seconds, Cassius managed:
"…I can't. My brain is gone."
Serepha nodded vigorously.
Lady Draconis peeked over her shoulder, confused.
"What? Did I say something shocking?"
Cassius and Serepha answered at the same time.
"YES!"
Lady Draconis just blinked.
Then smiled like a mother whose children were simply being dramatic.
"Well. You will adjust."
Cassius groaned.
Serepha sank into the warm sand like she wished it would swallow her.
The Chamber of New Fire glowed around them—ancient, sacred, full of warmth and promise.
But for now?
For now, the future Dragonlord and the last True Dragon were two mortified idiots trying not to die of embarrassment.
And Lady Draconis couldn't be prouder.