Valyr'Nox rose like a dream carved from ruin: obsidian towers reflecting the morning sun, silver-lit terraces stacked like ancient monuments, banners stirring in winds that smelled faintly of ash and new beginnings. The city was young but unmistakably alive, humming with magic and purpose.
Kaine sat in the upper citadel courtyard, quietly sipping tea.
It was peaceful.
Birds chirped in the lower gardens. Warm breeze brushed his hair. The citadel's stone, newly restored, held the morning heat like a living thing.
Yes.
Peace.
…until a shadow on the rafters shifted.
Kaine didn't sigh. But he came close.
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Flashback — One Year Ago
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Valyr'Nox was newly born then. Walls half-raised, forges cooling, magic still thick in the air—an infant city taking its first breaths.
And in the middle of this tremendous undertaking…
…two of its residents were doing absolutely nothing.
Kaine entered the atrium to find Sereyna sprawled across cushions, eating grapes like a bored noble, while Vaerynna lay belly-up on an entire couch, wings draped carelessly over the sides.
Kaine folded his arms.
"You two have spent the last two months doing nothing productive."
Sereyna lifted a hand without moving her head.
"We sparred yesterday."
"You threw a pillow at Vaerynna," Kaine said.
"It was a very heavy pillow."
Vaerynna nodded gravely. "It hurt."
"It knocked over a vase," Kaine added.
Sereyna shrugged. "Collateral damage."
Kaine exhaled. "You are mooching."
Vaerynna gasped. "We are companions!"
"You set my study on fire."
"You left candles unattended!" Vaerynna protested.
"That was you," Sereyna muttered, stabbing her.
Kaine lifted a hand.
A portal tore open.
Twelve female agents stepped through—deadly women from other worlds, assassins, mages, warriors, all wrapped in beauty and threat.
Sereyna bolted upright.
"No. Kaine, no. We can talk about this—"
"You," the lead instructor said, "come with us."
"WAIT— I— NO— I HAVE RIGHTS—"
"You do not," her teacher replied.
Four women grabbed Sereyna by the arms.
Sereyna screamed as she was dragged away.
"KAIIINE— YOU TRAITOR— I SWEAR— I WILL END YOU—"
Vaerynna wheezed laughing, wings rattling.
Kaine turned to her.
"And you."
Vaerynna froze.
"A dragon who lounges all day," Kaine said, "is not a dragon. She is a lizard with wings."
The betrayal that followed shook the citadel.
"A… l-lizard?"
"You sleep eighteen hours a day."
"I AM GROWING."
"You steal cooked meat."
"It tastes BETTER!"
"You sleep in my bed."
"It is SOFT and YOU SNORE."
Kaine rubbed his eyes. "You are going to be trained."
"By—who?" Vaerynna whispered.
A shadow ripped open the air.
A colossal, ancient dragon emerged—scales blacker than the Smoking Sea, wings large enough to cast night across the courtyard.
Vaerynna squeaked.
"KAINE— KAINE— THAT IS NOT A TRAINER THAT IS A NATURAL DISASTER—"
The elder dragon grinned.
"Hello, welp."
"No. No no no. I AM TOO YOUNG FOR THIS."
"Perfect," the elder rumbled. "Lesson one: stop whining."
"I DO NOT WH—"
"Good. Lesson two."
And Vaerynna was dragged—clawed?—toward the mountains, screaming.
For the first time, Kaine had silence.
Beautiful silence.
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Present Day — One Year Later
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Silence ended abruptly.
Sereyna dropped from the rafters like a blade.
Her armor gleamed black and gold, intricate, silent, elegant. A hood shadowed her eyes, but the fury behind them burned through.
"Kaine."
He sipped his tea. "Good morning."
She nocked an arrow.
It ignited instantly.
Kaine tilted his head a fraction.
The arrow hissed past and exploded behind him, blowing a crater into the wall.
Kaine nodded appreciatively. "Your aim has improved."
Sereyna landed before him, daggers appearing in her hands.
"That was meant. To hit. Your face."
"You aimed right."
"I WAS ADJUSTING FOR WIND."
"There is no wind."
Her eye twitched. "You put me through a year of hell."
"You survived."
"I tried. To retire."
"You were twenty."
Her lips curled. "One of my teachers drowned me daily."
"That's an important skill."
"And another made me fight blindfolded inside a pit full of venomous snakes."
"Yes. Adaptability."
She flung a dagger at his head.
Kaine leaned slightly. The blade embedded into a pillar behind him.
A massive shadow fell across the courtyard.
Vaerynna descended from the sky like doom incarnate—bigger, sharper, wings fully developed, horns curved like carved obsidian.
She landed with a quake.
Her telepathic voice slammed into Kaine like a hammer:
— YOU. —
"Good morning," Kaine repeated.
— DO NOT 'GOOD MORNING' ME. —
Sereyna pointed at her. "Your turn."
— HE ABANDONED ME TO BE TORTURED BY A DRAGON. —
"I did not," Kaine said.
— HE MADE ME HUNT MY OWN FOOD. —
"You needed discipline."
— HE MADE ME BUILD A NEST IN A VOLCANO. —
"You needed heat."
— HE MADE ME FIGHT A STORM SERPENT. —
"You needed experience."
— I WAS ONE YEAR OLD. —
"You're a dragon."
— NOT A GOD. —
"For the record," Sereyna muttered, "you complain a lot for someone who can eat me."
Vaerynna hissed.
— I AM EXPRESSING EMOTIONAL TRAUMA. —
Kaine finally turned to face her.
"My apologies."
Vaerynna blinked, confused.
"…You apologize?"
"Yes. I underestimated your weakness."
Vaerynna shrieked.
— KAINE I AM GOING TO END YOU —
She lunged.
Kaine vanished.
Sereyna exploded forward. "COME BACK AND DIE LIKE A MAN!"
— COWARD — Vaerynna roared.
Thus began the chaos.
They chased him across the courtyard—dragon fire blasting pillars apart, Sereyna's arrows exploding against stone, Kaine dodging casually like mildly irritated wind.
"STOP VANISHING!" Sereyna yelled.
— FACE US AND ACCEPT DEATH — Vaerynna bellowed.
"I refuse," Kaine said from a balcony.
Shadow-agents dove out of the way as Vaerynna crashed through an archway, Sereyna sprinted across the roof tiles, and Kaine walked calmly up a vertical wall.
Three instructors watched from above, sipping tea.
One sighed fondly. "Reminds me of when we chased him."
Another nodded. "He ran faster."
"Trauma builds character," said the third.
───────────────────────
After the Chaos
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They finally cornered him after an hour.
Sereyna collapsed backward. Vaerynna flopped onto her side. Kaine stood above them, entirely unharmed, entirely too calm.
Sereyna glared up at him. "…I hate you."
"No, you don't."
She groaned. "Maybe a little."
Vaerynna wrapped her tail around herself.
— YOU RUINED MY CHILDHOOD. —
"You're a dragon."
— YOU RUINED IT ANYWAY. —
Kaine sat down.
"You both grew," he said quietly. "More than you realize."
Sereyna stilled.
Vaerynna shifted awkwardly.
"You learned strength. And restraint."
Sereyna's hands brushed her blades.
"…Enough to protect. And to choose."
Kaine nodded.
Vaerynna lifted her head.
— I learned flight. Fire. Hunting. Combat. And pride. —
"You did well."
Vaerynna preened despite herself.
Sereyna leaned back. "So. What now?"
"We begin year two."
Both groaned loudly.
"No," Sereyna said.
— NO — Vaerynna echoed.
Kaine stood. "Breakfast is ready."
Both women instantly leapt to their feet.
Sereyna muttered, "…You could've said that earlier."
— I WOULD HAVE BURNED YOU IF YOU DID — Vaerynna added.
"Says the one who wants him dead," Sereyna countered.
— TEAMWORK. —
"That's NOT teamwork—"
Kaine hid a smile as they followed him toward the citadel.
Above them, the sun rose over reborn Valyr'Nox—a city alive, loud, impossible.
A city of destruction, rebuilding, chaos, and companionship.
A city with three inhabitants who made existence itself bend around their absurdity.
And for the first time in centuries, Kaine felt something like peace.