Valyr'Nox woke slowly, as if the city itself had spent the previous day running for its life.
Which, to be fair, it had.
The courtyard still held the scars of yesterday's chaos: shattered pillars, molten stone cooled into strange ripples, and one decapitated statue of something that may once have been a dragon, a wolf, or a very startled fish. The morning mist softened the damage, giving it all a strangely peaceful glow despite the carnage.
At the long obsidian table in the upper hall, Kaine was making breakfast.
It was a quiet thing. A domestic thing. The sort of normalcy that shouldn't belong to someone like him, yet somehow did. He sliced fruit, stirred porridge, and poured tea with an ease that suggested this ritual mattered.
His companions, however, did not share the sentiment.
Sereyna slumped over the table like a dying soldier. She had survived the pits, storms, blades, monsters, slavers, and one particularly annoying pirate—but nothing, nothing—compared to chasing Kaine for an hour straight.
Vaerynna sprawled across the stone floor in her adolescent dragon form, wings drooping, tail twitching in residual fury. Her scales gleamed like a storm-touched ruby, but her expression radiated pure, unfiltered exhaustion.
"I cannot believe," she muttered telepathically, "that you made us run after you for so long. My wings still ache."
"You tried to roast me," Kaine said mildly as he placed a bowl before her.
"I was expressing my feelings."
"That was flame."
"Fiery feelings."
Sereyna groaned into her cup. "Kaine. If one more piece of rubble falls somewhere in this city, I'm blaming you."
"Noted."
She squinted at him. "You're not even sorry."
"No."
Before Sereyna could hurl her spoon at him, the doors opened.
And the instructors walked in.
Twelve women—deadly, elegant, terrifying in both beauty and skill—filed inside with the grace of predators who had voluntarily chosen to look like humans today.
Behind them came a much larger shape.
The elder dragon. Vaerynna's "teacher."
The floor trembled under his steps.
Vaerynna choked on her porridge.
"NO. No no no—why is he HERE—"
Kaine gestured. "I invited them."
Sereyna went rigid. "Why."
"For breakfast."
"Breakfast is not worth trauma."
Vaerynna flared her wings, scandalized."He made me carry boulders up a volcano!"
The elder dragon huffed, smoke curling from his nostrils. "You needed muscle."
"I AM A DRAGON—I HAVE MUSCLE BY DEFAULT—"
"You whined."
"I DID. BECAUSE IT HURT."
"You survived."
Sereyna jabbed a finger toward her own teachers. "Last week one of them made me fight blindfolded on a tightrope—over boiling tar!"
The lead instructor smiled sweetly. "Balance is essential."
"That was attempted murder."
"Growth," the instructor corrected.
Kaine set tea before each of them. "Eat."
They obeyed. Even the elder dragon.
But the conversation didn't end.
Sereyna leaned closer. "Teachers… I have a question."
All twelve women paused mid-chew.
"…Yes?" one asked cautiously.
Sereyna pointed her spoon at Kaine. "Did you train him in the same way you trained us?"
All twelve instructors froze.
Time stopped.
They exchanged glances.
One swallowed.
Another looked at her hands as if reconsidering every life choice.
The elder dragon stared so far off into the distance he might as well have left his body.
Kaine continued eating.
A shadow-agent advisor entered carrying scrolls. Without looking up, he answered:
"They did not train Kaine. He trained them."
Sereyna's jaw dropped. "I— excuse me— WHAT?"
Vaerynna whipped her head toward her massive instructor."He taught YOU? How?! You taught me how to survive storms!"
The elder dragon closed his eyes in pain.
"He arrived in my world in the form of a dragon," he muttered, ashamed. "Stronger than any living wyrm I had ever known. He humbled me in one battle. Then… he taught me discipline."
"…Kaine was a dragon?" Vaerynna said slowly.
"No," Kaine corrected gently. "I simply used a draconic form."
Sereyna stared. "So you can just… become a dragon?"
"Yes."
She pointed violently. "AND YOU DIDN'T TEACH HER?"
"She is not ready."
"I AM VERY READY," Vaerynna declared.
"No," Kaine said.
"Why not?"
"You would end up looking like a very confused humanoid with dragon wings and horns and possibly extra limbs."
Sereyna made a strangled noise. "Do NOT give her that form."
Vaerynna gasped. "I WANT THAT FORM—"
"No."
"TEACH ME."
"No."
"TEACH ME OR FACE MY WRATH."
"You are too young."
"AGE IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT."
Sereyna dragged a hand down her face. "Vaerynna. No."
Meanwhile, the instructors continued staring at Kaine with the haunted reverence of war veterans remembering a battle they barely survived.
One finally whispered:
"He… once made us fight blindfolded. In a blizzard. On a cliff. While reciting poetry."
Sereyna's soul left her body.
Another said, "He dropped us into a labyrinth filled with illusions of our worst fears. We had to escape while he timed us."
Vaerynna stared in open horror.
A third added, "He once made me hold a bridge against twenty thousand undead. Alone. For six hours."
Kaine drank his tea.
"Your training was mild," he said simply.
"MILD?!" Sereyna sputtered. "I almost DIED."
"You almost slept," Kaine corrected.
"Same thing!"
The instructors looked at each other.
Then—solemnly—they stood and placed their hands together.
"…We offer our prayers," the lead instructor said softly.
Sereyna blinked. "For… what?"
"For your souls," another added.
Vaerynna recoiled. "NO. NO PRAYERS. I REFUSE."
"It is too late," the instructors said in harmony.
Vaerynna wailed telepathically."KAINE I WILL KILL YOU BEFORE TRAINING STARTS—"
"You will be fine."
"WE ARE GOING TO DIE."
"No."
Sereyna slumped. "I'm too young to suffer like this."
"You'll live," Kaine said.
"Will I? WILL I, KAINE?"
"Yes."
The scholar-agent sighed as he unrolled documents. "They truly do not understand. He can be many things depending on the world. A dragon. A shadow. A mortal. A myth. A king. A demon. A storm."
Kaine raised an eyebrow toward him.
The agent corrected himself smoothly, "He is… a traveler."
Vaerynna narrowed her eyes."What does that mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Kaine said.
Sereyna pointed. "That explains NOTHING."
"It explains enough."
It did not.
But before she could press further, the doors gently blew open under the morning breeze.
The city outside glowed under new sunlight.
Birds called.
Waves curled against shore.
Somewhere below, a forge lit itself as agents resumed their work.
Peace settled across the hall.
Sereyna sighed deeply. "This… is my life now."
Vaerynna groaned. "I want a refund."
Kaine set his teacup down.
"It is time to begin training."
Sereyna screamed internally.
Vaerynna screamed externally.
All twelve instructors smiled.
The elder dragon laughed.
And Valyr'Nox braced itself for another year of absolute, unstoppable, unforgettable chaos.