KAEL POV
I stood before the Firstborn, and for the first time in my 847 years of life, I truly understood it.
The Merge had changed me. Not just physically—though I could feel the difference in my body, the perfect balance between dragon and human—but fundamentally. My perception had expanded. Sharpened.
I could sense things I'd never noticed before.
And right now, I could sense the Firstborn's mind.
Not read its thoughts exactly. But feel its emotional landscape. The vast, ancient loneliness that stretched back ten thousand years. The crushing weight of being the last. The terror of watching yourself become the very thing you'd fled from.
"You're not evil," I said, my voice carrying harmonics it had never held before—the weight of my new Reborn nature. "You're terrified."
The Firstborn's form flickered with instability.
