The night seemed to tear open.The platform trembled under the distant footsteps of a giant.
Lunaya gripped the stone railing, breath sharp.Below, the forest lit up with bursts of crimson light, as if someone were breathing fire through the trees.
A lupine howl echoed.Then a deep, cavernous rumble, almost… reptilian.
"Kael…" she whispered, her throat tightening.
The scarlet glow vanished.A terrifying silence fell.
Then,WHOOSH.
A massive shadow swept over her.The wind slammed her to the ground.
Scales gleamed in the moonlight.Enormous wings beat the air.A serpentine body landed on the lower platform, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Lunaya tried to push herself up, but the creature folded its wings and slowly straightened, shifting into a humanoid form.Or… partially humanoid.
A man emerged, immense, towering, bare-chested, his skin marked with dark red streaks like living tattoos.Golden eyes glinted under the moon.Two dark horns curved from his temples.And behind him, a draconic tail swung low, heavy and threatening.
He looked at her.Long.Intensely.
Then he tilted his head, intrigued.
"So you're the Resonant."
His voice rumbled like a volcano.Not aggressive.Not gentle.Powerful.Unyielding.
Lunaya took a step back.
"I… I don't know what you came for, but"
"You," he said without hesitation.
She froze.
He advanced three steps, each one making the platform vibrate,yet his movements were strangely graceful for a creature his size.
"I am Dravik of the Red-Scales."
His vertical pupils widened.
"And your scent pulled me from the sky."
Lunaya swallowed hard.
"My… what?"
He inhaled deeply.A shiver ran through his massive frame,as if he were tasting the air around her.
"Your Resonance belongs to no clan."
He smiled, revealing unnervingly white fangs.
"So it belongs to me."
"I'm not something you can just claim," she snapped despite her fear.
Her words had barely left her lips when another rumble sounded,this time behind her.
A wolf leaped onto the platform.A flash of silver.Kael.
His whole body trembled with rage.His feral eyes locked onto Dravik.
"Don't come near her."
Dravik raised an eyebrow.
"You, little pup… Still alive? I thought I crushed you in the woods."
Kael growled, muscles coiled tight.
"She's not yours."
"She isn't yours either," Dravik replied with a predator's grin.
The two males faced each other.The air grew thick.Electric.Almost burning.
Lunaya felt her skin prickle, her power reacting on its own to their tension.
Dravik pointed at her, fascinated.
"Her Resonance awakens even more."
He laughed low.
"She responds to rivalry. Interesting."
Kael lunged, fangs bared.
Dravik blocked the attack with a brutal sweep of his wing.The impact sent Kael rolling across the stone.
"KAEL!" Lunaya cried.
He stood immediately, panting but alive, wiping blood from his lip.
"Touch her again, reptile, and I'll tear you apart."
Dravik sighed.
"You Moonfangs are so primitive.A Resonant is not a toy. She is…"
He slowly turned toward Lunaya.His eyes softened, just for a moment, too brief to be certain it happened at all.
"She is a force. A call."
His gaze darkened.
"She is the key."
The key to what?
Lunaya opened her mouth to ask, but Dravik stepped toward her, slowly, carefully,like a predator who didn't want to frighten her.
He stopped only a few paces away.
"I'll return for you, little human."
He suddenly unfurled his wings, a scarlet shadow swallowing the entire platform.
"And next time, I won't let anyone stand between us."
A suffocating beat of wings.A burning gust of air.
The beast launched into the sky in a whirl of red embers, disappearing into the night.
Silence fell again.
Kael rushed to her, torn between fury and fear.
"Are you hurt? Did he touch you? Tell me!"
She shook her head, trembling.
"Kael… what am I?Why do they… sense me like this?"
Kael clenched his fists.
"Because you're more than you think."
His eyes stayed fixed on the sky where Dravik vanished.
"And now we have less time than I thought."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, this time with a new, surprising gentleness.
"Lunaya. You need to learn to control your Resonance.And fast."