Ash drifted through the air like snow. The sky, once blue, now hung heavy with a gray pallor, tinged violet by the corruption of the Nytherak's invasion.
A great figure stood among what once was a forest. His wings have been torn apart like paper. His horns have been broken like branches. His claws dulled to a mere butter knife. Yet the Golden Dragon stood unyielding in the face of the scourge of the world in front of him.
The Drakhalith was a being created to find, destroy, and assimilate any dragon it finds. Despite being near death, the damned beast resisted death as though he wanted to take the dragon and his allies with him.
From the shadows of the broken woods emerged a magicianess. Her robes hung in tatters, her skin pale as moonlight, eyes hollow and tired as they fixed on the dragon.
"Damn... This abomination refuses to die."
A dark expression appeared on her face, she bit her lips.
"Are you capable of any magic, Velkaar?"
"Just barely."
A grim frown appeared on the dragon's face.
Without warning, an arrow shrieked through the air between them, slamming into the Drakhalith's skull. Fire erupted, engulfing its head in searing flame. And still, the creature turned slowly, grotesquely, lowering its head into its own maw and biting off the burning portion without hesitation, heedless of the destruction.
Velkaar and the woman both drew a deep breath.
"The Emberthorn..."
The last arrow their elven comrade possessed.
Suddenly the dragon froze.
"Amelia, immediately escape with Leon!"
Five black tentacles burst from the ground in front of them. They lunged for the pair-fast, silent, inevitable.
But before they could reach them, the air shimmered.
A massive magic circle blazed to life above, etched with runes, each made by the best magicians. Lightning big as a mountain appeared, reducing the vile abomination's attack to mere dust. Amelia fell on her knees, coughing blood.
"We're so close to killing it…" she hissed. "We can't retreat now."
She turned towards Velkaar. Her face twisted in anger.
"For every second we spend here, we are losing more and more!"
"This whole skirmish has become nothing more than a pointless waste of resources!"
Suddenly the air shook as if the world itself was wailing. The sound of metal being pulled apart engulfed them all. Amelia froze. Her rage drained in an instant, leaving behind a hollow stillness.
A blank expression overtook her face. She stood up and went closer to Velkaar, who extended his claw, steady despite incoming danger. A white shard rested in his palm, pulsing like a dying star and glowing faintly.
She reached out, lifted it with reverent care, and held it close to her chest. Then, she bowed low before him.
"Goodbye, King of the Dragons..."
Velkaar lowered his head, his ancient eyes softening with quiet respect.
"Goodbye, Archmagess."
And then suddenly she disappeared as if she never was there. A magic circle appeared beneath Velkaar, yet instantly broke into particles. There was no mana to sustain it.
The Golden Dragon chuckled.
"Neither yours nor mine mana is enough to complete the spell, Amelia."
Velkaar shook his head and turned towards the Drakhalith. His face morphed into a cruel smile.
"I am thankful that you waited."
The savage's abominable maw produced a sound akin to a giggle. No such being should exist. Their race is nothing but a sin. To destroy, devour, and assimilate any beings. They are a blight that plagues us all.
Suddenly, Velkaar's body began to shine. Soft at first, like moonlight, then growing like a sun that lit the battlefield in gold. The air around him got heavy, the very ground vibrating with the pulse of his heart.
Cracks of radiant energy traveled across his broken horns, down his shredded wings, and through his battered scales.
A colossal magic circle erupted into existence above them, its lines drawn in searing gold, spinning with ancient sigils. Burning light rained down from the heavens, showering the battlefield like a divine storm.
Yet even in the face of annihilation, the Drakhalith surged forward.
It screamed a raw, soul breaking screech that tore through the air like blades, shaking the very foundation of the earth. Its broken wings flapped with desperate force, its mangled limbs clawing through the light as it hurled itself toward Velkaar.
Closer. Closer.
But not fast enough.
The light consumed it, stripping flesh from bone. By the time it reached Velkaar, its twisted claw grazing the edge of his rising radiance. There was almost nothing left of it. Just embers and a whisper of a dying blight, carried away by the wind.
Then silence. A silence so profound, it felt sacred. Only Velkaar's breathing could be heard.
Velkaar sensed death drawing nearer. The screech he heard before with Amelia belonged to another abomination, this time an even more unholy one. There was almost no chance to escape from a Godpiercer rank, his torn wings only destroyed what little chance there was.
Velkaar took a deep breath and impaled his heart and took it out. His body shone even more. A pillar of light broke through the sky, its light spreading around the world. Lessening the gray tint that engulfed it once.
Time slipped through his claws like sand.
But it was enough.
With the last strength in his fading soul, Velkaar cast his essence out, searching for any spark like his own. For kin. For remnants. For hope.
And found… nothing.
No heartbeat answered his own. No wings stirred in distant skies. No soul was similiar to his
Just silence.
His heart dimmed in his grasp, and despair clawed its way into his chest where it had once been. The truth fell on him heavier than any wound.
He was truly the last dragon.
Or maybe not.
The Aetherspire. Once the highest tower in the known world... It pierced the skies like a needle of divinity. Legends spoke of it as a connecting point between the earth and heavens, a sanctum for dragons long gone. Under its ruins was a black egg.
A smile blossomed on Velkaar's face. The pillar shone even brighter, blinding everything that gazed at it. But then it abruptly disappeared.
The heart broke into fine dust and scattered in the air. The golden dragon's body lost all its brilliance.
"I lived a long life, yet it was not enough to fix what was wrong with the world."
A hollow laugh escaped his lips.
"I am sorry for placing all this responsibility on your shoulders, little one."
His wings too turned to dust.
"Your life will be full of hardships. In a moment of vulnerability, pain will circle you like a vulture, ready to devour you."
Even his horns vanished into fine dust.
"But I believe you will continue and push forward. For you are a dragon. And we dragons never stop. We never yield, for we are the mightiest beings."
Figures formed from light and memory appeared before him. Horned, radiant, eternal. Warriors, friends, mentors, kin. Faces long lost, smiles long gone. Each one looked upon him not with grief but with pride.
His body was breaking apart. Yet the smile never left his lips.
"I am sad that I will not be able to guide you."
He felt pity, grief, and sadness.
Yet two other emotions overshadowed them.
Hope and Pride.
"I cannot see the future. Yet I know you will become a star."
Nothing was left of his body.
"Lead whatever remains of the world."
Just know.
That you are the hope that the world needs.
You are the remedy for the blight that plagues us.
You are the dragon's Pride.
And so, the Golden Emperor Velkaar, the All-Seeing, the Last Herald of Light.
Met his end.
The egg felt all this.
It experienced his pain.
His sadness.
And broke out of the shell.