Silence.
Seren's heart beat so loudly she could hear it echo through her bones. The throne room beneath Valeborne—long forgotten, shaped by dragonfire and dark sorcery—felt more alive than any battlefield.
Melara sat upon the Serpent Throne, her gown trailing like black mist, her silver eyes glowing with malice and delight. Around her, robed figures stood like statues, chanting under their breath in a language older than any kingdom.
"Children of fire," Melara said, her voice serpentine, smooth as silk, sharp as glass. "You've finally come home."
Seren stepped forward.
"This is not our home."
Melara tilted her head. "Oh, but it is. This throne... these walls... they were built by your blood. You just don't remember."
Saren's fists clenched. "You tried to kill us."
"I tried to prevent what's coming." Melara rose slowly, each movement fluid, deliberate. "You were born of a forbidden union. Fire and flame. Dragon and dusk. And now… the prophecy stirs again."
The flames around the throne ignited, casting long shadows across the ancient stone.
"Do you even know what you are?"
Kael raised his sword. "Enough talking."
But Melara only laughed.
"Kael Ashguard. The loyal knight with a broken oath. Tell me, does she know the truth about you?"
Kael faltered for a moment, his grip tightening.
"What truth?" Seren asked, eyes flicking to him.
"Don't listen to her," Kael said sharply.
Melara smiled.
"Oh, the web of secrets you all carry…"
She turned her gaze to Laziel. "The exile prince who betrayed his court. Still playing jester in hopes of redemption?"
Laziel bared his teeth but said nothing.
"And Nyara," Melara purred, "the blade of the Forgotten Order. I thought your kind were extinct."
Nyara stepped forward, daggers out. "Keep talking. I want your last words to be as satisfying as your screams."
Saren moved beside Seren, shielding her slightly.
"We didn't come to play games, Melara."
"No," the queen said. "You came to die. Or worse… to become what you were always meant to be."
She lifted her hand.
The chanting stopped.
Suddenly, the air exploded with magic.
Dozens of crimson-robed cultists flung out their arms, and dark sigils lit the floor in a spiral pattern. The stone beneath them cracked, and from below—
Serpents.
Not ordinary snakes. These were forged from shadows, eyes burning red, scales like blades.
Kael jumped in front, slashing the first that lunged at Seren.
Laziel summoned a flame-whip, incinerating a dozen.
Nyara danced between attackers, blades flashing silver as she carved through the darkness.
Saren and Seren stood back-to-back, flames forming twin halos around them.
"Ready?" Seren asked.
Saren smirked. "Always."
They raised their hands in unison.
Twin fire.
A blast of golden flame erupted from them, incinerating the incoming swarm. The cultists screamed, many turning to ash before they even touched the twins.
But Melara remained untouched.
She stepped off the throne, the air warping around her.
And then, her true form began to bleed through.
Her skin shimmered, then cracked—revealing serpent scales underneath. Horns curved from her temples. Her smile was too wide. Her eyes glowed with a thousand years of darkness.
"She's not human," Seren whispered.
"No," Melara said, "I am what your bloodline was meant to evolve into."
She stretched out her hands.
Magic surged toward the twins like black lightning.
Saren stepped forward to shield Seren, absorbing the strike—but it blasted him backward into the stone pillar, blood spraying from his mouth.
"Saren!" Seren screamed.
Melara advanced.
"Feel it, girl. The serpent inside you. You think you're pure fire? You're not. You're my heir. My replacement."
Seren's vision blurred with rage and fear.
Then… the flame within her changed.
It pulsed not just with warmth—but with wrath.
And suddenly, her hands were ablaze with dragonfire.
The flames turned blue, then white.
Even Melara stopped moving.
"You shouldn't be able to—"
"I'm not yours," Seren whispered. "And I never will be."
She stepped toward Melara, flame swirling around her like a cloak.
Behind her, Kael helped Saren up. Laziel and Nyara pushed back the remaining cultists.
The chamber shook.
Magic clashed.
Flames met shadow.
The Serpent Queen screamed as Seren's fire engulfed her.
She raised a shield, but Seren's magic burned hotter—driven by love, rage, and something ancient sleeping inside her.
A dragon's heart.
The fire surged—
—and then the room collapsed.
---
When Seren woke, she was lying in a chamber filled with smoke and rubble.
Her ears rang. Her fingers were burned. Her vision blurry.
Saren lay beside her, unconscious but breathing.
The others slowly stirred nearby.
Melara… was gone.
So was the throne.
All that remained was a serpent scale glowing with power… and a scar burned into the stone.
A crown.
But it wasn't Melara's.
It was hers.