Chapter 33: Chapter 33

IRIS

The fall felt like an eternity, an endless second in which every defeat of my life burned into my memory. So that was it? After all the struggle, all the pain, a miserable fall into the dark?

My stomach tightened, not in fear, but in shame. Images of my friends flashed before my inner eye—Avery’s frightened look, Bael’s desperate hand reaching for me.

I had failed them all.

Above me, the last light of the entrance distorted as if through murky water, and with it, Avery’s voice.

“Iris! IRIS!”

But then… rage. A glowing, angry flame shot through my veins.

NO!

I clenched my fists, feeling my power rising up inside me like a caged animal. I was IRIS!

The one who even challenged the darkness! The one they’d all risked their lives for!

I was the Prodigy!

With a hoarse cry, I unleashed my power, a scarlet mist shooting out of my hands and enveloping me like a protective cloak. The impact still hit me hard, but I rolled away, leaping back to my feet, ready to fight.

“Avery, I…” I wanted to scream, but I fell silent.

The ground beneath me woke up.

Something breathed, stirred in the darkness.

And when I looked at the ground, I saw no dust, no stones, and no earth.

I saw scales that shone reddish.

And when I looked up, I was staring into two huge, red, glowing eyes.

Two feline pupils focused on me, widening as they saw me.

The eyes narrowed toward me, and I realized that I hadn’t fallen on the ground, but on the body of the being staring at me.

The eyes approached me out of the darkness, but the closer they came, the more I felt it—this deep, ancient connection that flowed through me like warm light.

I slipped off the scaly flanks, landing softly on the ground, and suddenly he was standing in front of me.

The light falling through the collapsed ceiling struck his red scales, making them sparkle like a thousand rubies. With every movement that brought him closer, his true size became clear—majestic, enormous, and yet… so familiar.

Then he stepped into the light. And I recognized him.

His red eyes, not fiery or threatening but full of infinite warmth, searched my gaze. Slowly, almost reverently, he tilted his mighty head and pressed his forehead against mine.

His breath was warm like a summer breeze. His scent filled me with a sense of a place I had always longed for.

I couldn’t hold back my tears. Not out of grief. Not because of pain.

But because my heart broke, and at the same time healed completely in this one moment.

“Alatus…” I whispered, my voice shaking with suppressed sobs.

“My Alatus… I came to free you finally. Forgive me… forgive me, my Amicus, my soul brother, for taking so long,” I whispered, weeping.

My knees gave way and I sank down in front of him, my hands buried in his scales as if I could never let go of him. Him… my amicus. My Alatus. The last of his species.

The last dragon. The last of his kind.

“You came for me… Iris, my fire child… my soul sister,” Alatus’ deep and hoarse voice said the softest words to me.

I hugged him as hard as I could, and the relief was immediate. As my hands touched the scaly skin of my amicus, our bond was reborn.

Our souls reunited.

Our bond was strong and invincible, yet I could feel our power. I was finally whole.

“We have to get out of here,” Alatus said worriedly.

“Alatus, my friends are in danger… They fight alone,” I yelled, realizing they were still attacked by the creatures.

“Alone,” the dragon repeated my words, almost mockingly.

“I am here now… You can’t kill the demons with elven magic.

You are not an elf, my child. You are fire… you have demon blood. You can fight fire with fire. And we are fire, Iris. We are on fire!” Alatus said to me, his deep, raspy voice cutting through to my marrow.

At that moment, something awoke inside me, something deep and powerful that I had never felt before. Together with my Amicus, I recognized my true power for the first time.

And like magic, I suddenly knew exactly what to do. I would use my power to help my friends.

I would save them all.

A red energy enveloped me, levitating me above the ground, a pulsating mist, punctuated by blood-red lightning. Alatus looked at me proudly, then he moved his mighty body toward me.

As I climbed onto his back, I felt the immense strength beneath me. Every muscle cord was a testament to ancient power.

With confident movements, he crawled up through the opening. The spell was broken.

He was free. I had set him free.

His claws dug securely into the rock, each step quick and precise—a born climber.

As we reached the surface, my eyes immediately searched for my friends... my family.

“Hold the line! Don’t let them come close!” Bael yelled loudly at Devas.

While all my friends were fighting for their lives, my eyes only searched for Avery. My Avery knelt on the ground, screaming my name over and over.

“Avery, watch out!” Ava screamed in panic.

In the last second, Aidan was able to kill one of the creatures that almost got Avery.

My friends were surrounded, and the creatures were preparing to destroy them.

“Alatus! Let’s save our family!” I whispered, just for us to hear.

That was all Alatus needed.

With a mighty leap, he lifted himself off the ground, his claws tearing furrows in the earth as his enormous wings unfurled. Like leather of ageless strength, they stretched against the sky, casting a shadow across the battlefield.

The air shook under their first, thunderous stroke. Then we lifted off.

The ascent was so fast that it left me breathless.

Dust and small stones swirled below us as Alatus’ body spiraled upwards—elegant, unstoppable, as if he had always belonged in this freedom.

And then... his cry.

A hissing, thunderous cry that rang through my marrow and bones.

Not from aggression. Not out of rage.

But rather as a challenge. As a cry for freedom.

Every head on the battlefield snapped around to face us.

Creatures froze mid-motion. Even the dark princes lifted their heads, confused for the first time in centuries.

Because now they knew... The dragon was back.

And I... I was ready.

“That’s not possible, how could she free him?” Belial roared angrily.

“Kill the dragon! Kill her!” Abbadon commanded angrily.

My eyes locked with Avery’s. His relief was not only palpable—his face was full of it.

I flinched back to the battlefield; the howls of the creatures could be heard. They turned from all of their attacks, now charging at me.

The creatures rushed at us, a flooding mass of claws, teeth, and deadly intent.

The ground trembled not only under their pounding footsteps, but also under the mighty wingbeats of Alatus, which seemed to tear the air itself.

“Burn them! Destroy them! Let us turn them all to dust!” My cry was filled with a rage that burst from deep within me, as if my entire being was on fire.

Alatus drew a tight loop around our enemies as a blazing red glow enveloped us.

I could feel the power pulsing within me, the same primeval force that blazed within my amicus. His body tensed under me, his scales glowing dark red.

Then... a second hiss from him.

His ears rose up, sharp as blades, as if every fiber of his being was focused on the attack. The heat around us became unbearable, the air shimmering with fiery energy.

And the third blow... Hell opened up.

A stream of fire, as powerful as a volcanic eruption, shot out of his throat. The flames rolled over the creatures, devouring them in a single, ravenous moment.

Their screams died out as quickly as they had begun, leaving only a sea of ash, slowly carried away by the wind.

Silence.

Then Alatus turned his head toward me, his ruby eyes glittering in the afterglow of destruction.

“No! That’s impossible!” Belial cried angrily.

As we flew straight for the princes of darkness, Alatus hoisted again.

They had killed my parents... slaughtered my grandparents. This hatred burned inside me, deeper than any fire, fiercer than any flame Alatus could ever breathe.

My energy boiled over, no longer just red but black and scarlet—like charred rage, like choked tears finally released.

I felt my power ignite in my veins, as if I were burning from the inside out.

“You monsters…” I hissed, my voice barely more than a hoarse breath.

I didn’t want just to kill them. I wanted them to suffer.

To feel what it meant to lose everything. To burn until not even ashes remained of them.

As I joined Alatus’ thunderous roar with my own, our enemies knew one thing:

They had challenged the wrong dragon... and the wrong demon to battle.