Chapter 236: The End Of Empires

The dragon pulled Kane through collapsing archways, his small hand impossibly strong around Kane’s wrist.

Jade bridges shattered beneath them, spilling into the void. Kane leaped across gaps that widened with each heartbeat, following the boy’s sure-footed path through devastation.

Around them, the war played out in brutal detail.

A phoenix crashed through a crystalline tower, wings ablaze with orange fire. Snake spirits coiled around crumbling pillars, crushing the stone as they fell. Wolf packs tore through fleeing civilians, blood painting marble streets.

Kane’s chest constricted.

He’d lived this. Survived it. Crawled through these same burning streets as a terrified kit.

A group of fox spirits scattered past them, tails streaming silver.

One stumbled—a child no older than Kane had been. A wolf caught her, jaws closing around fragile bones.

Her scream cut off abruptly.

Kane flinched, phantom pain lancing through his shoulder where his wound had been. Where teeth had pierced flesh before he’d escaped into shadows.

"Keep moving." The dragon’s voice remained eerily calm. "This already happened. You can’t save them."

Kane’s hands shook.

He remembered that night. The taste of ash. The weight of bodies pressed against him in collapsed ruins while powerful spirits fought overhead.

The weeks—months—spent scavenging for food in the shattered remnants of a dead realm.

Dragons and ancient spirits with sufficient power fled through stable portals to the human world.

While weaker spirits like him stayed trapped.

Waiting. Starving. Dying slowly.

The dragon tugged harder.

They rounded a corner into a plaza where a hundred spirits fought in savage chaos. Fire met ice. Lightning struck flesh. Blood pooled across broken stone.

Kane’s vision blurred.

He’d hidden beneath corpses in a place like this. Stayed motionless for three days while scavengers picked through the dead. Had emerged covered in dried blood that wasn’t his own.

"Almost there," the boy murmured.

The Dragon Palace rose ahead—obsidian spires reaching toward crimson skies. Its walls still stood intact despite the devastation surrounding it.

Kane’s legs moved automatically, muscle memory carrying him forward while his mind fractured.

A serpent spirit collapsed near their path, scales blackened by dragon fire. Her eyes fixed on Kane, pleading.

He’d seen that look before. Worn it himself.

The desperation of those abandoned by fate.

The dragon led Kane through the palace gates without looking back.

Behind them, the serpent’s breathing stopped.

The palace interior shimmered with contradictions—pristine despite the war raging outside.

Kane’s boots clicked against polished obsidian floors while screams echoed beyond ivory walls.

Tapestries depicted dragon history in golden thread, untouched by ash or blood.

"This doesn’t make sense." Kane’s voice cracked. "Everything else is burning."

"Dragon strongholds were designed to withstand realm collapse." The boy navigated corridors with practiced ease. "This one held the longest."

They passed through a meditation hall where seven jade fountains still flowed.

Water cascaded over carved scales, crystal-clear despite the acrid smoke seeping through cracks in the ceiling.

Kane’s reflection caught in the pool—fox ears visible, nine tails streaming behind him. His transformed state looked wrong against such peaceful surroundings.

The dragon turned down another corridor, this one narrower, lined with ancient scrolls preserved behind glass.

Kane followed, watching those small feet navigate without hesitation.

"You’re quite familiar with this palace," Kane observed. "For someone who’s never been here."

Crimson eyes glanced back, expression unreadable.

"This is all I’ve ever known." The boy’s voice remained steady despite the words. "All this noise. All this death."

They passed through an archway carved with draconic script.

Kane’s chest tightened.

"What do you mean?"

"I told you. Dragons inherit memories." Small fingers trailed along obsidian walls.

"While I’m trapped in the shell, this nightmare plays on repeat. I’ve had time to explore every nook and cranny."

The corridor opened into a library—three stories of scrolls and texts, completely undisturbed.

The dragon walked to a specific shelf, pulling a leather-bound tome without looking.

"I also knew Elias was experimenting on me."

Kane stopped dead.

"What?"

"The things he did in that lab." The boy’s grip tightened on the book, knuckles white.

"Trying different essences. Different temperatures. Different magical frequencies to force the shell to crack."

Kane’s blood turned cold.

"I thought that was it for me." The dragon replaced the tome with careful precision.

"That I’d either die in whatever explosion his next experiment caused, or I’d hatch wrong. Corrupted."

They descended spiral stairs carved into the palace’s core.

The screams outside grew muffled and distant.

"Then one day, everything changed." Crimson eyes brightened despite the shadows.

"The facility collapsed. Chaos everywhere. And suddenly I was moving—really moving, not just being shifted between lab stations."

Kane remembered. The frantic escape. Grabbing the egg on impulse.

"You took me away." The dragon’s voice softened. "And you started talking to me."

They reached the bottom of the stairs—a sealed door carved with protective wards.

"You told me I was safe. That you’d protect me." Small hands pressed against ancient stone. "You called me your ’baby’ and promised you wouldn’t let anyone hurt me again."

Kane’s throat closed.

He remembered cradling the case. Whispering promises while Cyrus drove them away from St. Mariel’s smoking ruins.

"That was the first time anyone ever spoke to me like I mattered." The dragon looked up, tears tracking down childish cheeks. "Like I was more than an experiment or an inherited burden."

Kane dropped to his knees, pulling the boy close.

"You do matter."

Small arms wrapped around Kane’s neck, grip desperate.

"I know," the dragon whispered against Kane’s shoulder. "Because you keep telling me."

The sealed door began to glow.

The dragon pulled back, wiping his eyes with the back of one small hand.

"Beyond this door is the throne room." His voice steadied, ancient knowledge replacing childish tears. "Where the Dragon King waits."

Kane’s pulse jumped. "The Dragon King?"

"And Dragon Father is already there."

Kane surged to his feet, crimson energy crackling around his fists. "Cyrus is in there now?"

"Yes." Small hands gripped Kane’s wrist, holding him back with surprising strength. "But you need to listen carefully."

Kane’s fox ears flattened against his skull. Every instinct screamed to tear through that door, to reach Cyrus, to—

"Stay low." Crimson eyes burned into his. "Out of sight, no matter what happens in there."

"But—"

"Promise me." The dragon’s grip tightened, nails biting into Kane’s skin. "This already happened. You can’t change it. You can only witness."