Yuliana twisted clear of the chain, yet a stray shockwave slammed ribs. She staggered, vomited blood, and face drained to sheet-white in a heartbeat. Unseen. a whisper-thin stream of toxic energy slipped along abdomen and burrowed inward, coiling like smoke around core.
“Ms. Fiala!” Jared’s shout tore through the echoing cave like a flare cut loose in a storm, his voice raw with alarm and stubborn hope.
Before could lunge to aid, Ieuan’s palm crashed against the center of Jared’s back. The blow felt like a mountain caving in. Blood splattered across the stone floor, and Jared buckled, knees striking rock as every breath became knives.
Ieuan stalked forward, the cruel smile of a victor already curling across his lips.
“Jared,” growled, grinding his boat between Jared’s shoulder blades, “Do you finally understand the gulf between us? Hand over the Dragonslayer Sword and your divine soul, and perhaps I’ll let your end be swift.”
Rock dust swirled around them as his weight pressed down, each word dipped in venomous pride.
Face down in the grit, Jared tasted iron. He spat crimson, yet his eyes, dark and unyielding, refused to dim. His gaze flicked to the wounded Yuliana crumpled not far away, then to Ieuan’s triumphant sneer. Fury and refusal surged together, blooming inside like a volcano ready to tear its own walls apart.
He jerked his head up. Gold fire flashed In his pupils. The draconic essence over his heart erupted, brighter, hotter, more absolute than it had ever dared before.
A roar, half-human, half ancient dragon, wrenched itself from his throat, shaking loose stalactites overhead.
Golden scales rippled beneath Jared’s skin. Behind him, a colossal Golden Dragon unfurled, its wings blotting out the cavern‘s gloom with pure radiance. In an Instant, the cave was drenched In molten light.
The surge in his aura shattered the poison gnawing at his spirit temporarily. Power vaulted through him, raw, near the threshold of the Human Immortal Realm Level One, and the very air quivered under the oncoming storm of his resurgence.
Ieuan staggered backward, blood draining from his face. “Golden Dragon’s True Form? Impossible! You were poisoned… How can you wield such strength?”
Jared gave no answer. In a blur of light and scale, flashed to Yuliana’s side, scooping weightless body into his arms.
With one sweeping arc of the Dragonslayer Sword, ribbons of gold energy screamed outward, forcing the black-robed attackers into panicked retreat.
“Ieuan!” Jared thundered, “I will remember today’s humiliation. When I return, the debt will be paid a hundredfold!‘
Gold-forged armor raced across his skin. Flames roared beneath Jared’s boots as activated Blazing Stride. Clutching Yuliana, shot upward, driving straight for the cave’s ceiling.
Stone exploded in a deafening boom. Jared burst into open sky, trailing comet-tails of molten gold, then banked hard toward the shadowed forest beyond.
Down below, Ieuan’s rage finally found breath. “After them! Bring to me alive!”
Black-clad cultivators scattered like ravens and poured after the fleeing blaze. However, Jared’s Golden Dragon Bloodline speed outpaced every shadow on the ground. In mere heartbeats, the pursuit dwindled, swallowed by distance and trees.
Cradling Yuliana’s fading form, raced until only wind and pine kept pace. At last, dropped into a hidden ravine, lungs burning, heart still hammered by battle’s drums.
“Ms. Fiala, stay with me, how badly are you hurt?” He knelt, lowering onto a bed of soft moss, hands trembling with urgency.
Her robes were torn, skin mottled by poison and bruises. Breath fluttered like the wing of a sparrow shocked by frost. Unconsciousness had already claimed her.
Jared fumbled out a healing pill, pried lips open, and eased it past them.
Closing his eyes, summoned the Power of Dragons, guiding its warmth into channels, willing the medicine to bloom before time slipped entirely from grasp.
He cradled Yuliana against his chest, shaken by how the color had drained from violet lips. A hard glint rose behind his eyelids, cold as steel.
Ieuan, this feud will end only when one of us is dead. I will rip the veil from your conspiracy and repay every drop of blood you spilled with your own…
***
Ieuan’s riders combed the pine-clad slopes for a full hour. When no sign of Jared appeared, their commander spat a curse and led the weary column back toward the Prime Minister’s Office.
Inside the lamplit study, Ieuan paced like a caged wolf, boots ticking across polished boards. Jared’s escape meant exposure. Should the fugitive reach Aurelius with the truth, the Prime Minister’s downfall would be bottomless.
“Sir, what do we do now? Jared has slipped away. If petitions the king, we are finished!” the black-robed cultivator blurted, voice quivering. Ieuan halted. A cruel spark danced in his gaze.
“Panic serves no one. The poison In his veins will stifle him, and I still hold a final card…” He wheeled toward his adviser. “Harness the carriage. I ride for the palace this instant!”
Meanwhile, inside the palace, Aurelius sat restless, fingers drumming, troubled by Jared’s delay. Hearing that Prime Minister Ieuan requested an audience, frowned.
Why would Ieuan seek me at such an hour?
