Chapter 13 - THE DRAGON’S CHOICE
Ethan ran to the dragon.
“Stay with me.”
The Alpha’s chest rose weakly.
Blue blood spread beneath its body.
Maya knelt near the wound.
“I’m not exactly a veterinarian.”
“Neither am I.”
Voss opened a medical kit.
“Then today we learn.”
They worked fast.
The dragon’s scales were almost impossible to cut around, but the Queen’s claws had torn through them.
Richard guided them.
“Seal the artery first.”
“With what?”
“Cold.”
Ethan stared at him.
“We’re standing inside a glacier.”
“Exactly.”
They packed the wound with crushed ice.
The Alpha growled in pain.
One enormous eye opened.
Ethan placed his hand against its jaw.
“I know.”
The newborn dragons gathered beside their mother.
One climbed onto her wing.
Another made a soft clicking sound.
The Alpha answered weakly.
Maya looked away.
“Don’t make me cry over a dragon.”
Voss glanced at her.
“You cried when the helicopter broke.”
“That was eighteen million dollars.”
Despite everything, Ethan laughed.
The moment didn’t last.
The eighth pillar flickered again.
Richard studied the symbols.
“It isn’t only the Alpha.”
“What?”
“The hatchlings are changing the circuit.”
Ethan looked at the three babies.
“The system expected seven eggs.”
“And one adult.”
“But now three have hatched.”
Richard nodded.
“The ancient seal was never designed for this.”
Maya sat back.
“So even if Mama Dragon survives, we’re still screwed.”
“Possibly.”
Ethan opened the journal.
There had to be another answer.
His father’s notes mentioned cycles.
Seven eggs.
One Alpha.
A new Alpha chosen when the old guardian died.
Then he saw a line he had overlooked.
The guardian is not chosen by birth.
It is chosen by bond.
“What does that mean?”
Richard looked over his shoulder.
His face changed.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“The dragons didn’t maintain the system alone.”
Ethan remembered the ancient mural.
Humans standing beside them.
Not kneeling.
Standing.
Partners.
Richard continued.
“The original seal required eight living anchors, but not all were dragons.”
Maya frowned.
“You’re saying humans were part of it?”
“Voluntarily.”
Voss looked at the pillars.
“But not sacrificed.”
“No.”
Richard became excited.
“The Heart transfers energy between bonded organisms. The humans acted like conductors.”
Ethan looked toward the Alpha.
“A partnership.”
“Yes.”
The entire story had been misunderstood.
For thousands of years, later generations had copied the ritual without understanding it.
Sacrifice replaced cooperation.
Fear replaced trust.
Ethan stepped toward the center symbol.
“What do we do?”
Richard hesitated.
“You connect yourself to the system.”
“Will it kill me?”
“Maybe.”
Maya slapped Richard’s shoulder.
“That is not helpful.”
Ethan stepped onto the symbol anyway.
The Alpha opened its eyes.
He reached toward her.
“Your ancestors trusted us once.”
The dragon watched him.
“So trust me now.”
The Alpha placed one claw on the circle.
Blue light erupted.
It raced through Ethan’s body.
Pain dropped him to his knees.
His mind filled with images.
Not memories of humans.
Dragon memories.
Centuries of loneliness.
Eggs that never survived.
Guardians dying one by one.
Humans arriving with weapons.
Richard arriving without one.
And finally—
Ethan.
The Alpha lowered her head.
Their foreheads touched.
The eighth pillar exploded with light.
The seal stabilized.
Maya screamed with joy.
“It worked!”
Then Ethan saw one final image inside the dragon’s mind.
A map.
Not of this glacier.
Of the entire Earth.
Seven glowing points.
Seven prisons.
Six were blue.
May you like
One was red.
And the red one had already opened.
