But the sky above Ashkar still burned.

Even after the soldiers lowered their weapons…

even after the arrows stopped falling…

the battlefield remained trapped beneath rivers of smoke and fire.

Entire forests beyond the valley had ignited.

Collapsed siege towers continued burning beside mountains of dead armor.

The screams of wounded soldiers echoed faintly through the storm.

And standing at the center of it all—

the barefoot child still trembled beside the dragon cub.

The blue glow around his hands slowly faded.

Exhaustion hit him all at once.

His knees nearly gave out beneath him.

The ancient black dragon immediately lowered its gigantic head closer.

“Careful, little one.”

Its voice no longer sounded terrifying now.

Only ancient.

Tired.

Almost… gentle.

The boy stared silently at the creature.

Up close—

the dragon’s silver eyes no longer looked like a monster’s eyes.

They looked sorrowful.

Like someone who had witnessed centuries of pain.

The child swallowed hard.

“You… know me?”

The dragon remained silent for several seconds.

Then finally—

“Yes.”

Wind swept across the battlefield.

The creature’s massive wings folded slowly behind its colossal body.

“I knew your mother.”

The boy froze.

His heartbeat stopped.

“My… mother?”

The dragon nodded once.

And suddenly—

another memory flashed violently through the child’s mind.

A woman kneeling beside a fireplace.

Soft hands brushing through his messy hair.

A silver necklace shaped like dragon wings.

And her voice whispering:

“No matter what happens… never hate the sky.”

The child gasped softly.

For years—

those memories had been broken fragments inside his head.

Small flashes during nightmares.

Nothing more.

But now—

they felt real.

Painfully real.

The dragon lowered its gaze.

“Queen Elyra of the Dragon Bloodline.”

The battlefield around them went silent again.

Even General Vaelor looked horrified hearing the name.

One older soldier dropped to his knees immediately.

“No…” he whispered shakily.
“She died during the purge…”

The dragon’s eyes darkened.

“That was the lie your king told you.”

The child slowly stepped backward.

Queen?

His mother had been a queen?

None of it made sense.

He had spent his entire life starving in gutters.

Sleeping beside ruined walls.

Running from guards.

Being treated like trash.

How could someone like him possibly belong to royalty?

The dragon suddenly looked toward the distant cliffs.

Its expression hardened instantly.

“Move.”

The child blinked in confusion.

“What—”

BOOOOOOOM.

A massive explosion erupted across the battlefield.

Flames exploded from the cliffs above.

Royal soldiers screamed in panic.

And from the smoke—

gigantic iron chains suddenly launched through the air.

Not toward the dragon.

Toward the child.

The ancient dragon roared instantly.

But the chains moved too fast.

CLANG!

The boy was ripped violently backward as glowing black chains wrapped around his body.

He slammed hard against the muddy ground.

Pain exploded through his ribs.

The dragon cub cried out in terror.

Then—

heavy footsteps echoed through the burning smoke.

THUD.
THUD.
THUD.

A figure emerged slowly from the flames.

Massive black armor covered his body completely.

Dark red fire glowed between the cracks of the steel.

And resting across his shoulder—

was a gigantic execution blade.

General Vaelor’s face turned pale immediately.

“No…” he whispered.
“He’s alive…”

The armored giant stopped walking.

His burning eyes locked onto the child.

“The heir survives after all.”

The battlefield trembled beneath his voice.

The ancient dragon snarled furiously.

“Malgrim.”

The child stared upward in confusion.

The armored warrior slowly removed his helmet.

Burn scars covered half his face.

One eye had been replaced by glowing crimson fire.

But the thing that terrified the child most—

was the silver dragon-shaped mark burned into the man’s neck.

The same mark the child carried.

The same mark the dragon cub carried.

Malgrim smiled coldly.

“Yes,” he said softly.
“I carry the blood too.”

The battlefield erupted into horrified whispers.

The child’s breathing became uneven.

Another Dragon Blood?

But the dragon’s expression turned murderous.

“You betrayed your own family.”

Malgrim’s smile widened.

“Family?” he laughed darkly.
“They abandoned me.”

Fire spread beneath his feet.

“For centuries our bloodline protected humans.”

His voice became louder.

“And what did humans give us in return?”

He pointed toward the battlefield around them.

Burning corpses.

Destroyed cities.

Dead dragons.

“They hunted us like animals.”

The ancient dragon growled deeply.

“So you became the very monster they feared.”

Malgrim slowly turned toward the child again.

“But this boy…” he whispered.
“He changes everything.”

The chains around the child suddenly tightened painfully.

The boy cried out.

Blue energy flickered weakly across his skin.

Malgrim stepped closer.

“You don’t understand your power yet, little prince.”

The child stared at him silently.

“The royal blood inside you,” Malgrim continued,
“can awaken the Heart Flame.”

Even the ancient dragon suddenly looked alarmed.

“No…” it growled.
“You cannot mean to—”

“Oh, I do.”

Malgrim pointed toward the storm clouds above Ashkar.

Hidden within the rotating sky—

something gigantic slowly moved.

At first—

the child thought it was another cloud.

Then lightning flashed.

And the battlefield froze in terror.

An enormous black fortress floated high above the kingdom itself.

A flying citadel.

Covered in chains.

Powered by rivers of crimson fire.

The child’s eyes widened.

“What… is that?”

Malgrim smiled.

“The Dragon Throne.”

The ancient dragon immediately spread its wings protectively.

“You’ll destroy the world!”

Malgrim’s expression darkened.

“No,” he whispered.
“I’ll rebuild it.”

Suddenly—

the floating fortress above the kingdom began glowing brighter.

The sky itself started cracking apart with red lightning.

Entire mountains shook violently.

Villages beyond the battlefield erupted into panic.

The child stared upward horrified.

He could feel something calling to him from inside the floating fortress.

Something ancient.

Something alive.

Then suddenly—

the silver mark on his arm began burning.

AAAAHHH!

The child screamed and collapsed to the ground.

Visions exploded through his mind again.

Dragons flying across endless skies.

A gigantic crystal hidden beneath an ancient throne.

His mother crying while placing her hands against his face.

“You must never awaken the Heart Flame…”

Then—

another voice.

A man’s voice.

“If Malgrim finds the prince… Ashkar dies.”

The child opened his eyes violently.

The dragon cub beside him whimpered anxiously.

The ancient dragon stepped forward.

“Listen to me carefully,” it said urgently.
“The Heart Flame is not a weapon.”

Malgrim laughed.

“That is exactly what weak rulers always believed.”

The chains suddenly lifted the child into the air.

The boy struggled desperately.

“LET ME GO!”

Malgrim looked up toward the floating fortress.

“Once the prince awakens the Heart Flame…” he whispered,
“every dragon in existence will kneel.”

The dragon cub suddenly roared.

A tiny roar—

but filled with fury.

Before anyone could react—

the wounded little creature lunged directly at Malgrim’s face.

Its tiny claws slashed across his burned eye.

Malgrim staggered backward roaring in rage.

The chains loosened instantly.

The child crashed back into the mud.

The ancient dragon exploded into motion.

BOOOOOOOOM!

Its massive tail smashed across the battlefield like a hurricane.

Entire sections of burning ground shattered apart.

Malgrim was thrown backward through a collapsing siege tower.

The child immediately grabbed the dragon cub protectively.

The small creature trembled violently in his arms.

“You came back for me…” the boy whispered in shock.

The cub weakly pressed its head against him.

Then—

the floating fortress above Ashkar suddenly fired.

A gigantic crimson beam exploded downward from the sky.

The battlefield vanished beneath red light.

The ancient dragon roared instantly.

“RUN!”

The child sprinted across the collapsing battlefield with the dragon cub in his arms.

The crimson beam slammed into the valley behind him.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The world exploded.

Mountains shattered.

Entire rivers evaporated instantly.

Thousands of soldiers were thrown screaming through the air.

The child barely avoided the blast wave before crashing behind broken stone ruins.

The dragon cub cried painfully.

Dust and smoke swallowed everything.

Then—

heavy footsteps emerged again.

Malgrim walked slowly through the destruction.

Completely unharmed.

Red fire flowed across his armor.

“You cannot run from destiny, prince.”

The child backed away slowly.

Fear consumed him.

He wasn’t a warrior.

He wasn’t a king.

He was just a starving orphan.

Malgrim extended one hand toward him.

“Come willingly,” he said softly.
“And I’ll spare this kingdom.”

The child looked around.

The battlefield had become hell again.

Burning soldiers.

Destroyed land.

Dragons screaming in the sky.

All because of him.

Tears filled his eyes.

Maybe surrendering really would save everyone.

Then—

a weak voice spoke beside him.

The dragon cub.

“No…”

The child froze.

The small dragon looked up at him trembling.

Its voice sounded faint inside his mind.

“Don’t… trust him…”

The boy stared in disbelief.

“You can talk?!”

“Not with words…” the cub answered weakly.
“With souls.”

The child’s eyes widened.

The cub slowly pressed its forehead against his.

And suddenly—

the child saw everything.

Not memories.

Truth.

Malgrim standing beside burning dragon eggs.

Malgrim murdering members of his own bloodline.

Malgrim secretly manipulating the human king into starting the Dragon Purge.

Malgrim feeding dragon fire into the floating fortress for decades.

And finally—

the worst truth of all.

The Heart Flame did not control dragons.

It consumed them.

It would drain every dragon soul alive—

to make one ruler into a god.

The child gasped in horror.

Malgrim smiled darkly.

“You’ve seen it now.”

The boy slowly stood.

Anger replaced fear inside his chest.

“You killed them,” he whispered.

Malgrim spread his arms calmly.

“I saved our future.”

“You murdered children!”

“I created survival!”

The battlefield trembled violently again.

The floating fortress descended lower from the storm clouds.

Its shadow swallowed Ashkar entirely.

Malgrim stepped forward.

“The world fears dragons,” he said coldly.
“So I will build a world where nobody can threaten us again.”

The child looked at the dragon cub beside him.

Then toward the ancient dragon struggling across the ruined battlefield.

Then toward the terrified soldiers and burning kingdom around them.

And finally—

he understood.

Power was not what made monsters.

Fear was.

The boy slowly raised his glowing hand.

Blue fire spread across his skin again.

But this time—

it felt different.

Warmer.

Alive.

The dragon cub’s silver eyes widened.

“The Heart Flame…”

The child closed his eyes.

And instead of rage—

he thought about every person he had ever lost.

Every lonely night.

Every act of cruelty.

And every small act of kindness too.

The old woman who once secretly gave him bread.

The injured soldier who spared him years ago.

The dragon cub risking its life for him moments earlier.

The warmth inside his chest exploded outward.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Blue fire erupted into the sky.

But unlike Malgrim’s crimson flames—

this fire did not destroy.

It healed.

The burning battlefield froze into glowing silver crystal.

Wounded soldiers suddenly stopped bleeding.

Dead forests bloomed with blue flowers beneath the storm.

Even the storm clouds above Ashkar split apart.

Sunlight finally pierced through the darkness.

Malgrim’s smile vanished completely.

“What… have you done?”

The child opened glowing silver eyes.

“The real Heart Flame,” he whispered,
“was never made to rule dragons.”

The floating fortress above Ashkar suddenly began collapsing.

Crimson chains shattered apart one by one.

Because the fortress had never been powered by dragon fire.

It had been powered by suffering.

And the Heart Flame had just freed every trapped soul inside it.

Thousands of glowing dragon spirits erupted from the collapsing citadel.

The sky became an ocean of silver light.

Malgrim stared upward in horror.

“No…” he whispered.
“No! THEY BELONG TO ME!”

The spirits ignored him.

One by one—

they descended toward the child.

Not as weapons.

As family.

The ancient dragon lowered its head proudly.

“The true king…” it whispered.

Malgrim screamed and charged forward desperately.

But suddenly—

the dragon cub stepped in front of the child.

The tiny wounded creature spread its broken wings.

And roared.

A tiny roar.

Yet every dragon spirit in the sky answered instantly.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Silver fire consumed Malgrim completely.

His scream echoed once—

then vanished forever.

Silence fell across Ashkar.

The war ended.

The floating fortress crumbled into harmless light above the kingdom.

And beneath the clearing sky—

the barefoot orphan stood surrounded by dragons.

Not as their ruler.

As their protector.

Then softly—

the dragon cub rubbed against his leg again.

The child laughed through tears.

And for the first time in centuries—

both humans and dragons looked toward the same sunrise together.