The night swallows me whole as I flee through the cliffs beyond Mintia’s borders. Wind whips through my hair, and the dragon egg pulses warmth under my cloak like a second heartbeat.

The mountain path grows steeper with every step.

Sharp rocks bite through my thin boots, and the air thins until each breath feels like swallowing ice. The peaks of trees of my homeland rise like jagged teeth against the stars—beautiful and treacherous, just like everything else I’m leaving behind.

Every shadow could be a pursuer. Every sound could mean capture.

But I won’t wait to die. I’d rather be a homeless wanderer or a rogue, than fall victim to my own family’s cruel plan.

“You must keep going, child,” the voice whispers in my mind. “Further. They cannot follow where we’re going.”

“Where exactly is that?”

“Through the coastal territories of Aeloris.”

My blood runs cold. It’s a forbidden territory, filled with monsters. But everyone in Mintia knows those territories have something worse than monsters, because it’s the lands where the High House of the Black Dragon holds absolute dominion.

Our houses have been at war for three generations, ever since Lord Draven’s grandfather slaughtered an entire diplomatic envoy from the High House of Blue Dragon over a disputed egg.

“That’s suicide. Our houses are blood enemies. If they find out who I am—”

“Better a chance at life than certain death. Your family will kill you the moment they find you.”

The dragon is right. Behind me lies a family that wants me dead. Ahead lies danger—but danger means a chance. And right now, a chance is more than I’ve ever been given.

I push harder, lungs burning. The path begins to descend, and I notice the change gradually—rocky alpine terrain giving way to something softer.

The air grows warmer, thicker, carrying salt and sea-spray. Ahead stretches a world of windswept cliffs overlooking dark waters, ancient forests clinging to rocky soil, and the distant gleam of what might be dragon roosts carved into seaside stone.

This is Aeloris, the Black Dragon territory.

And every step takes me deeper into enemy lands.

I’ve heard the stories my whole life. How their riders patrol these borders without mercy. How they execute trespassers and leave the bodies as warnings. How the last Blue Dragon scout who crossed into these lands was returned to us in pieces.

My plan is simple, I tell myself, though nothing about this feels simple.

Cross through without being detected. Reach the neutral lands beyond. Find somewhere I can disappear. Become no one. Let my dragon hatch in peace, far from anyone who might recognize what I carry—or who I really am.

A fragile hope, but it’s all I have.

“Well, look what we have here.”

“Hide me,” the voice in my head urges. “They cannot know what you carry.”

I tuck the egg deeper into my pack, burying it beneath spare clothes. My heart pounds as I pull my cloak tight just as a rough hand seizes my shoulder from behind.

I’m wrenched around to face three men in dark leather armor bearing the Black Dragon sigil. The one holding me is massive—scarred face twisted into a cruel grin.

“Are you lost, sweetheart?” The man asked, already backing me closer to the cliff’s edge.

“I’m just a wanderer. I have nowhere else to go.”

“A wanderer, huh?” Another man behind him scuffed. “What’s a wanderer doing so close to the forbidden zone?”

“Please, don’t!” I plead, feeling how one of my legs is practically hanging over the sea depths under the cliff. “I didn’t mean to.”

The man who’s holding me by my shoulders shoved me a bit further.

“You came here on your own, little one. It was your mistake. So now your body will be an offering for the sirens.”

“No! Please…!”

Then comes one final shove. The world tilts and wind rushes past my ears.

“Welcome to my lands,” a new voice rumbles through my mind—the dragon’s voice, ancient and amused. “But unfortunately he must accept you first. Don’t waste your chance, choose words wisely.”

This is him. Lord Draven. The man whose name Mintia’s children whispers like a curse.

Gods help me…

If he discovers I’m from Blue Dragon, if he finds the dragon egg…

“My name is Evelyn. I’m nobody. Just a wanderer with no House.”

He shoved me forward, forcing me to dismount the dragon.

The moment my feet touched the ground, he swung down from the beast’s massive, scaled back and took position behind me, cutting off any path of retreat with his men and the dragon closing in around me.

When I turned to face him fully, I realized just how much bigger than me he is.

Lord Draven is massive, loomed over me broad and unyielding. His presence pressing down like a living threat, leaving no doubt that I stood exactly where he wanted me—trapped beneath his shadow.

“A wanderer, in my territory.” He tilts his head, studying me like prey, “You expect me to believe that you wandered into Black Dragon territory by accident?” His lip curls. “No one comes here unless they’re desperate or foolish.”

Both. I’m both.

If Draven learns I’m the firstborn daughter of Mintia’s ruling house, he won’t just kill me. He’ll make an example of me. My death would be a gift to his people.

“It’s the truth. I have nothing.”

Draven steps closer, his presence overwhelming. The dragon behind him shifts, violet eyes glowing at me with some kind of curiosity.

“You have one minute,” he says, voice dropping dangerously low, “to convince me why I shouldn’t kill you right here.”

I force myself to meet his eyes despite the terror clawing at my chest with icy fingers. Those onyx depths promise death, but I cannot look away. Cannot show weakness.

“I didn’t come here to cause trouble. I’m just trying to survive.”

“Survive, huh?” he scoffed. “And what makes you feel I care about that?”