The Dragon King and His Fallen Star novel Chapter 129

Chapter 129: The Final Window

KIERYGAN’S POV

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The island began to sink just as Scylla had warned. Stone groaned, low and terrible, while water frothed violently around the jagged edges.

I narrowed my eyes on the retreating boat, searching for any sign of the Morens. But there was nothing. No movement. No figures emerging from the fortress. They were still inside, doing gods knew what.

I turned to Scylla and Ulyanna. “What happens,” I asked, my voice cold and clipped, “if they don’t make it out before the island disappears beneath the water?”

Neither witch looked at me. Their eyes were locked on the slowly vanishing citadel.

Scylla looked pale, stricken. Ulyanna’s face was carved from granite, but I knew her well enough to notice the tremor in her fingers, tightening where they gripped the collar of her

cloak.

“Then they’ll be dragged down with it,” Ulyanna said quietly. “Sealed within. Until someone of their blood comes to wake the island again.”

A silence fell, broken only by the churn of the waves. Beside me, Eirlys turned her face up toward mine. Her eyes were wide, panic swimming in their depths. “There aren’t any others of Moren blood… are there?” she asked, her voice small and urgent.

I held her gaze, trying to lend her steadiness, though my own gut twisted. “None that I know

of.”

Her breath caught. I watched her fingers curl tighter around the strap of her satchel. “Then they’ll be trapped forever,” she whispered. Her voice trembled.

Half of the citadel’s door was already swallowed by the rising water. And still, there was no sign of them.

I clenched my fists.

To hell with the grimoire. If they didn’t come out soon, they wouldn’t just fail, they’d be lost to the depths.

I felt Eirlys’ trembling arm brush against mine, as if seeking anchor. “There must be something we can do,” she whispered, her voice thin, but urgent. Her eyes darted towards Ulyanna and Scylla.

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Scylla’s face had gone paler. She shook her head. “If anyone interferes, it’ll only make the island sink faster.”

Ulyanna spoke next, her tone flat, carved from stone. But I caught the flicker of fear behind it. “She’s right. And the tower won’t release them until the task is complete.”

I ground my teeth until I tasted blood. “So we just stand here and watch?”

“There’s nothing more we can do,” Ulyanna said, her eyes narrowing on me. “They’ll make it. They’re among the strongest and most cunning beings to ever walk this world. You, of all people, should know that.”

I wanted to believe her. But waiting had never been my strength. Action was.

Even in exile, it was Evander, Orryx, and Callum who were always pulling me back, always the ones stopping me from doing something reckless.

A growl rumbled low in my chest. “I only want a closer look.”

Ulyanna’s lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t stop me. “Fine,” she said tightly. “But do not step onto the island. Do not go near the fortress. The wards will not forgive you.”

I didn’t bother with a reply.

My body shifted before her words had fully faded-bones lengthening, sinew stretching, wings snapping outward with violent force. Stone groaned beneath my talons as I launched into the air, the rush of wind scattering mist and loose dust in my wake.

A cry rang out below. “Kierygan!”

I faltered mid-beat.

Eirlys stood at the dock’s edge-small and fragile against the vastness, hair whipping wildly around her face, eyes wide with panic that struck me like a blade to the chest. “I want to

come with you.”

I roared in answer. A warning: No. You’re staying.

But she didn’t flinch. She looked up at me, pleading, resolute, like she’d already decided she would walk into the water herself if I left her behind.

“Please,” she said.

A curse tore from my throat, a screech splitting the sky in frustration. I circled once, twice, exasperation burning through my blood. And then I dove. My talons closed around her gently, cradling her weight. And we rose.

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The lake churned beneath me as I carried her, her small form pressed tightly against my chest, shielded by wings and scale. Two powerful strokes brought us soaring over the dark waters, the air thick with the stench of old, unraveling magic.

The fortress loomed ahead-half-submerged, its second floor already claimed by the lake. The third, its last, shuddered, stone groaning as if deciding whether to endure or surrender.

I circled once, wings slicing through mist, and angled toward a high window. A faint shimmer of the wards still clung stubbornly to the stone like cobwebs. Through the glass, I caught sight of King Lucius, Draven, and Evander-seated before a round table, eerily still.

Their expressions were grave, yet unsettlingly calm, as if the rising floodwaters meant nothing. They bent over a shifting puzzle, pieces gliding beneath their pale fingers, lips moving soundlessly in ancient incantations.

Then Eirlys stirred in my grasp. Her voice broke through the wind and storm like a crack of thunder. “They were here again.”

Her breath hitched. “Morwenna and Mirael. That’s why the island got angry.”

A growl rumbled deep in my chest, and exploded into the air as a furious screech.

The window groaned under the weight of rising waters, seconds from being devoured. And then finally, something snapped.

The ward broke in a jagged flare of magic, the protective barrier shattering like glass under pressure. They’d solved the puzzle.

But the victory came too late.

The lake surged inward. A violent torrent smashed through the window, flooding the chamber. The three vampires were thrown back, their bodies slamming against stone and

steel.

They fought against it, paddling with supernatural speed, but even their strength could not match the fury of the water, or the enchantments dragging them down.

The tower screamed. Stone cracked. The final window would vanish within moments.

And then… there was light.

It erupted across my scales, blinding and pure. I didn’t need to look to know where it came from. But I glanced down anyway.

Eirlys.

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This time, her glow didn’t just bloom from her skin, it consumed her. Her eyes blazed gold, brighter than the sun, her body blazing with a divine, terrifying radiance.

She reached out with trembling fingers, splayed toward the sinking fortress.

And the water obeyed.

It parted with a thunderous roar, a great corridor of air cleaving the lake in two. A trembling, translucent path opened from the depths-a gateway carved by light and will.

The lake bowed to her power, held at bay by the magic surging through her veins. But the tower kept sinking. And I feared they wouldn’t make it-fast as they were.

Then Eirlys screamed. A sound torn from her soul, raw and blood-curdling.

And the fortress stilled. Just for a heartbeat.

But it was enough.

King Lucius moved first, dragging Draven and Evander with him. They climbed through the collapsing window just as the citadel shuddered one final time-and disappeared into the !abyss below.

In the blink of an eye, they vanished from sight, phasing across the distance to the far docks where Ulyanna and Scylla waited.

As soon as they were clear, Eirlys’ light began to fade. The gold in her eyes dulled to violet, then vanished altogether as her body went limp in my grasp.

Panic gripped me. Without hesitation, I beat my wings hard and flew for shore.

I landed in a rush of wind. Evander rushed forward, catching her as I gently laid her down and shifted back into myself.

He pressed his fingers to her neck. “She’s alive,” he said softly. “Just drained.”

I took her from him, gathering her into my arms. Her head lolled against my shoulder, breath faint but steady.

She had stopped the lake. She had saved them. But it cost her.

King Lucius stepped closer, his eyes settling on the unconscious girl cradled in my arms. His expression softened, a rare sight, as if he beheld something both perilous and precious.

“Once again,” he murmured, “this little fae has surprised me.”

I looked down at Eirlys, her face pale against the crook of my arm. “That makes two of us,

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<Chapter 129: The Final Window

King Lucius.” My voice came out rougher than I’d meant.

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