Episode 16 — The Awakening Beneath the Ice
The battlefield stood frozen.
Literally.
Snow hung motionless in the air.
Ice crystals shimmered like stars.
Thousands of warriors stared upward.
Toward Nyrax.
Toward the gigantic spectral dragon behind him.
Toward a power nobody understood.
The Frost Tyrant slowly lowered his head.
A Dragon King.
Bowing.
To a hatchling.
Commander Vaelor stared in disbelief.
"No..."
"This cannot be happening."
Far across the battlefield—
The Shadow Lord's smile vanished.
For the first time since arriving at the Frozen Pass...
He looked concerned.
The gigantic spectral dragon behind Nyrax released a roar.
Not through sound.
Through reality itself.
Ancient.
Royal.
Absolute.
Deep beneath the mountains—
Something answered.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The entire Frozen Pass shook.
Cracks spread across the battlefield.
Avalanches thundered down distant peaks.
The earth itself seemed alive.
"What was that?"
Kai shouted.
No one answered.
Because nobody knew.
Then the Frost Tyrant spoke.
And for the first time...
The mighty Dragon King sounded afraid.
"He wakes."
The Shadow Lord immediately reacted.
"STOP IT!"
His voice thundered across the canyon.
Every corrupted dragon launched toward Nyrax simultaneously.
Hundreds.
The Void Dragon roared.
Shadow beasts charged.
The entire Shadow Legion surged forward.
They weren't attacking the Frost Tyrant anymore.
They were attacking Nyrax.
Kai's heart raced.
"Why?"
The answer came from Veyrath.
The voice echoed inside his mind.
"Because they fear what is coming."
The Heart of Winter pulsed again.
Blue energy erupted from Nyrax's chest.
The spectral dragon grew larger.
Its wings stretched across the sky.
Then—
The ice beneath the battlefield exploded.
BOOOOOOOM!
A mountain-sized pillar of ice erupted from the ground.
Warriors were thrown backward.
Dragons scattered.
Entire sections of the canyon collapsed.
And from beneath the frozen earth...
Something emerged.
A claw.
Gigantic.
Ancient.
Covered in crystal armor.
Larger than castles.
Then another.
The battlefield became silent.
Slowly—
A colossal dragon pulled itself from beneath the world.
Its scales looked like living sapphire crystal.
Ancient runes glowed beneath translucent armor.
Gigantic crystal horns curved backward from its skull.
Its wings alone stretched farther than the entire canyon.
Its eyes opened.
Brilliant silver.
Older than kingdoms.
Older than empires.
Older than memory.
The Frost Tyrant immediately knelt.
Every dragon followed.
Thousands of dragons.
All kneeling.
Kai stared in disbelief.
"What is that?"
The answer came from Veyrath.
"Aurelion."
"The Crystal King."
"First of the Seven Dragon Kings."
The Crystal Dragon slowly looked across the battlefield.
Toward the Shadow Legion.
Toward the Void Dragon.
Toward the Shadow Lord.
Then it spoke.
The mountains trembled.
The sky darkened.
Reality bent around its voice.
"YOU RETURN."
The Shadow Lord drew his sword.
Dark flames erupted across the blade.
"Your age is over."
The Crystal King stared silently.
Then laughed.
The sound shattered glaciers.
"You said that before."
Suddenly—
The Shadow Lord attacked.
BOOM!
Darkness exploded across the battlefield.
A slash of black energy crossed the canyon.
Large enough to destroy a city.
The Crystal King didn't move.
The attack struck his chest.
Nothing happened.
The entire battlefield froze.
Even the Shadow Lord looked shocked.
Then the Crystal King raised one claw.
Just one.
And flicked it forward.
BOOOOOOM!
A tsunami of crystal energy erupted across the battlefield.
Mountains shattered.
Shadow creatures vanished instantly.
Corrupted dragons were thrown from the sky.
The Shadow Legion was torn apart.
The Void Dragon screamed.
The Shadow Lord barely blocked the attack.
Yet he was still launched hundreds of feet backward.
Crashing through cliffs.
Vanishing beneath an avalanche.
Silence followed.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The Crystal King slowly turned toward Kai.
Then toward Nyrax.
Its ancient eyes softened.
"At last."
"The Kingblood lives."
The Heart of Winter glowed brighter than ever.
Nyrax stepped forward.
The two dragons stared at one another.
Ancient king.
Future king.
Then suddenly—
A scream echoed across the battlefield.
The Void Dragon.
Its body was changing.
Dark energy erupted from its scales.
Crimson cracks spread across its flesh.
Its bones twisted.
Its wings expanded.
The creature roared in agony.
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And somewhere beneath the rubble...
The Shadow Lord began laughing.
