Prologue
A lone dragon drifted west into the crimson sky.
Its great wings beat weakly, its shattered body dragging behind it.
Watching it depart was its son. He stood upright on two legs, almost human in form—yet twice the size of any man. Armor clad his massive frame, and in his scaled hand he gripped his favored greatsword, its blade slick with blood.
The blade that had struck down his own father burned redder than the sunset itself.
Around him, the soldiers of the Royal Guard of the Kingdom of Imresia roared in triumph.
They had driven back Dracotyrannus—the dragon of doom that had descended upon them.
Andri Chaire turned.
He was the son of Dracotyrannus—half man, half dragon—and yet he stood with men.
Behind him rose the Royal Palace of Imresnople, built upon sheer cliffs of jagged stone. From its balcony, those at his side had watched the battle. His elder brother—human, though they shared the same mother—gave a firm, proud nod.
There were eyes upon him. As Crown Prince, heir to the throne of Imresia, he had to honor the victory.
And yet—the hand gripping the railing trembled, just slightly.
Andri did not miss it.
…Your Highness.
To protect the Kingdom, the prince had sent his own younger brother against his father, the dracotyrannus.
There had been no other path. There had never been.
Beside him stood another presence—far larger, far greater. A Dracoserpens whose form dwarfed even the prince, more than twice his size.
The Empress of Tatsuno, the Realm of Dracoserpens.
Even she held back tears.
She had led Andri here, though he bore the same scales as the Dracotyrannus they fought. And now, regret lingered in her gaze—sharp, unmistakable. She had fallen short of giving that lonely Dracotyrannus a place to belong—nor could she turn Andri from the path that drove him to raise his blade against his own father.
Imresia and the Tatsuno had forged an alliance. Together, they would stand against the Dracotyrannus that threatened to bring ruin to the world.
The soldiers gathered around Andri, unable to contain their excitement, reaching for him as if to share in the victory he had won.
Andri smiled. He praised them, one by one, showing them nothing of what lay within.
It was a habit he had learned only recently. For most of his life, there had been no one before whom he could lay bare his thoughts—no reason to smile.
Now, he was surrounded by comrades, by his brother—the Crown Prince, who always watched over him—and by the Dracoserpens, who had taken him in and offered him protection and affection.
He was no longer alone. He should not have been.
And still, his gaze drifted west, where the sky burned red. Even to his draconic sight, the Dracotyrannus had already faded beyond reach.
To say he did not feel the loss would be a lie.
The Dracoserpens had welcomed him, but they were only kin in kind. He had earned the trust of humans, but they were still another race.
The only one who shared his scales—his kind—was gone.
And yet, there was still something Andri had to do.
He looked up at the balcony. He brought his heels together and offered his deepest salute to the Empress of Dracoserpens and to the Crown Prince of Imresia.
Your Majesty. Your Highness… please. Do not grieve for me. I will endure.
They had always cared for him, and even now, they still suffered for his sake.
This was all that could be done. Father would bear this as well.
He kept those words unspoken, buried deep within his heart.
And then—a memory stirred.
Distant. Faint.
The beginning of everything.
That early summer morning—the day the Empress of Dracoserpens and her retinue first came to Imresia from Tatsuno.
