Dragon's Graveyard: The First Dragon's

The Dragon’s Grave Bloom pointed toward the mountains.

Joey stood beside Cassandra, staring at the small stasis device in her hand.

Inside, the pale blue flower continued to glow.

Its petals pulsed softly, almost like a heartbeat.

Behemoth looked toward the distant mountains.

“We are getting close.”

Joey adjusted the straps on his pack.

“How close?”

Behemoth studied the bloom.

“I don't know.”

Joey frowned.

“You don't know?”

“The magic here is too old. The closer we get, the more difficult it will be to determine distance.”

Cassandra looked toward the mountains.

“That sounds reassuring.”

“It wasn't intended to.”

Joey sighed.

“Everybody keeps saying that.”

Behemoth started walking.

Joey and Cassandra followed.

For the first hour, nothing seemed different.

The terrain remained rough, but manageable. The mountains ahead slowly grew larger, and the Dragon’s Grave Bloom continued pointing toward them.

Then Joey noticed something.

He stopped walking.

Cassandra immediately turned.

“What?”

Joey rubbed his arms.

“I don't know.”

“You cold?”

“No.”

He looked around.

The air wasn't particularly cold.

If anything, it felt warmer.

Joey rubbed his arms again.

“It feels like static.”

Behemoth stopped ahead of them.

“Describe it.”

“Like...”

Joey struggled to find the right words.

“Like the air is crawling across my skin.”

Behemoth's expression changed slightly.

“The ancient magic is beginning to reach you.”

Cassandra immediately looked at him.

“You said it wouldn't affect him until we got closer.”

“I said I did not know when it would begin.”

She frowned.

“So what happens now?”

Behemoth looked at Joey.

“That depends on him.”

Joey raised an eyebrow.

“That's encouraging.”

Behemoth turned and continued walking.

Joey looked at Cassandra.

“Apparently I'm the variable.”

“You're always the variable.”

“Thanks.”

She smiled.

“You're welcome.”

They continued.

---

The sensation became stronger.

At first it was only a strange tingling.

Then Joey began hearing something.

A low vibration.

Almost too faint to notice.

He stopped again.

Cassandra turned.

“What now?”

“Do you hear that?”

She listened.

“No.”

Joey looked toward Behemoth.

The celestial kirin had stopped as well.

“You hear it?”

Behemoth nodded.

“What is it?”

“I don't know.”

Joey listened harder.

The sound seemed to come from everywhere.

The ground.

The mountains.

The bones beneath their feet.

It wasn't really a sound.

It was more like a vibration he could feel inside his chest.

Then it disappeared.

Joey blinked.

“It's gone.”

Behemoth looked at him.

“It will return.”

“How do you know?”

“Because the magic has noticed you.”

Joey didn't particularly like the way he said that.

“What does that mean?”

Behemoth looked toward the mountains.

“We'll find out.”

---

They continued.

The terrain became increasingly strange.

The enormous dragon bones became more numerous.

Some were embedded in the mountainside.

Others lay scattered across the valley.

Several enormous skulls had been arranged in a rough circle around a flat section of ground.

Joey slowed as they passed.

“Did someone put those there?”

Behemoth examined them.

“No.”

“They just happened to land like that?”

“Perhaps.”

Joey looked at Cassandra.

“That's not an answer.”

“No,” Behemoth said. “It isn't.”

The bloom suddenly pulsed.

Cassandra looked down.

The light inside the stasis device had intensified.

Behemoth glanced at it.

“Keep moving.”

They did.

A few minutes later, Joey stumbled.

Cassandra caught him.

“Joey.”

“I’m fine.”

“You almost fell.”

“I stepped wrong.”

She looked at him skeptically.

Joey straightened.

“I'm fine.”

Cassandra didn't argue.

But she stayed closer to him.

---

Another hour passed.

Joey's symptoms became harder to ignore.

His skin felt hot.

His head began to ache.

His vision occasionally blurred at the edges.

Every few minutes, he had to stop and take a deep breath.

Cassandra noticed.

“Maybe we should rest.”

“We can rest when we get there.”

“We don't know how far it is.”

Joey looked at the mountains.

“Then we'll find out.”

Behemoth glanced back.

“Joey.”

Joey looked at him.

“If the magic becomes too strong, we stop.”

Joey nodded.

“Fine.”

Cassandra gave him a look.

“That wasn't very convincing.”

“I agreed.”

“You agreed because you knew we weren't going to stop.”

Joey smiled faintly.

“You know me too well.”

“That is exactly what worries me.”

---

They climbed.

The path became steeper.

Joey's breathing became heavier.

The strange vibration returned.

This time it was much louder.

Joey grabbed his head.

“God.”

Cassandra immediately caught him.

“What is it?”

“It's loud.”

“What is?”

“The...”

He looked around.

“Everything.”

Cassandra looked at Behemoth.

“He's getting worse.”

Behemoth nodded.

Joey closed his eyes.

For a moment, he saw something.

A dragon.

Not a skeleton.

Alive.

Massive golden scales covered its body.

Its wings stretched across a sky filled with fire.

Joey opened his eyes.

The vision disappeared.

He stumbled.

Cassandra grabbed him.

“What did you see?”

Joey looked at her.

“A dragon.”

Behemoth's expression hardened.

“What kind?”

“I don't know.”

“Describe it.”

Joey tried.

“Gold. Huge. It was flying.”

Behemoth stared at him.

“That wasn't a memory.”

Joey swallowed.

“Then what was it?”

“The magic showing you what it remembers.”

Joey looked around.

“Why me?”

Behemoth didn't answer immediately.

“Because it recognizes something in you.”

Joey shook his head.

“That's not helpful.”

“It is the truth.”

---

They continued.

Joey's steps became slower.

Cassandra offered her arm.

He accepted it.

At first he only leaned against her occasionally.

Then more frequently.

The heat beneath his skin intensified.

His headache became a pounding pressure.

His ears rang.

He began seeing flashes of light whenever he blinked.

The ancient magic wasn't simply surrounding him anymore.

It was pushing against him.

Testing him.

Searching him.

Joey could feel it.

And he hated it.

“Stop.”

Cassandra looked at him.

“What?”

Joey looked toward the mountains.

“Nothing.”

“You said stop.”

“I wasn't talking to you.”

Cassandra frowned.

“Who were you talking to?”

Joey didn't answer.

---

The path narrowed.

They crossed another field of enormous bones.

Halfway through, Joey suddenly dropped to one knee.

Cassandra caught him before he hit the ground.

“Joey!”

“I’m okay.”

“No, you're not.”

He tried to stand.

His legs shook.

Cassandra held him.

Behemoth approached.

“This is becoming dangerous.”

Joey looked up at him.

“How much farther?”

“I don't know.”

“Then keep moving.”

Cassandra stared at him.

“You can barely stand.”

“I can stand.”

Joey pushed himself upright.

He nearly collapsed again.

Cassandra caught him.

“That's enough.”

“No.”

“Joey.”

“No.”

His voice was weak, but firm.

“We came here for the magic.”

Cassandra shook her head.

“We came here to stop Leviathan. We're not killing you to do it.”

“We don't know that this will kill me.”

“We don't know that it won't.”

Joey looked at Behemoth.

“Can I make it?”

Behemoth was silent.

Joey waited.

Finally, Behemoth said:

“I don't know.”

Joey nodded.

“Then we're still going.”

Cassandra stared at him.

“You are unbelievably stubborn.”

Joey managed a weak smile.

“Yeah.”

She shook her head.

“Fine.”

She moved closer and put his arm around her shoulders.

“But I'm helping.”

Joey nodded.

“Okay.”

---

They climbed again.

The mountains had become enormous now.

The air itself seemed to glow.

The bones beneath their feet were no longer ordinary white.

They had begun to shine with faint blue light.

Joey's breathing became ragged.

Every step seemed to require more effort.

His muscles felt as though they were filled with lead.

Then the ground pulsed.

Joey stopped.

A wave of energy moved through him.

He gasped.

Cassandra grabbed him.

“Joey?”

He stared ahead.

For a second, he wasn't seeing the mountain.

He was seeing thousands of dragons.

An army.

Massive creatures flying through the sky.

Dragons fighting.

Dragons dying.

Fire covering the horizon.

Then another image.

A single dragon standing beneath a mountain.

Ancient.

Powerful.

Alone.

Joey blinked.

The vision vanished.

His knees buckled.

Cassandra caught him.

Behemoth hurried toward them.

“Joey.”

Joey tried to speak.

Nothing came out.

His body shook.

Cassandra held him tightly.

“That's it.”

Joey finally managed to speak.

“Almost.”

“You don't know that.”

“The magic is stronger.”

Behemoth looked toward the mountain.

He could feel it now.

Even he couldn't hide the change in his expression.

“We're close.”

Cassandra looked at him.

“How close?”

Behemoth pointed.

“Beyond that ridge.”

Joey looked toward it.

He couldn't see anything.

But he could feel it.

The pressure was enormous.

It seemed to fill the entire world.

Joey took a step.

His leg nearly gave out.

Cassandra caught him.

“You're done.”

“No.”

“You can't walk.”

“I can.”

He tried again.

This time he fell against her.

Cassandra tightened her grip.

“Joey.”

“I can make it.”

“You don't have to prove anything.”

Joey looked at her.

“I'm not proving anything.”

His voice was barely above a whisper.

“I just need to get there.”

Cassandra looked into his eyes.

She knew she wasn't going to convince him.

So she helped him forward.

---

The ridge was closer now.

But every step became harder.

Joey's vision blurred.

His breathing became shallow.

His arms trembled.

The magic was no longer merely surrounding him.

It was inside him.

He could feel something ancient moving through his blood.

His heart pounded.

Then slowed.

Then pounded again.

He nearly collapsed.

Cassandra caught him.

“Joey!”

He couldn't answer.

Behemoth turned.

“We need to stop.”

Joey shook his head.

Behemoth looked at him.

“You cannot continue like this.”

Joey forced his eyes open.

“We're almost there.”

“Yes.”

“Then keep going.”

Behemoth stared at him.

Finally, he nodded.

“Very well.”

Cassandra looked furious.

“If he dies—”

“He won't.”

“You don't know that.”

“No.”

Behemoth looked at Joey.

“But he has come this far.”

They continued.

---

They reached the top of the ridge.

Joey stopped.

Cassandra looked past him.

Then she froze.

Below them was a massive circular valley.

The entire area was surrounded by enormous ancient dragon bones.

At the center stood a vast circle carved into the stone.

The markings were unlike anything Joey had ever seen.

Blue-white energy flowed through the symbols.

It rose from the ground in thin streams.

Then disappeared into the air.

At the center of the circle stood the remains of something enormous.

Not one dragon.

Many.

The bones of the first dragons had been arranged around the circle as though they had been deliberately placed there.

Behemoth stared.

For the first time since Joey had met him, he looked genuinely overwhelmed.

“This is it.”

Joey could barely hear him.

“What?”

“The first dragons.”

Joey stared down into the valley.

The pressure became unbearable.

His legs gave out.

Cassandra caught him before he hit the ground.

“Joey!”

He tried to stand.

He couldn't.

His body simply refused.

Cassandra lowered him carefully to the ground.

His breathing was shallow.

His eyes struggled to stay open.

Behemoth approached.

“The magic is overwhelming him.”

Cassandra looked at him.

“Can you help him?”

Behemoth knelt beside Joey.

“I can keep the surrounding energy from killing him.”

“That isn't what I asked.”

Behemoth looked at Joey.

“No.”

Cassandra's expression hardened.

“Then what do we do?”

Behemoth looked toward the enormous circle below.

“We get him there.”

Cassandra stared at him.

“He can't walk.”

“I know.”

She looked down at Joey.

His face was pale.

His entire body trembled.

He tried to push himself upright.

Cassandra stopped him.

“No.”

Joey looked at her.

“We made it.”

“Yes.”

He smiled weakly.

“We made it.”

His eyes closed.

Cassandra immediately touched his face.

“Joey?”

His eyes opened again.

“I’m still here.”

Cassandra pulled him against her.

“I know.”

Behemoth stood.

He looked down into the valley.

The ancient circle was beginning to glow brighter.

The first dragons' magic had awakened.

And it was waiting.

Behemoth looked back at Joey.

“Then we begin.”

Cassandra tightened her arms around Joey.

“Begin what?”

Behemoth's golden eyes remained fixed on the circle.

“The part where we find out whether the magic will accept him.”

Joey heard the words.

Barely.

But he smiled.

“Guess...”

He struggled to breathe.

“...we're about to find out.”

His eyes closed again.

Cassandra held him tightly.

Behemoth looked toward the ancient magic below.

The journey was over.

The real trial was about to begin.