For hundreds of years, the people of Valeria believed the dragons were gone.
Not sleeping.
Not hiding.
Gone.
Their bones still rested beneath the mountains, and ancient statues still guarded the gates of forgotten cities, but no living person had seen a dragon with their own eyes.
To most people, they had become nothing more than stories.
Stories told beside fires.
Stories parents whispered to children.
Stories about an age when enormous wings covered the sky and dragon riders protected the kingdoms of men.
But there was one place where those stories had never completely died.
Far beyond the northern mountains stood an ancient fortress known as Dragonwatch.
The fortress had once been home to the Order of the Dragon Keepers — warriors, scholars and mages who had dedicated their lives to protecting the bond between humans and dragons.
Now only one keeper remained.
His name was Eldrin.
His hair had turned white decades earlier.
His armor had rusted.
His hands shook when he lifted his staff.
But Eldrin remembered something the rest of the kingdom had forgotten.
The dragons were not extinct.
One was still alive.
And it had been waiting.
The secret began to unravel when a young warrior named Lyra arrived at Dragonwatch with her younger sister.
They had traveled for days through frozen mountain passes after discovering an ancient symbol carved into a stone near their village.
Lyra had seen the symbol before.
It appeared in her dreams.
A circle surrounded by wings.
And every time she dreamed of it, she heard the same sound.
A dragon calling from somewhere beyond the mountains.
She initially dismissed the dreams.
Dragons belonged to legends.
But then strange things began happening.
Animals became restless whenever she approached.
Fire sometimes flickered blue around her hands.
And one night, Lyra looked toward the mountains and saw something enormous moving through the clouds.
That was when she decided to find the truth.
At Dragonwatch, Eldrin listened silently as she explained everything.
When she finished, the old keeper didn’t look surprised.
Instead, he turned toward the enormous windows overlooking the frozen valley.
“You came later than I expected,” he said.
Lyra stared at him.
“You knew I was coming?”
Eldrin smiled.
“I didn’t.”
Then he looked toward the shadows behind him.
“But he did.”
A soft growl echoed through the chamber.
Lyra reached for her sword.
Her sister stepped behind her.
Something moved beside the old man’s table.
At first, Lyra thought it was an animal.
Then two pale wings unfolded.
A small white dragon stepped into the light.
Lyra froze.
Its scales looked almost silver beneath the sunset.
Its eyes were bright and ancient despite its small body.
The creature stared directly at her.
Every story Lyra had ever heard suddenly became real.
Dragons existed.
And one was standing only a few feet away.
Eldrin explained that the creature’s name was Aeryx.
He was the last known descendant of the White Dragons — an ancient bloodline once bonded to the rulers and protectors of Valeria.
White Dragons were different from the enormous fire-breathing beasts described in frightening village stories.
They were guardians.
According to legend, they could sense corruption within the world itself.
When darkness grew powerful, the White Dragons awakened.
But that raised a terrifying question.
Why had Aeryx awakened now?
Eldrin’s answer changed everything.
Something ancient was returning.
Centuries earlier, before the last Dragon War, an army had emerged from the eastern wastelands.
Its leader was known only as the Shadow King.
He had discovered a form of forbidden magic capable of corrupting dragons.
Creatures that once protected humanity became weapons against it.
Kingdoms fell.
Cities burned.
The Dragon Riders fought back, but victory came at an enormous cost.
Nearly every dragon disappeared during the war.
The Shadow King was defeated, but he could not be destroyed.
Instead, the surviving Dragon Keepers sealed him beneath the ruins of his fortress.
The seal was supposed to last forever.
It didn’t.
Eldrin had spent years watching the signs.
Black storms appearing without warning.
Animals fleeing the eastern forests.
Ancient magical stones cracking.
Then Aeryx hatched.
That was when Eldrin knew the old enemy was returning.
But Aeryx had refused every warrior who came near him.
Knights.
Mages.
Nobles.
Even members of the royal family.
The little dragon ignored them all.
Until Lyra arrived.
Aeryx slowly approached her.
Lyra remained still.
The dragon looked into her eyes.
Then he pressed his forehead against her hand.
A flash of white light filled the chamber.
Lyra collapsed.
For a moment, she saw something impossible.
She was flying.
Not riding.
Flying.
She could feel enormous wings moving behind her.
Below stretched an ancient battlefield filled with thousands of soldiers.
Dragons filled the sky.
Then the vision changed.
A black fortress appeared on the horizon.
A figure stood at the highest tower.
The Shadow King.
And beside him was something even more terrifying.
A dragon larger than any creature Lyra had ever imagined.
Its scales were black.
Its eyes burned red.
And darkness poured from its wings like smoke.
Then Lyra opened her eyes.
She was back inside Dragonwatch.
Aeryx remained beside her.
Eldrin looked deeply concerned.
“What did you see?”
Lyra told him.
The old keeper’s face lost its color.
He recognized the creature immediately.
Morthrax.
The Black Dragon.
According to the oldest legends, Morthrax had once been the greatest of all dragon guardians.
But during the Dragon War, the Shadow King corrupted him.
When the war ended, everyone believed Morthrax had died.
Lyra’s vision proved otherwise.
The Shadow King wasn’t returning alone.
His dragon was returning with him.
Suddenly, the kingdom’s future depended on a young warrior who had never ridden a dragon and a creature barely large enough to carry a child.
Lyra looked at Aeryx.
“This is supposed to stop that?”
Eldrin laughed quietly.
“Dragons don’t remain young forever.”
Lyra turned toward him.
“How long will he take to grow?”
The old keeper looked at Aeryx.
“With ordinary dragons? Years.”
“And him?”
Eldrin smiled.
“He isn’t an ordinary dragon.”
Aeryx suddenly spread his wings.
White fire flickered across his scales.
The entire chamber began to shake.
Outside, the clouds separated.
For the first time in centuries, a dragon’s roar echoed across the mountains of Valeria.
Far away, villagers looked toward the sky.
Soldiers stopped marching.
Kings stepped onto their balconies.
And deep beneath the ruins of the eastern fortress…
something opened its eyes.
The age of dragons had not ended.
It was beginning again.
And the last White Dragon had chosen his rider.
