The fire hit me like a physical wall.
I raised my sword instinctively, channeling every drop of mana I had into the blade. The enchanted steel flared with a brilliant white color, and somehow the flames parted around us. Not completely. The edges of the dragon's breath scorched my armor, seared my skin, but the core of the blast split like water against stone.
For three eternal seconds, I held that barrier of fire against fire, my muscles screaming and my mana quickly draining to nothing.
Then it stopped.
I collapsed to one knee, gasping, my sword tip driven into the ground for support. My arms trembled. Smoke rose from my scorched armor.
"Chase!" Valerie's voice, sharp with panic.
"I'm fine," I managed, though I definitely wasn't. "Keep... keep casting!"
The dragon was fully emerged now, its impossible form towering over the valley. Behind it, the rift pulsed wildly as it struggled to maintain it's unstable form.
"It's working!" Sarah shouted. "The rift is destabilizing from the breach! We just need a little more time!"
"Time we don't have!" Marcus yelled, his sword taking the head off a corrupted wolf. The monsters were everywhere now, drawn by the dragon's emergence.
The dragon fixed its many eyes on us—mainly on Valerie because It could sense what she was doing. Our of desperation It lunged at her.
William appeared from nowhere, his sword flashing as he struck at the creature's foreleg. The blade barely scratched its scales, but it managed to get it's attention.
"Over here, you bastard!" William taunted, dodging as the dragon snapped at him with jaws that could swallow a horse.
"What are you doing?!" I shouted at him.
"Buying time! Keep that rift closing!" He rolled under another strike, his movements were almost inhuman in their precision. "And Morvan? Don't you dare let her die!"
He was giving me and Valerie a chance. Despite everything between us.
I forced myself to stand, even though my body protesting with every movement I forced it up. The enchanted sword felt like it weighed a hundred pounds, but I raised it anyway.
Two corrupted bears charged our position. Marcus intercepted one, but the other broke through.
I met it head-on.
My training with Valerie took over—muscle memory, instinct. I sidestepped its clumsy charge, my burning blade opening a line across its flank. It roared and turned, faster than something that size should move.
We traded blows and I could suddenly tell that it was stronger, but I was faster. Barely. Each exchange left me more exhausted, but I couldn't stop. Behind me, I could hear Valerie and Sarah chanting, their combined magic building to a crescendo.
The bear's claws raked across my shoulder, shredding leather and drawing blood. Pain exploded across my senses, but I used the opening it created, driving my sword up under its jaw. Fire erupted from the blade directly into the creature's brain.
It fell, and I fell with it, my vision swimming.
"Chase!" Valerie's hand on my back, steadying me. "Are you—"
"Finish it," I gasped. "I'm fine. Finish the spell!"
She hesitated for a heartbeat, then returned to the rift. Dark magic poured from her hands, intertwining with Sarah's earth magic. The two elements combined into something new—a binding force that wrapped around the rift like chains.
The dragon felt it. Its roar shook the valley, and it abandoned William, turning back toward the rift. Toward Valerie.
"No!" William sprinted after it, but he was too far away.
So was I. But I was closer.
I don't remember deciding to move. My body just acted, throwing itself between Valerie and the dragon's descending claw.
The impact sent me flying. I hit the ground hard, sliding across rock and dirt. Everything hurt and I could tell I had broken a few bones
But I had bought seconds. Precious seconds.
"Now!" Valerie screamed, and her voice was raw with power and fury.
The binding spell completed.
Darkness and earth slammed into the rift like a hammer, and reality screamed. The tear began to collapse, pulling at the dragon that was halfway through both worlds.
The creature thrashed, trying to retreat back through the rift, but the closing was too fast. The dimensional tear sealed around its body, and with a sound like reality breaking, it severed the dragon in half.
The portion in our world crashed to the ground, already dissolving into black mist. The rift snapped shut with a thunderclap that knocked everyone off their feet.
Then silence.
The corrupted monsters, cut off from the rift's energy, began to collapse. Their twisted forms couldn't sustain themselves without the dungeon's power. Within minutes, the valley was filled with dissolving corpses and the exhausted gasps of survivors.
I lay on my back, staring at the sky, trying to remember how to breathe.
Valerie's face appeared above me, her silver hair falling around us like a curtain. Her eyes were wide, terrified.
"You idiot," she whispered. "You complete idiot."
"Did it work?" I managed.
"Yes, it worked. The rift is closed." Tears streaked down her face. "But you—Chase, you're—"
"Father Aldric," I heard Marcus call. "Now! We need healing now!"
The old priest appeared, his hands already glowing with soft golden light. "Move aside, Lady Valerie. Let me work."
Healing magic washed over me, warm and soothing. It couldn't fix everything—broken ribs, torn muscles, burns—but it stabilized me, mainly keeping me from dying.
"You'll live," Father Aldric said, relief in his voice. "But you need rest. Lots of rest."
"Can't rest yet," I mumbled. "Have to... have to make sure everyone..."
"Everyone's alive," William's voice said. I turned my head to see him standing nearby, his armor dented and bloody but intact. "Bruised, battered, but alive. Thanks to you and your wife."
He said it grudgingly, like the words physically pained him.
"We did it," I said.
"Yeah." He was quiet for a moment. "That thing you did. With the fire. Shouldn't have been possible. You're level 12 with weak affinity. No one at your level should have been able to deflect a dragon's breath."
"Desperation," I said. "And a really good sword."
"And balls," one of the soldiers added, earning chuckles from the group.
William didn't laugh. He just looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. Then he offered his hand.
"You fought well, Morvan. Better than I expected."
I took his hand, letting him help me to a sitting position although every muscle in my body protested.
"Thanks for the distraction," I said. "If you didn't we would probably be dead by now."
"We saved each other." He released my hand and stood. "Doesn't mean I like you or forgive you for what you did. But... maybe you're not the person I thought you were."
It wasn't friendship. Wasn't even really respect. But it was acknowledgment. A crack in the wall of hatred between us.
I'd take it.
---
The journey back to Ashford took twice as long as the journey out. We moved slowly, carrying our wounded, exhausted to our cores. The sun was setting by the time the town walls came into view.
Baron Ashford stood at the gates, surrounded by townspeople. When he saw us approaching—battered, bloody, but alive—his face transformed with relief.
"The rift?" he called out.
"We closed it," William reported. "The dungeon is sealed. The corruption should fade in the coming days."
A cheer went up from the crowd. People rushed forward, helping the wounded, offering water and support. Baron Ashford clasped William's hand, then mine, then Valerie's.
"You saved us," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "All of us. We owe you a debt that can never be repaid."
"Just doing our duty," William said.
But I saw the way the townspeople looked at him. The awe, the gratitude. This was the moment. The beginning of William's legend. The stable boy who became a knight, who sealed a dungeon and saved a town.
Right on schedule, just like the novel. Except this time, I was part of it instead of being dead.
Valerie stayed close to me as we made our way to the Baron's manor, her hand supporting me when I stumbled. She hadn't spoken much since the valley, but her grip on my arm was tight and possessive.
Our room was ready, and the moment the door closed behind us, Valerie rounded on me.
"Don't ever do that again," she said, her voice shaking.
"Do what?"
"Throw yourself in front of a dragon for me! You could have died, Chase. You should have died. To that fire..." Her voice broke. "I thought I lost you."
"But you didn't."
"That's not the point!" She was crying now, tears streaming down her face. "You promised me you would be careful. You promised you would come back."
"And I did come back."
"Barely!" She hit my chest—not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make her point. "You were broken. Bleeding. I had to watch Father Aldric piece you back together while you..." She sobbed. "While you smiled at me like everything was fine."
I pulled her close, ignoring the pain in my ribs. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I scared you. But I couldn't let that thing hurt you. I couldn't."
"Why?" she demanded, pulling back to look at me. "Why would you risk everything for me?"
"Because I love you," I said simply. "I love you, Valerie Morningstar. And I would face a hundred dragons if it meant keeping you safe."
She stared at me, tears still falling, then kissed me. Hard and desperately, like she was trying to convince herself I was really there, really alive.
When we finally broke apart, she pressed her forehead against mine.
"I love you too," she whispered. "I love you, and it terrifies me, and I don't know what to do with it."
"We'll figure it out together."
"Together," she agreed.
We stayed like that for a long time, just holding each other, letting the reality of survival sink in.
We'd closed the rift. Saved the town. Changed the story.
And somehow, impossibly, we'd both come back alive.
---
The next morning, I woke to find Valerie watching me sleep, her crimson eyes soft in the early light.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Like I fought a dragon. Which I did." I sat up slowly, testing my injuries. Father Aldric's healing had done a good work, but I was still sore. "How long was I out?"
"All night and most of yesterday evening. It's almost noon."
"Noon? Why didn't you wake me?"
"Because you needed rest." She brushed hair from my forehead. "Besides, I liked watching you sleep. Peaceful. Not throwing yourself at monsters."
"I'll try to do it more often."
"The sleeping or the throwing?"
"Definitely the sleeping."
She smiled, then grew serious. "Chase, what you did yesterday... everyone's talking about it. The townspeople, the soldiers, even William's men. You're becoming... known."
"Known?"
"As a hero. The young lord who deflected a dragon's breath to protect his wife. Who fought despite being outmatched. Who helped save Ashford."
I felt uncomfortable with that. "I just did what anyone would do."
"No, you didn't. Most people would have run. Would have prioritized their own survival." She took my hand. "You're changing, Chase. Not just in my eyes, but in everyone's. The wastrel young master is becoming something else entirely."
"Is that good or bad?"
"Good," she said softly. "Very good. Though it does complicate things."
"How?"
"Because now people will expect things from you. Hero things. And next time, I might not be there to watch your back."
"Then I'll just have to make sure you're always there."
She kissed me gently. "Deal."
A knock at the door interrupted us. Marcus's voice called through: "Young master, Lady Valerie, Baron Ashford requests your presence. And there's... someone here to see you."
Valerie and I exchanged glances. "Who?" I called back.
"Duke Morningstar, my lady. Your father has arrived."
Valerie's eyes widened. "Father's here? But how did he—"
"He heard the news and suddenly came as fast as he could."
We dressed quickly and made our way to the Baron's hall. Duke Richard Morningstar stood in the center of the room, tall and imposing, his silver hair matching his daughter's. His gray eyes swept over us, taking in our bandages and bruises.
"Valerie," he said, and his voice was softer than I had ever heard it. "My daughter."
She ran to him, and he caught her in an embrace that seemed at odds with his intimidating appearance.
"Father, I'm fine. We're fine."
"I heard what happened." He pulled back, studying her face. "I came as soon as the reports reached me." His voice tightened. "I thought I nearly lost you."
"But you didn't. Thanks to Chase."
Duke Morningstar's eyes shifted to me, and I felt pinned by that gaze.
"Lord Morvan," he said. "Walk with me."
It wasn't a request.