Auryn's fingers closed around the vial. He pulled it free from his belt while the golem's fist fell like judgment.
He raised the vial to his lips with a relieved sigh but then the golem's other hand—the one gripping his ankle—yanked.
His whole body jerked sideways. The vial slipped. His blood-slick fingers couldn't hold it.
The glass tumbled through the air. Spinning and reflecting his crimson eye. It hit the stone floor and shattered.
Red liquid pooled across black rock. Spreading, wasting, gone.
"No"
The word didn't come out. Just a breath. A death rattle.
Auryn stared at the spreading puddle. His only chance. Broken glass glinting in troll's blood.
The golem's fist continued its descent.
Three feet.
Two.
Auryn's vision narrowed. Edges going dark.
I didn't survive Earth for this.
Didn't escape terminal illness. Didn't transmigrate. Didn't fight a fucking chimera.
Not to die here. Not to a fucking ROCK.
One foot was all that was left before he would shatter. From ribs to his spine before becoming paste under the golem's might.
I am Julien Moreaux.
I am Auryn Ignisar.
I am—
Something deeper stirred. Not thought. Not memory. Raw Instinct.
MINE.
THIS BODY. THIS TERRITORY. THIS LIFE.
IT'S MINE. A deep, ruthless, primal voice echoed in his mind.
The fist connected but the impact didn't come. Only sound. Cracking, splintering, breaking.
Not stone but bones.
Auryn's ribs fractured. He felt each one snap like dry sticks. Left side. Right side. Sternum cracking down the center.
A shrill scream tore from his throat. And his arms moved. He'd caught the golem's fist. And held it.
A few inches from his chest. Hundreds of pounds of force pressed down. His arms shook, muscles tore but they held.
How—?
He felt his body burn internally. Like his blood was boiling. Heat fuming from his form.
The golem pressed harder.
Auryn's bones ground together. Fresh cracks spreading.
Not enough. Not strong enough.
The heat intensified. It was searching for something. Demanding something from him.
More!
Something in his chest answered.
It wasn't his heart. It was something deeper. Where Julien ended and Auryn began. The path where human soul met draconic heritage.
The merge point. It ignited. Where they became one and the same.
—
His left forearm erupted. As pain he'd never felt before jolted through his body.
His skin cracked and tore from the inside out. Crimson scales pushed through. Each one forcing its way out. Blood sprayed.
The scales spread. From forearm to wrist. From wrist to hand. His fingers elongated. Joints popped, dislocated and re-aligned.
Long black claws extended. Curved and sharp. His right arm followed. Same process. Same agony. His eyes nearly went white from the rush and pain.
Auryn screamed again. The sound changed mid-cry. Human scream became something else. Deeper. Resonant. Draconic.
His legs convulsed. Thigh bones cracking. Reforming. Shin bones thicken. Scales erupted down his calves. Crimson and armored.
His boots tore open. His feet reshaped with his toes ending in claws.
His skull felt like it was splitting. Pressure built at his temples. Building relentlessly without a stop.
Then breakthrough…
Two horns pushed through skin. Short and curved back slightly. Blood ran down his face. Mixed with sweat and ash.
His spine arced. His teeth sharpened. Canines extending but not into full-fledged fangs yet. It was simply predatory.
And his eyes.
Both turned crimson. Pure. No gold. No mixture.
Just draconic and ruthless.
The transformation took seconds but felt like hours. When it finished, Auryn wasn't Auryn anymore.
He wasn't Julien either.
Something between. Something new. Something pissed and primal.
The golem's fist pressed down. Auryn's scaled hand held it in place. A low growl emerged from beneath the Golem's hand.
He pushed back. The golem's arm trembled. Pausing the descent.
Auryn's lips pulled back. Showing sharp teeth.
He roared.
Shaking loose stones from the ceiling. Every inch of the chamber shook with pure rage and defiance.
"I... will not... KNEEL."
---
Auryn surged up.
Threw the golem's fist aside. The stone arm crashed into rubble.
He didn't stand on ceremony—exploded upward.
His claws raked across the golem's chest. Sparks flew. Deep gouges carved deep into stone.
The golem stumbled back. Auryn pressed on.
He slashed again. Left hand. Right hand. Claws tearing chunks from the golem's torso.
At this time, the wounds he suffered from the chimera were healing up.
The golem suddenly swung. Another abrupt reaction but Auryn ducked under. He moved faster than before. His dragon reflexes kicking in.
Without hesitation he came up inside the golem's guard. Drove both clawed hands into its abdomen.
The stone cracked. He pulled and ripped a section free. Exposing how the golem's molten veins pulsed. Trying to heal.
But Auryn wasn't giving it time. He circled it with predatory instinct. Looking for weakness.
His architect mind still worked. Still analytical even through the rage.
The Core. Still protected. I need to expose it fully. His mind raced.
The golem turned, tracking him. Its right leg emerged from the rubble trying to gain leverage to reach full length.
Auryn's eyes fixed on its chest cavity. Where Cinderfang burned.
"There." his deep voice echoed.
But the golem's arms guarded it. Stone limbs crossing. Blocking the path.
"Move them." His voice came with a loud roar.
Instinct took over and Auryn lunged low. Grabbed the golem's right leg. His scaled hands found their target as claws dug between stone plates.
He pulled hard. Dragon strength surged. The golem's leg shifted off balance again.
The golem reacted. Swinging down at Auryn with both fists. Auryn released his grip. Rolled to the side and sprung up in a single motion.
The golem's fists hit where he'd been, cratering the floor.
It overcommitted and that was the opening Auryn had been hoping for.
Auryn leaped. Higher than should be possible. Dragon legs launching him like a rocket. The ground underneath him cracked from the force.
He landed on the golem's torso. Claws sinking into stone like talons into flesh.
The golem shook itself. Trying to shake him off but he climbed. Hand over hand. Claws finding holds.
He reached the chest cavity in no time. His ferocious approach overwhelming the golem's efforts.
Cinderfang blazed within. White flames, pure. And beautiful.
The heat hit him before he touched it. Not physical fire. Something else. Anti-dragon. Purity attacking corruption. Like he was an infection.
His scaled hands hovered inches away.
It'll burn me. Designed to kill dragons. Julien's voice spoke inwardly.
I know. Another voice—Original Auryn's answered.
Don't care. A deeper, primal voice completed.
He gritted his teeth and reached in. His right hand closed around the hilt.
Fire exploded. It wasn't just heat but rejection.
The blade's nature recognized what he was. Dragon. Corruption. Enemy.
White flames turned aggressive. Crawled up his arm. Burning through scales. Searing flesh beneath.
RAAAGH!
Auryn roared in agony but didn't let go. Defiant and furious.
He wasn't having it. There was no quitting now.
His left hand joined. Both gripping the hilt.
The flames intensified. Burning. Clawing at him, trying to make him release.
"No." He growled and pulled harder.
The faceless golem tried but couldn't reach him while he was within the cavity of its core. It tried falling over to force him out.
While the golem struggled, the blade resisted. Fused to the golem's core. Part of its structure.
Scales on his hands blackened. Cracked. Blood welling. The claws on his feet sunk into the stone floor of the cavity. Maintaining his balance.
MIINE. A beast-like voice echoed in the darker edges of his mind.
GRRRAH!
His mouth released an earth shattering bellow as dragon pride met with human will.
He ripped Cinderfang free. As the golem fell and its core shattered, causing an outward surge of white energy and a shockwave. The central structure holding it together—gone.
It convulsed violently. Massive waves of dust and rubble covered the area.
Its final stand.
The stone that formed the golem lost cohesion. Breaking apart. Crumbling to dust.
Silence extended across the space. All that was left was Auryn's ragged breathing and growls.
His horns pushed through the dust. The red glint of his eyes pierced the smoke.
He held Cinderfang up. Still burning. But the flames were changing.
White bleeding slowly into violet. Deep purple. Not pure anymore.
Corrupted? Adapted?
He didn't know. The flames settled. Violet. Stable.
The burning in his hands lessened. Didn't stop. Just... bearable.
He looked at his palms. Cracked and blackened scales stared back. Flesh beneath blistered as blood mixed with char.
It hurt. Throbbing constantly.
But he held the blade. It was his now.
The transformation began to fade.
His scales retracted. Painful. Like pulling teeth. Each scale withdrawing left a small scar.
His claws shortened. Pulled back into fingers. The horns receded. Sinking back into his skull. The holes they left sealed but the aches remained.
His eyes shifted. Crimson glow fading. Left eye stayed crimson. Right eye returned to gold.
His teeth dulled. Returned to human shape. The transformation unwound and left him gasping.
More exhausted than he'd ever been. He stabbed Cinderfang into the ground. Its blade sank like solid earth was mud. Violet flames dancing.
His whole body hurt. A new kind of hurt. The scars from his partial transformation. Burned hands. Broken ribs healing slowly.
I survived. The thought felt surreal
"I achieved partial transformation," he said, falling on one knee. His eyes caught the golden text.
══════════════════════════
[ARTIFACT ACQUIRED: CINDERFANG BLADE (LEGENDARY)]
[ANTI-DRAGON PROPERTIES: ACTIVE]
[FLAME SIGNATURE: ALTERED - VIOLET PARADOX]
[WARNING: DRACONIC ESSENCE CONFLICT DETECTED]
══════════════════════════
His breathed hitched. Vision swimming.
[ANALYZING TRANSFORMATION]
[PARTIAL DRACONIC MANIFESTATION RECORDED]
[RANK 2 LIMIT REACHED]
[BLOODLINE AWAKENING: 34%]
[INHERITANCE UNSEALED: HOARD LINK]
[SOUL SPACE CREATED]
[FUNCTION: STORE CLAIMED ARTIFACTS]
[INHERITANCE UNSEALED: GATES OF AVARICE]
"What is a dragon but the keeper of hoards? Summon what you claim. Distance means nothing."
══════════════════════════
Auryn stared at the text. He didn't have the energy to process it.
His hands still gripped Cinderfang. Burned…scarred. But holding.
The hero's weapon. Mine now. I stole it.
He laughed. Weak and broken.
Am I actually the villain?
The laughter turned to coughing. Ribs protesting. He forced himself to stand up. Every muscle screamed.
He looked at his hands. Scars where scales had been. Burn marks from the blade. Blood dried while some were fresh.
He was changed. Permanently.
How much of me is still Julien? He pondered but there was no answer.
He tried to walk but his legs gave up and collapsed.
I can't stay here.
He forced himself up again. This time his legs answered grudgingly.
Cinderfang in his right hand. Violet flames casting strange shadows. The blade still burned his palm. Less than before. But a constant reminder.
It accepted me. But it's trying to kill me too.
He limped toward the chamber exit. Each step, a new form of agony.
But he was still alive. Changed. With power he hoped to understand.
The ruins were silent around him.
Watching.
Judging.
Bearing witness to what he'd become.