Chapter 100: 100. The Two Heirs
As Owen and Chronara approached the tower of royals, Four silhouettes stood at the tower’s base.
Owen’s Mana Sense spreaded passively, reading power signatures that made his bloodline resonate. The center figure registered first: it was Dominus, his presence massive even in his humanoid form, wearing the a regal robe that symbolised his leadership like armor. Three others flanked him: Zephron’s with his scales that had a lightining crackling energy along his arms, Verida’s toxic green aura pulsed, and Glacius stood ice-pale and motionless.
The Greater Dragons.
All four turned as Owen approached.
Zephron’s eyes widened. His gaze snapped between Owen, Dominus, and the Tower of Royals, confusion written across his face. "What the—"
"How does this juvenile have the King’s aura?" Verida’s hand moved to her side, where a weapon would be in combat form. Her voice carried edge and suspicion. "My King, what is this?"
Glacius said nothing, but ice began forming at his feet in response to the rising tension.
"At Ease, My Greaters." Dominus raised one hand, his voice carrying authority that made the other Greater Dragons stop mid-motion. He looked at Owen knowingly.
"He’s no threat. Not to u anyways."
"Reapectfully, that doesn’t answer the question" Zephron said, lightning crackling along his shoulders. "The Dragon King bloodline doesn’t just appear in random juveniles."
"He’s not random..." Dominus said simply. He t Owen’s eyes with an expression that suggested he understood more than he was saying.
The Greater Dragons processed this with visible effort. Verida’s hand dropped from her side. Glacius’s ice stopped spreading. Zephron’s lightning dimd to ambient sparks.
They stood at the Tower of Royals in silence broken only by distant dragon calls from the fields behind them. Owen counted the figures again. Four Greater dragons Around. Chronara, Zephron, Glacius and Verida.
"Where’s Fey’rath?"
The change in the mood was imdiate. Dominus’s expression hardened. Verida looked away. Zephron’s jaw clenched. Glacius’s ice spread another inch before stopping.
Chronara spoke from beside Owen, her voice quiet. "Fey’rath died fifty years ago when the Greater Dragons went to the ShadowGraves to extract Dominus and the Dragon King’s egg from a cult compound. She didn’t make it out."
The words hit Owen like physical force. The ShadowGraves. A rescue mission. He felt his chest tighten.
"The cultists had corrupted the entire territory, with the miasma of the Outer-divinity" Zephron said with his voice rough. "They had been planning to use the egg in so ritual. We got Dominus out. Got the egg. But Fey’rath—" He stopped.
"She held the rear..." Verida finished. "Bought us ti to escape. When we went back for her, there wasn’t enough left to recover."
Owen felt his claws dig into his palms. Fey’rath. The bubbly, enthusiastic dragon he had t in the first story dungeon. Gone.
"I’m... sorry," Owen said.
"She knew the risks," Glacius said, his voice carrying weight. "We all did. The egg’s survival mattered more than any individual Greater Dragon."
"The Dragon king bloodline must Continue," Dominus added as he shot a look at Owen . "Fey’rath gave her life to make sure of that, as any of us would"
Owen looked at the Tower of Royals, its doors open and waiting. "What are you waiting for?"
"The heir..." Dominus said. "He went inside three hours ago to undergo his next Trials"
Then there was movent at the Tower’s entrance.
A figure stepped through the doorway.
Owen’s breath caught in his chest.
The half-dragon form was similar to his own—six feet tall, scales and skin blended in patterns that suggested both dragon and humanoid heritage, wings folded against the back, tail moving with grace. But where Owen’s scales were black, this figure’s were deep crimson that seed to glow from within. Golden eyes—identical to Owen’s—caught the purple sky light and reflected it back with warmth.
The figure radiated joy. Pure, unfiltered satisfaction that ca from achieving sothing monuntal. His wings spread slightly as he walked, not in aggression but in celebration. His tail swished behind him with an energetic montum.
Young Vorthraxx.
Owen’s Dragon King bloodline resonated so hard it hurt. Recognition on a fundantal level—this was another true heir, soone who carried the sa authority, the sa power flowing through his veins.
Vorthraxx’s golden eyes swept across the gathered dragons and stopped on Owen.
His expression shifted through confusion, surprise, and then sothing else entirely.
"Father..." Vorthraxx said, his voice carrying power that made the air vibrate, "who is this?" He stepped closer, his head tilting as he studied Owen with fascination rather than suspicion. "He has....I can feel the bloodline. The Dragon King’s authority. But how?"
The Greater Dragons tensed. Dominus stepped forward, but Vorthraxx was already moving past him, approaching Owen with the curiosity of soone discovering sothing impossible and wonderful.
"You’re like !" Vorthraxx said, stopping just outside striking distance. His golden eyes scanned Owen from head to toe, taking in the black scales, the wing structure, the tail movent. He laughed—bright and genuine. "How is this possible?"
Owen kept his expression neutral, aware that every dragon present was watching this interaction. "It’s... complicated."
"Complicated." Vorthraxx’s grin widened. "That’s the understatent of the era." He looked at Dominus. "Did You know he was coming? Did you shoot elsewhere? Hehehe" he said smugly.
"Vorthraxx!" Dominus said with an embarrassnt on his face. "Ahem!..Do not insult "
Vorthraxx turned back to Owen, and his expression shifted to sothing warr. "I just completed my trials. Three months of being inside the tower of royals and the previous Dragon Kings consciousnesses testing every aspect of my character." He spread his arms. "And the first thing that happens when I erge is eting another heir I didn’t know existed. The universe has a sense of timing."
"It really does" Owen agreed.
"Are you from a distant branch of the bloodline?" Vorthraxx asked, his tone genuinely curious rather than challenging. "I didn’t think there were any other direct descendants, but the power you’re carrying is too strong to be diluted. You’re not so distant cousin. You’re—" He paused, and understanding lit his golden eyes. "You’re truly another heir."
Owen said nothing.
Vorthraxx’s tail swished behind him, the movent almost playful. "Well, this is unprecedented. Two Dragon King heirs existing at the sa ti. Father, is there historical precedent for this?"
"There isn’t, and you would know if you studied the scrolls like I told you too!" Dominus said flatly.
"Ehhh, well....i an I will, but for now! Good. I prefer making new history anyway." Vorthraxx stepped closer and extended his hand.
"I’m Vorthraxx. Heir to the throne of the dragon king....that might apparently be yours too? Hell! We could be co-leaders of dragonkind! Hehehe! I am not as unique as I thought I was three minutes ago."
Owen looked at the offered hand. At the golden eyes that matched his own. At the crimson scales that carried the sa bloodline authority pulsing through his veins.
He took the hand.
Vorthraxx’s grip was firm. The mont their skin made contact, both bloodlines flared—power recognizing power, authority acknowledging authority. The Greater Dragons stepped back instinctively as energy radiated from the handshake.
"Brother!" Vorthraxx said, and his smile was genuine. "I don’t know where you ca from or why you carry our bloodline, but if we’re both carrying this burden of a king, we might as well carry it together."
Owen felt sothing twist in his chest. This was Vorthraxx. The tyrant. The Desecrator. The dragon who would corrupt his entire race and force the world into a world war.
But right now, in this mont, he was just a young dragon who had accepted enormous responsibility and was happy to discover he wasn’t alone in it.
"Owen" he said.
"Owen." Vorthraxx tested the na. "Strong. Simple. I like it." He released the handshake but kept his golden eyes locked on Owen’s. "You’re being evasive about where you ca from. That’s fine. Everyone’s entitled to their mysteries. But you’re here now, and you have the bloodline, which ans you’re family."
"Family..." Owen repeated as his thought reeled at the fact that he was an orphan in his past life but here he was with a brother now.
"Yes." Vorthraxx’s expression grew serious, though warmth remained in his eyes. "The Dragon King’s line is more than just power. It’s legacy. Responsibility. The weight of our entire race resting on our shoulders." He gestured at the Tower of Royals behind him. "I just spent three months being tested on whether I am worthy of that burden. And the first thing I learn when I pass is that I have a brother who shares it. That’s not coincidence."
Zephron cleared his throat. "Vorthraxx, we should be cautious—"
"Cautious of what?" Vorthraxx turned to the Greater Dragon, his tone still light but carrying so edge. "He has the bloodline. That’s not sothing that can be faked or stolen. The Dragon King’s authority either recognizes you or it doesn’t. There’s no middle ground." He looked back at Owen. "And it recognized him the sa way it recognized ."
Dominus’s expression remained unreadable. "The circumstances of his arrival are unusual."
"Everything about us is unusual... " Vorthraxx countered. "...That is what is ans to be a dragon, to exist beyond the usual."
His tail moved in a sharp gesture. "Maybe the World is trying to tell us sothing. Maybe having two heirs is exactly what dragonkind needs right now."
"Or maybe it’s a warning," Glacius said quietly.
Vorthraxx’s good mood dimd slightly. He looked at Owen with assessnt that cut deeper than before. "Are you a warning, brother?"
Owen t his golden eyes. "I don’t know what I am yet."
"Honest." Vorthraxx’s smile returned, smaller but more genuine. "I can work with honest." He turned to Dominus. "He ca here for a reason. What does he need?"
Dominus studied Owen for a long mont. "That depends on what happens in the next hour."
"Then let’s find out." Vorthraxx’s wings spread, crimson scales catching purple light. "Did you want to et , Owen?. You’re here at the Tower of Royals on my trial end day. That’s not so random chance." His golden eyes glead. "So what do you need from your brother?"
Power surged around them. The Tower of Royals began to glow brighter.
Owen felt the story dungeon, its reality, respond to Vorthraxx’s presence—the land’s mory activating, preparing to show him sothing.
And Vorthraxx stood there, proud and happy and completely unaware of what he would beco, looking at Owen like family.
"Let’s see what you’re made of, brother." Vorthraxx said. "The Tower tested . And I am yet to evolve into my adult form but I’ve gotten stronger nonetheless. Now i want to test our my new power! Will you help , brother?!"
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