Ember Nightwhisper's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Ember crouched low behind a moss-covered ridge, her small paws pressed to the cold stone tablet she had dragged across half the world. Thirty years of running, six convergence points sealed, and now only one remained: the portal to the old dragon's lair. The final stanza glowed faintly on the tablet's cracked face, but the letters jumbled and shifted, refusing to settle. She needed the rite. She needed to read it right. She could not afford to be wrong. She pulled the dragon-bone dagger from her belt and laid its tip against the glowing script. The blade was supposed to be the key. Press it to the stone, and the letters would still. That was the promise. Instead, the dagger sparked once and went dark. The stanza blurred again. Behind her, a twig snapped. Someone was tracking her through the trees, and they had been for two days. Her ears flattened. She did not have time for both puzzles. Ember wrapped the tablet in her cloak and sheathed the useless blade. If the dagger would not unlock the words, she would have to drag the stone to the portal itself and pray the dragon could read what she could not. She rose, counted three steady breaths, and ran.