Chapter 179: The Queen Beneath the Black Flame

Chapter 179

The entire chamber froze the moment the dragon crashed through the council hall wall.

Stone exploded across the floor while dust and shattered debris filled the air, forcing wolves to throw themselves aside to avoid being crushed beneath the dragon’s enormous body. The golden dragon landed heavily across the broken chamber floor, its claws tearing deep trenches through the stone while blood poured from the black wounds spreading across its scales.

Ariana felt her stomach tighten immediately.

Those wounds did not look natural.

Dark veins spread slowly beneath the dragon’s golden scales like corruption moving through its body, and every breath the creature took sounded strained beneath the weight crushing down on it.

Then Ariana saw who stood on its back.

Mira.

The chamber went completely silent.

Black mist curled around her body while silver fire flickered faintly across her skin, twisting together in a way that immediately unsettled every wolf in the room. Even the elders looked stunned now as Mira slowly stepped down from the wounded dragon onto the broken floor of the council hall.

Ariana barely recognized her.

Mira still looked pale, but the weakness that had consumed her earlier was gone. The fragile instability caused by the broken bond had disappeared beneath something colder and far more dangerous. Her silver eyes no longer looked exhausted or desperate.

They looked calm.

Too calm.

Kael noticed it immediately.

The pressure surrounding him sharpened hard enough to crack more stone beneath his feet while silver lightning flickered violently around his hands.

"Mira," he said quietly.

Mira looked toward him slowly.

For one painful second, Ariana thought she saw something human flicker through her expression.

Relief.

Then it disappeared completely.

"You remember now," Mira said softly.

Cold spread through the chamber instantly.

Kael’s jaw tightened. "What happened to you?"

Mira glanced down at her own hands while silver fire curled faintly around her fingers. "I stopped fighting it."

The answer unsettled Ariana immediately.

The black mist surrounding Mira did not feel like ordinary magic or wolf energy anymore. It felt closer to the darkness beneath the mountain itself, ancient and cold enough to make the air inside the chamber heavier.

Augustus noticed too.

For the first time since entering the hall, his expression darkened sharply. "You touched the fracture."

Mira slowly looked toward him. "I heard the voice."

The wounded dragon beneath her let out a low growl while black veins continued spreading across its golden scales.

Vormerion’s enormous bronze body shifted immediately. "Move away from the dragon."

Mira did not move.

Instead, she rested one hand gently against the wounded dragon’s neck while silver fire flickered stronger beneath her skin.

"It was dying," she said quietly. "The darkness reached it before I did."

Ariana stared at her. "What did you do?"

Mira finally looked directly at her.

And suddenly Ariana understood what frightened her most.

Mira no longer looked heartbroken.

She looked resolved.

"I saved it," Mira answered softly.

The dragon suddenly lifted its massive head with a violent roar that shook the chamber.

Several wolves staggered backward instantly.

Black mist exploded outward from the dragon’s body while the dark veins beneath its scales spread farther in front of everyone’s eyes. The creature’s golden eyes flickered violently between gold and black before settling into something darker.

Something wrong.

Vormerion’s expression hardened immediately. "That is not healing."

Mira’s eyes flashed toward him sharply. "You left them to die."

The words echoed strangely through the chamber.

Not entirely like her own voice.

Kael stepped forward instantly, placing himself between Ariana and Mira without hesitation.

"Mira," he said carefully, "listen to me."

But Mira’s attention had already shifted toward the widening fracture beneath the hall.

The enormous eye below the mountain remained fixed on her now.

Watching.

Recognizing.

Then the voice echoed through the chamber again.

"This one accepted the truth."

The black mist around Mira surged violently.

Ariana felt the reaction from Kael immediately. The Lycan pushed sharply beneath his control while silver lightning burst across the floor around him.

"Mira," Kael said again, more sharply this time.

She finally looked back at him.

Pain flickered across her expression for the first time since entering the chamber.

Not weakness.

Grief.

"You chose her," she whispered.

The chamber fell silent again.

Kael’s expression tightened immediately, but before he could answer, another violent tremor shook the mountain hard enough to send cracks racing through the remaining walls.

The Gate Titan beneath the territory pulled harder against the widening fracture.

This time part of its enormous shoulder became visible beneath the chamber floor while ancient chains snapped one after another around its body.

The prison was collapsing.

Outside, every dragon roared at once while black storms gathered across the mountains beyond the territory.

Then the wounded golden dragon behind Mira suddenly screamed.

Not roared.

Screamed.

The sound echoed horribly through the chamber as black veins spread rapidly across its body. The dragon’s massive wings slammed violently against the broken floor while darkness poured from its mouth like smoke.

Ariana felt horror twist through her chest.

The corruption was consuming it alive.

"Mira," she said sharply, "move away from it now."

But Mira didn’t move.

Silver fire burned brighter beneath her skin while tears slowly filled her eyes.

"I can hear them," she whispered.

Kael’s expression darkened immediately. "Hear who?"

Mira slowly lifted her gaze toward the fracture beneath the mountain.

"The ones below."

Cold spread through the chamber.

Then the wounded dragon suddenly lifted its massive head toward Ariana.

And its blackened eyes locked onto the golden light beneath her skin.

The dragon’s blackened eyes remained locked on Ariana while the golden light beneath her skin reflected faintly across the corruption spreading through its body. Ariana felt the connection immediately. Beneath the darkness consuming the creature, something inside the dragon was still fighting desperately to hold on.

Then the dragon lowered its massive head slightly toward her.

Not aggressively.

Almost pleading.

Ariana’s chest tightened painfully as another wave of emotion crashed through the connection between them. Fear. Agony. And beneath all of it, the desperate instinct to survive before the corruption swallowed what remained of its mind completely.

Vormerion noticed the shift instantly. His ancient eyes narrowed sharply toward the wounded dragon while golden fire flickered faintly between his teeth.

"It recognizes the Sovereign flame," he said quietly.

The words sent another uneasy silence through the chamber.

Then the corrupted dragon suddenly released a deep, trembling sound that no longer resembled a roar at all.

It sounded like suffering.

And deep beneath the mountain, something answered it from the darkness below.