By the third night, the rumors had spread through every corridor of Dragon Rite Citadel.

Lyra heard them long before anyone dared say them directly to her face.

The dragons were restless again.

Not merely agitated.

Disturbed.

Handlers whispered about war drakes waking from sleep beneath the lower vaults with blood running from their noses after slamming themselves against stone walls. Priests spoke in hushed circles whenever dragonfire lanterns dimmed unexpectedly in her presence. Initiates claimed they could hear roaring beneath the floors at night whenever Lyra passed through the western halls.

Some swore the mountain itself had begun listening to her footsteps.

Others believed something inside the mountain was answering them.

The Citadel had always been loud before dawn. Iron bells, clashing armor, dragon calls echoing from distant caverns. But now another sound existed beneath the life of the fortress.

Waiting.

Listening.

Lyra noticed it most clearly when she walked alone.

It would begin faintly somewhere below the stone beneath her boots—a low vibration almost too deep to hear. Then the torches would flicker. The chains hidden far beneath the lower halls would creak softly. And somewhere in the dark, dragons would awaken from uneasy sleep.

Not roaring.

Never fully roaring.

Just moving.

As though ancient things buried beneath the mountain had started turning in dreams.

The western corridors emptied unusually quickly whenever she appeared.

Students avoided sharing stairwells with her. Even instructors shortened lessons if dragon agitation worsened nearby. The silence surrounding Lyra had become its own kind of living creature now, one that followed her through the Citadel like a shadow everyone else could see.

No one touched her.

No one sat beside her during meals.

And no dragon would look directly at her for longer than a heartbeat.

Except one.

Silvermoon.

Not because the silver dragon accepted her.

Because it watched her constantly.

Lyra noticed it during weapons instruction three mornings after the ceremonial rites. The training terraces overlooked the outer mountain cliffs where rider dragons crossed storm-heavy skies beyond the fortress walls. Students practiced sword forms beneath cold winds while instructors barked corrections across the stone.

Silvermoon rested upon an elevated ridge overlooking the terraces beside Cassian Arden.

The dragon’s enormous silver wings remained folded tightly against its body while moonlight-colored eyes tracked Lyra’s movements with unsettling intensity.

Cassian noticed it too.

“Enough,” he muttered quietly to the dragon after the creature failed to respond to another command.

Silvermoon’s gaze never shifted from Lyra.

Not hatred.

Not fear exactly.

Recognition.

That frightened Lyra more.

The training bell rang shortly after midday. Students dispersed quickly beneath gathering storm clouds while dragon riders escorted bonded beasts back toward the upper aerie platforms carved into the mountainside.

Lyra stayed behind longer than the others.

Mostly because leaving meant enduring the corridors again.

The whispers.

The staring.

The quiet recoil whenever she entered enclosed spaces.

She leaned both hands against the cold stone edge of the terrace and looked toward the distant mountain ranges disappearing into mist.

Far below, forests swallowed entire valleys beneath silver rain.

Somewhere beyond those mountains lay her childhood home.

She had not missed it once.

“You’re holding the blade wrong.”

The voice startled her.

Lyra turned sharply.

A girl stood several feet away near the training pillars, dark curls escaping from beneath the hood of her academy cloak. Ink stains marked the cuffs of her gloves and several parchment scrolls were tucked beneath one arm.

Not a rider initiate.

A scribe apprentice.

Or historian.

The girl tilted her head slightly.

“You’re using southern grip positioning,” she said. “Dragon cavalry forms require more flexibility through the wrist.”

Lyra blinked.

No one had voluntarily approached her in days.

“You know combat forms?”

“I know books.” The girl offered a crooked smile. “Books know everything.”

Lyra hesitated before asking, “Why are you talking to me?”

The smile faded slightly.

“Because everyone else is acting insane.”

That answer startled something dangerously close to laughter from Lyra.

The girl noticed.

“There,” she said softly. “You almost looked human for a second.”

Lyra studied her more carefully now.

The girl appeared roughly her age, though smaller in build, dressed not in rider armor but in layered scholar robes marked with silver-thread sigils of the Citadel archives.

“Mira Quill,” she said, shifting the scrolls beneath her arm. “Junior archivist apprentice. Future victim of paper-induced death.”

“Lyra Vale.”

“I know.”

Of course she did.

Everyone did.

But Mira did not step backward after saying it.

That alone felt strange enough to unsettle Lyra.

A horn sounded somewhere above the fortress walls. Several dragons crossed overhead beyond the cliffs, their silhouettes vanishing into thickening clouds.

Mira watched them carefully.

“They’ve been restless since you arrived.”

Lyra’s chest tightened.

“You believe the rumors too?”

“I believe dragons remember things humans forgot.”

The answer came too quickly to be casual.

Mira glanced toward the empty terraces before lowering her voice.

“The oldest records in the archive mention bloodlines dragons refused to approach after the Burning Era. Most texts were sealed by the Rider Orders centuries ago.”

“Why?”

“Because the Citadel prefers clean histories.” Mira adjusted one of her scrolls. “The official version says dragons willingly forged eternal bonds with mankind. Ancient records are… less romantic.”

Before Lyra could ask more, another sound rolled through the mountain.

Deep.

Massive.

Every dragon overhead reacted instantly.

The creatures changed direction mid-flight, circling toward the upper peaks while distant roaring echoed across the cliffs.

Students stopped moving across nearby bridges.

The atmosphere shifted unnaturally fast.

Mira looked pale suddenly.

“It’s happening again.”

“What is?”

But Lyra already knew.

The mountain answered her question.

Far beneath the Citadel foundations came the unmistakable sound of enormous chains dragging slowly against stone.

Not violently.

Not like before.

This sounded deliberate.

Ancient.

Aware.

The torches lining the terrace walls dimmed simultaneously.

Then every dragon overhead fell silent.

Complete silence spread across Dragon Rite Citadel.

No wings.

No calls.

No voices.

Even the wind seemed to stop.

Mira whispered something under her breath in the old tongue.

Lyra barely heard it.

“Saints preserve us…”

Then came the whisper.

Not beside her.

Inside her mind.

A voice so old it barely resembled language anymore.

Daughter.

Lyra froze.

The world around her blurred slightly.

Stone.

Ash.

Fire.

For one terrible instant, images flashed behind her eyes too quickly to understand—massive winged shadows burning beneath black skies, kings kneeling before dragons crowned in gold, blood running across ancient stone altars.

And beneath all of it—

A pair of enormous golden eyes opening in darkness.

Lyra stumbled backward sharply.

The vision vanished instantly.

Mira grabbed her arm before she hit the stone railing.

“Lyra?”

Her breathing had become uneven.

Cold sweat dampened the back of her neck despite the mountain chill.

The voice had felt real.

Not imagination.

Not memory.

Recognition.

As though something sleeping beneath Dragon Rite Citadel had finally spoken directly to her.

The silence overhead shattered violently.

Every dragon in the Citadel roared at once.

The sound exploded across the mountain with enough force to shake dust from the terrace walls. Students cried out below while handlers rushed across the upper bridges toward the dragon holds.

And somewhere far beneath all of it—

Something ancient laughed quietly in the dark.