The words settled over me like a weight, pressing into my skull, curling around my thoughts like frost creeping across gss. I knew what had happened. The elf had cast some kind of spell—something unnatural, something I wanted no part of.

  Magic.

  I hated magic. I had seen it twist men into monsters, turn good soldiers into something other. And now, it had called a dragon to me.

  The dragon’s gaze didn’t waver, those golden eyes boring into me with quiet amusement. She had been toying with me before, but now she had what she wanted.

  "Now, human. Tell me everything."

  Her voice was smooth, deceptively calm, but there was no mistaking the command behind it. The spell worked instantly—the moment she spoke, I understood her as if she had always been speaking my nguage. My stomach twisted.

  You’re still alive. For now.

  I forced my jaw to unclench. "Everything?" I asked, trying for something close to defiance, though my voice was hoarse.

  Her lips curved slightly. "Yes. Everything. Start from the beginning."

  I gnced at the elf. His expression was carefully neutral, but I could see the tension in his posture. He was wary. Afraid, even.

  I licked my chapped lips, my mind working to stall, to find an answer that wouldn’t make this worse.

  "We were sent to wipe them out, The cultists. The lord who hired me wanted them gone. They were growing too powerful, too bold."

  The dragon hummed, tipping her head slightly. "And why would a lord of humans concern himself with such things? Magic has long been shunned among your kind."

  Her words carried a weight, an expectation of knowledge I did not have.

  I hesitated, then decided on the truth. "Because times are changing."

  Her brows lifted slightly. "Expin."

  I sighed. "There have always been sorcerers, hidden away in the cracks of the world, but recently, more have been appearing. Some kingdoms are fostering them, training them as weapons. Others are trying to stamp them out before they gain too much power."

  She watched me for a long moment. Then, she gnced toward the elf, saying something in Draconic. I did not understand but I caught the tone, if not the words—something akin to mild amusement.

  The elf hesitated before turning back to me. "She says your people’s fear of magic is… pathetic."

  I let out a short breath, not quite a ugh. "You’ll find no love of the stuff from me."

  The dragon’s gaze flicked back to the spear in her grasp. She ran a cwed finger along the runes carved into its shaft. "And yet, your kind sought to cim this for themselves."

  I shook my head. "No. We were sent to take it from the cultists, but it was never meant to be ours. It was meant to be secured, locked away—maybe even destroyed."

  She considered me carefully. "And yet you fought for it."

  I swallowed. "I did what was expected of me."

  A long silence stretched between us. Then, she took a step forward, and I barely stopped myself from flinching. The ice beneath her feet didn’t crack, didn’t groan under her weight—it simply was. Like she belonged here, like this pace had formed around her.

  Because it probably did.

  "You cim to fear magic," she mused, "but your kind use it when it suits you. Your people fight wars over it. You kill for it."

  I didn’t answer.

  She smiled faintly. "You are an interesting contradiction, human."

  I didn’t know what to say to that. It was as if she didn't see me as an individual. More as a representative of my species. So I said nothing.

  The elf shifted, clearly uncomfortable. He avoided looking directly at me now. Maybe he pitied me. Maybe he was already writing me off as dead.

  The dragon exhaled through her nose, a sound almost like a sigh. "Tell me," she said, turning the spear slightly in her grip, letting the runes catch the dim blue light of the chamber. "This power—this growing interest in magic among your kind. Where did it begin?"

  I hesitated, exhaling sharply. "That’s… hard to say. There have always been those drawn to magic, but after the curses… no one dared to touch it. At least, not openly."

  The dragon hummed, her gaze thoughtful. "Ah, yes. The curses. A crude solution, though effective in its way." She turned the spear slightly in her grasp, the runes glimmering under the pale light. "Had I not intervened, your kind would have been wiped out entirely. I argued it would be a waste—an unnecessary loss to the world’s bance."

  Her tone was almost casual, as if she were discussing the culling of livestock.

  I swallowed hard, unwilling to dwell on what intervened truly meant.

  "But that was only two thousand years ago," she continued, tapping a cw idly against the spear’s shaft. "I asked where this shift began—not when your kind first dabbled in magic, but when they started ciming things like this."

  I hesitated, exhaling slowly. "I don't know," I admitted finally. "I thought the cultists were just madmen, but if they were gathering these kinds of artifacts… maybe they were working for someone else. Maybe another kingdom. We didn’t get a chance to find out before you arrived."

  The dragon studied me for a long moment, then exhaled slowly, amused. "How ignorant your kind remains." She tilted her head, golden eyes catching the dim glow of the chamber. "A rare thing among your kind. Rarer still that you stand before me now."

  Her voice took on a thoughtful note. "Perhaps I should make use of you."

  My pulse quickened. Use me?

  She considered me carefully, then gave a slow, nguid smile. "You can die here and now," she said lightly, "or you can live—with whatever consequences I decide."

  The elf, still standing near me, inhaled sharply. He whispered just loud enough for me to hear, "I would choose death."

  My body went cold.

  No. No, not yet.

  My heartbeat pounded in my ears. I met the dragon’s gaze. "I want to live."

  She purred, stepping closer.

  "Very well."

  She lifted her hand, biting into the tip of her finger until blood welled, then plunged it into my chest.

  Pain. Cold. The ice spread, searing through my veins, climbing up my body. I tried to scream, but no sound came. My breath froze in my throat, the st thing I saw was the dragon’s face—serene, as if she were merely watching the tide roll in.

  Then the ice consumed me.

  Darkness fell.