A pall of ash hung over the blackened plains of Tyrgath as Kael's warband emerged from the Emberforge Depths. Flames still licked at cracks in the earth, and the earth trembled with each step. Four chains now burned in his hands; four more awaited their trials.
They pressed south toward the sunken city of Tyrgath, its towers half buried in molten rock and volcanic ash. Legends spoke of an ancient draconic tribunal that once judged kings beneath the crimson sky. Kael sought the fifth chain, rumored to lie within the Dragon's Hall.
Mira rode beside him, her eyes wary. "The land itself fights us," she said. "Eruptions, quakes, storms of ash. The gods meant to bury this place forever."
Kael's gaze was fixed on the distant spires. "Then we will unearth its secrets and command the flames that once judged mortals."
They crossed the jagged ruins, stepping over charred bones of long-dead warriors. Giant draconic scales embedded in rock glinted like dark mirrors. At the heart of the city lay the Dragon's Hall a cavernous structure carved into living magma stone, its mouth held open by colossal skeletal jaws.
Inside, the heat was suffocating. Lava lapped at the walls, illuminating the cavern in a hellish red glow. Along the central dais lay five stone plinths, each bearing a dragon-shaped carving. One plinth held the fifth chain, its metal glowing with molten gold.
A deep rumble echoed through the hall. From the shadows emerged a titan of magma and scale a draconic warden forged from the earth's core. Its eyes burned with eternal fire.
It spoke in a voice like thunder beneath the earth. "To claim the chain, mortal, you must answer: What binds the heart of a tyrant to the fate of the world?"
Kael stepped forward, heat rippling around him. He met the warden's gaze without wavering. "Ambition tempered by purpose. A tyrant's heart beats for more than conquest it beats for legacy."
The warden's molten form paused, then bowed its great head. "You speak the truth. Take the chain, but know this: each bond you forge with power will tie you to the world's fate, for better or worse."
Kael lifted the fifth chain and felt its warmth surge through him. The warden roared once—an echo that shook the hall and then dissolved into a cascade of embers.
As they emerged into the ashstorm outside, Kael held the new chain aloft. "Five chains claimed, five remain," he announced. "The world will tremble beneath my steps."
Mira nodded, sweat and ash streaking her face. "And the world will watch."
Together they rode on, the next trial waiting beyond the horizon.