Rise of the Devourer
Book 4: Chapter 40 — Shard Trial Pt 2

"My kin," the ancient one began, "we have gathered today for a grave matter. I have seen what is to come. The Sight has shown us the threads of fate, and they are dark beyond imagining."

Around the chamber, other dragons stirred with obvious unease.

"They grow in number and ambition. They reach for powers they cannot comprehend, awakening forces that should remain dormant. We have watched civilizations rise and fall before, but this... this is different."

At this, one of the dragons in one of the closest circles, with aquamarine scales, rumbled. "I agree. I… am not optimistic about staying here any longer.”

This brought another round of rumbles through the chamber, until the ancient one raised its claw once more.

"Show them," he commanded, his claw pointing toward the black crystal dais.

The surface of the crystal began to glow, and suddenly the dais flashed through multiple images. Noah could not make out most of them, but the few that he did, made him go pale. Scenes of devastation played out before them—cities falling into the abyss, skies bleeding unnatural colors, living beings of all kinds bleeding from the eyes as they screamed to the heavens.

They seemed to receive no answer.

"In the end," the ancient one said with infinite sadness, "there will be nothing left but ash and regret.”

A younger dragon, his scales as red as Aurelia’s fiercest flames, rose from his position in one of the circles at the very back. "Then we fight! We have the power to prevent this future! We could do something, fight fate itself!”

The ancient one's response was heavy with the weight that came with experience. “You are young. Naturally, you think anything and everything can be changed. You will learn, young one, that sometimes trying to change fate—being the rock that gets whittled away by the endless river—is not the best course of action.”

“Then what do we do?” A dragon as purple as Gioiello asked, from the middle rows, exhaustion clearly present in its voice.

"We are faced with a choice," the ancient one finally concluded. "We can remain and watch the world burn, or we can leave and preserve what we can elsewhere."

"Leave?" The word came from dozens of voices at once, expressing everything from shock to relief to despair.

"Leave.” The ancient one echoed, his voice deceptively serene.

"And abandon everything we have built here?" The question came from the red dragon once more.

"Everything we have built will be destroyed anyway," came the heavy reply from the aquamarine one. "At least this way, we shall be able to continue our peace.”

“Let us vote,” the ancient one said, and a second later, the majority of dragons stood up.

But not all.

Then the vision shifted abruptly, Noah almost stumbling, only to be caught by Vion as they found themselves in a very different setting. The crystal chamber faded away, replaced by something infinitely more intimate and personal. They stood in what was clearly a home.

The walls were made of smooth stone that glowed with gentle light, and wide windows looked out over a vista that took Noah's breath away. Rolling hills covered in grass that seemed to be sprinkled with dew, complemented by a starry night sky where two moons hung in a sky painted with aurora colors. Gardens filled with flowers that swayed with the wind surrounded the house, and Noah couldn’t help but be reminded of Hellion’s paradise, when he looked at this place.

Inside the home, two figures sat together. The woman was human, or appeared to be, though the sheer aura of power she radiated made it clear she wasn’t anyone close to normal. She was heavily pregnant, her hands resting protectively over her swollen belly while she hummed a lullaby that made the very air around her shimmer with magic.

Beside her sat a man, very obviously a dragon despite his best attempt to look human. His hair was the color of molten gold, and the way his eyes twinkled reminded Noah of Zax.

"The others have made their choice," the man said, his voice heavy with sorrow. "They will depart within the turning of a single season.”

The woman's hand moved to cover his, her touch so endlessly gentle. "And you, my love? Will you go with them?"

The dragon was quiet for a long moment, his free hand moving to rest beside hers on her pregnant belly. "How can I leave when our child grows within you? How can I abandon this world when it carries our greatest hope?"

"The future they have seen..." the woman began, but he silenced her with a gentle shake of his head.

"The future they have seen is only a possibility," he said. "Yes, it is the most likely outcome given current patterns. But patterns can be changed. Fate can be altered by those with the will to do so."

She leaned against his shoulder, her voice barely above a whisper. "And you believe our child will be such a one?"

"I believe," he said with quiet conviction, "that love is the one force the Sight cannot fully predict. Love creates variables that even the wisest among us cannot account for. Our child will be born of love between dragon and human, carrying the best of both natures."

"But will that be enough? The challenges ahead..."

The man's arm tightened around her, protective and fierce. "Our little flame will not face them alone," he said, using an endearment that made Vion gasp beside Noah. "There will be others. The forgotten vessel, the one who will carry pieces of power that was thought lost. Together, with people willing to change and challenge fate, they might find a path that none of us could see."

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The woman continued to stare at the man, and Noah was blown away for a second when he focused on her eyes. The sheer amount of love, of tenderness, of adoration, of dedication… Her eyes said more than a thousand words could have.

The man met her gaze, and as they looked into each others’ eyes, the woman began to sing again, her voice so gentle and peaceful. The dragon added his own voice to hers, and together they sang the lullaby.

It’s so loving, so soothing—and Noah couldn’t help but think—so beautifully haunting.

"What if we're wrong?" the woman asked, even as the man continued to hum. "What if our choice dooms her to suffer through the darkness your kind saw?"

“Well,” the man said as the vision began to shift again, the intimate scene of the house being replaced with the endless whiteness again, leaving only the woman and man intact. “What do you say, Vion? Do you regret us staying back and having you here?”

Vion’s eyes widened, but before she could even respond—

"My child," the woman said, her voice just as endlessly loving and gentle as it had been towards her husband.

These were Vion's mother and father, Noah realized. Two people she’d not known in her life, but had been yearning to always meet.

"Mother?" Vion's voice was barely a whisper, tears streaming down her face as she looked upon the figures of her parents, “Father?”

Vion's father stepped forward, gently wrapping Vion in a hug. “Yes, Vion. We’re here.” Even as he rubbed circles on her back, letting her cry it all away, his attention turned to Noah with obvious curiosity. "And you are the forgotten vessel. The one who carries pieces of the dead god within him."

Noah felt a chill run down his spine. "You know me?"

"We know many things," Vion's father said. "We have seen parts of your journey. We have seen how you've protected our daughter."

Noah didn’t know what to say, but luckily Vion’s mother continued, her voice heavy with both sorrow and determination, "When the other dragons chose to leave," Vion's mother sighed, "we faced an impossible choice, as you saw. We could go with them, preserving our own existence but abandoning any hope for this world. Or we could stay, but in staying, we could inevitably be drawn into the same cycles of what the future predicted for us.”

"So we chose a third path," her father added. "We chose to plant a seed of hope in the fertile ground of possibility, then sacrifice ourselves to nourish its growth."

Noah looked between them, understanding beginning to dawn. "And Vion is this seed? Someone you think will change the tides of fate?"

"She will provide a chance for it to happen," Vion's mother said simply. "Our daughter carries within her the potential to be the bridge between what was and what could be. Dragon wisdom combined with human adaptability, ancient power guided by young idealism."

"But she could not succeed alone," her father continued. "The challenges ahead require more than any single being could face. That is why you are so crucial for changing fate, young man. You are fate touched."

"The gods, living or dead, are bound by their natures," Vion's mother explained. "They cannot act against their fundamental essence. But you, you are something new. A mortal who has touched divinity without being consumed by it, who wields true power while retaining human choice."

"Together," her father said, looking between Noah and Vion with obvious pride, "you represent something that did not exist when we made our prophecies. A new variable in the equation. The possibility that the future might be written differently than fate demands."

“So, tell us, Vion,” her mother said, standing up. “What is it that you choose?”

“...choose?” Vion asked, finally looking up from her father’s arms at her mother.

“You are a dragon. You have the choice to simply not participate with fate’s whims. You do not have to help the fate touched to try and change everything. You do not even have to stay here.” Her father explained, “You can choose to not make a choice, and we will free you from the undead dragon. Or you can deny the forgotten vessel the right to the Shard, not let him absorb it, and we will free you both from the undead dragon. Or, you can accept his claim for the Shard.”

“What do you choose?” Her mother asked again, smiling like she was talking about evening tea and not a life changing decision. “This is your trial, Vion. Your choice is what shall align fate.”

Vion’s face scrunched up as she hugged her father tighter. Noah could practically see the thousands of thoughts running through her mind. But a second later, her expression relaxed, and she sighed.

“I choose to accept it.” Vion said, chuckling. “I’m not sure what else you both thought I’d do.”

"Whatever you’d done,” her mom said, approaching Vion from the side and placing a gentle kiss on her temple before she joined the hug, “We’d still be proud of you and love you."

“That goes without saying, of course,” her father added, and Vion looked like she would burst into tears all over again.

But then her father’s expression turned more serious as he continued. "For now, both of you must complete what you came here to do. The Shard must be claimed, its power properly channeled. Only then can you face what awaits in the world above."

"Right," Vion whispered, her voice breaking with emotion. "To answer your earlier question… No, I don’t regret you staying back and having me here. I’d have loved to have had more time with you two, but… I did meet some amazing people and live quite the life. I’d not be the same Vion, if things were different, and I quite like how I turned out.”

“We quite like how you turned out too,” her mother said while giggling, and Vion’s father simply stroked Vion’s hair, soothingly.

"Thank you," her father said, turning his attention back to Noah, "for looking after our daughter. For being the friend and companion we could not be. For choosing to protect rather than exploit, to support rather than break down."

The white space began to shimmer around them, as a large silver core appeared in front of him, the Shard present within.

"The trial is complete," Vion's mother said as their forms began to fade. "Take it, young vessel. But remember—power shared is power doubled, while power hoarded leads only to corruption."

"We love you, little flame," her father said to Vion, "You’ve always made us proud."

"And you, forgotten vessel," her mother added, "remember that you are not defined by what you carry, but by what you choose to do with it. The darkness within you is balanced by the light you have chosen to nurture."

And then they disappeared, fragments that merged with the white space.

The white space around them seemed to be destabilising, short black cracks appearing all over the floor, so without wasting a second longer, he touched the Shard.

The moment his fingers made contact with its surface, he felt the power slam into him like a tidal wave of liquid fire. Vaguely, he could make out that the vision had shattered like glass, and he was back in the Dragon's Heart chamber, but the energy was so overwhelming, so far beyond anything he had ever experienced, that none of what was happening around him properly registered.

He was going to explode, he could tell. Despite Tony trying his best—the parasite’s screams seemingly aligning with his—and his Wyrmblood, he knew this power would consume him from the inside out, tearing apart the very bonds that held his atoms together. He had perhaps seconds before the energy reached critical mass and reduced him to less than dust.

The Shard pulsed once more in his hands, its light growing brighter and more intense with each heartbeat. Noah closed his eyes and desperately tried to link his scrambled thoughts, to think of something, anything, that might save him from the force he had unleashed upon himself.

But just when he’d concluded the power was already beyond his control, that in moments, everything would end—

He felt a soft pair of lips pressing against his.