The dream found Xandria again, unexpected but familiar in it's strange prophetic weight.
She stood in the place that didn't exist in the waking world: a field of ash - colored grass under a sky painted in slow - turning smoke.
The wind was silent here, but it carried voices - murmurs of words she hadn't heard, yet.
Before her, two women stood near a broken tree, it's roots half torn from the ground.
One wore a green travelling cloak, her hair in a braid Xandria knew like her own heartbeat.
Elara.
The other - cloaked in midnight, face hidden by a dark veil - had a presence that felt older than the bones of the earth.
"You have received the letter," Zendriya said, her name not spoken, but felt.
Elara nodded. "From the palace. I'm to visit Xandria. She is to be married."
" To a king," Zendriya said with a smirk, " but not just any king"
Elara glanced away. "I don't trust it. None of it. But.... she is my sister"
Zendriya tilted her head slowly, like a puppet moving on invisible strings. "Then go. Play the part. Smile sweetly. You know what's at stake."
Elara's jaw tensed, " do I? "
" You will, " Zendriya whispered.
At this point, the sky split like broken glass, and the world began to twist. Xandria staggered backwards - only to find herself staring into another version of herself. Eyes the same. Face identical.
But this version - this Zendriya - smiled.
And the smile was not kind.
Xandria jolted awake, breath caught in her throat. The room was dark and quiet, but the dream clung to her like a second skin.
Elara was coming.
And Zendriya.... Zendriya was watching.
The name burned behind her eyes now, though she had never heard it spoken in her life.
That night, after the dream of Elara and the veiled witch, Xandria found herself uneasy in her own skin. She paced the marble floors of her chamber, heart still echoing the weight of unseen truths.
She turned when she heard a knock, Anaya stepped inside with her usual graceful silence, her hands folded neatly, her eyes gentle as ever.
"You didn't eat much at dinner," Anaya said.
"I brought you jasmine tea."
Xandria smiled faintly. " You always know."
Anaya set the tray down with practiced ease, but something about her movement caught Xandria's attention - something ancient in the way her fingers traced the porcelain rim, something too knowing in her silence.
"You ever dream, Anaya?" Xandria asked, not looking directly at her.
The maid paused, just briefly. "Not anymore."
"Why not"
Anaya poured her tea slowly. " Dreams are for those who still needs to be shown. I've already seen what I am."
The answer was strange. But Xandria didn't press. Her eyes lingered on Anaya's hands.
The firelight caught the fine gold band etched around her wrist - one Xandria has never noticed before. Dragons, coiling in ancients patterns.
Suddenly, a flicker of the dream returned - eyes like burning coals, a smile forged in fire.
She blinked, and Anaya was the same again. Kind. Quiet. Familiar.
But the dream has changed everything.
Somewhere deep beneath th palace, the dragon stirred.
And she was already here.
Xandria pondered upon her dream for the rest of the day. She decided to go the palace library and see what she can find, concerning the dragon history she had heard somewhere.
As she was going through the shelves of ancient history, she came across one that had the exact same symbol that was on Anaya's golden band. She picked it up and decided to read what it was about. The book talked about the ancient history between dragons, witches and The kingdom of Alderyn.
Long ago, before the golden age of Skiath -where everyone lived peacefully and in Harmony - there was a time when shadows ruled the skies and the earth trembled beneath scaled feet. The kingdom of Alderyn, once the crown jewel of the continent, stood proud with it's silver towers and floating citadels. But pride made them blind.
The dragons, born of the molten heart of the world, were creatures of ancient magic and fury. The witches , born of stardust and secrets, wielded powers the mortal world had long forgotten. For centuries, the two races lived apart - distrusting, rivaling, never mixing. Until the common enemy drew them together.
The kingdom of Alderyn.
It's kings hunted witches and enslaved dragons, binding them both with iron laws and fear. Their magic was siphoned into weapons. Their bodies were used to build the impossible. In chains and shadows, a rebellion stirred.
It was the witch Matra Valei - Zendriya's foremother - who first sought the great fire breather, Azhagan the bound flame. With a whisper of vengeance, they formed the first pact of flame and fang. From the dark groves of the East to the scorched peaks of the Dragon Maw, the witches and the dragons gathered. They struck under the blood moon.
Towers crumbled. The skies blazed red. The world shook.
But the king of Alderyn had a secret - a power buried in his bloodline, gifted by an ancient being. A force that could silence dragonfire and unravel spellcraft : the power of the grand Gias. It did not only link soulmates, it gives powers to kings that are worthy. With it, he tore through the rebellion like wind through ash. Dragons fell from the sky, screaming . Witches were turned to stone, sealed in glass, or lost between worlds.
Only a few escaped.
The alliance crumbled. The survivors fled - some hid as mortals, others in forgotten caverns. The first pack was never spoken of again. Until now.
A prophesy was written, that when the next king with fire powers emerges, so will the witches and dragons. Now the old blood calls. Witches and dragons scattered and weakened, are slowly reuniting, bound by whispers of destiny and revenge. And at the heart stands one girl - Zendriya, last heir of Matra Valei, bound to both fire and spell. Fated to complete what was once begun.
Xandria closed the book and breathed loudly. This was more ancient than she had thought it was. Her dream was a prophesy. A prophesy that is about to be fulfilled, and it involved Maltherion. Her heart pounded vigorously in her chest as she thought of the dangers that lurked in the shadows.
Now a question plagued her mind.
She already knew Zendriya is coming. But she does not know who she is. And what is Elara's connection between the Zendriya and the witches?.