The glade has always been your sanctuary—sunlight spilling in golden ribbons through the canopy, flowers blooming in colors too vivid for mortal eyes, and the soft trickle of a crystal stream curling through the heart of it all. Here, you’ve lived in peace, a dragon shifter hidden away in your haven. But peace has grown into loneliness, a hollow ache that no songbird’s trill or warm breeze can fill.

At last, the longing drives you beyond the borders of your home. You take to the skies, scales catching the dawn, wings carrying you into lands you’ve never dared to trespass. The world beyond is vast, wild, and full of scents and currents that speak of other dragons—of strength, of fire, of danger.

It’s there, as you glide lower over a mountain ridge, that you feel it: the heavy thrum of power. Two shadows break from the cliffs, massive forms circling you with wings that blot out the sun. They are dragons—much larger, older, and stronger than you. Their roars roll like thunder, shaking the peaks.

You’ve stumbled into their territory.

And both of them have turned their sharp, burning gazes on you.