The Infernal Reckoning
↪ by Sonia Bloodthorn
The winds of the Crystalline Peaks had never been so violent. They howled like the screams of the long-dead, ripping through the jagged cliffs and driving the clouds into a suffocating frenzy. Lightning cracked across the sky, splitting it open in fiery arcs, casting eerie shadows over the land below. The world itself seemed to be on the verge of something—something terrible.
Karin stood at the edge of the valley, her wings outstretched, the storm winds tossing her dark, silver-tipped scales. Her heart raced, each beat heavy with anticipation, dread, and something darker, primal. The flame had called to her again. But this time, it wasn’t just a flicker in the distance. This time, it burned through her veins, pulsing in her blood like a living thing.
It had been weeks since she’d found the flame beneath Azgaroth’s cavern. Weeks since she’d taken the first taste of its raw power, and now it felt like a curse, a weight that was dragging her down into something dark, something she hadn’t been prepared for.
Her wings beat hard against the storm, sending her soaring toward the peak where the flame had first appeared. But this time, she wasn’t alone. Behind her, shadowed figures flew, their wings wide, their eyes glowing with the same terrible hunger she had seen in her own reflection. The Crimson Fang, the Nocturna, and the Iron Talon factions—those who had watched her, waited for her to unleash the power of the flame.
They weren’t here to admire her strength or to offer alliances. No, they were here for the flame.
The flame that could destroy them all.
Karin’s mind was in turmoil as she sped through the storm. The wind was a vicious whip against her scales, and the jagged peaks seemed to loom larger with each passing moment. The flame was growing stronger, its pull more intense, its presence more real. She could feel it in her bones, like a part of her had been merged with it, and it was calling her—no, commanding her to come closer.
It wasn’t just fire anymore. The flame had evolved, twisted by her desire, her desperation, into something far more sinister. She could feel the madness creeping through the edges of her mind, tugging at her thoughts, urging her to let go of everything and embrace it.
But something was wrong.
The mountain trembled beneath her wings, and the sky flashed white with another burst of lightning. Karin flinched as the energy crackled through the air, burning her senses. The very fabric of reality was starting to twist around her. She wasn’t sure if it was the flame's doing or something else, but it was as if the world was beginning to buckle under the weight of its power.
And then she saw it.
The massive stone altar, glowing with a sickly yellow light, was the source of it all. But instead of the calm, ancient flame she had once seen, the altar now blazed with fury. The flames were writhing, as if they had taken on a life of their own, licking at the sky with savage intent. The air around it was warping, shifting into something... wrong. The space between the stones was filled with swirling shadows, crawling like worms beneath the earth.
And there, standing at the altar, was the one thing she had never expected to see: Azgaroth, his form twisted, corrupted by the very power he had once wielded. His eyes glowed with an unholy blue fire, and his massive wings were tattered, blackened by the flame’s touch. The once-great dragon was now little more than a monstrous shell, a vessel of something darker, something malevolent.
Karin’s heart dropped into her stomach.
“No... no, this can’t be—” she breathed, her voice barely audible over the storm.
Azgaroth’s lips curled into a smile, but it wasn’t one of recognition or affection. It was twisted, cruel, as if he knew exactly what had happened to her.
“You’ve awakened it, little dragon,” Azgaroth’s voice rumbled, low and guttural, like the earth itself groaning in pain. “The flame doesn’t just burn—it consumes. And now, it has taken me. It has taken you.”
The ground beneath Karin’s feet shifted, and she could feel the air crackling with the intensity of the flame’s energy. The shadows that had once hidden her from view were now pressing in on her, suffocating her with their presence. The sky above twisted, as if reality itself was bending to the flame’s will.
The other factions arrived—Nocturna first, their dark wings blocking out the dim light, their eyes glowing with hunger. They had come for the flame, but what they didn’t know was that they weren’t the only ones who had been drawn into its reach. The Iron Talon followed, their armored forms glittering under the storm’s wild gaze, and the Crimson Fang, with their fiery presence, arrived last.
But none of them were prepared for the destruction that was about to be unleashed.
Azgaroth’s form twisted, his wings snapping open with a sound like cracking thunder. The flame at his core pulsed violently, a pulse that echoed through the mountains, shaking the ground beneath them.
Karin felt the power surge through her, her own flames burning in response. She had no control. This wasn’t her doing, but she could feel it—it was taking over, twisting everything she had ever known.
She tried to fight it. She tried to hold onto herself, to the dragon she had been. But it was too late. The flame had taken her, and now it would consume everything in its wake.
“No,” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. “I won’t let you…”
But it was already too late.
The sky cracked open as Azgaroth’s roar shattered the mountains. The flame consumed him whole, turning him into nothing but smoke and ash. But the fire didn’t stop there. It spread across the mountain, flooding the valley below, sweeping up the factions in its fiery wrath.
It consumed them. One by one. The Nocturna burned, their shadows evaporating into the flame. The Iron Talon’s armor melted, turning into slag. The Crimson Fang screamed in agony as their wings were torn apart by the firestorm.
And Karin?
She was no exception.
The flame didn’t just burn. It transformed.
As she collapsed to her knees, her body wracked with agony, the flames enveloped her. Her mind was on fire. The power surged through her veins, twisting her form into something... other. The dragon she had once been was no more. She was now something far darker, far more dangerous.
She could feel the flame inside her, and she could hear it—whispering to her, urging her to rise, to take control of the destruction she had just unleashed.
And for the first time in her life, she realized... the flame had never been hers to begin with.
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