7th Dragon ((top)) May 2026

The nest opened into an old concert hall. Chairs were overturned. The stage lights still worked, casting dusty beams onto the floor. And there, coiled around the grand piano, was the True Dragon.

It was smaller than she expected. Sleek. Opalescent scales that shifted from blue to violet to black. Its eyes were human-shaped, which was the worst part. It tilted its head and let out a low, curious trill.

You came, a voice said — not aloud, but behind her eyes. The seventh children. The ones who carry my cousins inside your chests.