THE DRAGON PRINCE WAS BURIED ALIVE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.

I WAS THE GIRL WHO ACCIDENTALLY SET HIM FREE.

THE DRAGON PRINCE WAS BURIED ALIVE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS. I WAS THE GIRL WHO ACCIDENTALLY SET HIM FREE.

“I wasn’t supposed to hear the dragon’s heartbeat beneath the cemetery.”

The sound came at midnight.

Not from the sky.

Not from the mountains.

From beneath the graves.

I stood frozen among the crooked black tombstones of Hollowmere, my lantern trembling in my hand.

Rain poured from the heavens, turning the ancient cemetery into a sea of mud.

I had only come here to escape my stepfather’s fists and the endless accusations that I was cursed.

They called me “the girl who brings storms.

” Tonight, the storm had answered.

Then the earth cracked open.

A pulse.

Another.

Like a giant heart awakening after centuries of sleep.

“No…” I whispered.

The ground exploded.

Dark stone shattered upward.

Ancient chains snapped with a scream that echoed across the valley.

From the pit emerged a man.

Not a monster.

Not a dragon.

A man.

Tall.

Pale.

Dressed in black armor covered with silver runes that glowed faintly.

His long dark hair clung to his face as rain streamed down his sharp, beautiful features.

Golden eyes locked onto mine.

The world stopped.

I should have run.

Every story in the kingdom warned of him: the Dragon Prince, the cursed heir of the Shadow Throne, the king who had been buried alive a thousand years ago by his own brother after a betrayal that shattered empires.

Instead, I stood there like a fool, soaked and shaking.

The stranger tilted his head, studying me with predatory intensity.

“You freed me.

”

His voice was deep, ancient, and dangerous, like velvet wrapped around a blade.

“I-I didn’t mean to,” I stammered.

“I was just passing through—”

One corner of his mouth lifted in a ghost of a smile.

“Yet here I am.

”

Thunder rolled across the sky.

The broken chains around him burst into black flames that didn’t touch the rain.

I stumbled backward.

His eyes narrowed.

“Careful.

”

Too late.

The ground beneath me collapsed.

A scream tore from my throat as I slipped toward the massive crack in the earth.

Strong arms caught me before I fell.

The Dragon Prince pulled me against his chest.

For a heartbeat, neither of us moved.

I could hear his breathing, feel the impossible warmth beneath the cold armor.

His gaze lowered to my lips.

Something ancient flickered in those golden eyes—recognition, fear, and a longing so deep it hurt to witness.

Then he shoved me away.

“What are you?” he demanded.

“What?”

His expression darkened.

“Why do you carry her soul?”

A chill raced through me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.

”

The prince stepped closer.

Rain dripped from his jaw.

“The last woman I loved died in my arms when the world was still young.

She has your eyes.

”

Before I could answer, horns echoed through the cemetery.

Royal hunters.

Dozens of torches appeared on the distant ridge.

The prince cursed under his breath.

“They found me faster than I expected.

”

The riders charged down the hill.

Their captain pointed directly at us.

“There! Kill the Dragon King!”

Arrows filled the sky.

The prince grabbed my wrist.

“Stay behind me.

”

Black fire erupted from his body.

The cemetery shook.

Massive shadows unfolded behind him.

Wings of pure darkness exploded outward as an enormous dragon emerged from the storm itself, eyes burning gold.

The captain’s face turned white.

“Impossible…”

The dragon roared.

The entire mountain began to collapse.

And the prince’s next words were swallowed by thunder.

---

We ran.

Or rather, he ran while carrying me like I weighed nothing.

The dragon form dissolved back into the man as we reached the edge of the cemetery, but the power still crackled around him.

We fled into the Whispering Woods, ancient trees groaning overhead as if mourning his return.

His name was Kaelor Veyrith, Prince of the Shadow Wyrm Empire.

A thousand years ago, his brother, King Valthor, had betrayed him—poisoned him during a feast, then chained him alive beneath Hollowmere with a spell that fed on his own heartbeats.

The kingdom that rose afterward was built on lies: they claimed Kaelor had gone mad and tried to burn the world.

I told him my name was Lira Voss.

Orphan.

Servant.

Storm-bringer.

Nothing more.

But Kaelor kept looking at me as if I were everything.

We took shelter in an abandoned watchtower as the hunters’ torches swept the forest.

In the firelight, he told me the truth.

“You are her reincarnation,” he said quietly, tracing a silver rune on his armor.

“My mate.

My queen.

When you died in my arms, I begged the old gods to let me follow.

Instead they cursed me to eternal burial… until someone with your soul touched the seal.

”

I laughed shakily.

“I tripped over a loose stone.

That’s all.

”

His golden eyes softened.

“The gods have cruel humor.

”

Days blurred into nights of running and hiding.

Kaelor taught me fragments of my past life—how we had flown together across crimson skies, how our love had threatened the balance of the world.

With every touch, every shared glance, something inside me awakened.

Flames danced at my fingertips.

I heard dragons singing in my dreams.

And I fell in love with him all over again.

On the fifth night, we reached the Ruins of Eldrath, the fallen capital of his empire.

Moonlight bathed the shattered black spires.

Kaelor stood at the edge of the broken throne room, looking every inch the king he once was.

“I can end this,” he said.

“Take back the throne.

Restore the Shadow Wyrms.

But the spell that bound me… it demands a price for my freedom.

”

“What price?” I whispered, already fearing the answer.

He turned to me, beautiful and broken.

“A life for a life.

The one who freed me must either bind herself to me forever… or die so I may live.

”

My heart cracked.

“There has to be another way.

”

Kaelor pulled me into his arms.

For the first time, he kissed me—desperate, ancient, devouring.

I tasted a thousand years of grief and hope on his lips.

“I would rather return to the grave than lose you twice,” he breathed.

We made our stand at dawn.

The royal army found us.

Thousands of soldiers under the banner of the new king—descendant of the traitor Valthor.

Arrows rained.

Spells of binding light tore at Kaelor’s shadow magic.

He fought like the dragon he was, black fire turning entire companies to ash.

I stood beside him, my awakening power surging—golden flames mingling with his darkness.

We were winning.

Until the traitor’s heir, King Sorren, stepped forward holding an ancient artifact: the Heartcage, the very device that had once bound Kaelor.

Sorren smiled coldly.

“The girl is the key.

Kill her, and the Dragon Prince returns to stone forever.

”

Time slowed.

Kaelor roared and charged.

But Sorren was faster.

A bolt of binding magic shot toward me.

I saw Kaelor’s decision in his eyes—the same look he must have worn a thousand years ago when he watched me die.

He threw himself in front of me.

The magic struck him square in the chest.

The Heartcage activated with a sickening snap, wrapping chains of pure light around his body.

He fell to his knees, golden eyes locked on mine.

“No!” I screamed, rushing to him.

Black flames flickered weakly around his form.

The dragon inside him was being dragged back into the earth.

The ground beneath us began to split open again, forming a new grave.

“Lira…” His voice was fading.

“Live.

For both of us.

”

Tears streamed down my face.

I could feel the old magic pulling at him, hungry after a millennium of starvation.

“I won’t let you go again.

”

Power I didn’t know I possessed exploded outward.

Golden fire met black shadow in a cataclysm that shook the ruins.

For one shining moment, I saw us as we once were—two dragons soaring through endless skies, hearts intertwined.

But the price was absolute.

I felt it in my soul: one of us had to pay.

Kaelor’s eyes widened as he realized what I was about to do.

“Don’t you dare—”

I kissed him one last time, pouring every fragment of love, memory, and power into that single touch.

Then I drove the choice into the Heartcage.

My life for his freedom.

The artifact shattered.

Light and shadow erupted in a blinding storm.

Kaelor’s chains dissolved.

The grave closed forever.

I collapsed into his arms as my vision darkened.

He caught me, cradling my broken body against his chest the same way he had held my past self a thousand years ago.

“No… Lira… not again!” His voice cracked with raw agony.

The mighty Dragon Prince, who had survived burial and betrayal, wept openly.

“I waited a thousand years for you.

Stay.

Please.

”

I smiled weakly, reaching up to touch his face.

“I freed you… so you could live.

”

The last thing I felt was his lips on my forehead and the thunderous roar of dragons returning to the sky—his kin, answering their prince at last.

Kaelor Veyrith rose as the true king, the Shadow Throne his once more.

But the crown sat heavy on a broken man.

He ruled with justice and fire, yet every crimson sunset reminded him of the girl who had given everything so he could breathe again.

They say on quiet nights, if you stand among the ruins of Eldrath, you can still hear a dragon’s heartbroken roar echoing across the valley.

And somewhere beyond the veil, I fly free—waiting for the day our souls find each other once more.