12/01/2026
The wind sweeping down from the Iron-Crown Peaks carries the scent of ozone and ancient stone, a perfume I have come to call home. I stand at the nexus of three towering shadows, not of darkness, but of living, breathing obsidian.
They call me Valeraine of the Silent Pact, but titles are small things compared to the truth of where I stand.
To my left looms Kael-Thar, the Mountain-Breaker. His scales are rougher than the granite he rests upon, a testament to eons of enduring the world’s harshest storms. To my right is Vorthos, whose eyes hold the quiet wisdom of the deep earth, the grand strategist whose silence speaks louder than any roar. And curled near my boots, watchful and kinetic even in stillness, is Ryn, the Shadow-Weaver, the smallest yet the fiercest spark of agility.
The world looks at this tableau - a lone woman in steel armor flanked by three titans of the Draconic Aethel - and they see conquest. They see a beast-tamer who broke wild spirits to her will.
They could not be more wrong.
My armor, forged of star-metal and tempered in dragon-fire, is not worn to protect me from them. It is worn so that I might stand beside them without breaking.
Our bond is not one of master and servant. It is a profound reflection of the soul. When I look into the abyssal gaze of Kael-Thar, I see the reflection of my own stubborn resilience, the part of me that refuses to erode under the torrent of life's hardships. He taught me that true strength is not just in the strike, but in the ability to remain immovable when the entire world tries to push you down.
In Vorthos, I find my patience, my capacity to listen to the rhythm of the earth before making a move. And in swift Ryn, I see my own adaptability, the reminder that even when armored in heavy responsibility, one’s spirit must remain agile enough to dance between the raindrops of fate.
They are not my weapons. They are the external manifestations of my internal landscape. We do not ride to war to conquer lands; we fly to battle to dismantle fear.
Before I found them - or rather, before we found each other in the Caverns of Echoing Truth - I was a warrior fighting against myself, terrified of my own power. I thought I had to slay the "monsters" within to be righteous.
The great, uplifting secret I learned among the peaks is that you do not battle your demons. You accept them. You understand them. You realize that the most fearsome aspects of your being, once embraced with compassion and discipline, become your greatest guardians.
As the sun dips behind the mountains, casting long golden rays that ignite the edges of their midnight scales, I feel the hum of their collective heartbeat sync with my own.
We stand together, four beings sharing one breath, a testament to a simple, blinding truth: true power is never about dominion over others. It is about the terrifying, beautiful harmony of being whole.