The amulet sat on the war table, dark and dormant.
Owen had held it a hundred times since Azmireth's death. Turned it over. Studied its markings. Pushed mana into it, will into it, even blood into it. Nothing. He'd assumed it was dead, its connection to Vorthraxx severed when its wielder fell.
Now, with Solhart's words still hanging in the air, he reached for it again.
This time was different.
His fingers closed around the cold metal, and something answered. Royal dragon king bloodline, Dominus's legacy. The three fragments that had made him whole now. It recognized this artifact.
The amulet blazed to life.
Light erupted from its surface, not purple, not demonic, but gold. Dragon gold. Dominus's gold. The same light that had blazed from the Dragon King's scales when he sealed his son away.
Owen's vision dissolved.
---
He stood in darkness, a darkness of a place that had never known light. The prison dimension. A cage built by a father who loved his son too much to kill him.
