Deep, deep underground, in a chasm so dark that the shadows seemed alive, an evil presence stirred. Dark shackles clinked in the empty silence, the sound echoing in the vacant space ominously. Hissing in an unintelligible language could be heard, if one strained their ears hard enough. Slowly, the hissing was growing louder, and filled with such malice that it could have stopped a small child’s heartbeat in an instant.

A giant, misty tail swished slowly back and forth, able to wrap around the body twice. Spines rested in sharp, jagged rows across the tip, slowly increasing in size as they approached the creature’s massive back.

Armored scales rippled beneath a shadowy, misty substance that made the creature appear phantom-like. The long underbelly rose and fell in jagged, gasping breaths that still could not penetrate the darkness. Colossal claws with infinite sharpness curled with hatred.

Wings that could have filled the entire chasm lay folded across the creature’s back, bound by chains that could never come off.

A long, large neck bristling with spines rose from the back. The spines appeared to be flexing in and out slowly.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

A large head the size of a house connected to the neck. Large ears swiveled back and forth, trying to detect any small sound in the air, but finding none. Immense horns sprouted from above the ears, curling in and then out with an abrupt curve. The spines along the neck continued until reaching the forehead, where they disappeared. Large nostrils opened and closed; like the ears, they were trying to detect any disturbance in the air, any smell that could perhaps fill the creature’s immortal hunger. A sharp spine the size of a human jutted out from the top of the nostrils, but the spine was only half the length of its smallest spine.

The creature was deep in a coma, looking into the past, present, and future, plotting, crafting, devising, and watching. But never awake. Never aware. Never fully alive. Always a phantom.

But then, the air around the creature stirred. For the first time in a thousand years, the creature jerked in its slumber.

Then, slowly, carefully, the creature opened its eye, the size of half of a boulder, and the color of the blackness. In the middle of the eye was a large, purple slit, which twitched back and forth. The wings twitched and the claws moved slightly. The mouth lines pulled back to reveal incredibly long, sharp, fangs bared in an evil smile.

Venomous laughter filled the air, starting as a raspy chuckle and then building to an evil cackle.

Zaerux had awakened.