The arena shook.<\/p>\n
Dust exploded across scorching sand.<\/p>\n
The monstrous minotaur charged.<\/p>\n
Fast.<\/p>\n
Far too fast for something that large.<\/p>\n
Its black armor thundered with every step.<\/p>\n
Massive horns lowered like sharpened death.<\/p>\n
Thousands screamed from the stone seats above.<\/p>\n
Some in excitement.<\/p>\n
Others in horror.<\/p>\n
Because the boy\u2014<\/p>\n
didn\u2019t run.<\/p>\n
Didn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n
The cyan tattoo across his shoulder burned brighter.<\/p>\n
Light spread beneath his skin like lightning trapped inside flesh.<\/p>\n
Heat rolled outward.<\/p>\n
The boy clenched his fists tighter.<\/p>\n
Fear stood beside him\u2014<\/p>\n
but never ruled him.<\/p>\n
The minotaur roared.<\/p>\n
Close now.<\/p>\n
Too close.<\/p>\n
\u201cDIE!\u201d<\/p>\n
Its massive claw swung downward.<\/p>\n
The crowd gasped.<\/p>\n
Then\u2014<\/p>\n
the impossible.<\/p>\n
The boy lifted one trembling hand.<\/p>\n
And the tattoo exploded with cyan light.<\/p>\n
Energy burst outward across the arena floor.<\/p>\n
Sand erupted into the sky.<\/p>\n
The minotaur staggered violently backward.<\/p>\n
Its armored feet dragging through stone.<\/p>\n
Shock spread instantly through the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was that?!\u201d someone screamed.<\/p>\n
The boy stared at his own glowing hand.<\/p>\n
Breathing hard.<\/p>\n
Confused.<\/p>\n
Afraid.<\/p>\n
Because he hadn\u2019t meant to do that.<\/p>\n
The cyan symbols pulsed harder now.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
Awakening.<\/p>\n
The minotaur growled deeply.<\/p>\n
Yellow eyes narrowing.<\/p>\n
Recognition.<\/p>\n
Not anger.<\/p>\n
Fear.<\/p>\n
Its massive body stiffened.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Its voice lowered.<\/p>\n
Impossible.<\/p>\n
Ancient.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026you carry the mark.\u201d<\/p>\n
The arena grew quiet again.<\/p>\n
Even the emperor high above leaned forward.<\/p>\n
The boy frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat mark?\u201d<\/p>\n
The beast stepped back.<\/p>\n
One slow step.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
Like instinct itself told it to fear what stood before it.<\/p>\n
The cyan tattoo stretched brighter across the boy\u2019s back.<\/p>\n
Symbols shifting.<\/p>\n
Moving.<\/p>\n
Changing.<\/p>\n
Heat cracked stone beneath his feet.<\/p>\n
The minotaur\u2019s breathing deepened.<\/p>\n
For the first time\u2014<\/p>\n
the monster looked uncertain.<\/p>\n
Then quietly\u2014<\/p>\n
almost shaken\u2014<\/p>\n
it whispered,<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last dragon king\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence swallowed the coliseum.<\/p>\n
The boy froze.<\/p>\n
Confusion flooding his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
But before the beast could answer\u2014<\/p>\n
a horn echoed through the arena.<\/p>\n
Deep.<\/p>\n
Royal.<\/p>\n
Violent.<\/p>\n
Heavy iron gates began opening beneath the emperor\u2019s balcony.<\/p>\n
Chains rattled.<\/p>\n
Crowds screamed.<\/p>\n
Because something worse\u2014<\/p>\n
something forbidden\u2014<\/p>\n
was being released.<\/p>\n
The minotaur turned instantly.<\/p>\n
Fear burning through its glowing eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026\u201d it growled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey woke him<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The earth beneath the arena trembled.<\/p>\n And from the darkness below\u2014<\/p>\n something enormous breathed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The arena shook. Dust exploded across scorching sand. The monstrous minotaur charged. Fast. Far too fast for something that large. Its black armor thundered with every step. Massive horns lowered like sharpened death. Thousands screamed from the stone seats above. Some in excitement. Others in horror. Because the boy\u2014 didn\u2019t run. Didn\u2019t move. The cyan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}