The Second Regent

Though the old man was suspicious, he certainly didn't dare investigate. He could only steer his boat, which had yielded little, back to shore. His young grandson, however, was fascinated by the motionless dark cloud. Unfortunately, he was too young to have any say over the boat, so all he could do was lie across the seat, eyes wide and bright, staring fixedly at the cloud.

Persistence was rewarded. The moment they reached shore, the boy finally saw what lay within the dark cloud: a creature that existed only in legends—a great dragon, poking its head out from the cloud. Perhaps because of the cloud, the dragon the boy saw was covered in pitch-black scales.

At last, the storm clouds parted and the sun came out. The howling wind stopped, and the sea grew calm again. Liam collapsed onto the deck. Though he was soaked and miserable, seeing the smiles on everyone's faces made him feel that everything he'd done had been worth it. But the immense joy of surviving against all odds had barely had time to settle when a dragon's roar froze the smile on his face.

A black dragon swooped down from the sky and attacked the ship that had survived the storm. One blast of dragon's breath split the vessel in two. With creaks and groans, the broken halves slowly sank into the sea.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Though the ship had been destroyed, some people could always survive a shipwreck by sheer luck. The enormous black dragon in the sky, however, had no intention of sparing them. It hovered above them, repeatedly snatching people from the ship and dropping them back down, as if searching for something.

At last, the black dragon's slit pupils fixed on Liam. His heart clenched, but