Everyone believed Caelric Stormbane had perished alongside the Tempest Dragon.
The kingdom raised a monument.
People laid flowers at its base, mourning the hero who'd killed the evil dragon for them.
But the real Caelric didn't die.
He was trapped in the depths of the Vaelstorm Ruins, day after day enduring the storm's torture. Dragon blood gnawed at his body. The Tempest Dragon's leftover power tore at his soul. And that near-unstoppable regenerative ability meant he couldn't even die easily when he wanted to.
Time crawled on.
Caelric forgot what the kingdom looked like. He forgot how many people had once stood before his statue. He threw away his old name with his own hands, letting dragon horns grow from his forehead, letting a tail and wings become part of him.
After that, he called himself Maelor Windscar.
The dragon slayer finally became the next evil dragon.
No one knew how much longer passed before new dragon slayers arrived at the Vaelstorm Ruins.
