Lava.
It flows and burns everything in its path. Only doused by vast amounts of water. It now dripped on his silvery scales from the magical spear, lodged deep in Kai The Storyteller’s crystalline chest wound - now the last dragon.
"With your death, we will usher in a new world of freedom for the lower races!" a human warrior gestured with his sword. The circle of betrayers around Kai all cheered at those words. They caught him in the desert cave he called home, and eventually, after killing many of them, he finally succumbed.
Kai was rapidly losing his life, and now that the chest crystal on his high form was shattered, he would soon die, like all dragons. How these mortals discovered the secret to craft a weapon able to break dragon crystal was something he would worry about if he had time to live, but alas, Mazur had failed mere moments ago. Kai was indeed the last dragon, and he was losing time.
"What do you think will happen when I die?" he asked—pointing the question at no one in particular.
A different, more stately warrior stepped forward. "We would seize Scaleheart for ourselves. We will sleep in your beds, indulge in your riches and step on your graves." Another cheer. Alarmed, he had to ask, "Why do you think you'll succeed? Have you forgotten our teachings? 'No magic shall ever trespass upon Ignis while its throne lies vacant.'"
"I don't believe you! All dragons lie to save their hides. And besides, Ignis is an empire filled with races other than dragons. You are few! Why should we let you control us?" an anthropomorphic Hyena warrior cheered, "right!" at that last bit.
"Well, you're in for a treat then."
He still had a good few minutes until he died, but he made a show to collapse on the ground so the people would disperse. He needed to be alone for his final moments on Yesh.
They all cheered and went their merry way, discussing dinner, celebrations, and carnal pleasures.
A few minutes went by, and he was utterly alone. The moment of death finally arrived. Shimmering blue light started engulfing his body, and slowly, his body was disintegrating at the edges.
"My son. Your time has come." a voice rang in Kai’s mind.
"Father, forgive me." Kai resigned to his fate and knew what needed to be done. Cornelius would happily grant his Last Wish.
"What is your parting wish, my son? As the father of dragons, I will do all in my power to grant it."
"Father, we are dying. With my death, your connection to Yesh will be interrupted. My wish is for you to give us a way to come back so that we may punish those that did this to us, reclaim our power, and continue the sacred mission given to us by Mother."
The father of dragons did not reply immediately. And as Kai heard the word 'Granted,' he finally disintegrated into blue energy.
***
"Flames, it's so good to defeat a dragon! I could bang my wife all night from excitement!" the human soldier told his anthro wolf counterpart.
"Good for you! I'm tired," the wolf said and grabbed a wound on his leg. "I won't be banging anyone anytime soon."
"It's only a little-" the human soldier cut off as he heard screams from other parts of the camp. A pig soldier ran from the forest towards the soldier’s camp, scorching marks on his pink skin. He was losing his breath rapidly and coughing from the smoke as he got closer.
"Run for your lives! Fire is coming for us!"
Looking behind him, a sea of fire was spreading from where they defeated the dragon, and everywhere it touched, the ground lit up with magical runes.
The soldiers started running, thinking they would outpace the fire, but when the wolf was instantly consumed by fire as it touched his long legs, the human started running faster and faster, also motivated by fear. Seeing his friends go down one by one as the fire touched them, he lost hope and, for a moment, slowed down. The fire caught up to him. A voice rang in his mind as he screamed from the fire consuming his flesh. "No one will bear witness to what happened here today. No one will remember you."
At the center of the carnage, a beam of light from the night sky shone down, and in that center, daylight reigned supreme as the magic materialized a structure. A temple for the remains of Kai The Storyteller. "Here lies the storyteller" was written in Draconic on the door "Here lies he who continues our legacy."