A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5654

Jared's gaze locked on the Serpent King.

In that instant, he remembered the blood that burned in his veins—the Golden Dragon bloodline, sovereign of beasts, born to command anything that slithered or crawled.

Without hesitation, he tore a line across his fingertip. Crimson drops struck the stone. A silent detonation of dragon's power unfurled from him, rippling outward in concentric waves that rattled pebbles and bent cold air to his will.

The smaller snakes recoiled at once, hissing in primal terror, scales rasping as they scrambled over one another. Even the arrogant Serpent King faltered, eyes wide, before it wheeled and vanished into the darkness, its following horde slithering after like a retreating storm.

Relief crashed over Jared and Sylvia. They collapsed hard onto the rock, lungs clawing for breath, every limb trembling with spent adrenaline until even raising a finger felt impossible.

"That was far too close," Sylvia whispered, voice still quavering. "Without your dragon blood, we'd be bones by now."

Jared managed a weary nod. "The bloodline earns its keep when it matters. We need shelter, and we need to patch these bites before venom thinks otherwise."

Footfalls drifted from the tunnel mouth—soft, deliberate, human.

Instantly, their weapons rose again, eyes narrowing toward the sound, every muscle tensing despite the ache.

Out of the gloom shuffled a frail, silver-haired woman, a boy of maybe fifteen hovering at her side.

The old woman—Evelyn Grey—leaned on a knotty cane, each step tentative yet stubborn. Time had written deep stories across her face. Beside her, the boy, young Hugo, stared at the blood-streaked strangers with a mixture of fear and shining curiosity.

"Who are you, and what madness brings outsiders this deep?" Evelyn's knuckles tightened around her cane as she spoke.

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