The Void Dragon sank onto its forelegs.
The glowing network held its field open, acid ate through the wing membrane, and Leon could no longer close off every direction in time. A few more minutes and the beast would lose the ability to fight.
"Surrender," I said.
"I'm still standing."
"Your dragon isn't."
Leon looked at his beast. This time his gaze settled neither on its rare rank nor on the family trophy. A young creature stood panting before him, obeying only because the collar caused it pain.
His hand rose towards the clasp.
In the box, Kane touched his signet ring.
The gold seal around the dragon's neck closed.
The beast screamed. It did not roar, but gave a high, broken cry that made the people in the front rows cover their ears. The black haze sank beneath its scales. Its body began to grow, breaking its own bones and rebuilding them at once.
The Seal of Truth flashed red as it registered the external command, but the protective dome did not shut down. Kane had linked it to the collar beforehand, and now the arena held not a fight but a forced ascension.
"Father, what have you done?" Leon shouted.
Kane did not answer.
The dragon almost doubled in size. Space collapsed around it. The edge of the arena vanished, taking some of the protective supports with it. A black crack climbed the dome.
Leon was the closest. The family bond dragged him towards the beast. The skin of his neck blackened in the same pattern as the collar.
Kane was empowering the dragon through his son's nervous system.
I still had a way out. Styx could pass through the dome in phantom flight, destroy the outer node and open a narrow gap. I could make it out before the complete collapse.
Leon could not.
He was trying to tear the collar from the dragon, but it no longer recognised its master. A clawed paw rose above him.
"Styx, shall we get him out?"
I asked. I did not command.
The answer came at once.
"Yes."
A hundred soldiers struck Leon from the side and knocked him out of the path of the claws. Others covered his clothes, caught hold of his belts and dragged him across the sand. The dragon brought its paw down, splitting the arena where its master had been lying a second before.
"Don't touch me!" Leon rasped.
"Then crawl on your own."
I cut through the heated chain with a horn plate. Leon rolled away from the beast and clutched his blackened neck.
Meanwhile, the stands had become a trap. The destruction of the supports had jammed the emergency gates, and people crushed one another at the exits. The instructors were trying to hold the dome and could not manage the evacuation at the same time.
Lenny was at the lower gate with his ape. The beast had not yet fully recovered from our fight, but its master ordered it to brace one shoulder against the doors.
"Hold it! Until everyone is out!"
The crushing ape roared and lifted the metal grille. The younger students began crawling beneath it.
Lenny saw me in the arena. The fear of Styx remained on his face, but he did not let go of the gate.
The dragon drew in a breath. The void vortex opened not only in its maw now. It appeared between its horns and began pulling in sand, debris and people from the front rows.
"All broods, to the supports. Open the emergency locks with acid. Do not attack the dragon."
We gave up on winning the duel and turned to the exits.
Explosive ticks died against the locks. The soldiers formed dark arrows in the smoke, showing people the clear routes. Styx flew from one group to the next, using short discharges to break the jammed mechanisms.
Kane rose in the box.
"You see the swarm is out of control? Rex caused the breach!"
The Seal's white crystal continued to record. It had preserved the trace of his signet ring, but the spectators could not make out the details in the chaos.
The dragon swung again. This time it aimed for the lower section, where Lenny was holding the gate.
I linked the remaining soldiers into a broad conducting network. Styx entered its centre and released her entire stored charge.
The lightning did not pierce the void field. It struck the ruined supports, travelled beneath the arena and raised a metal plate between the dragon and the stands. The claw slammed into it. The plate buckled, Lenny's ape dropped to one knee, but the gate remained open.
The last child slipped out.
The dome cracked.
The dragon raised its head towards the true sky, and for an instant pain showed through the void in its eyes.
Leon saw it too.
"Stop the seal," I said. "He can still hear you."
"Father locked the bond. I can't give a command."
"Then don't command him."
Leon slowly removed the family signet ring. The skin beneath it was burned. He placed his palm on the sand and sent not a demand through the bond, but his own fear.
The dragon froze.
That was enough for Styx to reach the gold collar and sever one of its lines with her thunder stinger.
The void vortex shuddered.
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