The air crackled with a morbid anticipation as Acasia stood among the other 'claiming brides,' her flimsy white dress offering little comfort against the biting wind. Her friends, Julia, Chersa, and Sarora, huddled close, their faces etched with the same terror that gnawed at her.

"He's an animal," Acasia muttered, the words barely audible above the nervous chatter. "Who the hell would want his love?"

The distant roar, a primal sound that vibrated through the very ground beneath them, sent a fresh wave of panic through the crowd. It was the dragon, coming for his chosen.

Then, the monstrous shadow fell, and the red demon descended. Its fifty-foot wingspan blotted out the sun, its talons the size of small trees. Heat radiated from its armored body as it circled, a terrifying, lethal grace in every movement.

As the townspeople prostrated themselves, Acasia, with her friends' hands clasped tightly in hers, stood tall, knees knocking but eyes fixed on the beast.

His voice, a husky whisper that echoed only in her mind, cut through the silence. "Come forward, Acasia."

Her fingers released her friends, and her legs moved, drawn by an invisible cord to the monstrous creature. She was a moth to a flame, an insect to a god. Her world was about to change forever.