The night wind howled across the Ancient Dragon Corpse Burial Ground, its breath carrying the chill of death. Dark clouds veiled the crescent moon, casting the world into murky shadows. Within a forgotten cave, hidden beyond shattered stone gates carved with dragon bone fragments and cursed seals, lay a solitary black coffin.
This burial ground was a place of utmost dread. Legends spoke of countless ancient dragons, slain in primordial wars, whose colossal bones lay buried here, radiating lingering draconic might and hatred. For generations, no mortal dared approach, for it was said that stepping upon these dragon remains would curse one's bloodline unto extinction.
Tonight, however, something stirred in the darkness.
Clang.
The rusted chains binding the coffin trembled as an echo rolled through the cavern. Dust fell like grey rain from the jagged ceiling. Talismans ignited, burning with a ghostly blue flame before turning to ash. The black coffin, surrounded by coiling dragon bones, pulsed with a faint, eerie glow.
Thump… thump… thump…
Slow, deliberate knocks reverberated from within. The lacquered wood groaned as fissures crawled across its surface. Black mist seeped from the cracks, swirling with countless shadows and faint echoes of draconic roars that merged with the suffocating darkness.
Suddenly, with a deafening roar, the coffin lid shattered outward, splinters flying across the cave walls. Silence fell, broken only by the echo of dripping water from the stalactites above and the oppressive aura of long-dead dragons weighing upon the cavern.
From within rose a figure clad in ragged robes as dark as obsidian. Long, dishevelled hair veiled its face, and pale hands, veined with faint black lines, clutched the coffin's edge with unnatural strength. The being took a deep, rasping breath, as if tasting air after countless centuries of slumber.
Slowly, its head lifted.
Two eyes opened in the darkness – deep as endless night, gleaming with a cold, indifferent light. In those eyes lay ancient wisdom and immeasurable malice. The faint echo of a voice whispered within the cave:
"It seems… this world has forgotten my name."
Outside, the winds howled louder, and lightning tore open the sky as though the heavens themselves trembled in fear. Far above, the massive skeletal remains of dragons rattled against each other, as if acknowledging the return of an ancient calamity.
The forbidden one had awakened from the resting ground of dragons.