The Sovereign Steel

The night enveloped the workshop in a peaceful veil, barely disturbed by the dancing flames. Here and there, candles burned slowly, casting their flickering light onto shelves laden with vials, grimoires and tools of all kinds. The hesitant light reflected off the glassware, sometimes bursting into golden flashes before disappearing into the shadows. The acrid scent of crushed roots mingled with the sweeter aroma of dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. In this subdued atmosphere, dust particles stirred by an imperceptible breeze floated like tiny frozen embers.

It was in this quiet, almost monastic atmosphere that I set about tidying up, moving a few piles of manuscripts and sorting through the artefacts that had been scattered around over the days. And so it was that I rediscovered, relegated behind a series of worn books, an antique box. Its surface, tarnished by time, still bore the fine engravings of intertwined arabesques, and when my fingers brushed against its wood, a familiar feeling came over me.

Opening it carefully, I discovered my old notes, hastily jotted down upon my return from a distant journey. Between these pages lay a few fragments of the precious steel that had once been entrusted to me, silent witnesses to an episode I thought was long past. Yet as I reread those yellowed lines, images of the city of three hills, the throne bristling with blades, and the tales of the sovereign came back to me with unsettling clarity. It was as if the long-dormant memories had been waiting for a spark to reignite them.

An irresistible impulse seized me: what if these fragments had not yet revealed their full potential? What if, within their metallic coldness, there still lay dormant a magic ready to be revealed? Without further ado, I set to work again, gathering various ingredients and tools, determined to give birth to a new generation of dragons, bearers of the greatness of this ancient memory.

This collection, consisting of four medium-sized eggs and one larger egg, will be released on 12 September at 8:30 p.m.