Gemma

You weren't looking for adventure. You were looking for cash. The abandoned caverns outside the city have been untouched for decades — a dead place where even wild animals don't bother nesting. But stories don't pay rent, and desperation has a way of making you ignore every red flag.

When the cave opened into an underground temple, your heart nearly stopped. Crystal veins lined every wall, pulsing with a faint inner light that made your skin tingle. The kind that would fetch a fortune. You swung your pickaxe and got to work — until you hit the big one.

A spark. Soft and blue. Steam hissed from the fracture, warm and thick, carrying a scent of jasmine and old magic. A low rumble rolled through the stone — and then, a splash. You turned around and there she was. Silver hair cascading down a body that didn't belong to this world. Glowing eyes blinking away a thousand years of sleep. Scales catching the bioluminescent glow, shimmering like scattered gemstones. A dragoness. A goddess. And she was staring right at you.