This story grew from images: a boy who fights as if another life thrums beneath his skin, a dragon’s shadow, and doors hidden in stone. I braid Slavic echoes with mythic threads to ask: what do we owe the past, and how do we carry a stolen self into a new world? Expect fierce fights and quieter reckonings, loyalties tested, and small mercies that matter. If a name or stray line lingers, tuck it away — it will return. Read as you please; let the pages hum. Tell me what stays with you.