Dragon's Heart, The

This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice. The amber light of dawn filtered through the stained glass windows of the ancient library, casting prismatic shadows across the leather-bound tomes that had gathered dust for centuries. Seraphina Ashworth carefully turned the brittle pages of the manuscript before her, her emerald eyes scanning the faded ink with growing excitement. As the kingdom's youngest court scholar, she had spent the better part of three years translating the cryptic texts left behind by the old mages, but nothing had prepared her for what she was discovering now. The prophecy spoke of a heart that beat within stone, of a love that could break the most powerful of curses, and of a choice that would determine the fate of two worlds. Seraphina's fingers trembled as she traced the elegant script, written in the ancient tongue of the dragon lords who had once ruled these lands with wisdom and fire. "When the moon bleeds silver and the earth trembles with sorrow," she read aloud, her voice barely above a whisper, "the last of the dragon born shall emerge from his prison of stone. Only through the pure love of a mortal heart can the curse be broken, but beware—for such love demands the ultimate sacrifice." A sudden crash of thunder made her jump, though the morning sky had been clear moments before. Through the tall windows, she could see dark clouds gathering with unnatural speed, swirling in patterns that defied the natural order. The very air seemed to thicken with magic, and Seraphina felt a pull deep within her chest, as if something were calling to her from beyond the castle walls. She had always been different from the other scholars. While they buried themselves in books of history and law, she was drawn to the mystical texts, the forgotten lore of creatures that most believed to be mere legends. Her colleagues often whispered that she spent too much time with fantasies and not enough with facts, but Seraphina knew better.