by C Holden Case
The guilt of the past often stakes claim over our future; for Renn and the dragon soul within him, this is no different. Absolution calls to them as they flee from the zealous prince who fused them together. The firedrake is key to salvation, and the prince seeks to reclaim it. Framed as heretic and traitor, Renn, as well as outcasts Veeri and Saiela, become all that stand between the continent and a fanatic’s divine crusade. Hey all! This story is a sample for my dark epic fantasy novel, where grief refuses to die and shapes who we choose to become. I plan to share act one, then update and replace them after revision. However, when I publish the book, only the prologue and first two chapters at most will stay up. I cannot speak for the far future, but this is a multi-book planned series, and I'll likely upload samples for the other books as well when the time comes. Until then, you can follow me on any of my socials @NeverSpiteAWolf, such as signing up for my newsletter where I plan to post updates, lore, and short stories: https://substack.com/@neverspiteawolf
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 21 Oct 2026, 09:18 UTC
Entry forecast updated 21 Oct 2026, 09:18 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Not enough recent follower history to estimate a shadow rank yet.
beats 71% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 39% of similar stories
Mid-pack, room on both levers
Traffic and conversion both sit mid-field for a story this size. Growth here compounds from consistency: steady cadence feeds traffic, and a sharper hook lifts what each view is worth.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 10–19 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.
