by SlyOkami
Many times had Thea argued with Kayle to leave her behind, not wanting her to follow the eldest into danger. She tried to stop her from coming to Beckton with her, she even tried to stop Kayle from fighting in the last battle. But she couldn’t, each time Kayle’s stubbornness defeating her own.
And now she was going into danger once again, yet this time she would not have the safety of kingdom, nor the safety of home. Thea couldn’t bring herself to let Kayle follow once more. They both had lost their mother, they both had just lost their father.
Thea didn’t know what she would do if she lost Kayle too. But in that same regard, Thea knew Kayle had the same argument at hand.
“Kayle, dear. Wake up okay?” Thea softly shook her sister from sleep.
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* * *
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Sol sighed as he walked into his room, three servants standing at attention within. His lunch ready on a tray nearby. He ignored them, instead, he walked out to the connecting balcony. Outside the large platform were two guards in full plate armour, only a pair of the other twenty that stood right outside the room.
Sol walked up to the balcony’s railing, looking out his castle and down at the city below. Directly below the castle were brief fields taking to an inner wall which separated the large building from the rest of the city. The field large enough that a crossbow or magi-rifle would be ineffective against the invisible barrier that surrounded the massive building.
Sol looked over the city and beyond, over the dying fields and towards where a forest once lay. Gone, only days ago.
“Your majesty.” A familiar elven voice said as Pyra appeared kneeling behind him in a burst of shadow. Causing the two guards to lower their large halberds over her neck.
Sol turned to her, only 15 years of age yet he was unafraid of this very deadly killer. Knowing full well that if she wanted to take his life, nobody on this floor could stop her. “You two, leave us.” He told the two guards, who glanced at him with confusion.
“Now.” Sol told them once more, the two knights raising their halberds and saluting before leaving the balcony. “You three as well, out of the room.” He then told the waiting servants, all five of them leaving the room and closing the door behind themselves.
Sol’s gaze fell on the Dark Elf before him, “What news do you bring then?” he asked her.
“My master has accepted your invitation.” Pyra simply said, “He will speak with you.”
Sol raised a brow, “When?”
“Right now, actually.” said Erik abruptly from his right, with a draconic voice, Sol turning to find him staring out the balcony.
“Erik…athyr. The Destroyer.” Sol said beneath his breath.
“Worry not, King. Nobody outside us three can hear a word, I’ve made sure of it.” Erik assured while glancing at the boy. His blue eyes shimmering with a golden light.
“I see…” Sol responded, stepping away from the being that stood before him. Very wary of this creature’s power.
“So, young crowned king. What is that you wished to know?” Erik asked while turning to fully face him, his solemn gaze setting on Sol.
The young boy’s usual calm crumbled beneath the drake’s uncomfortable stare, his eyes widening and expression paling. Yet he retained his dutiful tone, “I wish to know what you plan to do, whether you’ve been in hiding all these millennia or whether you’ve just returned from the dead. What are you going to…do?”
Erik approached the king, his steps soundless, his movements blurring as mana surged across his body. “What I plan to do? And what if I told you my plans haven’t changed? That just as how I command the Xilfir, I will subjugate each race to my name? What then…King?” His voice was fierce, a quiet yet deep growl that made even Pyra tremble.
“Will you resist? Will you fight? You have no Slayers to rely upon, you have no heroes to save you. So, what will You do?” Erikathyr asked.
Sol’s expression was frozen, his worst fears coming to haunt him. Yet the young boy clenched his fists and bit his lower lip, his gaze dropping to the floor. “We will not fight you, we cannot fight you.” Sol said with a dreadful tone, as he dropped down into a kneel. “Druvia is not what it used to be, the demons have taken too many of our warriors and all of our heroes. At one point we might have resisted but now…This kingdom, this entire people’s wills have been broken all too many times.”
Sol kneeled before Erik, his head held low just as how Pyra lay. “Erikathyr, the destroyer, the guardian, the white. We will not resist. We will not struggle. We only wish to live. As King, as ruler of my people. My crown is at your service, and if you wish to slay any man…Then slay me and… Please, have mercy upon them.”
Sol stared at the drake’s human feet, dark-brown ranger boots. His entire body was trembling, his vision shaking with fear. What else could he do? Before the being that fought a Devil and returned? Before the monster that made the entirety of Faetera tremble?
“Are you afraid, Sol Druvia?” Erik asked with his draconic voice.
“Y-Yes.” Sol answered truthfully.
“Do you fear death?” He then asked.
“How could I not? Yes, yes I fear death.” Sol again, answered truthfully.
“Then do you see me as your death? Because if death is what you wish for, I can fulfil that with ease.” The drake said, causing a paralysing fear to fill the boy. Yet no death came, no pain or injury. Instead the drake chuckled coldly, causing Sol to unfreeze, but not dare look up.
“Rise, King of Druvia.” Erik told him, and Sol rose. “Worry not, boy. I do not plan to wreak havoc upon your kind, not anymore. No, instead I wish to learn, I am here to protect what I was supposed to but failed to realise the danger. My enemy is your own, my foe is Hell.”
Sol’s fear lifted slightly but did not disappear, still terrified of the destroyer.
“I shall ask a question of you, King. You are free to answer however you see fit, I will not set any consequences upon your decision.” Erik said, his eyes narrowing.
“Yes?” Sol asked, mostly out of nervousness.
“You, who of only fifteen years of age, of a young race nonetheless. You, do you wish for further power? Do you want me to grant you more strength?” The drake asked, “Answer me, do you hunger for more?”
Sol’s eyes could not widen further, but as he before stared at the drake’s chest his gaze rose to meet his eyes. “Yes…Yes I wish for more power, but at what cost?”
“Cost? I am no demon who shall buy out your soul nor am I no Jinn who comes with three wishes, each with a ploy. My price is simple, I ask for your loyalty.” The drake offered, “But I also ask, why? Why do you wish for more power?”
Sol raised his right hand to his head, taking off the thin golden ring that was his crown. He stared at it, “I am King, I am the one the people turn to yet I have not the power to protect them in turn? I want power, I want the strength to defend what is mine.”
Suddenly Pyra rose to a high kneel before Sol, turning the boy to face her as she held his face with both hands. Tall enough that she did not need to stand up.
“Then if a contract is what you wish for. You creature of new, being of crafts and community. Pledge your very existence to me, and have a taste of my own. Speak my name, for I speak yours Sol Druvia. Speak my true name.” Erik chanted, his draconic voice rumbling within Sol.
Sol felt a strange mana rush through his cheeks and enter his mind, as he stared into Pyra’s deep golden eyes. She stared back. “Erikathyr.” Sol spoke the word as it appeared in his mind, power like he had never felt before flowing out with the sound. “Erikathyr.” He spoke it once more, energy rushing through his body like surging lightning.
“The Destroyer.”
“The Guardian.”
“The White.”
Sol spoke each title, as they flowed out naturally. He continued to stare up at Pyra, the dark elf closing her eyes as she mentally prepared herself to do what her master asked of her.
“Then i
t shall be, my servant you now are.” Erik said, “And a Dragon’s servant requires a Dragon’s name. Yours shall be…”
Sol’s expression turned to bafflement and embarrassment as he watched Pyra lean towards him, his cheeks burning red yet he stood frozen as their lips met.
“Solarion.”
Pyra swore she could no longer chastise Makaela after this day.
Ch 17 - Ever Hungry Spawn of Nightmares
Four weeks later
Dry lands oozing a violet mist surrounded the small army, marching in formation for several weeks now, stopping only for brief sleep during the night. Mages and priests lined the border of their march, keeping the vile magical toxin away while the rest cautiously kept their eyes open.
Erik was at the very front of this, Thea, Droy and an undercover Makaela and Ascal with him. The two dark elves where fully cloaked with dark cloth while riding on either side of him, for one because it was their duty and for two because Erik disliked horses as much as they disliked him.
The creature had almost buckled more times than Erik could count now, and he could count for a very long time. He couldn’t really blame the creature, although he constantly did, since it was carrying a drake on its back. The horse’s senses going haywire with each step.
“Are we there yet?…” Ascal whined in elven for the hundredth time today, the city born dark elf unused to sleeping outside and having had to deal with it for weeks. While also being away from clean bathing water and proper food.
“If you ask one more time, I will skin you like Klein and nail you to a tree. Leaving you behind.” Erik finally warned, tired of his whining.
“S-Sorry master…” Ascal straightened himself on his horse, going quiet right after.
“Not too far now,” Thea said, not fully understanding their words but having heard the same thing from the male Xilfir all day and along with Erik’s annoyed tone, she took a guess. “There to the left, over the hill.” She then pointed out.
They followed her gesture, seeing as over the rocky hill to their left a mountain range came into view off in the distance. Still several days away, which made Ascal’s heart sink.
“Two days march and we’ll be at Gilded Rock.” Droy said as he also glimpsed the mountains, “Prepare yourselves, we don’t know if the demonic presence there joined the army or stayed back.” He then shouted in order to the rest of the crimson guard.
Erik glanced back at the army of twenty thousand strong marching behind him, carriages of equipment while what couldn’t be fit on them was carried by horses, large stallions bred for war. He could barely make out the army’s end at the back, the trail they had been following the past week twisting and turning around hills and rocky mounds.
He turned back to stare off at the fortress barely visible between the two tallest of mountains, brick walls built into the mountain side to create an impregnable canyon. A canyon that was abandoned once the nearest fortress, Balgor, fell to Azruxan’s horde. The soldiers stationed at Gilded Rock marched back to the capital as ordered, where Druvia made its final stand, and won.
Now as Erik understood it, the crimson guard mercenaries were to take back control of the fortress in between the Gilded Rock mountain range, named after the golden crystal that formed around the large mountains, giving it all a reflective golden hue both during day and night time.
Erik grimaced though as he saw the mountains, once a beautiful sight he dearly remembered. Now a grim view to behold, the golden crystal reflecting the light into the surrounding miasma, giving the mountains a violet and sick glow.
He wanted to burn the entire thing to ash. Then again, he’s been wanting to torch every inch of his surroundings to ash since leaving the capital. The mere sight of miasma annoying him to no end, but if the Druvians had a way of healing the terrain that was more effective than burning the miasma out? He wanted to see the results.
It had not entirely been a boring ride though, Erik getting to watch and study these fine examples of their race from close range. From listening to their chatter as they made camp to studying their forced behaviour while marching…
Alright yes, he was bored out of his mind.
Erik had plans for Thea and Makeala while also wishing to test some of his spells with the surrounding miasma, but with all these eyes surrounding him he had decided to leave it all for after Gilded Rock.
Which after four weeks, he regretted not figuring out a way.
Alas though it seemed as the boredom was finally coming to a swift end as they marched closer to the mountain range…
Shrill cries suddenly filled their surroundings, growls and guttural hisses followed by the clear sound of flapping wings.
“Halt!” Droy called out, his order moving back along the march as the army came to an abrupt stop.
One specific hissing caught Erik’s attention, glancing back he saw the small wyvern Nerick had been learning to keep at bay, it was asleep around his neck before but now it was fully awake and very nervous.
Erik did not have his draconic senses, so leaning onto the child’s acute behaviour he guessed at what was about to occur. “Mountain wyverns.” He said, as a couple dozen of the massive winged reptilians flew overhead, too fast to make out.
“This north!?” Droy exclaimed, “Form up! Arm yourselves!” he then shouted back, the army’s formation changing about as mages and archers moved to the centre while spearmen rushed to surround them defensively.
“Thea! Tell your mages not to use fire magic!” Erik told her, as she glanced about the sky along with the rest.
“What? Why?” Thea asked, fire magic was the most destructive casting element and with the surrounding forest already as it was, it should’ve been the most effective.
Then suddenly the ground ahead of them exploded in rising dust, two of the blue scaly creatures crashing down before them. The two wyverns hissed at them ferociously, their front netted legs, their wings trembling with agitation as they bared their black fangs.
“Blast them!” Droy ordered, moving his horse to stand between the two wyverns and Thea.
“Do-” Erik was about to say, but several gunmen turned to shoot before he could finish. Bursts of flames fired off from behind them, magirifles going off in unison and barraging the two creatures.
But when the flames collided with the wyvern’s scales, the magic changed. From balls of heat they exploded out into a fog of steam, encasing the wyverns in a smokescreen. “Blazes, Mountain Wyverns are creatures of ice and frost! Fire is utterly ineffective!” Erik shouted at Droy, while gesturing at Makaela and Ascal to hold off from summoning the rest of the Xilfir, hidden nearby.
The two wyverns ahead of them charged, bursting out of the steam and catching the front line off guard. All but Erik, who raised his right palm forward flat. “Shield Gust!” He quickly chanted, sending forth a powerful gust of air shaped like a barrier. The wind collided with the creatures, pushing them back as they held their wings wide open to glide forward.
At the same time clearing the steam that had collected before them.
“Use water and lightning spells!” Erik called out, mana infusing his voice and carrying it along. He turned to Thea, “They want the horses! Unsaddle!” he then said while he himself hopped off.
Thea followed suit along with everyone else, “Do as he says!” she told the guard.
Erik raised both hands forward, ignoring as wyverns swooping down behind him, grabbing at horses and carriages along the army. Flying off with their spoils while even more appeared to take their place.
“Twin water spout!” He quickly chanted, a rush of water gushing into existence out of his palms and spraying all over the two massive wyverns. The water drenched them completely, freezing over on touching their scales, quicly encasing their bodies in ice.
Thea watched in amazement, the creatures were growing too heavy to fight back. Every drop of water that touched them adding onto their weight, until they could no longer move. Like statues they lay on the ground, enc
ased in several layers of ice, ever freezing from proximity to their enchanted scales.
Seeing this outcome the gunmen switched magic casings to lightning attacks, while the mages began producing and alongside the priests, manipulating water to shield and attack the flock of wyverns that flew overhead.
Thea and all the other melee wielders couldn’t do anything more than watch, the winged monstrosities too fast for them to engage while the water kept them at bay and far from reach. That is until a lightning attack hit one swooping wyvern, the electricity running through its body and briefly paralyzing it.
The creature crashed down into the ground, lightning still surging across its blue body as it tried to rise.
“Surround it with spears!” Thea ordered the closest mercenaries that had unsaddled, Nerick included with them. The spearmen quickly approached the confused beast, surrounding it with spears while stabbing at any opening they could find between its lashing out tail and claws.
She watched as several other wyverns fell from the sky, paralyzed by electric attacks. Then surrounded by soldiers before being drenched with water and turned into an ice statue.
“There’s no end to them!” Nerick said, spinning about with his spear clenched to his side. The flock of wyverns had barely reduced in number and many a horse was still being lost, the large creatures capable of heaving a stallion per hind claw.
“They won’t give up until they at least get a snack each,” Erik said as he re-joined the two cloaked Xilfir by Thea’s side, “When a wyvern picks a prey it will hunt it to the very ends of the earth. And these are Mountain Wyverns, there is hundreds of them within each flock.”
“C-Can’t you pacify them like you did with Ivara?” Nerick asked, “The baby wyvern dammit, yes I named it!” he then said after gaining a raised brow from Erik.
“These are grown wyverns, and they’re far more savage than that forest child. No, I cannot pacify these pests.” Erik replied as he suddenly raised his right hand up, “Erratic spark” he quickly chanted and out of his fingers surged out three tendrils of lighting.