“Run!” he cried, shoving Shinji away with all his strength, pulling Kallen to his feet and taking Faye and Samantha with him. Shinji simply laughed as he watched his old friend retire from the battle.
“You won’t get far without meeting me again! I promise it to you, I swear it!”
Zack felt broken, his mind telling him to run but his heart telling him to halt and run back to finish off his old classmate.
“No,” Kallen breathed as he grabbed Zack by the arm, “You saved me, and it was for the best. I know a way out of here. The city has fallen and you must not die here. We must locate Sessaran, he—”
“I’ve seen him! There!” Faye cried, pointing at a plaza up ahead outside of the palace walls.
Lord Sessaran’s blade was out, a tall two-handed weapon of extreme beauty and deadliness. Three of his elite guards were fighting alongside him, throwing the Dragons off with each of their attacks, but many had already fallen nearby and more and more enemies were approaching. The Hybrids alternated with their fellow lizards, their bladed attacks stabbing forth just after the greater beasts’ claws struck. It was a dangerous dance that was surely going to end tragically for Sessaran and his remaining guards.
“Brother!” Kallen screamed helplessly, limping his way toward the plaza. He had taken quite the beating from Shinji and the others, probably having fought more of the Dragons before his encounter with the trio. “We must get there,” he breathed, but then it happened.
The Dragons stopped attacking, their bodies growing tense as they straightened their backs. The Hybrids below them lifted their blades in a strange salute.
A huge shadow passed over the plaza and Sessaran froze. Zack could see the expression on his face and those of his men. It was pure terror.
“Is that him?” Sammy asked. It is, Zack knew.
The enormous black Dragon let itself fall heavily, smashing into the ground and lifting dust into the air. When the dust faded, a totally different lifeform stepped out.
He was tall and thin, a long black-haired man in flamed robes who carried no sort of weapons whatsoever, but who looked more intimidating than anyone else on the battlefield.
“Lord Sessaran,” Zack heard him say.
“King Garadon,” the Elven Lord responded with a look of hatred.
“It seems that your reign has ended. It is the age of the Dragon now.” King Garadon smiled slightly, and Kallen breathed heavily.
“Go ahead. You will fall before this is over. I am sure of it. Whatever you do today, I—”
Sessaran’s words turned to screams as a huge rush of fire gushed from Garadon’s mouth and bathed him and his men, burning them alive. Kallen cried out and wept, but Samantha pulled him behind a wall before anyone could see them.
“It’s over. We must find a way now. We must!”
Kallen nodded slowly and grabbed her by the shoulder as the city fell to pieces around them.
“I know a way out, follow me.”
As they ducked and ran as fast as they could to where the secret exit was, Zack turned back.
The city of the Elves had fallen and all of the Elven Lords and Ladies with it.
Whatever the future held, it was going to be a difficult time. Shinji was still out there. Julia was imprisoned and both Lillian Valentine and Dr. Elstein were missing.
This world…it was not as perfect as it had seemed.
TO BE CONTINUED
Wrath of the Dragon King (Dawn of Hope, Book 2) Page 5