by Tom Burton
Mutaro shakes his head.
“You had your chance for peace,” Mutaro shouts. “But you refused—and here is your punishment: the end of your filthy bloodline.”
Mutaro halts his spell. Robert Silver begins to descend to the ground.
“No!” Aaron shouts. He rushes toward the area where his father would fall to his death.
Back at the edge of the forest, Daniel, George, Laura, and Azdus can only gaze in horror.
“Can you stop him?” Daniel asks Azdus.
Azdus’s eyes immediately turn blue; he raises his arm and extends it outward, toward the falling Robert Silver. A sparkling blue aura envelops Robert’s body, but this does not slow down his fall.
“He’s going too fast,” Azdus tells them.
As Azdus continues to try and conjure magic around Robert, Aaron makes it to the area where his father will fall. He reaches out to him, even though he knows that he will probably be killed by the force of his father’s falling body. Then, suddenly, a fierce red glow wraps tightly around Robert’s legs, forcing his body to spin viciously. Almost the next instant, Robert Silver’s body crashes to the ground near Aaron. The crack of every bone in his body screams across the plains of the Lion’s Cloud.
Daniel grabs his head with his hands.
“No…no…no…” Daniel whispers, in shock.
Aaron looks ahead of him, almost refusing to look at his father’s lifeless body. When he finally does, he breaks down in tears. He walks toward the disfigured body and then falls to his knees. He picks up Robert’s body and cradles it, crying uncontrollably.
Watching from a distance, Azdus’ blue eyes flicker back to normal. He watches Mutaro in anger.
Jaylen turns to the soldiers behind him.
“Prepare to charge!” he barks.
The archers quickly descend from their trees and the infantry gets up and runs toward the edge of the forest. George then turns to Jaylen.
“We agreed to this strategy, we do not change it now!” George asserts.
“Look out there. I will not leave him to die with his father in his arms,” Jaylen says.
Kamara and Laura quickly stand beside Daniel and Jaylen, as the rest of the army falls in behind them.
Then, the momentary quiet of the field is shattered by the roar of the gliding dragon high above it.
Azdus’s eyes turn blue again.
“Wait here.”
Azdus starts walking out of the forest. Mutaro sees his brother in the distance, and recoils.
“Well done, Aaron,” Mutaro whispers.
The dragon then dive-bombs toward Aaron, but Aaron remains unfazed, only bowing his head to his father as he continues to cry uncontrollably..
At the edge of the forest, Daniel starts following Azdus. Laura tries to grab him, but fails to reach him.
“Daniel…!” Laura shouts.
But Daniel ignores Laura’s pleas. He walks with Azdus toward Aaron. Azdus conjures a bright blue spell and aims it up, toward the dragon. The dragon dodges the aura Azdus conjured, altering its course and spreading its great wings to fly toward the forest. Daniel then grabs the rope and wraps it around the end of the arrow. He wraps the other end of the rope around his stomach. He then nocks the arrow on the string of his bow, draws the bowstring back, and aims toward the dragon. He releases the arrow. It catches in the hinges of the dragon’s armor.
As the dragon flies toward the forest, Azdus sees the rope pulling Daniel up toward the dragon. Azdus tries to pull him back, but is too late.
Azdus then turns to see Mutaro staring back at him. Mutaro then turns to his orcs behind him.
Urag, the orc commander, walks to the front of the army, where he lets off a roar. The orc army rushes wildly toward the forest. Mutaro then charges toward Aaron, faster than any of the orcs behind him.
From a distance, Jaylen sees Mutaro and the orcs charging Aaron.
“Go! Go! Protect him!” Jaylen orders.
The soldiers charge wildly toward the incoming orc army. Azdus also displays his running prowess, by pulling away from the rest of the human army.
Still cradling his dead father, Aaron hears the charge of the swarming orc army. He wipes away his tears and looks up to see Mutaro. Accepting his fate, Aaron carefully places Robert’s head on the floor, then slowly stands in front of his body. He draws his sword, gripping the hilt tightly as he prepares to fight Mutaro.
Only a few meters from Aaron, Mutaro sees Azdus run around the side of Aaron, his eyes and hands sparkling with blue magic. Azdus fires his spell at Mutaro—forcing Mutaro to fly upward, away from the stunned Aaron.
Then, Azdus jumps into the air and flies at Mutaro as well.
As Aaron looks up at the two wizards fighting in the sky, he hears the human army, running up from behind him. He turns to see them charging toward the orcs ahead. He then turns to the orcs and charges at them wildly, leading the human army into the fray.
The two armies clash violently. The humans clearly take the upper hand on the frontline, maintaining a compact formation to avoid being swarmed by the orcs. Aaron, Jaylen, George, Laura, and Kamara remain in the thickets of the battle, easily slashing through the orcs in front of them.
In the skies above the unfolding battle, the dragon flies away in pain: the arrow has penetrated its chest. Daniel desperately pulls on the rope, creeping closer and closer to the dragon. Eventually, he reaches the dragon’s chest. Then the dragon turns its head and sees Daniel. As the dragon roars at Daniel, its chest begins to glow red. Daniel quickly jumps onto the dragon’s tail. He latches onto it, even as the dragon breathes fire and burns the rope attached to the arrow. Daniel watches as the ashes of the rope fall slowly downward to the ground. He clutches the tail fearfully, slowly crawling across the thick hide even as the dragon swings its tail violently.
On the battlefield, the humans continue to try and push back the frontline of the orcs. But the orcs soon flank the rapidly dwindling number of human soldiers. But Aaron, Jaylen, George, Laura, and Kamara keep themselves in a tight group as they continue fighting the orcs. Aaron then looks up to the two wizards battling each other as they fly high above them.
Miles from the battle, Azdus and Mutaro land violently on a cliff overlooking the plains. They roll over the grass of the cliff. Mutaro gets to his first.
“This cannot be stopped, brother,” Mutaro tells Azdus. “Soon, Neroman will be mine, and you will be but a distant memory.”
Azdus struggles to stand. Once he is on his feet, he looks back at Mutaro desperately.
“Look around you Mutaro. This madness will only descend further with your rule. But you’re too far gone, and you will receive no mercy from me.”
Azdus’s eyes turn blue again as he quickly fires magic at Mutaro.
Back on the battlefield, Aaron sees the Wizards fall toward the Cliffside; then he looks over to Jaylen.
“I have to help him!” Aaron shouts.
Jaylen slices through two orcs.
“You’re only human, Aaron!” Jaylen replies. “Maybe that’s what he needs…” Aaron says. He then turns and pushes through the humans as Jaylen turns and fights the orcs again.
Up in the clouds, the dragon starts moaning in pain from the arrow lodged between the hinges of its silver-plated armor. Daniel continues to crawl from the tail, up to the dragon’s back; he sees that the beast’s neck is exposed—it doesn’t have any armor.
Daniel struggles to crawl toward the dragon’s back, but the forcefulness of the wind keeps him from standing on his two feet to nock an arrow. Feeling Daniel on its back, the dragon quickly flies upward. Daniel begins to slip down the dragon’s back, but he quickly grabs a knife from his belt and shoves it into the armor of the dragon’s lower spine, stopping his descent.
As the knife digs into the dragon’s armor, the dragon shrieks in pain. The beast tu
rns and levels out, heading back to the battlefield. Daniel sees the slowly swarming human army in the distance and hastens to again crawl up the dragon’s back. He soon reaches the lower part of the dragon’s neck, where the skin is exposed. Then he slowly stands on his feet. He nocks two arrows to his bow, draws the bowstring back, and shoots the arrows into the skin on the back of the dragon’s neck. The dragon roars in pain.
On the cliff, Azdus and Mutaro continue to fight each other, exchanging one spell after another. Mutaro overpowers Azdus during the fight, pushing him back and pinning him to the ground as he groans in pain. Mutaro halts his spells for a second, watching Aaron reach the top of the cliff and come charging toward him.
“I should have killed you all back at Redlock!” Mutaro hisses at them both.
Suddenly, the three hear the roar of the dragon. The beast soars quickly across the cliff as it flies toward the battlefield.
Aaron watches the dragon soaring overhead and sees Daniel desperately gripping onto the dragon’s scales. Then the injured dragon falls toward the plains, crashing violently into the orc army, rolling over thousands of orc soldiers. Aaron’s gaze eventually turns to the humans, who are quickly being flanked by the orc soldiers that have survived.
Down on the battlefield, Laura watches the dragon fall to the ground. She rushes toward it. The dragon stops rolling on the other side of the orc battalion, far from the battle.
Laura pushes the humans fighting alongside her out of the way. Escaping the battle, she sees the fallen dragon lying on the plains and sprints toward it. When she reaches the dragon, she runs around the stilled tail of the beast and sees a conscious Daniel lying back against the dragon’s chest. The rest of the dragon’s tail curls tightly around Daniel. Laura sees that Daniel is holding onto his stomach in pain as blood drips down his face.
“Daniel! Daniel!” she screams, running up to him. When she reaches him she falls to her knees to kiss and embrace him.
Daniel is barely able to breathe as he returns Laura’s affections.
“I never thought in a million lifetimes I would be able to pull it off,” he jokes.
Laura simply laughs at him. The two then hear the muttering of orcs, growing louder and louder. Daniel turns to see the bow next to him, split in two. He looks around, hoping to find another weapon; but as he tries to get on to his feet, he struggles and realizes he can only keep his back leaning against the dragon’s chest.
Laura waits and guards Daniel as they wait for the orcs to come. Eventually, a small band of orcs walks around the head of the dragon. They see Laura and Daniel standing near the tail. Laura rushes toward the dozen orcs and fights them off one by one. But some of the orcs surround Laura, and she struggles to hold them all off.
“Laura.…” Daniel mutters as he helplessly watches her battle the orcs.
Suddenly, a spear thrown from behind the dragon pierces one of the orcs’ back. Daniel looks over to see Kamara unsheathe her sword and run to the aid of Laura. Daniel breathes a sigh of relief as he watches Kamara and Laura slay the rest of the orcs. Then the two rush back to Daniel.
“He’s in no condition to fight,” Kamara says. “Let’s take him back to the forest.”
As she lifts Daniel up onto his feet, Daniel groans in pain. Laura steps around to the other side, and the two carry Daniel away from the dragon, bringing him back to the forest.
In the thick of the battle, Jaylen continues to fight the orcs. Even as he fights them, he’s aware that fewer humans surround him than before. Slowly but surely, he is on his own, surrounded by orcs looking to finish him off. But Jaylen persists in fending off the orc horde. One of the orcs then shoots an arrow into Jaylen’s upper thigh. He screams as he falls to the ground. He struggles to get to his knees. One of the orcs approaches him, pressing his sword against Jaylen’s neck. Jaylen closes his eyes, accepting his fate as he waits for the orc to swing his sword. But the noise of a sword plunging through the chest of the orc allows Jaylen to open his eyes: he sees George kill the orc that had pressed his sword to his neck. George then approaches Jaylen and offers a hand.
“Never thought I’d be glad to see you,” Jaylen tells George as he is helped to his feet.
George warns Jaylen: “There aren’t many of us left…we’re running out of time.”
Before Jaylen can respond, the two hear the growling of an orc behind them. They turn to see Urag, the orc commander. He towers above everyone—orcs and humans — as he walks slowly toward them.
Jaylen and George look at each other momentarily, then charge at Urag. As the two draw near, Urag swings his club around wildly, forcing Jaylen and George to halt their charge and take a few steps back. Urag quickly disarms George and punches him in the jaw, forcing him to the ground. As Urag lifts up his club to strike the barely conscious George, Jaylen stabs him in the back. But Jaylen’s sword fails to pierce Urag’s thick red armor. Urag turns to Jaylen, swinging his club fiercely into Jaylen’s chest. The force of the club sends Jaylen flying across the battlefield then rolling across the ground.
Within the stronghold of Redlock, Goras continues to shatter the glass container holding Mutaro’s power source. Goras’s palms push hard into the glass until cracks start to appear around the wizard’s fingers. As the Treno-Ban warriors try to protect Goras against the deformed orcs trying to stop him, Queen Athora watches some of the warriors being slain at the hands of the orcs.
Goras presses his fingers harder against the glass container.
“Queen Athora!” he shouts, as the Treno-Ban queen slices down one of the orcs. “This thing is going to blow. Get your soldiers and get out of here!”
But the queen shakes her head.
“You’ll die if we leave!” Queen Athora argues.
“Go, now!” Goras shouts back.
Several of the warriors then grab Queen Athora as they retreat out of Redlock, leaving Goras inside. The soldiers make it out with ease, as the deformed orcs charge at Goras rather than chase the Treno-Ban.
Back on the cliff overlooking the raging battle, Aaron runs over to Azdus and tries to lift him onto his feet. Mutaro begins to conjure a dark spell between his turning hands. Azdus pushes Aaron behind him once he’s up on his feet and then quickly conjures a glowing aura around the two of them as Mutaro begins to fire a constant blast of blackened energy toward Azdus, who struggles to hold the energy back by continuing to conjure the shielding aura in front of him.
At Redlock, Goras watches as the stone pillar slowly cracks and the glass on the container shatters. The charging orcs reach Goras and stab him mercilessly in the stomach, back, and chest. Goras screams as the pillar collapses. The four walls and ceiling begin to shake, and soon the entire Redlock collapses in on itself. The red, liquid magic in the glass container breaks free; a huge red explosion rocks Redlock. The shockwave from the explosion hits the retreating Treno-Ban, blowing them across the fields. As Queen Athora slowly gets up, she turns to look at the dead and silent desolation of Redlock.
“Find him!” she instructs.
The remaining Treno-Ban warriors rush back into Redlock.
On the cliff overlooking the battle on the Lion’s Cloud plains, Mutaro continues blasting black energy into Azdus’s protective shield. The glowing aura around Aaron and Azdus seems to be slowly fading in intensity. But the three suddenly hear an explosion. Immediately, the black energy of Mutaro’s spell dissipates; he grabs his chest and falls to the ground. Azdus faints as his energy, too, is depleted. Then Aaron and Mutaro, who is still struggling on the ground, look North, to where they heard the explosion. They see a small cloud of smoke in the distance. Mutaro looks at his hands as he tries to conjure a spell between his fingertips…but no black energy is forthcoming.
“No…” Mutaro mutters.
Aaron crouches down to Azdus and shakes him.
“Azdus…?” he whispers.
No response.
Mutaro looks up.
“You’ve lost your dragon…you’ve lost your magic. There is nothing for you here,” Aaron tells him.
Mutaro slowly stands up and takes off his black robe. Aaron sees a sword on Mutaro’s belt, which the wizard now unsheathes.
“You wish to talk about what we’ve lost, then look no further than yourself, Aaron Silver. Because you have no family and no friends…and soon, you will lose your head.”
Mutaro walks toward Aaron. Aaron does not respond, but walks toward Mutaro. Soon the two rush at each other. Their swords clash violently against one another as the two meet head on.
In the middle of the battlefield, Jaylen struggles to stand after the intense blows from Urag’s club. Unable to get to his feet, he crawls away on his stomach. He momentarily turns back to see Urag walking toward him, bracing his club on his shoulder. Then he turns back and continues desperately to crawl away. As Urag catches up to him, Jaylen turns onto his stomach and tries to kick him in the legs, but Urag dodges his assault and kicks Jaylen in the face, knocking him unconscious. Urag then lifts his club and slams it fiercely into Jaylen’s head. Over and over again, Urag raises the club over his head then slams it down into Jaylen’s body, even long after Jaylen is dead.
In the distance, George struggles to stand. He sees Urag striking Jaylen with his club.
“Jaylen…” George mutters.
He crouches down to pick up his sword and sprints toward Urag. Then he jumps on the orc commander’s back, wrapping his arms around his neck.
Urag struggles to throw George off him, trying to grab George’s head. As Urag swings his arms around George, George drops his sword. He reaches for his belt and grabs a knife then plunges the knife into Urag’s neck. The tip of the knife passes through the orc’s dark oily skin then pokes out of the other side of Urag’s neck. Urag stops struggling to grab George and falls to his knees. George jumps off Urag and watches him fall to the ground, dead.