The white dragon placed a large hand upon the side of Aleksandra’s face and yanked on her arm. To Seraphina’s horror, the arm ripped from her body in a shower of gore, blood, and snapping ligaments. Aleksandra cried out in a way Seraphina had never heard another living being exclaim before. The agony must have been unreal. Valentean was merciless in his vengeance and swung the dismembered arm, striking the screaming sorceress in the face with it. She fell into the fetal position and pitifully tried to crawl away. Valentean slowly stalked after her, gripping her by the back of the head and easily lifting her off the ground to his eye level.
Aleksandra kicked her legs. “Please…” she begged the vengeful god. “Please, Valentean. Mercy…” She was sobbing now, tears spilling pathetically down her disfigured face.
Seraphina wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. Valentean’s free hand tore into her torso and ripped free from her body a pulsating ball of crimson and orange light. Seraphina gasped. This must have been the shard of Ignis latched onto Aleksandra’s soul for all of these years. Valentean looked at it with a disgusted sneer and crushed the ball of chaos in his fist.
Aleksandra’s screams had stopped. She lay still and unmoving in The Rosintai’s grip. She twitched once, then again, and her head fell back, eyes still open in silent horror, utterly void of life. The empress of Aleksandrya, princess of Kackritta, prophet of Ignis, savior of The Faithful, and sister of Seraphina died. Valentean tossed her body to the ground as though she were trash.
Seraphina tried to find her voice, looking up at the night sky as the dimensional barrier continued to weaken. The point of impact directly above them was a shatter point, and it continued to grow. She was about to scream out for Valentean to get him to remember his duty to her and to this world. But to her horror, The Rosintai’s glowing eyes turned to Maura.
Valentean leapt forward, storming past Nevick and Nahzarro who screamed to him as the white dragon grabbed the throat of the young woman who had slain his brother.
“No!” Seraphina called out as Valentean slowly began to hover with Maura’s struggling form three meters off the ground.
“Valen…urk!” Maura exclaimed as her windpipe was slowly closed.
Seraphina ran forward, eyes aglow with blue light, rising into the air on waves of magical energy to grasp The Rosintai by the arm. Valentean’s head snapped toward her fiercely. One look into his eyes told Seraphina the man she knew and loved was gone, lost in the power of The Rosintai.
“Val, listen to me,” she pleaded with the risen god. “Please let her go! You can’t do this! This isn’t you!” The dragon-god continued to glare at her, the fingers of the arm she grasped beginning to close into a fist. Would he strike her down in his rage and pain? “Val, remember your oath to me. Remember your service to the Oath of Animus. Remember your love for me! Your responsibility to not only me but to this world! You swore to protect me from harm, but you may have just doomed us all!”
His face remained a twisted mask of rage for a moment more, and then, miraculously, his eyes softened with recognition. His tense facial muscles relaxed, and he gaped at her in shock. As if suddenly remembering Maura, Valentean’s hand opened, and she dropped to the ground below.
“S…Sera?” His voice was distorted with an otherworldly tinge.
“Yes, Val, it’s me.”
“Sera…” Grief shone on Valentean’s face once more as if the sudden memory of his father and brother’s twin demises were hitting him all over again. A tear fell from his eye and streaked down his face. Seraphina reached up and laid a hand along his glistening cheek, feeling the warm tingle of power beneath his scales.
“It’s all right, Val,” she whispered softly. “Everything will be all right.” Then, as if mocking her statement, a deafening, shattering explosion rocked the heavens. Looking up, Seraphina could see a hole in the sky, and through it there shone a dark horrid world of red. It appeared to be upside down, with barren ground farther along through the hole. Valentean’s head turned as well, and he gasped at what appeared.
Rising from the upside-down land there came a beast. Female in form and gargantuan in size, it looked as though it were formed from molten magma. Its hair danced out behind it like flames, each strand like a crimson snake as they flowed and struck with a mind of their own. Ignis…Skirlack…the Spirit of Chaos, the immortal god-queen of the demonic forces they faced.
“Val…” Seraphina cried out, lost amidst the totality of their failure. Valentean laid his free hand upon hers, gently guiding her touch away from him.
“I did this,” he said, realizing his greatest fear had finally come true. “I ended the world.”
“No, Val!”
“I have to fix this. I have to stop it. And I have to do it alone.”
“No, Val, we will do it together. Together, always.”
“We will be together, Sera,” he reached out and touched her chin with a finger. “Always.” He pulled away from her and hovered farther up into the air, ascending slowly. Then, an explosion of white energy cracked around him, and Valentean erupted into the sky, rocketing toward the incoming giantess.
Maura grasped at her throat as she watched Valentean take off into the night sky. The horror was real, and she had let it happen. She had helped it to happen. Nahzarro was at her side immediately, helping her to her feet. Nevick was right behind him, once more holding Deana against his chest.
“We lost,” Nahzarro said, his voice hollowed by dread.
“We lost because of me,” Maura admitted, the overwhelming guilt pressing on her from all sides. Had she not taken it upon herself to stab Kayden, then they would have been prepared when Aleksandra reappeared. They would have not been fighting amongst themselves. Vahn would still be alive, and Valentean would never have lost control.
“Indeed,” a chillingly familiar voice said from behind them. Turning, the three humans saw Aurax standing once more in their midst. “Tell me, girl, how does it feel to kill a world? How does it feel to become the greatest hero the Skirlack have ever known? The true prophet of Ignis!”
“Get out of here,” Nevick snarled.
“I think I’ll stay,” the smarmy cleric said, sauntering into their midst. He began to vanish in a haze of crimson light. “I think all of my kind shall stay. Forever.”
As fast as he cut through the night, Valentean needed even more speed. Ignis was drawing nearer to the portal. He sensed her hateful gaze upon him and could feel the full extent of her wrathful intentions. As powerful as he now was, how could he hope to fight something like that?
Then, he remembered something from his youth, something his father had said so long ago during one of their early training sessions. Back when life still made sense and the world was kind.
“Had you attacked me with all your heart, as though you were willing to end your life to end this battle, you might have actually beaten me this time.”
He could not fight a creature like this. But maybe he could stop her from crossing over. One attack. One moment. One chance to still save everything he had ever known and loved. Valentean felt his godly power explode out of him, flinging him through the sky.
He thought of Terra and all its people. He thought of the places he had seen: Kackritta, Lazman, The Northern Magic, Grassan, Casid, Kahntran, Karminia. He thought of those who traveled at his side: Nevick, Mitchell, Michael, Deana, Nahzarro, and even Maura despite her betrayal. He remembered those they had lost: Aqua, Hehn, King Matias, Kayden, and Vahn. And then he thought of Seraphina: of her face, of her heart—of his oath to her.
He crossed the threshold of the portal and entered the stifling crimson horror that was Lokhar. The atmosphere made his skin crawl. The ground seemed alive, and it moved like a hive of insects. He realized these were Skirlack demons of every shape and size. They were legion. And they were coming. Ignis continued to rise as he fell toward her. As he felt his courage slip, he again recalled Seraphina and his oath of service to her. He spoke the words aloud once more, keeping a visi
on of his one and only love in his head.
“I bind myself with these words to your service and your protection. I give myself to you now, willingly and eternally.” As he spoke the oath once more, in his mind, he directed it at Seraphina but also at the planet itself. “I am your unquestioning protector and companion. I will march through fire and fury to protect you. I am the shield that safeguards you. I am the sword that strikes down those who would seek to do you harm. And I am the guiding light for you in times of darkness. My body and soul are yours, now and forever more. If, by my death, you may live on, I will gladly sacrifice my life for you.” He put his entire heart, all of his power behind his fist. Ignis loomed below him, her teeth three times the size of his body, her mouth, which could swallow a city, wide open, power gathering at the back of it. Valentean pulled his fist back. He gave one final thought to Seraphina and to the world as a whole.
“I am yours!” he screamed. “I am animus!”
Valentean slammed his fist into the creature’s head, right between its massive eyes, and the resulting explosion of power threw Ignis back. She fell from her ascent, smashing to the ground below, squashing thousands of her children beneath her enormous bulk. Valentean turned and fled back out through the portal. He had seconds at most.
The Rosintai reached out both arms, setting his will upon the tear, and like his ancestor of old, Valentean pulled on the portal, wrenching it closed. Ignis leapt at the opening, desperation erupting along her monstrous face. She would not succeed though. She could never make it in time. The portal closed, but at the final instant, Ignis let fly from her enormous mouth a burst of pure chaos energy that flew through the closing hole and struck Valentean full on. The resulting explosion threw him back, ripping him to shreds, disintegrating his wings, melting his tail, and sending his flaming body careening into a nearby mountain as the portal sealed shut.
Valentean felt cold—biting, angry cold that shook his flesh. He tried to open his eyes, but they were so incredibly heavy.
“He’s here!” a voice resounded. It was a familiar one, a deep bass that carried power within it.
“Thank Terra,” another male voice followed, rich and clipped, with an air of aristocracy.
“Is he all right?” a female voice asked, equally familiar, but this sound stirred dueling emotions of fondness and anger within him.
“Dea, get in here,” the deep voice called out once more. He heard the sound of shuffling footsteps beside him.
“He’s breathing!” a new, gentle female voice said.
“Do your thing, Dea,” the deep voice said.
A feeling of warmth cut through the cold, and Valentean could feel a shred of strength return to his limbs. He slowly opened his eyes to see Deana crouched beside him on her own legs. This moment of shock brought a smile to his lips.
“Your legs…”
Deana smiled at him. “Don’t try to talk. You very nearly died…again.”
Valentean tried to laugh, but a series of coughs put a stop to that. “Ignis?” he croaked out.
“You sent her packing,” Nevick said with a smile and a nod.
“And Aleksandra?”
“Dead,” Nahzarro said, walking into view.
Valentean suddenly remembered the brutality of his assault as he ended the empress’s life. Then, he remembered something else. “Maura?”
“I’m here,” she said, stepping into view. Upon seeing his brother’s killer, Valentean felt a momentary wave of revulsion and rage. No words passed between them, but Valentean gave her a slight nod and then looked away.
“Sera?” He looked around for her. Where was she? Had something happened? The woman he loved was nowhere to be found. Then, Nevick and Nahzarro stepped aside, and his princess, his queen, the love of his life stepped into view. She smiled at him, a mixture of relief, sadness, and pride etched on her face.
She fell to her knees beside Deana, looking down at her animus warrior. Seraphina’s smile became a sob of joy, and she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“You did it, my love.”
“We did it, Sera. We all did it.”
Epilogue
Four Months Later
The rebuilding process had moved at a fairly quickened pace. Seraphina had felt pride at the rate in which her people came together following such tragedy. Returning to Aleksandrya following the battle, Seraphina had felt a mixture of happiness and sorrow at what they had accomplished. Evil had been driven from her kingdom, and now it truly was hers.
Her coronation was still forthcoming. The rebuilding of Kackritta Castle and the districts destroyed by Kayden’s initial assault upon the kingdom was taking precedence over all. The Fortress of Ignis had been destroyed following their victory. Valentean and Seraphina had transformed together into dragons, dragged the titanic structure out to sea, and blown it to bits. That horrid locale housed so many evil memories, and she had been glad to see it go.
The fortress had one last mystery for them as they had returned immediately following Valentean’s vanquishing of Ignis. They had entered the former throne chamber to collect the bodies of Kayden, Vahn, and Aleksandra. But upon their return, they found only Vahn. The disappearance of their siblings had concerned both Seraphina and Valentean, and their investigations into the mystery had yielded no results.
With a heavy sigh, Seraphina walked into the half-completed throne room of the new Kackritta Castle. It was similar in design to the original palace from which her parents ruled, with a few notable differences. All references to The Great Rosinanti War were absent from this new structure, and the symbol of Kackritta had changed as well. Gone was the phoenix bird that represented her ancestor’s extermination of the Rosinanti. In its place, there stood newly created banners of two dragons, one white and one blue, intertwined with one another on a field of red and black. Seraphina was proud and hoped this new symbol could become a beacon for her people.
The Faithful had, by and large, been driven from the city. Seraphina was sure that some remnant of their presence remained, but it was impossible to weed out. But without a prophet to guide them, there was little these zealots could do to disrupt the newfound peace.
Their allies had all gone their separate ways. After winning the ground war outside of Aleksandrya, Emperor McNeil and the Karminian forces left without a word. They simply returned to their ships and absconded into the night, leaving their camps and their dead behind. It was disconcerting, and Seraphina knew they had not heard the last of the mighty foreign empire. But realistically, what could they do to harm those under the protection of the Spirits of Order and Light?
Nahzarro and Maura had returned to Grassan, and Nahzarro had been officially coronated as king. Maura and Valentean had not spoken before they left, and Valentean seemed uninclined to do so in the future.
They had discussed his feelings on that subject several times in the ensuing months. Valentean sought no revenge against Maura and still believed her to be a hero. However, he felt as though he could not associate with her any longer. She wondered if that had to do with his own anger, or his shame at having nearly killed her. Either way, it did not matter. Grassan and Kackritta remained allies, and Seraphina knew they could call upon their friends once more if ever the need arose.
Nevick and Deana remained in Kackritta. Nevick had accepted the position of general of the Kackrittan armed forces, replacing Zouka and helping to rebuild their shattered military. Deana had taken over the new palace’s healing wing. They had settled into their new lives nicely, though city living took some getting used to after a lifetime spent in such a small community.
Vahn had been laid to rest in a beautiful ceremony attended by what seemed like the entire kingdom. The former Captain Elite’s name would live on in Kackrittan lore forever.
The subject of his father, however, was still difficult for Valentean to address, and he would often change the subject or come up with something more pressing to do whenever Vahn or Kayden were mentioned.
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Vahn would have been proud of the remnants of the Kackrittan rebellion. The elites, soldiers, and civilians who had stood beside the Ice Queen in her rise to victory were all awarded special commendations for bravery and served as the backbone of the rebuilding military.
Seraphina smiled at the various men and women who toiled away in building the new throne room. It would not be long now before the new Kackritta Castle was completed, and she could not wait for her home to be whole once more.
Stepping out onto the balcony, her smile spread further. Standing there, once more adorned in white and blue animus robes, was Valentean, hands clasped behind him as he looked out over the city.
“Enjoying the view?” she asked, sidling up beside him. He turned at her voice, seemingly unaware she had approached before that moment. This worried her. Valentean was usually so hyper aware, and now that he held the power of Terra itself, those senses should have become even more acute. His mental state was weighing heavily on her mind.
“Yes,” he replied with a wry smile. “I’m just glad to see our home is finally coming back together.”
“Me too,” she said, snuggling up against his side. He placed his arms around her and pulled her close. “Do you think it’s really over? Do you think we’ve beaten the Skirlack for good?”
“I don’t know,” Valentean said, shaking his head. “Aurax vanished before I closed the portal. I have no idea if he is still somewhere out there scheming. But if they do come at us again, we will be ready.”
“Yes,” Seraphina replied. “And we will do it together.”
Valentean smiled. “Always.”
Rosinanti: Rise of the Dragon Lord (Rosinanti Series Book 3) Page 51