Dragonia: Dragon Stone (Dragonia Empire Book 3)

by Craig A. Price Jr.

  Their tactic worked for a while, but eventually they were overrun. Devarius glanced down, hoping to see a better outcome down below, but it was the same. There were just too many of them. The empire would lose. Devarius had failed.

  A stream of fire slammed into the side of Ayla, tossing her backward. Devarius dropped his sword. He watched as it fell to the ground. Devarius gritted his teeth, angry and sad at the loss of his weapon. Another blast of fire hit Ayla from the other side, spinning her around the opposite way.

  Everything spun around Devarius. His body ached, and the heat from the fires burned his skin. All the hope he once had, shattered. He was ready to close his eyes and give up.

  A roar in the distance jarred Devarius out of his stupor. His brows furrowed as he turned around. More dragons approached from behind them. He squinted his eyes closed.

  “Another few hundreds dragons,” he cursed. “We may as well just give up. Perhaps the empire will spare us.”

  Devarius said it half-heartedly. He didn’t truly want to give up to the empire, but sometimes he felt hopeless. How could the resistance could have ever thought to defeat the empire? They were too few. The empire too strong. It was a fool’s hope.

  Those aren’t red dragons, Ayla said.

  Devarius turned back around to study the dragons behind them closer. Ayla was right, they weren’t red. They were purple, blue, green, gold, and silver.

  Devarius bit his lip. “They aren’t wyverns.”

  No. No, they’re not.

  After another few moments, the dragons arrived. Like their wyvern counterparts, they had the same abilities, and unlike the empire’s dragons, they were on the side of the resistance. The colorful dragons attacked the empire’s dragons. Others dove toward the ground, and began fighting the empire’s soldiers.

  A lone red dragon flew hard toward Devarius and Ayla. The flames nearly took off Devarius’ head as he ducked. When the flames ceased, Devarius directed Ayla to turn around. Before he could come up with a plan of attack though, a giant green dragon appeared behind them, opening its giant mouth, and spitting acid at the fire dragon who had attacked them. The dragon’s wings deteriorated against the green dragon’s acid.

  After the success of incapacitating the fire dragon, the green dragon took a nose dive toward the ground. Again, the dragon’s mouth opened wide as more acid spat out of it, deep into the empire’s ranks. Men screamed. And after a moment of shock, the empire turned around to run in the other direction.

  Devarius’ eyes bulged in shock at the sight, but after another moment, he saw the dragonriders do the same. They fled the way they had come. Devarius’ jaw dropped.

  A massive blue dragon appeared at his side, using its wings to glide next to Ayla and Devarius.

  “Is that?” Devarius asked.

  Alora, Ayla finished.

  “Ellisar’s dragon,” Devarius gasped. “She came back.”

  The empire runs. We have won, Ayla said.

  “We may have won the battle, but we have a long way to go before we win the war,” Devarius whispered.

  Chapter 48

  Devarius ran his hand over his head. The empire had fled the battle. They had won. He couldn’t believe it. Obviously, they hadn’t won the war; it was only a battle. And most of the empire escaped. The battle had its ups and downs and finally started to turn into a fair fight by the end, but that’s when the empire decided to flee.

  He was both grateful and disappointed when they fled. Devarius was relieved when the empire left and the battle was over, but he also wondered if the resistance could have won without the new alliance with dragons.

  The resistance chased the empire for a little while, but they soon fell back, not really wanting the empire to fight any long. Everyone was tired, and everyone wanted a break.

  Devarius looked at the carnage on the ground, his head shaking with disbelief. He could see evidence of all the elements around him. Charred areas marked the ground everywhere. Blue ice over patches of snow on the ground in long streaks where wyverns had struck.

  “Devarius?” a soft feminine voice called out behind him.

  He turned around, and a smile swept across his face. Devarius heart ached at the sight, and his shortsightedness overwhelmed him. He was a fool. The first thing he could have done was search for her. But he was so overwhelmed.

  “Aquila …”

  She ran to him, and he embraced her in his arms. Warmth spread through him. All the losses, all the deaths, and all the battles to come no longer mattered; they no longer chilled his heart. For now, with Aquila in his arms, everything would be all right.

  After their embrace, he took a step back to look at her. She may have survived, but she wasn’t unscathed. Caked blood stuck to her cheek and forehead with a long gash from her eyebrow to her jaw. He reached out to her, touching her face around the scar.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “It hurts, but yes, I’m fine. I can handle myself.”

  He smiled. “I know you can, but I just worry. I finally got you, and I don’t want to lose you.”

  She frowned. “You did not finally get me. You’ve always had me, Devarius. You were always just too foolish to realize it.”

  He scratched the back of his head.

  “Devarius!” Zaviana yelled.

  He turned around to the voice he recognized well as his sister. She was running over to him with Derkas at her side. Devarius was grateful she had survived as well. He couldn’t say the same for Derkas, but he’d gotten past hating the man. Even with his rocky past, at least he had stayed and helped with the battle.

  Devarius went to hug his sister, but she stopped short of him. Then he noticed her expression. Her eyes were wide, brow crinkled, and lips quivering. Even Derkas looked uneasy as he looked from Zaviana to Devarius.

  “What’s wrong? Who is it?”

  “Paedyn,” Zaviana said.

  Devarius’ eyes bulged. “What about Paedyn? Where is he?”

  “Follow us,” Zaviana said.

  The three of them rushed behind Zaviana. They went through crowds of resistance cleaning up the battlefield, collecting weapons, and organizing the dead, which Devarius did his best to not dwell on, and finally eating the roasted bison that was promised before the battle.

  Zaviana stopped at a circle of men and women. She pushed through, and Devarius followed. Lying on the ground was Paedyn, his features pale, paler than Devarius had ever seen him, and Paedyn was already normally pale, but now, he looked like a ghost.

  “Is he?” Devarius asked.

  “He’s alive,” Zaviana whispered. “Barely. He’s in a coma.”

  “When will he wake?” he asked.

  “He may never wake. It doesn’t look good, Devarius.”

  “How did this happen?”

  “We found another who said she saw what happened. A dragonrider dropped behind his saddle and stabbed him. He fought back, but his saddle-straps prevented him from doing much. Out of desperation, he smashed an ice vial against the man’s forehead behind him. It froze the man, and he fell, but it also froze Paedyn, until he became a frozen statue. Normally, when someone is frozen from a blue wyvern, they come back, though it’s a slow recovery time, however, this was a lot of wyvern oil. Wyverns make ice from a single drop, if not less. This was a thumb sized vial. And, because this isn’t enough to worry about, the man wounded him with a fresh cut and the oil got inside of Paedyn’s bloodstream.”

  Devarius’ jaw dropped. He had no idea what to say. Paedyn had been his best friend for years, and now he was being told there was a chance he’d never wake up. Devarius wondered if it would have been easier to lose his friend all together than to wait to see if Paedyn would ever wake up.

  “Devarius,” Zaviana whispered.

  Devarius rubbed his face, eyes welling with tears, his body shaking. He’d failed so many people today. The wyvernriders, the resistance, and now—Paedyn. Why had he been chosen as the leader? He didn’t want this stress in hi
s life. Devarius would rather have a sword and fight.

  “Devarius?” Zaviana repeated.

  “Hmm?”

  “I have an idea.”

  He turned his attention to her, one of his eyebrows raising skeptically.

  She nodded her head to the side, motioning for him to follow her for a private conversation. He took a deep breath, then followed.

  “What is this idea of yours?” he asked.

  “Wyvern oil.”

  “Wyvern oil is what caused this,” he growled.

  “Please, Devarius, just listen to me.”

  He nodded.

  “There is blue wyvern oil all over his body and in his blood stream. We cannot even touch him without it affecting us. We all know now how dragomen work. They drink the oil, and they get the element of whatever wyvern’s oil they drink for a few hours.” She touched his shoulder. “Devarius, Paedyn is cold. He needs to warm up. Not on the outside, but on the inside. And if he doesn’t warm up soon, I’m afraid we’ll lose him forever.”

  “What are you proposing?” he asked.

  “We give him a full vial of red wyvern oil. We pour it down his throat, and make him swallow it. Then, we hope it will transform him into a fire dragoman.”

  “Hope? What if it doesn’t work?” Devarius asked.

  “Look, Devarius. I know you don’t like using the wyvern oil like this. I know you never have, and I know it’s even harder after what the dragomen did to Aquila. But, this is Paedyn we’re talking about. This may be his only chance. If his body heat keeps decreasing … I don’t think he’ll make it past a few hours.”

  Devarius sighed. “All right. We’ve got to at least try.”

  Aquila nodded, then her and Devarius went back into the crowd, pushing people away. She knelt at Paedyn’s side. Her hands turned a deep red as she opened Paedyn’s mouth, using her magic to keep the cold from harming her. The liquid went into Paedyn’s mouth, and Zaviana massaged his neck, casing him to gulp it down.

  “What now?” Devarius asked.

  “We wait. Normally it’s immediate, but with his condition … I don’t know.”

  Devarius nodded. “I need to check on everyone else.”

  “You should. We’ll stay with him.”

  “Thank you,” he said.

  Devarius turned around and wandered back into the chaotic battlefield. Crows cawed above his head, eager to taste the dead. Devarius didn’t plan on letting them. The dead would be buried. Both sides. Men were men. It did not matter to Devarius what side of a battle they were on, especially when they were misguided by the emperor.

  “Devarius?”

  He turned around to see the governor of Vaereal approaching him. Devarius pursed his lips together as he fought to remember the man’s name.

  Haeldrov, Ayla said.

  Thank you, Ayla.

  “Haeldrov. How are you doing?”

  “Fine,” the governor said. “We lost less than half. Much better than I was expecting.”

  “You would lose even less if you were trained.”

  Haeldrov nodded solemnly. “Yes, I know. I’m worried if they attack again, we’ll be finished for sure. And now that we’ve stopped them, they’ll be back, and next time, they’ll definitely be no mercy.”

  “That is why we will be staying here,” Devarius said.

  Haeldrov’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  Devarius smiled. “Yes, but, several of us will still have to travel back and forth. Where we were is the wyverns’ home. If we hope to train more of them, we’ll need to leave some people there. It will be hard to protect both, but if we’re able to train all of your villagers across all the south, we will be even stronger the next time they attack. And perhaps, like with you down here, news will travel about our third victory, and more will join us.”

  “We can only hope.”

  Devarius shook Haeldrov’s hand. “I have more matters to attend. We can talk more later.”

  “Of course.”

  Devarius ambled toward the dragons. He saw the ten red dragons he had freed from their soul imprisonment, and another hundred other dragons of all colors. Smiling, he walked over to Ellisar’s old dragon, Alora.

  “Thank you, Alora.”

  You are welcome.

  “When you left, I did not think you would return.”

  When Ellisar died, something inside of me died. Yes, it’s true. I was devastated. But, I knew I could not abandon everything he worked toward. I had to do something. I know all the dragons besides red, fled this continent when Galedar used the stone to enslave dragons. I had a few ideas where they might have went. I’m just sorry it took so long.

  “You arrived just in time. Will you all stay?”

  Undecided. We are still discussing matters, but for the time being, we will be here.

  Devarius bit his bottom lip. “Thank you.”

  Aquila rushed toward him. She stopped when she looked up at the large dragons standing over him.

  “Devarius …”

  “It’s all right, Aquila. These are friends.”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s … Paedyn.”

  Devarius’ head jerked to the side. “What? Is he awake?”

  Aquila shook her head again. “No, but he’s stirring.”

  Devarius turned to Alora. “I must go.”

  Do what you must. I will be here.

  He inclined his head to her, then he rushed after Aquila. They ran through and around crowds of people until they reached the spot Paedyn had been. Instead of a large crowd surrounding him, it was only Zaviana, Derkas, and Lilianya by his side.

  Paedyn’s leg twitched. Devarius stepped closer. He didn’t look like a dragoman. His face was still white, though, not as pale at it was earlier. Paedyn twitched again, then he jerked up suddenly to sit up on the ground. His eyes opened. They blazed red with fire. His body wasn’t transformed like a dragoman, and neither was he a normal human. Somehow, he was a hybrid. And scariest of all, was the fact that they may have just gave a pyromaniac the power to make his own fire.