Chapter 43: 43: Siege (5)
The entire kingdom of Gord was going to hell. Despite the small size of the kingdom, on every street and alley there was a battle for the throne happening.
In front of the grey castle, Vernox had been fighting for over thirty minutes nonstop. But now he had an arrow in his second shoulder and various slash wounds on his torso.
The armour that he wore for disguise was bashed and broken to pieces. But he wasn’t stopping now.
"Where is he?" Vernox was beginning to lose his patience. He raised his sword and blocked a slash coming down to split his skull.
Then he kicked the knight back into his own men.
The princess was amongst the fighters, dancing with the knights of Knave like a cyclone. Her singular sword, along with a female knight behind her, gave her a wide range to attack and defend.
Soon though, she reached where Vernox was.
"We’re devouring the camp from the sides. Is your friend okay? We have the way to kill the dragon." The princess’s chest heaved, and Vernox looked to where her hand was pointing and there she saw Rachel and an elderly man on a horse.
An actual, real horse...
"Who is that?" Vernox asked, looking at the man behind Rachel.
"He can command dragons to an extent. While he keeps the dragon at bay, I’ll slay Knave once and for all, and reclaim the throne." She raised her head, turning around to look at the castle.
The only thing that resounded in Vernox’s head were her words of keeping the dragon at bay.
Keeping it at bay?
Well, as the princess and all of her subordinates were here to kill this Knave guy, so was their target not the king, but the dragon.
Slowly, the princess’s forces advanced and were devouring the castle. They came with just over 800 men on their side, but now they had greater than 400, which was still a considerable collateral for the greater cause.
The battle all around the kingdom was getting lower and lower. The fires caused by many fights were being put out. New flags portraying a black horn on a cream-colored background were mounted everywhere.
The symbol of the raven was being taken out one by one.
Vernox flinched. He was still standing in front of the mountain, along with the princess and Rachel.
He turned to her, frowning slightly.
"Did you hear that?" He looked around them for the potential noise.
"Hear what?" The princess asked, but Rachel only put on a wide smile on her cute face as she looked towards the castle.
There, there was a white figure running down the steep slopes of the mountain with all his might. In his hands was a young woman who was around the age of 18 to 20.
"RUN AWAY!!"
Harley’s voice echoed around the mountain. Those closest to him in front could hear him clearly, while those at the sides couldn’t hear him clearly.
The entire landscape shuddered, only briefly. Harley fell down, tumbling down the mountain and hugging the princess.
The entire landscape shuddered again, harder this time, as if the mountain itself were drawing a ragged breath.
Harley’s desperate cry still rang in the air—"RUN AWAY!"—when the ridge above the grey castle exploded outward in a fountain of shattered stone and black dust. A colossal shape punched through the smoke, wings unfurling like storm sails.
"It’s here!" Vernox gritted his teeth, using his right hand to hold the black sword.
It was no mere beast. It was a living monster of obsidian scales shot through with veins of molten gold, each plate larger than a war-shield. Its body stretched longer than three warhorses end to end, sinuous and heavy with muscle. Two vast horns curved back from its skull, and beneath them burned eyes the color of fresh blood. When it opened its maw to roar, the sound rolled down the slopes like thunder dragged across iron anvils, shaking armor, loosening teeth, and driving men to their knees.
A single beat of its wings flattened the banners of both sides. The black-horn-on-cream flags snapped and tore away; the last raven standards were ripped from their poles and sent spinning into the sky. Dust and embers swirled in a hurricane around the creature as it landed atop the highest tower of the castle with a crunch of breaking masonry. Claws the length of swords gouged deep furrows into the grey stone, sending rubble cascading into the courtyard below.
Harley staggered, carrying the princess in his arms and dashing away.
The dragon’s eyes went to Vernox, and it stared at him only briefly, then its eyes went to Harley who was running towards Vernox with the princess in his hands.
It roared loudly and leapt off the mountain, spreading its wide wings to fly.
Just then, projectiles flew into the air, going for the dragon. Despite being rattled by its singular roar, the warriors were able to gain a semblance of unity and aimed at the beast in the sky.
Vernox turned around, pointing back at the streets behind them.
"To cover." He said, sprinting to catch up with Harley who was running like a madman.
"Hand the girl over to the princess!" Vernox shouted, chasing after Harley.
That was when Harley’s eyes widened and he turned around to see the soldiers running towards them and he saw the dragon in the sky.
"My God..." He swallowed. He was afraid, but his body was still stable.
He lacked the natural rush of adrenaline. Only his instincts remained. And they were screaming at him to run away as far as possible.
"You didn’t see it before?" Vernox asked. His golden eyes focused on the woman in Harley’s arms.
"I know it would sound weird, but I felt it looking at me. And I ran." Harley took steps backward.
The dragon stayed hovering over the knights that tried to use projectiles to take it down.
The princess, along with Rachel and the strange man, came towards them on horseback.
"Look over there!" The princess pointed at the dragon, and Harley raised a brow, not seeing what she was pointing at.
All of a sudden a deep frown consumed his face as he noticed a figure sitting atop the head of the massive feral creature.
It was Knave!
