Richard and the others arrived at Frostfall, and the first sight they came across which terrified them were two dragons, one red and the other light blue. They didn't growl or roar at them, but they could tell that the creatures went comfortable with them around.
Still seeing the town ahead of them, they just couldn't stand idly out of fear, and as one, they put all their fears behind them and walked forward. Besides, for all they knew the creatures might just turn out to be figments of their imagination, illusions brought about by the last few days of endless walking without food and water. They walked past the two dragons and headed for the barricade, and at the gates three watchmen stood, having seen the way the trio had handled seeing the dragons from afar. “Hold it right there”, one of the men said. “Who are you? Where is your permit?” “Permit?”, asked Felix. “All tourists and visitors must come with a permit, especially when cThe three visitors fell asleep not long after eating, making it obvious just how exhausted they were. It was at the table they slept during the long but fun conversation they had with James and his wife, Daphne. Daphne covered them with blankets and put a candle close to them before they too went to sleep. It had been a long night, but it felt short. These guests were more than fun to have around, and they took a special liking to the witty, Richard, whom they mistook for a reserved and laid-back person when they each first saw him. The night went by peacefully, and not long after, it was daytime. Everyone was ready to resume their daily duties, and the trio of travelers also got up as well, getting ready to leave. When the trio had packed up and gone outside, James and Daphne came out, with the husband holding a large sack. “While you were asleep my wife and I prepared some provisions for you”, James said to them, handing ove
After returning to the present reality, Cyrus looked at James. “How long is my training going to last?” asked Cyrus. “As long as it takes” James answered. “It won't take more than a month, right?” asked Cyrus, and all the other riders burst into laughter. “Are you serious?” asked Wayne as he wiped off a laughing tear. “We aren't just teaching you how to sit on a dragon while it flies in the direction you tell it telepathically. You want us to teach you the complicated stuff, like improving balance and synchronization during battle, improving the speed of telepathy, and so on. Also, your dragon hasn't been ridden by a human before, so it's her first time following directions from a human. She hardly gets along with other dragons except Nebula on a few occasions, so don't think playing well with a human would be any better.” “So how long would all that take?” asked Cyrus. “You would be lucky if it takes
Something was about to happen. It was time for Cyrus to do what he had intended to do for the past two years. He had been through different trials and troubles, and now was the time to show what he had made from it. He had announced to everyone close to him that he would be leaving the next day. However, not everyone would be leaving with him. Their new families would be staying behind at Frostfall, while the men would be leaving. Cyrus didn't want to take their daughter, Aurora, with them. And neither did he think it would be a good idea to leave the child in the village without her mother. So he and Natalie agree that she would stay behind with Aurora until he sends people to come to take them back to Griffindale after the war was over. It was the same thing with Felix and his new family. Unlike Cyrus, he and his bride, Chloe, held back on having sex, as she wanted to go with him to war. She was an excellent archer, challengi
Cyrus left the Midlands with Felix and his wife, heading back to the cave to mount their dragon. They found it there about to sleep late at night and decide to spend the night at the cave with her. Kamala kept them all warm, even though the climate was generally warmer than it was at Frostfall, where it snowed all the time. The next day, they would all be headed for the Kingdom Pass, a natural landform that formed a natural boundary between Griffindale and the other territories. The Kingdom Pass was a semi-round valley that formed a large deep perimeter outside the Kingdom's territory, acting as a natural border to the kingdom, even though nobody went through the routes that maneuvered the deep valley. Nobody ever took those routes as the road went too deep, forming a large dry canyon that wasn't ideal for travel and was crawling with bandits at night. People would usually go through the route where the canyon could not reach, as was the
Wayne flew off on the back of his dragon while Richard led the veteran soldiers by chariot toward the region of Griffindale. He would be the one to get to the villages (including his home, Sargath)to inform them that a war was about to unfold. He led his veteran soldiers on horseback towards the lowlands of the city, at an area parallel to the Kingdom's Pass. When they got there, they went through to the villages, and eventually, got to Sargath. Not much had changed in the village, apart from the faces of all the villagers who were pleased to see the young Richard once again, but with a beard and small traces of a mustache. His father was the most delighted, and tears poured from his mother's eyes when they saw their son returning home. They wondered who the soldiers were and where they came from, and then the young archer explained everything to them. “The young Prince who helped you all defeat the Dakra has returned and has a
It was about two days later when the reinforcements arrived, numbering 3,000 just as the Emperor had promised. Cyrus wondered why the Emperor would send only 3,000 men when he knew that a city as large as Griffindale could easily afford 10,000 without stress. Perhaps this was his way of making sure there was enough chance for the young Prince to lose so that the few surviving men in the aftermath of the battle would turn against him in the last second and report the battle as a failure to the Emperor, making Cyrus his eternal puppet King when he sends to required reinforcements to take down the now weakened Griffindale in his place. When Cyrus thought about it, he silently berated himself for not thinking about it earlier. It was a brilliant plan the Emperor had played him into, and he never saw it until the time came to draw out a battle plan. Cyrus could see that even the best battle plans that the Emperor's tacticians proposed were eithe
Queen Regina of Griffindale was taking some time off at the top of the palace, attached to the outer wall of the city. She was looking out at the distant landscape, admiring the slowly brightening east horizon where the sun was about to come up. It was her favorite time of day, and today when she was taking the day off, she was going to enjoy every minute of it. Being Queen had been far from easy for the middle-aged queen. But it was all worth it, and what made it worth it was the little child resting in her arms at the moment. He was still sound asleep, and his snores made her smile despite the worries in her mind. It had been two years since she had heard any news about Cyrus. The last news she got was that he was trying to build up a rebellion in Sargath, one of the most insignificant places a banished Prince could go to get support. Ever since she heard that, she ceased to take the Prince too seriously, and the only thing t
In a few minutes, the loud bell of the city's basilica began reverberating around the kingdom, jolting everyone out of their homes. There was a lot of fear and panic, as there should have been. Within moments, the archers had all assembled at the parapets of the City's walls. Then one soldier came from behind the Queen, it was one of the Knights of the King's Diamond, Cletus Cassius. He was the knight who had trained Cyrus in the ways of the sword, the one who vouched for him along with the other knights, all hoping he would become the next King. Now, however, his main concern was on getting the Queen to safety. “My Queen,” he said. “I need to get you out of here. It's not safe. Where is your son?” “He is with Vanessa, most likely at my quarters,” she said. “Let's go.” So the two of them went back into the palace, where a few other Knights of the King's Diamond were present. “Take care of her” instru