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, challengiCyrus 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
While the fierce battle took place behind him, Cletus kept his sight on the higher provinces, particularly the Queen's residence, where his comrades were guarding Regina, the sovereign ruler. The next move the dragon made confirmed his suspicions that an attack on the Queen was imminent, as the beast landed on the pinnacle of the highest point of the castle, where the rider jumped off and went in through one of the large windows. “Cyrus”, Cletus said as he gestured for the horse to run even faster as it sprinted towards the palace. “I have to protect the Queen, no matter what.” ********* Cyrus got down from his dragon, swinging himself by the ropes connected to the dragon's saddle to break through the tainted glass of the nearest large window. As he got inside, he was assaulted by multiple guards who were alerted by the noise. He brought forth his self-defense skills and managed to take down the guards, hacking and
She looked around, but it seemed all the Knights around her were dead. She was ready to meet her fate, but she didn't want any harm to come to her child. At a time when she was expected to cover up her shame with pride and charisma, she was not ashamed to show that she wanted to protect her child. The look on Cyrus's face didn't suggest he wanted to spare any of them. After all, if he truly came back to get the throne and her head, there would be no point in leaving any of them alive. Why would he let the son of the woman he killed remain alive only to enact revenge decades later? There was nothing to gain in keeping any of them alive, so she prepared her mind for the worst. Clutching onto the child in her arms, she prayed hard that their killer would make things quick and painless, especially for her child. But as she heard the footsteps approaching, her heart sank with fear. This was it. All her nightmares were coming true this very minute. Cyrus would take her head, just as h
“My mother” Cyrus cried out towards her. “Where is she?” Then all of a sudden, the Queen's look of desperation turned to quick sadism. “What is so funny about what I asked?”, asked Cyrus. “I am not the same naive young man you sent on exile. I have killed a lot more people than you think to get to get here. So don't think I can't just run my sword through this child if I want to.” Then to make things worse, the Queen began to laugh. The laughter was so hysterical that she almost choked on her saliva, coughing profusely after a few cracks. She held on to her chest as she gave the last cough, struggling to regain her composure while looking back up at him. “WHERE IS MY MOTHER?!” Cyrus yelled out as loud as he could. “When my nightmares of you doing exactly this became worse, I knew you would soon come back for me. So I thought of the best collateral through which I could make you do as I want, which would be by putting your mother in misery, putting her close enough to the point o
Three years later... Back at Frostfall, Faora sensed a disturbance coming from the cave at the other side of the village. She came out of her house, looking around with a worried frown on her face, expecting to see obvious threats like she and her husband did the night that Dorcas and the other two dragon Slayers attacked. But there was nothing noteworthy going on outdoors. The weather was wonderful, and the mood was serene. That's why, just past midnight, everyone was still sound sleeping despite the strange feeling in her gut. The only strange thing was that she wasn't alone. At the far end if the village, right where the entrance was, beyond the barricade, she could see Nebula's blue eyes staring back at her. Though they couldn't communicate telepathically at that moment, Faora instinctively knew that they were sensing the same thing. There was trouble, and were sure of it. But Nebula wasn't getting the same sense of fear that Asherah was giving off. It was like Faora was
When Wayne returned with Natalie, Aurora, and Serena, the palace seemed elated. Richard was happy that Serena had come to be with him, and Cyrus's family had been reunited. Now that everyone of interest was present, it was time for the formal coronation to mark the young Cyrus as sovereign King, and his wife as ruling Queen. They divided the kingdom into new provinces, a few of which Natalie would rule over, leaving the majority for her husband. After signing several scrolls and getting married for the second time in line with Griffindale's royal tradition, the day of coronation finally came. It was a day like no other, but since Cyrus didn't want to lavish the Kingdom's wealth at a time when the city was still being rebuilt, he made it modest, only prioritizing hygiene, food, and wine. Decorations and other accessories were ruled out of the budget, still, it was a day to remember. That day, King Cyrus was formally coronated as King and was no longer acting as one. He reinstated
It wasn't too long afterward when the Warlord and his soldiers returned to the Midlands. By head count alone, they had not lost a single soldier. 3,000 went to battle, and 3,000 returned. There was nothing credible to report, as it was difficult to believe that 3,000 men went to war against a great and powerful city and none of them died. Worse yet, what credited them with such a flawless victory was the fact that they were assisted by two dragons that did most of the heavy lifting for them. Sure, there was an occult following of fable enthusiasts who believed in dragons like they were their bread and water, but reporting it in a battle account felt off. He was conflicted on whether or not he should account for that part of the battle. Still, it would be impossible to explain how no one died in such a war. Soon, he gave up on making up a story and decided to report on what truly happened, though he was afraid that the impulsive young Emperor would thin
About a week had passed when Wayne rode off on his dragon to bring Natalie to Griffindale. He too had decided to settle in the new land, and since he was going back briefly to get Cyrus's wife, he would use this opportunity to tell his family about his plans to relocate. Despite the ruins half of the city was in, he liked it at Griffindale. He felt at home there, as it was refreshing living somewhere where it wasn't snowing all the time. His dragon, Kyron, also seemed to love the climate at Griffindale, perhaps due to his natural affinities as a reptile. Wayne got in his dragon that morning and took off to Frostfall, it took several hours to get there despite how fast the Dragon flew, and he arrived by evening. Everyone was glad to see him, all asking questions that excited them. Children asked what it was like to live in a place where there was no ice and snow, others asked what other fruits in the area tasted like, and how easy it was to access them. Wayne tried to
It was almost noon when everyone had gotten out of their slumber, ready to take on the rest of the day. The Emperor's soldiers who at first tried to remain sober and disciplined at the start of the feast the previous night ended up being the most wasted. The generals and commanders assembled all their men, and they were all ready to leave. However, the 25 veteran soldiers were to stay behind to help Cyrus maintain order until the city could reestablish its military, as most of its fighting force had been eliminated during the war. The time for war and victory celebrations was over. Now was the time to rebuild. Cyrus and the Warlord, Jin Tsung bid each other farewell as they each went their separate ways, with the great Legionnaire taking his soldiers with him, along with all his captains and commanders. Frederick and the young men from the village were about to bid the acting King farewell also, but Cyrus was not going to allow it. He insisted that they stay behind with him to take
While Cyrus was still speaking, Kamala sent a message back to him. “I am with your mother”, she said. “Should I bring her to you?” “She's dying” Cyrus sent back. “Get her something to eat. Take her to Wayne. He must be outside the city. Let him see to it that she has everything she needs. I don't want to see her looking like that again.” “Understood” Kamala sent back. While he was still sending, he looked at his stepmother. And after communicating with Kamala, he picked up his sword and walked toward Regina. The Queen braced herself, lifting her son towards Cyrus, who raised a brow, wondering what this was all about. “I know this is too selfish of me to ask, but before you kill me, promise to take care of my son”, Regina said. “He has done nothing wrong. You can raise him without telling him anything about me, you can even tell him made-up things to make him grow up to hate me. Just give him a chance to live. I beg you.” Cyrus sighed, taking the son in his hand, but not for th
“My mother” Cyrus cried out towards her. “Where is she?” Then all of a sudden, the Queen's look of desperation turned to quick sadism. “What is so funny about what I asked?”, asked Cyrus. “I am not the same naive young man you sent on exile. I have killed a lot more people than you think to get to get here. So don't think I can't just run my sword through this child if I want to.” Then to make things worse, the Queen began to laugh. The laughter was so hysterical that she almost choked on her saliva, coughing profusely after a few cracks. She held on to her chest as she gave the last cough, struggling to regain her composure while looking back up at him. “WHERE IS MY MOTHER?!” Cyrus yelled out as loud as he could. “When my nightmares of you doing exactly this became worse, I knew you would soon come back for me. So I thought of the best collateral through which I could make you do as I want, which would be by putting your mother in misery, putting her close enough to the point o
She looked around, but it seemed all the Knights around her were dead. She was ready to meet her fate, but she didn't want any harm to come to her child. At a time when she was expected to cover up her shame with pride and charisma, she was not ashamed to show that she wanted to protect her child. The look on Cyrus's face didn't suggest he wanted to spare any of them. After all, if he truly came back to get the throne and her head, there would be no point in leaving any of them alive. Why would he let the son of the woman he killed remain alive only to enact revenge decades later? There was nothing to gain in keeping any of them alive, so she prepared her mind for the worst. Clutching onto the child in her arms, she prayed hard that their killer would make things quick and painless, especially for her child. But as she heard the footsteps approaching, her heart sank with fear. This was it. All her nightmares were coming true this very minute. Cyrus would take her head, just as h
While the fierce battle took place behind him, Cletus kept his sight on the higher provinces, particularly the Queen's residence, where his comrades were guarding Regina, the sovereign ruler. The next move the dragon made confirmed his suspicions that an attack on the Queen was imminent, as the beast landed on the pinnacle of the highest point of the castle, where the rider jumped off and went in through one of the large windows. “Cyrus”, Cletus said as he gestured for the horse to run even faster as it sprinted towards the palace. “I have to protect the Queen, no matter what.” ********* Cyrus got down from his dragon, swinging himself by the ropes connected to the dragon's saddle to break through the tainted glass of the nearest large window. As he got inside, he was assaulted by multiple guards who were alerted by the noise. He brought forth his self-defense skills and managed to take down the guards, hacking and