~Tyron’s P.O.V~

It had been two days since we arrived at in Lysia. Those two days had been some of the most relaxing and well deserved in my life. One of the best feelings in the world is when you have been working hard, travelling, or simply exerting yourself, and coming to a place, usually home, and simply laying down with a big fat sigh.

Blu let out a slight laugh as I did just that, my large body making a slight thump as it hit the ground. We were on the grass plain of mayor’s manner, lazing about, not really doing anything. The sun was high in the sky and the wind was blowing slightly from the west. It would have been a perfect day for a flight… but frankly I couldn’t be bothered. My wings were still sore after all.

“Enjoying the sun honey?” Blu asked giggling at the nickname.

“I am now, now that you're here,” I playfully growled, making Blu blush a cute purple.

I rolled onto my back and let out a light purr as the warmth of the sunshine spread across my stomach and through my whole body. My mate laughed again and shook his head. I was splayed out, my wings outstretched and my legs completely relaxed. It was like getting a massage, only better. I closed my eyes, just enjoying the feeling.

“You are way too relaxed,” Blu said.

“Hmm?” I rumbled, “It is our final day here… I’m making the most of it.”

“Yes, laying around all day is definitely ‘making the most of it’,” he taunted.

I opened one eye and looked at him and said with a teasing edge, “Well if you want to do something else… I can think of a few things that could pass the time.”

He stared at me for a moment, and that blush came back again as he realised what I was saying. He opened his mouth to say something before closing it again. I laughed slightly and closed my eye again. I loved that dragon.

We lay in comfortable silence for an hour or so, and I found myself nearly drifting off to sleep. Suddenly the loud sound of a bell ringing passed over the courtyard and I growled in annoyance, opening an eye again.

“What is that?” I asked.

Blu frowned, lifting his head and looking toward the sound curiously. He frowned, and then his eyes widened. He glanced at me with worry and quickly struggled to his feet, peering over the wall. There was panic outside. The sounds of armour rattling about echoed through the town. Excited and fearful voices were shouting out warnings in panic.

I rolled to my stomach, “Blu, what is that noise?”

“It’s… it’s the alarm,” he stuttered, “We’re being attacked.”

I blinked in surprise, before quickly staggering to my feet, flapping my wings a couple of times to warm them up and shake out the stiffness. Together the two of us rose as quickly we could into the sky, and stopped, hovering above the town and staring at what was coming toward us.

It was like a black plague spreading through the forest. Demons and goblins and harpies all descending upon the town in mass. The usually green forest looked to be almost becoming dark and shrivelled. The mountains seemed to almost loom higher, and a wave of dread swept through the town.

Soon a voice shouted, commanding the army to stop. A large black figure shot up into the sky with massive black wings and an echoing screeching laughter which cascaded upon those below. It sent shivers through me and I bared my teeth slightly, trying to suppress the growing amount of fear in my chest.

“Well well well, there you all are. You didn’t really think that you could hide from us did you?” his voice carried across the town as if amplified by magic, “Oh, and Princess Hannah, so lovely to see you again. Though I seem to remember that you go by ‘Blu’ now. What an odd name that is indeed.”

The blue dragon beside me growled angrily, “What do you want?”

“Oh, the same as all dragons. Death, destruction and mountains of gold and skulls!” he laughed, “But more specifically, I want yours.”

At an unheard command the horde of creatures roared out and began to move forward through the forest of trees. It started of slowly, but they gathered speed, their screams and roars and laughter ringing out from them. The men on the wall seemed shaken, but they held their ground. I gulped, if I had not been a dragon I would have run by now. But we had fought off larger hordes before, and we had beaten that dragon before.

People in the city began to scream and run in panic, anyone not a soldier all moving toward Mayor’s Manor, the ‘safest’ part of the city. A screech in the sky caught our attention. We looked toward the dragon and startled in surprise as a red fireball left his mouth, shooting toward the wall below. I held my breath, looking in shock. Just before it hit however a whirlpool of water shot upwards, blocking the blast easily.

I looked down to see Aaron on the wall, holding his new white staff upwards. He smiled up at us and nodded his head. I nodded back before turning back to the black dragon. With a roar I flapped my wings and pushed myself forward with a flap of my wings, charging toward the dragon with anger. Blu followed quickly behind me, throwing a blue fireball toward the dragon, which he easily moved out of the way.

Once I was close enough I opened my maw and bathed the sky in my fire, letting it cascade over the black dragon. Most dragon’s had fireproof scales, so it wouldn’t do much, but it would hurt his eyes and blind him. He growled and quickly flapped his wings, getting out of the flames, opening his own mouth and returning the stream. I dodged by flying underneath him and coming up on the other side. During the manoeuvre I lost vision of him for a moment, and that moment was enough.

I cried out in pain as he crashed into my back, raking his talons over my scales and clawing at my wings. Blu came from above and tackled the other dragon from my back, their collision jarring my back. I grunted and fell a couple of metres in the sky before catching myself again, breathing deeply in snarling in pain. I looked upwards to see our foe snarl as Blu sunk his teeth into the black scales.

The other dragon used raked his talons across Blu’s more, tearing at the more sensitive scales around his snout. It didn’t shake Blu at all however, and he held on, sinking his teeth deeper and holding on. I flapped my wings and flew up towards them, aiming to sink my claws into the soft scales of his underbelly. This time though, something seemed to flicker in the black dragon’s eyes, and before any of us could react he burst into flames.

Blu screamed as the inside of his mouth was burnt by the other dragon’s flames, letting go and flapping backwards. The black dragon twisted in the air, dodging my strike, before using his wing to smash Blu’s head, the fire giving the strike extra power. His tail also flicked up, whipping me under the chin and stunning me for a moment.

Blu fell from the sky, the strike hitting far harder than any of us had expected. My cry echoed through the sky and I flapped my wings, trying to get to him as fast as I could, but before I had even moved a metre the black dragon struck my maw with his talons, no longer flaming. I grunted as blood began to well at the wounds.

“No you don’t,” he chuckled.

There was a thud below us as Blu crashed into the ground, cracking the cobblestones. The sound made my heart break. I turned toward the dragon a snarl on my maw, and with a scream of anger attacked with a sudden ferocity.

He grinned and pulled backwards, turning his back and flying away. Not in my right state of mind, I followed, the rage fueling me to go faster. I breathed fire at him, which he simply ignored and continued to fly, up higher and higher. I followed close at his tail, my wingbeats echoing through the sky at my effort to catch him. The problem with being a large dragon was that you were a little slower, especially when you were fighting against gravity. But my rage made me faster.

He disappeared into the clouds above, and without hesitation I entered after him. But when I came through the other side, he had disappeared. I let out a growl of surprise and searched through the sky, not able to find him. There was nothing, only the sun and the sky and the top of Crag Mountain poking through the clouds in the distance.

“Ah, Tyron, thank you for following me up here,” chuckled the black dragon’s voice, “Now it’s just you and me.”

“Where are you, you bastard!?” I growled, my snout covered in my dried blood.

Suddenly something landed on my back. I grunted in surprise as his talons dug into my shoulders. He chuckled as I tried to flip myself over and get him off, but the dragon on top had all the power.

“Temper temper,” he laughed, “You don’t really think you can beat me by yourself do you? Last time Blu and you could barely hold your own, two against one.”

“I’ve grown since then,” I growled back, using my tail to grab his, then pulling.

It was just enough to startle him into letting me go for a moment, just enough to allow me to throw him off with a twist and my wing, before breathing fire in his direction. Using the distraction I then swept my talon across his face and he fell backwards before catching himself for a moment, breathing heavily.

I would have followed after him, but the pain in my wing joints created a hesitation, as every flap of my wings hurt. It was requiring all my effort just to stay in the air. So the two of us looked at each other, our teeth bared, waiting to see what the other would do. Judging the other dragon, he seemed just as exhausted as me.

He laughed, shaking his head, “You love-struck idiot. You really would fight that hard for her, oh sorry, I meant him. It gets really hard to differentiate between the two.”

“You think I wouldn’t?” I snarled back angrily, “If he is dead, you will pay with a thousand.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry. It would take a lot more to kill him,” he replied, “Oh, I don’t think I introduced myself. I’m Gabriel.”

“I don’t care who you are. I’ll kill you the same!” I roared and forced myself forward.

He easily dodged my attempt, flying upwards with a flap of his wings, “You really are a fool. You think that he deserves the fight you’re giving?”

“Of course he does!”

“No, you see, Blu isn’t the dragon you think he is.”

I spun in the sky, lashing out with my fire which he easily got out of the way from, “What do you mean?”

“You weren't his first,” he hissed.

I froze in the sky, staring at him in surprise, “What?”

“You weren’t his first,” Gabriel repeated with a dark chuckle, “I was.”

For a moment I couldn’t do or say anything, “Y… you’re lying!

“Really? Am I really? Ask yourself Tyron, why was he really so hesitant in taking the step. He has had his draconic instincts for far longer than you, yet he still refused for a very long time.”

“So? He wanted to wait until we knew each other a bit more,” I growled.

“No! He was guilty, that’s why. I met him 5 years ago. He was sitting on the ledge of his cave looking a little lonely. So, I flew down to see him, much to his surprise of course. We talked for a little while, and our talk got deeper and deeper and eventually I asked him if he had experienced a lover before. He said no, so I decided each him with a rather physically intimate demonstration. And he was so good too. Such a quick learner.”

I growled angrily again, “You lier! Blu never met another dragon before me!”

“Is that what he told you?” he laughed, “Ask yourself this, am I really lying? Or was he the one lying?”

A sudden surge of unbendable anger rushed through me. My eyes flicked as I stared at the black dragon. My scales began to glow red as a strange power began to surge through my body. His eyes widened slightly, before I lashed forward with a surprising amount of speed, fire pouring from my mouth in a blistering white heat. He growled, and the fire smashed into him, throwing him from the sky and into the clouds below. I went to follow, but as I fell through the clouds to catch him I came to a sudden stop, growling in surprise. He was gone.

I roared out one last time, “Lier!”

~Aaron’s P.O.V~

The hoard of demons crashed into the wall like a flood of water rushing down the valley The whole village seemed to shake under the impact. Ghastly screams echoed from the monsters below as the scrambled at the stone, trying their best to climb up and over the ramparts. The people on the walls shivered, their faces painted white with fear, but they began to fight nevertheless. There was nowhere to run after all. Arrows flew through the sky, taking down dozens of the monsters below, but hundreds more took their place.

I stood at the top of the wall, twirling my white staff around and throwing spikes of ice down toward the creatures. The spikes didn’t use too much energy to create, and I wanted to conserve as much as I could until I knew how to best eliminate the creatures. Tabitha stood beside me with her bow, the silver arrows cutting down the ghouls, demons and other things below us rapidly.

I tried my best to ignore the fight of the dragons above. After I had blocked that fireball from the black dragon, Blu and Tyron had taken it upon themselves to defeat it. I let them, trusting their abilities. Whoever won that aerial battle would likely win the whole battle. So I focused on cutting down as many creatures as I could.

Not after the battle started a cry got my attention. I glanced upwards and felt my heart fall as Blu plummeted from the sky and into the cobblestones below, nearly crushing several men. Tyron’s roar could be heard over the entire battlefield and I watched as he chased the black dragon into the skies above and out of sight.

“Blu!” Tabitha yelled and quickly turned, running down the flight of steps toward where her brother lay.

I hesitated, wanting to go after her, but knowing that if I left the wall the chances of holding out against the army were slim. I gulped softly and forced myself to focus. Blu would be okay. He had to be. I funneled my anger into my spells and with a single blast of ice slaughtered a small section of nearly a hundred of the creatures with a single spell. The drain on my energy tugged at my stomach, but I forced myself to continue on.

The other mages with me were using their respective magics as well. None had quite the power I had, but they all were much more experienced than me, using their spells with limited effort to take out as many as they can. Small explosions ruptured throughout the battle field. Crevices in the ground opened up and demons fell through. A wind wizard was doing his best to block as many arrows as he could flying from the army below, knocking them away. He wasn’t always successful. Despite how many we were killing, we were barely holding them back.

Soon a loud roar sounded and a beam of fire blew through the clouds, smashing into the army below. We all flinched as the heat washed over the battlefield. Then Tyron revealed himself. I could feel his anger. I quickly scanned the sky, looking for the black dragon, but it had disappeared.

Part of our forces cheered as Tyron swooped down towards us, light up as many demons as he could in flames, before soaring past the wall and into the courtyard below, where Blu lay. I looked back for a moment. Tabitha was sitting at Blu’s head. She seemed worried, but not upset, which I took as a good sign. After a couple of moments Tyron took to the sky again, turning and flying back over the battlefield and light it up with flames.

The men cheered as the dragon scorched the ground, setting the trees aflame, and burning hundreds of their foes. I took a deep breath myself and continued to cast my magic into the hoard below.

“Keep their ladders down men! Don’t let them gain access!” Eric ordered as he swung his broadsword down upon the unfortunate head of some goblin who had managed to scramble up the wall.

It surprised me somewhat. My face became grim as I realised that just because Tyron was now free to do as he wished to the army below, it didn’t mean we were out of trouble yet. There were still hundreds left over. Suddenly a hulking figure emerged from their backline, tramping toward us. It was huge, ugly, with green skin and no shirt, revealing rippling muscles all the way down it’s torso. Held in its right hand was a massive single edge sword that curved to a point at the end.

Tyron, seeing it as an immediate threat, flew above it and opened his maw, breathing a torrent of flames at the large creature. The ogre seemed to snarl, before swiping the massive blade as if it were no more than a dagger, and it almost seemed to cut through the fire, spreading it out so it hit everywhere but where the creature was. Tyron was just as surprised as I was. Seconds later the red dragon let out a small grunt of surprise as an invisible force slammed into him, knocking him back several metres. Despite this the dragon retained the sky and quickly flew up to avoid another attack.

I frowned as I felt a thrum of magical energy emanating from the blade. It only took a couple of seconds to recognise it, and panic blossomed in my chest.

“That’s… that’s one of the enchanted blades of Eurya!” I exclaimed.

The people around me stared at me in surprise. I ignored them, thinking at how impossible it was for that creature in front of us to obtain it. They must have grabbed them from the wizards tower when the city fell. Of course they would have, Garagain wouldn’t have let such powerful pieces of equipment go to waste. Of course, if he had taken all of those weapons, it would make defeating him all the much harder.

The ogre roared out and swung the blade in an arch from above its head, smashing it into the ground and sending a blast of some invisible force towards the wall. I flinched as it struck, and almost instantly shattered the point where it had made impact. Pieces of brick and stone went flying back into the town beyond, and the few soldiers that were unlucky enough to be on that part of the wall that caved in were also caught by the blast, being knocked backwards onto the path below.

Tyron roared out in surprise and quickly flew back to the town before as the demons began to pour through the breach. I gritted my teeth and ran forward, but didn’t get there before the dragon. With a single blast of flames he incinerate a majority of creatures trying to break through and set himself up at the whole, quickly killing those who had managed to do so. He blocked it off rather completely.

I gritted my teeth and looked back at the ogre, “Don’t let him do that again!” I yelled at the mages around me, who nodded their heads grimly.

In my head I quickly went through what I knew about the swords of Eurya. There were five in total, all of them giving the wielder a different ability or power. The sword the ogre was using was the sword of strength, I forget the more technical name for it. It did exactly as it would seem, giving the wielder an enormous amount of physical power. But, with a weapon so large, it was also difficult to wield. No matter how strong someone was, they couldn’t overcome that.

“What is that thing?” Tabitha said as she came up beside me once again.

I quickly told her what I knew, “Can you keep it busy. Your bow may be one of the few things we have that can harm it.”

She nodded her head and quickly drew back an arrow, firing it toward the monster. It pieced its flesh, causing it to let out the first real roar of pain and it staggered backwards shaking its head. Tabitha didn’t relent, continuing to pepper the monster with scores of silver arrows, driving it backwards. With a scream the ogre swung the sword, sending another invisible blast toward where we were situated.

Concentrating I pointed my staff forward, focusing on the many water particles that floated through the air. In an effort of will I condensed them, creating a thin wall of ice between us and the blast. It wasn’t that strong, but I didn’t make it to be strong. The invisible force instantly shattered the wall… then dissipated into nothing. Grinning to myself I caught the pieces of ice as they fell and directed them toward the ogre. They didn’t really do anything, but it was a little satisfying to watch as the ice shattered against its skin, covering it in a number of small scratches. Tabitha continued to target it down.

I watched. Yes, Tabitha was harming it, but it still wasn’t going down. Each arrow probably felt a little like a bee sting, painful but not extremely harmful. It didn’t help that the ogre was smart enough to keep its sword up to protect its face from the arrows, not allowing Tabitha to get in a shot that would kill it.

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out a way to end this battle quickly. Tyron was doing a good job at holding the hoard, but the wizards were running out of energy and many of the soldiers on the walls had run out of arrows and were now relying on their swords to keep the creatures from gaining access to the walls.

I took a deep breath, thinking for a moment. An idea sprouted to my mind.

“Cover me!” I yelled at the other wizards, “If the ogre tries to break the walls again, block it with a wall of your own making. It doesn’t have to be strong.”

The other wizards nodded. Closing my eyes I began to feel around the area, searching for what I knew to be just below the surface. It didn’t take me long. Underground springs and rivers were actually surprisingly common, if one knew where to look for them. Taking another deep breath I connected myself to the numerous water sources around the area, then pulled.

A tight knot formed in my stomach. It hurt to control so much water. But I persevered, gritting my teeth. I even grabbed hold of the moisture in the air and clouds, condensing it. Columns began to shoot upwards through the ground at high pressure. I collapsed to one knee, and the others looked at me with concern, but I ignored them. The pressure continue to rise and the top of my staff began to glow.

Suddenly the ground outside of the walls erupted as torrents of water broke from the ground at both sides of the battle field. The water I had condensed from the air joined it, and before long it was like two massive walls of water had formed at both sides of the battlefield. Everyone stopped, staring at the spectacle in wonder. Even the demons below hesitated.

I winced as energy began to drain from me like water from a cup, but I continued to hold, knowing if I slipped up for a moment it wouldn’t only be the demon army that was washed away. Taking a couple of deep breaths I then let the waves collapsed. A massive boom echoed through the valley, followed by screeches and screams of the creatures below as water cascaded over them. With another surge of energy I forced the water away from the town, taking with it monsters that had dared attack us. The ogre with the sword tried desperately to fend off the massive wave of water, but even it, with all its strength, had no chance against the force of nature I controlled. It roared one last time as it was drowned by the water, before falling silent.

I continued to push the flood away from the village and through the trees until I was sure that it would not harm the village. I than released the flow of magic. Almost as soon as I did I collapsed onto all fours, my breath coming in choking gasps. I had absolutely no energy left. Dull voices sounded around me and I think someone grabbed my shoulder, but all I could really hear was the booming sound of my slowing heartbeat.

‘Hmm,’ I thought to myself as there was one last boom, and then silence, ‘That’s not good.’

Then everything faded away.