The Clash Of Drakkon: Book Four Of The Drakkon Series

Chapter Three

Yanu Drako

Information Extractor of the Queen's Guard

We all stare in horror from inside King Ronan's castle, unable to move for an hour, as we watch the Queen enter the shuttle and take off, leading the Auerlie ships under Aldrich Drakkon's command away, stopping the thoughtless carnage, at the price of her life. We all knew that this would lead to her death but we were helpless to do anything but obey our Queen's command, if it had been a normal order we would have disobeyed, but because of her special Solveig skill, we had no choice but to disobey.

We stand there like statues unable to move or do anything to stop her, able to move our heads but not much else, the minutes feel like their own hours, a lifetime passes before I finally feel my body relax as we are released from the command. I open my sheeve, ready to order shuttles to be sent from the cruiser so that we could go after our Queen, but what greets me is the one thing I dreaded most of all.

A cast on the public stream by Aldrich Drakkon, it didn't say it specifically but the title itself alluded to enough, the true king has returned, and for the king to return it meant that the queen was dead, we would not be so fortunate for Aldrich to take the queen prisoner, she was too much of a threat. I swipe my fingers up my arm to project it on the wall, allowing the others to see it.

"People of Drakkon! Your true king has returned! No longer will you suffer under the rule of the false Queen, I am your king once more. I've ended the war and slayed the false Queen, no longer will she attempt to corrupt the great empire I've built." His face disappears for a moment to show a photo of our great queen, floating limp in space, dead.

"No!" Caius is enraged and aggrieved, we all were, this was not what we had imagined would happen after we had just won the war. "How could he do this!" The image feels like it is on the screen for an eternity even if it was only a few seconds, long enough for everyone to know without a doubt that our Queen was dead.

"She will float in space for eternity, the false queen does not deserve a funeral for the sins she has committed. I will return in two days time to formally re-take my position as King, I am eager to see all of you again, your one and only King Aldrich Drakkon." Tanza clutches at her chest in pain, collapsing against the wall, we could all feel the grief burning in our hearts, setting the spark for revenge.

He had disrespected our Queen so much, she deserved a proper burial and after we avenged her even if we had to search for a thousand years, we would find her body and give her the funeral she deserved.

I bring my hand up to my mouth and swipe my fingers across my sharp teeth, tearing them open, but I don't feel the pain, I bring my bleeding fingers up above my right eyebrow, slowly dragging my three bloody fingers down my face, leaving bloody red streaks down my face, this was my war paint, my vow of revenge, I would avenge our Queen before this blood would come off my face, it would dry but I would not allow it to flake off until I had torn Aldrich to pieces, former or current king of Drakkon, he was no ruler of mine, all of my loyalty belonged to Alessandra, I would not allow this injustice to stand.

The other members of the Queen's guard, my brothers and sister, had made similar marks on their faces, this was a spliced tradition, a sacred oath we would not break unless we died before we could achieve it, surprisingly though Lord Caius had done it as well, he showed no hesitation or confusion in marking his face in blood, but that wasn't exactly shocking, he was a man of war, he had been in countless battles with Spliced soldiers, so of course he would know some of our oaths and traditions.

We walk out of the castle to see if the other shuttle had survived the carnage, but it was covered in rubble, we would not be able to use it any time soon. "Look!" Talon's voice was surprisingly loud for someone who usually speaks so quietly but the excitement and hope in his voice all made us look towards where he was pointing.