Jack Of All Trades ✓ | steampunk, dragons, trickery

Chapter 18.2: Kill the King and Rise, Jack!

It wasn't long before they all came to Fairwicken. It was worse than when Jack saw it from Gray's airship and now there were humans fighting humans. 

In the light of dragon's rage flames and burning buildings, people were fighting, and some were crying while fighting. Those were probably the ones controlled by the Enchantress. Some of them held the flags Endil, but it was clear from the sure way they moved that they weren't controlled. 

Jack wondered if she'd made a deal with rebellions. The king was already quite notorious for making the poor pay taxes or taking away land sometimes out of the blue. A lot of people already didn't like the king.

And there's the king's metal army, Jack thought as he spotted a hoard of automatons descending upon people with swords, guns, knives, or whatever they had on their person at the time. No humans were in the army ranks. It was a new thing because Jack remembered human soldiers when he was around these areas.

Dragons would occasionally swoop down and grab a clawful of humans or burn hundreds here or hundreds there. Nearby towns and villages were up in flames, illuminating the sky in a haze of smoke and orange light. The top fortresses of the castle had an array of archers, raining arrows down on people who were trying to climb up the vertical rock. 

A rope with a claw attached onto a stone and before the archers could react, a person who shouldn't be able to move like that, slithered up the rope like a snake and began to attack the archers. These archers were automatons not easily killed. The human was killed instantly. Behind the ranks was the king.

King Anthony Plantagenet in full armor, commanding his automaton troops, ordering them to rain flaming arrows down on the humans below. Ordering the airships to shoot the dragons. Jack suddenly remembered all the innocent people his father had killed. And it was the king's fault that Jack had to run from home, never to return. Never, until this day.

"Get me near the fortress!" He was going to end it. He stood on the dragon's head.

"What are you doing?" Espin asked, flying off Jack's shoulder. "Are you crazy?"

"Ambush." Jack smiled. He planned his jump, eyed the distance, the dragon neared the archers as they aimed. Imagining a shield, he held his hand out in front and jumped. Arrows clanked off the shield as it formed in front of him. Jack smashed the shield into the automatons.

"You!" the king glowered at him. "Knave Diamondo!"

"Well, hello there, daddy," Jack said with a sneer. The automatons formed a fence of arrows to keep him away from the king. "It's good to be home."

"You dare call me such a name! Knave Diamondo killed my son."

Jack sucked in his breath. A tear touched his eye. He didn't think that would hurt him. His own father didn't even know the different between him and a fake prince. Jack didn't matter to his father. It made no difference. He gritted his teeth. Somewhere in his mind, he had been hoping his father at least recognized him.

"It doesn't matter who I am to you," he said through tears, "Born Plantagenet, I'm Jack Ovaultrades. I have come to take the throne and end your bastard tyranny," He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, "I have come to kill you."

"Jack?" the king said, blinking his eyes. "But, you died."

Jack slowed his breathing. Then, he was in the zone. Using magick and a dagger, he short-circuited the automatons or cut through the wires on their necks. Pretty soon, the archers were down and the king faced him off with a sword in his hands. 

But the king was clumsy and he wasn't in good shape. Slow and sluggish, soon the sword was knocked from his hand. Jack shoved him over and the king fell on his back.

With his boot on the king's chest, Jack sneered. "You killed so many innocent people in your time, father. I hate to even call you that. You're nothing but a scoundrel. How do you feel now on the other side?"

"You won't kill me. I know you if you are my son. My son is not a killer."

Jack laughed. How little this old man knew about him was to laugh. "I beg to differ." He stomped on the king's throat with his foot, over and over until raspy voice begged for mercy. But there was no mercy here. Jack picked up an arrow and shot it right in his neck. Then he stabbed the king's chest with another arrow until it stuck to the ground on the other side, wedging between rocks.

A pitiful death for a pitiful man. Jack snatched the Endil flag and dragged the dying king to the edge of the fortress. He hollered victory. "The king is dead!" He raised a sword forming it out of lavender light and threw the king's body over the edge. The battle quieted as the people who weren't being controlled, paused to look up.

"People of Endil!" he bellowed, "I am Jack Ovaultrades of the Plantagenet family. Prince by birth. I declare myself king from this moment. If there are any who wish to go against me, leave now! I don't want to bother with your idiocy. But do me a favor. Find the one witch, Serena Mary, and her daughter Margorie. They are the ones controlling your friends and the dragons. They are the evil we must destroy!"

He grimaced at his quick speech. Who would believe him? He was, after all, Knave Diamondo to many. But then, people began to sing the song of Endil. The traditional war song raising their weapons in the air. Any who were in a controlled daze were captured instead of killed. Jack called to the dragon and set off to find the Enchantress. Very few people were fighting the dragons still burning Fairwicken.

"I see her!" someone shouted, and Jack had the Ancient One lower itself. The man was pointing toward Amsgeld, but it was too dark to tell what he was pointing at. It looked like the sun was coming up over the horizon, but it was an orange bubble and when it moved, there appeared to be a woman inside. 

Then, the bubble neared and behind it appeared a monstrous black dragon's head with red lightning dancing across the body. It was bigger than the Ancient One.

"She merged her own daughter for sacrifice to make it." Espin landed on Jack's shoulder.

Jack gritted his teeth. "What is it?" He was afraid to know. He could feel it all the way over here. Dragons attacking Fairwicken stopped what they were doing to fly to the beast. Espin dug his claws into Jack's shoulder, resisting.

"It's Ragegon, even a myth among dragons. A dragon made of pure rage merging all dragons," Espin's voice shook.

Jack petted Espin on the head. The dragon fairy nuzzled against his fingers. At that moment, Ragegon's throat glowed golden.

Oh, dungshit! Swiftly turning, Jack yelled, "Everyone out of the way!"

Ragegon roared. The Ancient One dodged as a hot white flame blasted towards them.