Assassins and Dragons

Chapter 30: Capital Under Attack

[8:00 pm; Village close to the Capital]

In a small, modest cabin, a couple was in the kitchen, talking. The man was rummaging through some kind of briefcase while the woman sat quietly in a chair. It was visible from her belly that she was pregnant.

“I learned… that new types of danger beasts have appeared in this region.” — He tells his wife, grabbing a shotgun — “You better not go out there alone.”

"I know.  For the sake of our precious son, too.” — The dark-haired woman says, caressing her swollen belly.

However, they both hear something knock against their door three times, scaring them. Until, by complete surprise, a humanoid body is thrown against the door, breaking the entrance. The couple is terrified by the depths of an anthropomorphic danger beast.

Through the hole left by the broken door, the two villagers see a commotion taking place. Near several corpses and several pools of blood, a dragon was fighting human-like danger beasts. Due to the darkness and distance, they could not identify it, but the reptile had a head full of spines, two legs and large wings.

Two of those danger beasts seen try to kill the animal, but the creature bites off their heads with its sharp teeth. Those around jumped on top of the animal one by one, making a “pile” on top of it.  However, something unpleasant occurs.

The mound of monsters is surrounded by blue electric beams that seemed to grow more intense with each passing second. But that electricity wasn't coming from them, but from the dragon they were trying to kill.

At that moment, a large electrical explosion occurs, almost blinding the watching couple. The energy blast throws the humanoid beasts away and kills them. The dragon was standing upright, with its head high and its wings spread, creating a perfect wingspan. Electricity still crackled around him.

Lowering its head, the draconian silhouette finally stares at the couple from afar. The woman gets scared and the man, just in case, raises his shotgun. The electric reptile narrows its eyes seeing the gun being pointed at it.

The animal flaps its wings and positions itself in the air. He inhales and then spits an electrical shot toward the cabin. The energy shot hits the husband, who falls to the ground.

"DEAR!!!" — The pregnant woman screams.

She caresses her romantic partner's face, but recoils after receiving a slight shock. The man was wide-eyed, paralyzed and still shaking a little. He would live, but he would definitely not recover anytime soon.

With tears of terror in her eyes, the wife looks back at the opening in the wall to see the dragon that attacked her husband, but… it was gone.

At that moment, the dragon was in the sky, leaving along the opposite path to the cabin door. It roars in a shrill manner as its winged silhouette becomes visible in front of the blood moon that hovers in the starry sky.

[Imperial Palace; next morning]

In the throne room, emperor Makoto sat on the royal throne, looking at the sisters Esdeath and Atsuko, kneeling in front of him with their eyes closed and holding their caps. As always, Honest was standing next to him, also facing the generals.

Makoto: Due to the Jaegers, most of the rebels around the Capital are gone. Possibly fearing the ladies, Night Raid has not carried out any operations in the last two months. What a splendid result! — The boy proclaims, happily.

Atsuko: Hm... Uh... Thank you, Your Majesty... — The Ignis wielder thanks him, even though she knew they had barely done anything to intimidate the Night Raid.