The Adventures of Rose Hood

Chapter 13: The Dragon and the Rose

Mammon POV

A dragon, in the city? An elf hanging from its talons. We needed to kill it quickly.

The elf was severely injured too, what had the monster done to it.

I leapt up to crush its wing, I noticed a cursed arrow in its eyes, which meant that even my weapon could hurt it.

I met up with the king on the way, he had a furious expression.

"Your majesty, what happened? I saw it leave the castle. Is Rose okay?"

His gaze faltered for a moment.

"That beast killed Galswell."

So, Rose must have been killed. That's the only reason he wouldn't say it.

"I see, we need to save the elf from it then."

"No!"

"What?"

"That elf is a dragon too."

"A shifted dragon?"

"Yes, we were going to kill it when the other dragon showed up."

"I see, so it defended her."

"Yes, they are sisters."

"Well, what's the plan."

"Gather your best fighters and charge it."

I saw the guard.

"Jalad, Dallel! You two with me."

They nodded and told their men to get back.

I got the 3 Aces to come with me.

All together, we had a force of 12. Killing the dragon should've been hard, but it confused us by offering its neck.

Even the king, who was ready to butcher it, was confused.

However, the shocking events weren't done, as the moment Dallel struck to kill the beast. Royce showed up and clashed with the blow defending the beast.

"Royce? What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

_

I had accepted death, someone else would be able to reproduce for our race, I couldn't hurt those 2 who were so kind to me.

Then I heard metal clash with metal.

"Royce? What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

"What do you mean? It's a dragon."

"Kill that beast Royce, now!"

The king lashed out at Royce.

"I will not."

"What? It's a monster, who has probably killed countless people."

"5 is not countless, especially when they were the aggressors in each situation."

How did he know I killed more people? Dallel was as shocked as I was.

"Royce, why are you acting like you know the beast."

"Because I do, and you do too. The secrets out, there's no point in hiding it anymore."

I knew what he meant and shifted myself back into the catkin. An arrow in my eye, a shattered arm, and my stomach with a massive amount of injuries.

"What?"

The adventurers that knew me dropped their weapons and Jalad and Dallel both fell back.

"Hi,"

I gave a smile despite my extensive injuries. And I heard Jalad say something that I wasn't expecting.

"I was right."

The King also thought to speak.

"See, she's a monster. She must have used a spell to make you align with her that quickly and it seems that Royce is still under that spell."

Royce laughed bitterly,

"No, because I met her while she was still in a contract with someone. She fought to save my life from a Whilderbeast. Upon answering our questions, I decided to trust her of my own volition. If any of you wants to kill her."

He smiled grimly.

"You'll have to get through us."

The group of fighters that were there in the woods when I was first revealed came out in my defense.

"No, stop. I'm willing to die."

"Yeah, but I'm not willing to let you die."

"Her spell is horrible. She's using it to make people fight for her."

An adventurer yelled. That was getting annoying.

"Dragons don't have mind control spells, don't be stupid!"

The king was furious.

"Whether or not there is a spell doesn't matter, she's a monster and she needs to be subjugated."

Half of the group nodded, but the rest seemed skeptical. Suddenly I started laughing. It was a bitter dark laugh that even made Royce turn around with some fear.

"You call us monsters?! Hahaha! You went to my sister's nest, unprovokedly attacking her and torturing her, then you destroyed the nest and broke the eggs in front of her, only to teleport back to the castle and throw her in front of me to provoke me, after shooting me for no reason but my nature."

I stopped laughing and glared at the king, my aura on full display.

"And you have the gall to call us monsters?! Contrary to what you think, dragons have a lot of care for people around us, in combat we are mostly unforgiving and violent, but that's battle. Something that each one of you has done."

The king's determination faltered when I called him out for his monstrous actions. Then in a final attempt to maintain his confidence in his actions, he said one last thing quietly.

"But you also killed Saliad."

"And can you not imagine why I did? I am over 100 years old, but when I was no older than 10, he came into the nest, killed my father and mother with no mercy and shattered the unhatched eggs. Then when I faced him in the arena, he bragged about killing my older brother like he wasn't even worth remembering. Imagine someone doing that to you and tell me if you wouldn't kill them. I even gave him the mercy of a quick death."

The king had no more bloodlust, and even the adventurers and guards that were cheering for my death now sat in silence.

"You killed Galswell."

"Because he was going to kill my sister."

It was at that moment that Jalad and Dallel noticed that I was in a defensive position over Thalia.

"Is that your sister?"

I nodded weakly.

At this point, the king started crying. I could sense no more fear, only sorrow and regret.

"I made a mistake. I went on my own biases and attacked someone just trying to live their life. I... I did this."

The adventurers and royal guards also noticed that they had let fear drive them and attempted to kill someone who had no intention to kill them.

Many sat down with tears in their eyes, and I took advantage and grabbed my sister. Turning back into a dragon, I picked her up and struggled to fly away. My wing was barely functioning, but it would heal when the curse let up.

I only heard a small voice from Mammon before I left earshot.

"What have we done?"