The Three Kingdoms [under edit]

The end of an era

Nægling looked down upon him, a feral snarl slipped past his teeth.  Galvin closed his eyes.  He screwed up bad...real bad.  But it was neither of them that attacked first, for at that moment, the doors flew open, Galvin looked up, the King of the Frozen North stood by his side...he attacked first.   Which one was on the ground for how long he didn't know, but Darien fared badly.  Galvin tried to jump in and divert the odds one way, but it was futile.  Darien was dealt a fatal blow.  He looked at Galvin once more before he died. "It's all so fast," he thought to himself. Nægling advanced and struck out in attempt to catch Galvin off guard. It was a failed attempt, and Galvin succeeded in drawing blood from his opponent. His drops of blood flowed black and left the ground stained with scorch marks. This was not like the fight with the traitor back at his kingdom. Here he knew he had no hope of winning. The fallen king looked up towards the ceiling and summoned seven steel pikes that were sent hurtling towards Galvin, in attempt to skewer him and pin him to the ground. He moved in the nick of time, for each of the shafts struck the ground and buried their heads two feet into the oak beams. He knew it was cowardly to run, but he didn't care. Nægling blundered after him almost as if he was blind, crashing into columns and knocking them to the ground. Galvin ran through the corridor and skirted around the corner, his pursuer crashed through the stone wall and towered over him. The stonework crumbled under their combined weight, and both fell down into the courtyard. Now outside, Gavin could truly grasp the size of his foe. Nægling stood at least four times his height. A towering twenty feet or more. From his mouth a torrent of flame poured out just missing him by inches, leaving the air smelling like burnt tar. Galvin backed away to the edge of the courtyard. The abyss that replaced the moat fell behind him. "You who dare stand against me," Nægling spat. Venom dripped from his tongue, "Show me, 'king' what makes you think you can stand against me? You, king of the smallest land in the world."

"I stand here because no one else will."

"You stand here because you are a fool." He lashed out with his tail, but missed, crushing the stones and sending them falling away. Galvin couldn't do anything but dodge flames and falling stone. Few dragons could breathe fire, and now, more then ever, Galvin wished he could breathe fire. He was tired. There was no way out, he had backed himself in a corner. So he sat down in front of his enemy, and waited.

Out of the back of his mind came a prickling thought, a distant memory from past lessons learned. He focused on it, a distant gurgling sound echoed up from the deep. Nægling stepped forward, from the back of his throat he conjured up an intense jet of flame directed at the only one in his path. From behind Galvin rose a swollen geyser and it hit the flame head on. Two opposite forces colliding. One sat calm, one stood raging. And it was over. Galvin wasn't victorious...neither was Nægling. They stared at each other at an impasse. For now they were evenly matched, it would be hard for one to kill the other, but deep down Galvin knew he would not make it.

Then the air grew ice cold. The dust billowed from the stone and the ground shuddered. It was like a hole was wrecked in the world. It was simple, unforgettable, and impossible. Caper stood in the center of the courtyard in all his deceased glory, as flawless as the day he had died. His grey fur seemed to smoke, his eyes were dark, but as warm as they had always been. Around him was a circle of charred stone.

Galvin froze. Was he now to fight his friend, he was alone now, Darien was dead. It was him, the king, and the wolf. Caper stepped outside his ring of destruction. Galvin noticed he was not fully whole, tendrils of vapor fell away, almost as if he was made of it. He locked eyes with Caper, and noticed a small twinkle, perhaps a glimmer of amusement. The wolf turned to the king, and bowed his head. Nægling chuckled, "Witness as all the great creatures of the land now before me you dragon, soon, you will bow as well."

"Oh I'm not bowing," the smoke-wolf whispered. "It wasn't your destiny to kill the king Galvin," he said, "It was mine...your destiny is yet to come, a long ways in the making. You are destined for great things. This was only one stone in the path." Calm and collected, he opened his eyes and stared at Nægling. The sound of thunder echoed in the distance as he stared hard into the soul of the king. "You are but a mere mortal. I have sat with the one older then time itself, I outlast ages and watch mountains crumble into ruins, I have befriended the shepherd, what do you have to say for yourself O great king? You who desecrate his name." Nægling's eyes melted, and he collapsed to the ground smoking.

Caper stepped over to Galvin. "You might not know it, but in our time together, you did the world a great service."

"What am I to do now?" He asked, his voice hoarse.

"Go and elect new kings, that is your duty?"

"Why are you here."

"I told you, now you have business to do.  Choose wisely, because I'm not gonna be around to tell you what to do."

"Go that." He chuckled. "are you going to stick around?"

"No...no,"

"I thought...there was so much...I..."

"Things have a funny way of working themselves out.  I guess I was wrong to assume what would happen at the end of my life.  Now I endure eternally, don't heed the word of evil.  Walk lightly.  Always, always forgive."

"Goodbye."

"Till we meet again, probably soon...I don't know...knowing there's nobody to watch you, I'll probably be seeing you sometime tomorrow."

"Not quite so soon...not quite."

And he said goodbye, though I wasn't quite as hard as the last time...it was more like his friend was going on a long journey.  It was a hard few weeks after that, it took a bit to convince the city that he was not another tyrant, then it took an even longer amount told time to bring Darien back to the north for burial, and to find a new king. He chose a young female dragon, wise beyond her years, daughter of a merchant to rule over the kingdom of the north. He then flew south and chose a king to replace Nægling. He chose a strong minded dragon to sit on the throne. One who could both follow orders, and act on his own.

He forgave the last of the Great wolves for their desertion.  Caden, Sage, and their cub.  They came to him in his small hall and apologized, from there Caden was appointed Second in command of the kingdom, and ambassador, charged with keeping peace through out the lands. In time, things fell back to normal, what had came to pass passed, it passed away from the minds of the people, remaining in the memories of the land, and the folklore.