Valiant

Chapter 59: The Miracle of the False King

They are supposed to be extinct. They have all died out by the hand of the gods eons ago. We have only their bones to know of their existence. This is common knowledge, and yet the scaly terror winging over the black smoke of Castellan is real. I've seen its wings blot out the sun. I've heard its screeching cry and thumping wings. I have felt the heat of dragon fire on my face, like an energetic wind.

I train my wide eyes upon its moving tail, spiked with jutting, black bone as it whips through the darkness of the sky, and I pray that I am dreaming. When the next screech comes, though, I know that this is no dream. When the fire rains from heaven, discharged in a wide, sweeping pillar from the maw of this monster, I know that this is indeed a nightmare.

The horn for retreat reaches my ears, and the remaining men at my side flee to Castellan. The cry of terror that rises from these men is far more than the threat of a challenge now, it is the primal plea from prey to predator- an unspoken, unanswered cry for mercy. Their fear surrounds me, gnawing at my senses. The chained power within me struggles against its bonds, wiggling with glee within my stomach.

I sprint, as fast as my protesting legs can carry me toward the city walls. The winged shadow soars in front of me, cold, unfeeling eyes trained upon the castle walls. A great, belching roar emanates from the monster, and the great, terrible curtain of light falls from his jaws once more. The Slingers and cannons burn to rubble, before my eyes, and I can faintly hear the men manning them crying out as their souls are cruelly torn from their bodies.

Fear takes hold of me then, and I sink to my knees in despair. There is so much fire that the sky is black from the smoke. The castle walls are illuminated in a ghostly, red glare as they fall slowly to cannon fire and the breath of the dragon. Fire surrounds me, beckoning to my body as I duck down, cradling my crying face between my sooty, bloody hands. It is lost, I know. All is lost. We will burn.

The first nip of the flames pinches hotly at my calf, working its way slowly up my leg in a terror- inducing panic. Fear calls out for death within me, cursing its chains and struggling for dominion over the fire. I cannot do it. I cannot save them from that.

Paulo's face appears behind my eyelids, and I weep for letting him down. For letting my city down. For being too weak to stop the Lion.

Not weak,  Paulo had said. Scared. And I am deathly afraid of what I know must come. The fire, the dragon, the Lion. I must conquer all three to save my people. The fire creeping up my leg pauses, scorching my skin, but never deeper. It is mine to command, and this I know. More fire streaks toward my body now, from the comets streaking overhead to the dragon flames on the ground. My halo is a scorching white armor of power about my body, flickering to and fro as more fire joins it from the world.

If this is the end, I promise to myself, gritting my teeth through the white-hot power swirling about my armor. I will take them with me.

Toward the castle I run, feeding from the fire dancing up and down the ruins of the battlefield, and no man dares confront me. The dragon belches and roars, spewing unholy flames from its gaping maw. There is a moment where the fire falls from the sky, and then a stray cannonball flies directly into the beast's left wing.

His roar can be heard for leagues, and he belches fire in hissing agony as he falls from the sky. Jubilation lights up my core as I see his vast form plummet, smoking from the heavens. An almighty crash sounds across the sky as the monster collides with the castle walls, crumbling half of it instantly.

As the dragon turns toward the city, my body reacts, whipping an arm toward the winged creature of death. My own fire races along my arm, before stretching toward the beast in a pillar of glowing red that burns hot and bright through the smoke .My arm burns hot and cold at the touch of this immense power, leaving prickling tendrils of pain to nest within my skin, and for a second, the pain of that power leaving my body is enough to take my breath away for a third time. For an instant, I stand alone amidst the smoke and ruin of the battlefield, crying out for the dragon's attention.