I Guess I'm a Dragon Now (Part 1)

In Pursuit

Bliss... that was the only word that Ergen could use to describe his current state of mind. After having flown through the desert and being forced to fly through the smoke of the forest fire, Ergen had been completely covered with soot. The heat had been uncomfortable to say the least and the ash felt as if it had been gathering underneath of his scales, so when Ergen had spotted a lake in one of his scouting trips, he didn't hesitate to land next to it before climbing inside. Though, while he currently couldn't be happier, Sera didn't seem to appreciate the distraction as she'd been almost literally thrown onto the shore so that he could dive in peace.

"Come on, we don't have time for this!" Ergen thought that he heard Sera yell from the shore, though he didn't care what her opinion was at the moment as he twisted his body in the water to get the ash out from underneath his scales. Unfortunately, the clumps of material seemed to be stuck where they were, annoying Ergen to the point that he started furiously thrashing around in the shallow water and sending any water above him splashing onto the nearby shoreline. Including onto a very irritated Sera.

Sticking his head out of the water as he was curious as to why Sera had stopped yelling at him, Ergen instantly started laughing as he saw that the woman was completely drenched. However, while she seemed frozen at first, she move in a flash with a look of fury taking over her features as she raised her sword above her head.

"Quit messing around and get out of there!" Sera yelled before bringing the sword down on the edge of the water, making the enchantments in it shine before the water around Ergen suddenly detonated and went flying in all directions. Thankfully Ergen managed to activate his ice armor in time and somehow ended up being completely unharmed despite half of the lake being suddenly drained of it's contents.

'Did you seriously just swing that thing when you still have no idea what it's even capable of?!' Ergen wanted to yell but roared instead.

"If you have time to complain, then get out of there and let's get moving already! Emric could be anywhere just waiting to kill us!" Sera yelled, ignoring Ergen's attitude before he reluctantly climbed out of the newly formed mud pit. He's managed to clean himself from the ash, but now the mud and muck from the former lake stuck to his feet, causing Ergen to glare at Sera as it was her fault that he hadn't managed to clean himself entirely. However, she still didn't seem to care, climbing up onto his neck without a word before Ergen took flight and started heading in the direction of the Demon King's army. Now that they were out of the desert and past the burnt section of the forest, they were following the path laid down by the Hero King's army in hopes of being able to quickly catch up to the retreating invaders. However, that didn't seem like it would likely happen as Emric had, for a reason unknown, left all of his supplies back at the desert and his army was scattering as if in a frantic retreat back to Ligan.

With Asal and his army following the already cleared paths, they were making good time in clearing the forest, and Ergen found that he was rapidly approaching a very rocky area before he finally landed near the middle of the long line of troops and started walking with them. The forest gave way to mountains made of sandstone, and both they and the ground were the same color as they entered the orc's territory and started discovering traces of what had happened there.

Knowing that orcs were normally portrayed as fearless creatures that fought tooth and nail against any opponent, Ergen was somewhat saddened to see that the creatures seemed to have met his expectations this time as there wasn't a village that they passed that didn't have hundreds graves which most likely held human bodies beneath the ground. However, the orcs didn't seem to have gotten the same treatment as all of their bodies had simply been gathered in large piles and left for the scavengers, making Ergen sick to his stomach as the smell of rotting meat didn't agree with him.

"What do you plan on doing to Ligan's villages when we reach the kingdom?" Sera suddenly asked Asal after viewing the scene.

"We should burn them to the ground and feed all of their corpses to the dragon. It's the least we could do to repay them for this." The orc general replied with a snarl after looking at how hideously his people had been treated. Though his statement made Ergen recoil a bit as he didn't want to be eating humans anytime soon.

"All of this is due to Emric's actions, and his own people suffer because of him to." Asal replied instantly. "They are victims of his reign as well, and we will treat them as such and merely pass them by. Our objective is Emric, and if we can kill him, then this war will be over before it even begins."

"Then I ask permission to at least break off a company of orcs from the main army to give our brethren a proper funeral." The orc general asked, and Asal nodded silently in consent before the general led many others of his race towards the rotting pile of dead orcs. It wasn't long before the orcs had scavenged enough timber from the destroyed village to construct a gigantic pyre, which they then began laying the fallen orcs onto until they finally ignited the flammable material.

With every village that they passed, the orcs would burn their dead while preforming some kind of ritual with one of their shamans beating a club on the ground while circling the pyre. Apparently it had something to do with warding away evil spirits that were attempting to get into the coals and put the fire out to interrupt the ceremony. But while it might have been pointless, it had at least helped with the armies morale before they finally stopped seeing villages and started to draw near a major orc settlement. And even from miles away, Ergen could see the massive sandstone mountain that the city had been carved out from.

"So that's the city of Rock..." One of the nearby generals said almost to themselves. "It seems quite imposing, for a trade city."

"It wouldn't if we were close." The orc general replied. "There are over a hundred entrances to the city, each large enough to allow an army though. The defenders most likely never stood a chance."

"Defenders? I believe that I ordered the city evacuated!" Asal suddenly yelled in anger.

"We can tell people to abandon their lands all that we want to, but we orcs are stubborn." The orc general shrugged. "I have no doubt that those that stayed here wouldn't listen to anyone. Neither you or I..."

"I wonder just how many died trying to defend their homes..." Sera asked so quietly that Ergen thought that perhaps he'd been the only one that heard her. However, the mood suddenly changed when another scout headed for them. And once again, they were intercepted by one of the army's officers.

"Your Majesty! From the reports, it seems that Emric's army has gathered in front of the city and is forming ranks!" The officer called back. 

"Give orders to all officers to start mobilizing at once! We'll continue the rest of the way while in formation!" Asal replied, and while Ergen had expected to hear shouting and the sound of feet running while the army complied to the new orders, all sound in the immediate area seemed to be lost as a loud screeching sound seemed to make everything grow quiet. And as all of the soldiers around them stopped to listen to the sound, the source of it suddenly revealed itself as a large black blur started flying in circles over Rock until it eventually landed on the tallest building in the city.

"It's him..." Asal said in a loud whisper.

"Emric." Sera growled from the back of Ergen's neck, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath as his legs started trembling underneath of him. His claws dug into the ground and his wings flexed slightly in anticipation as he thought of the upcoming battle.

'This is it...' Ergen thought. 'The final battle...'