Chapter 1: The King's Calling
The evening was calm and warm. Strom, Wraith, and Sam rested beneath their favorite tree after training.
Sam (laughing): "My parents still think I'm learning magic in that boring village near the river."
Strom (grinning): "Bro, you're dead when Aunt finds out."
Wraith: "She's gonna slap the magic out of you, Sam."
Sam (mock heroic): "I fear no man... but that woman? Absolutely terrifying when she's angry."
They all laughed until the sound of approaching armored footsteps caught their attention.
A royal knight appeared, chest heaving as if he had been running for hours.
Knight (urgent): "Strom... The King requests your presence immediately. All of you."
Strom (frowned): "The King? Why?"
The knight shook his head, still trying to catch his breath.
Knight: "I don't know. But I saw his face. He's scared."
The three exchanged looks before getting up and following him.
Because apparently, when a frightened King summons you, the best thing to do is walk directly toward whatever scared him.
The Royal Hall
The trio soon stood before the King.
Instead of his usual arrogance, his expression carried worry. And beneath that worry, something deeper.
Fear.
When the King saw them, his expression shifted from worry to hesitation.
King (awkwardly): "Would you guys mind... if I said I need your help?"
The room fell silent.
That was definitely not the tone he usually used with them.
Strom (grinning): "Wow. That almost sounded polite."
Wraith (arms crossed): "What's wrong, Your Highness? Are your bear stocks empty?"
The King's expression twitched.
He ignored the comment and slammed a map onto the table, pointing toward a region of forested hills far from any settlement.
King: "Something is waking beneath these hills."
Wraith (eyes narrowed): "What is it?"
King (hesitant): "We don't know."
Strom looked at the map.
Strom: "You said something is waking. Not something happened."
The King hesitated again.
Strom: "That means you know something."
The King's eyes shifted from one person to another before he finally lowered his head.
King: "It's actually about crystals."
Sam: "What crystals?"
King: "My knights discovered a mountain filled with them. We believed we had found a valuable resource, so we started a mine there."
Strom: "Don't tell me you need our help with labor work."
Sam (immediately): "Hell nah."
King: "If it were that simple, I wouldn't have called you."
His expression became more serious.
King: "We didn't know what was beneath it."
Strom: "And I'm guessing this is where the part about us saving your kingdom comes in."
King: "One day, a landslide struck the mine."
His voice became quieter.
King: "Many of our laborers died."
Wraith (disgusted): "You risked their lives for resources you didn't even understand?"
King: "I know."
Wraith stared at him but the King didn't argue.
That alone was enough to make the room feel heavier.
Sam: "So... landslide, dead workers, mysterious crystals... Then?"
King (swallowed): "It doesn't feel like a mountain anymore."
The room fell silent.
Strom's expression changed.
Then a voice came from within the Blue Stone.
Dravyss (from inside the stone): "Strom."
Strom immediately lowered his head, trying to speak without making it look like he was talking to himself.
Strom (whispering): "What?"
Dravyss: "Stay away from that thing."
Strom (quietly): "What is it?"
Dravyss: "I think I know him."
Strom froze.
Dravyss (urgent): "Get out of the castle. Now."
Strom: "What?"
Dravyss: "Now."
Strom immediately turned and ran.
Everyone stared at him.
Sam: "What the hell?"
Wraith: "Strom?"
The King: "Where is he going?"
Dravyss' Warning:-
Strom rushed through the castle corridors and burst through the main entrance.
He reached the courtyard and stopped.
A powerful gust of wind suddenly swept through the area.
Dravyss emerged from the Blue Stone, appearing in front of him.
Strom: "Mom?"
Dravyss looked toward the distant hills.
Dravyss (serious): "Listen to me. I'll handle him."
Strom: "Who?"
Dravyss: "It doesn't matter. You and the others stay here."
Strom: "But I want to help."
Dravyss (firm): "No."
Strom: "Mom-"
Dravyss: "Promise me you won't come after me."
Strom: "No. Please, not again."
Dravyss: "Promise me."
Strom (hesitated): "Hmmm."
Dravyss: "Strom."
Strom: "Fine. I promise."
Dravyss finally relaxed.
Dravyss (gently): "Take care, my child."
She spread her wings and launched herself into the air, flying toward the distant hills at incredible speed.
Strom watched her disappear.
Moments later, Wraith, Sam, the King, and several knights rushed into the courtyard.
The King stared at the empty sky.
King: "What the hell was that?"
Strom: "Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce her."
He pointed toward the sky.
Strom: "She's my mom."
King: "WTF?"
Wraith (confused): "Strom, why was she in such a hurry?"
Strom: "I don't know. She didn't tell me anything. She just flew away."
Sam: "Man... You promised her. Now we can't go. We have to stay here."
Strom didn't answer.
Instead, he slowly raised his hand.
His fingers crossed and there was a genuine small smile on his face.
Strom: "Before she even pulls out her promise move."
Wraith: "Damn!"
Chapter 2: Journey to Death
Moments later, the King emerged from the castle with his knights surrounding him and the rest of his army following behind.
On the way, they found Strom and his friends already waiting.
They were fully prepared for battle.
Strom stood in full armor, his spear in hand.
Wraith carried only her dagger. She had never been much of a weapons fighter.
Sam held his staff, with mana dust prepared at his side.
Strom (grinning): "Lead the way."
King (annoyed): "Why not."
They started walking forward towards the mine which wasn't far from the castle.
But even from a distance, they could see something strange.
A massive mountain stood in the distance.
And it was moving.
Slowly.
Almost like it was breathing.
___
The army continued forward. Then suddenly a massive shadow crossed the sky.
Before anyone could react, Dravyss descended and landed in front of them.
Dravyss (furious): "I told you not to come here!"
Strom: "Yeah, and I said that's not possible every time."
Dravyss: "He isn't Gorgon. You can't just stop him!"
Strom (confident): "I have no problem."
He stepped forward.
Then the mountain finally moved.
The ground shook violently when Cracks started spread across the earth.
The dark mountain suddenly erupted upward.
Stone exploded into the air, dust cover everything.
And then...
Two blood-red crystal eyes opened.
A roar erupted from beneath the earth.
The creature slowly emerged.
Its wings were enormous and razor-sharp, their joints twisting into pointed pikes.
A massive tail dragged behind it, lined with curved hooks designed to tear through anything in its path.
Its claws were larger than houses, each one shaped like a living blade and pulsing with dark energy.
Its entire body was covered in layers of dark obsidian crystal, forming natural armor across its enormous frame.
The creature finally rose from the earth.
His roar shook the distant forest.
The King's army froze.
Whatever courage they had brought with them disappeared in an instant.
The King stared upward.
His eyes widened.
The last time he had looked that terrified was when he had accidentally seen his queen with another man.
But this was worse.
Much worse.
He had known something was beneath the mountain.
He simply hadn't expected that something to be a massive dragon.
A dragon that was easily more than two thousand feet tall.
The King's eyes slowly drifted toward the only dragon standing on their side.
Dravyss.
Thirty-five feet tall, gentle-looking.
And currently arguing with a human she called her son.
The King looked back at Bizokar.
Then at Dravyss.
Then back at Bizokar.
King (confused): "Why is our dragon so small?"
Dravyss's eyes narrowed.
She had heard him.
And although the comment was a direct insult to her size, she didn't bother replying.
Instead, she spread her wings.
Her body began to grow.
And grow.
And grow.
The army watched in stunned silence as Dravyss's body expanded until she stood nearly as tall as the massive dragon before her.
Two thousand feet of dragon.
And somehow, she hadn't crushed the King.
Dravyss launched herself into the air.
Strom watched her fly toward the danger.
Strom: "Just look at your own height before talking, Mr. King 4.4."
King: "Hey! It's genetic!"
But Strom and his friends didn't stay to hear the rest.
They were already running toward the battlefield.
Because Dravyss was already there.
Chapter 3: Repeating History
Dravyss landed with enough force to shatter the ground beneath her, cracks spreading in every direction as dust rolled across the battlefield.
Dravyss: "Birzoker."
The ancient dragon slowly turned toward her. His crimson crystal eyes widened slightly before his expression twisted into confusion.
Birzoker (struggling): "D... Dra...v...yss..."
Dravyss (calmly): "You're safe here."
Birzoker (growling): "W... What... happe...ned... to... the war?"
Dravyss: "It's already over. Everything is peaceful now."
Birzoker's breathing grew uneven as fragments of memories drifted through his broken mind.
Armies.
Fire.
Victory.
Defeat.
A blue dragon.
A claw crushing his head.
His claws slowly dug into the earth.
Birzoker (claws digging deeper): "Drav...yss... Y...you tried... to kill me."
Dravyss (serious): "Listen to me. We had no other choice."
Birzoker slowly turned his head away, refusing to look at her.
Dravyss: "You had become a threat to everyone. The war is over now."
Birzoker (breathing heavily): "I... want... re... revenge."
Dravyss (gently): "Listen to me. Earth is peaceful. You can live here. You don't have to fight anymore."
Birzoker finally looked around.
The battlefield he remembered was gone.
Different mountains.
Different sky.
A whole different world.
Dravyss (softly): "They don't want you to fight again."
Birzoker froze.
His eyes slowly lowered before his body began trembling.
He didn't hear what Dravyss meant.
He only heard that he was no longer needed.
Birzoker (voice trembling): "Wh... What... did... y-you... say?"
Without warning, his massive claw tore through the air.
Dravyss slipped aside just before the strike shattered the ground beneath her.
Dravyss (firmly): "It's not necessary. Believe me."
Birzoker (roaring): "DRAVYSS!"
He lunged forward, one claw slashing toward her while his hooked tail whipped around from behind. Dravyss blocked the claw with both forearms before twisting aside, avoiding the tail by inches and forcing his massive body backward.
Dravyss: "I don't want to repeat history!"
Birzoker didn't answer.
But he remembered exactly how history ended.
This time...
He refused to let her crush his head again.
His tail lashed forward at lightning speed, crashing into Dravyss's guard before the force shoved her several steps backward.
At that exact moment, Strom and the others reached the battlefield.
Strom sprinted forward and drove his spear straight into the dark crystal embedded in Birzoker's chest. A bolt of lightning exploded across the dragon's body.
Strom (grinning): "Back off, ugly lizard."
The King immediately pointed his sword toward the dragon.
King: "Fire!"
Arrows, ballista bolts, and magical attacks rained through the sky while every melee soldier stayed behind the firing line.
Dravyss (worried): "No! Get back from here!"
Strom (confident): "He's done."
Birzoker slowly turned toward the army, letting out a broken laugh.
Birzoker (mocking): "Drav...yss... Y-you... alw...always... need help."
He stomped one enormous foot into the ground.
BOOM!!
The battlefield shook violently before purple flames erupted from his mouth.
WHOOOOSH!!
It wasn't an ordinary fire.
It poured across the battlefield like molten lava, melting the earth wherever it touched and forcing the entire army backward.
Before Birzoker could press the attack, a single punch slammed into his jaw with enough force to stagger the colossal dragon.
Dravyss (angrily): "You shouldn't have woken up."
She launched herself forward, sinking her fangs into his shoulder before raking both claws across his face. Interlocking her fingers together, she brought them crashing down onto his crystal helmet.
CRACK!!
Fragments of dark crystal scattered across the battlefield.
Dravyss (roaring): "Stay down!"
Chapter 4: The Monster of Endless Rage
The battle changed the instant Dravyss shattered Birzoker's crystal helmet.
Birzoker answered by driving a brutal punch into her jaw, the impact cracking her blue scales.
Dravyss retaliated with a devastating uppercut before slamming his head into the ground hard enough to split the earth beneath him.
Across the battlefield, the King's army unleashed a relentless barrage of arrows, ballista bolts, and magic.
None of it mattered.
Birzoker's obsidian armor simply refused to break beneath countless small attacks.
Only one melee warrior managed to carve through that crystal armor.
Strom.
Even while two ancient dragons clashed above him, he slipped between collapsing claws and sweeping tails, driving his spear into Birzoker's body whenever an opening appeared.
A bolt of lightning crashed directly onto Birzoker's head.
For a brief moment...
The dragon staggered.
Dravyss didn't hesitate.
She lunged forward, sank her fangs into his shoulder, and tore away a massive chunk of crystal flesh.
Birzoker roared.
His tail whipped around her waist before she could retreat.
With terrifying strength, he slammed her into the ground.
Once.
Twice.
He tried lifting her again, but Dravyss twisted free, grabbing his neck with both claws.
Dravyss (furious): "Last warning!"
Birzoker's bladed tail flashed.
It tore through her chest scales, opening a deep wound.
Dravyss stumbled.
Pain slowed her just long enough.
Birzoker bit into her neck and smashed her head against a nearby mountain.
Birzoker (struggling): "Die... y-you... tra... traitor knight."
With one final heave, he hurled her across the battlefield.
She crashed into the earth, the impact shaking the valley.
For the first time...
Dravyss stayed down and Birzoker charged to finish her.
Then...
A gigantic blade of glass descended from the sky.
Its edge reflected lightning as it raced toward Birzoker's chest.
He caught it with both claws.
The ground beneath his feet cracked as he struggled to stop it.
Strom (gritting his teeth): "Not this time."
He forced even more power into the blade.
CRACK!!
The enormous weapon exploded into hundreds of glowing mana-glass fragments that scattered across the battlefield.
Sam (raised his staff): "Perfect."
Every shard suddenly lit up.
Mana circles appeared beneath them.
From each fragment, glowing chains erupted and wrapped themselves around Birzoker's body, binding his arms, wings, legs, and tail.
Birzoker roared, struggling against them.
Dravyss was already moving.
She slammed a crushing punch into his face.
Her tail wrapped around his neck before smashing him into the ground.
Lightning struck again.
Strom's spear pierced another opening.
The army released another volley.
Everything crashed into Birzoker at once.
Blue dragon fire swallowed him whole.
BOOOOOOM!!
Then... Silence.
Dust slowly settled across the battlefield.
Birzoker stood at its center.
Both wings hung broken and the tail split in two.
Dark blood dripped between shattered crystal plates.
He looked almost finished.
Instead...
His crimson eyes burned even brighter.
He slowly stood.
Sam (staring): "This is pain in ass... honestly."
Before anyone could react, Birzoker grabbed Dravyss and hurled her to the opposite side of the battlefield.
Then he slammed both claws into the earth.
Purple flames erupted.
It spread across the ground like molten lava before instantly cooling into a massive field of black obsidian.
Birzoker charged.
Each step shook the battlefield.
His massive body forced the entire army backward.
Some soldiers escaped.
Some kept fighting.
Some weren't fast enough.
Dravyss flew toward him again.
Birzoker intercepted her immediately, throwing her away from the army once more.
Then...
He leaped high into the sky.
Everyone looked up.
For a single terrifying second...
Everything became silent.
He crashed onto the obsidian field.
The impact crushed dozens of warriors beneath his enormous body.
Silence followed.
Then...
Dark streams of energy slowly rose from the fallen soldiers.
Not from the battlefield.
Only...
From the bodies lying upon the obsidian.
The dark energy flowed into Birzoker's body.
The bleeding slowly stopped.
All shattered crystal plates slowly repaired themselves.
His broken wings twitched.
The deep cracks across his armor began closing.
Strom (shocked): "The hell is this?!"
This was his strange ability to heal... Any blood-bearing creature died on his ground, works as his life regen.
Birzoker slowly lifted his head.
He wasn't fully healed.
But he wasn't dying either.
Dravyss (shouting): "Everyone! Get off the obsidian! Don't let anyone die there!"
Birzoker answered with another roar.
Dravyss shot forward like a comet and shattered his jaw with a crushing punch.
Her tail smashed aside one claw.
Then both of her claws grabbed the crystal embedded within his chest.
She pulled.
Nothing.
Her claw dug deeper.
Birzoker roared in agony.
She pulled again.
CRAAACK!!
The crystal finally tore free from his chest.
Birzoker's pupils shrank for one brief moment...
It looks like his soul left his body.
The giant dragon collapsed.
Silence spread across the battlefield.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Then...
Birzoker's claws slowly dug back into the earth.
His breathing grew heavier.
His muscles tensed.
Slowly...
The ancient dragon stood once more.
His eyes burned with even greater rage than before.
And the battle...
Wasn't over yet.
Chapter 5: The Price of Power
The battle ended after the Dark Stone was removed...
Was nothing more than a myth now.
The stone wasn't Birzoker's life souce.
It simply amplified his power.
And the closer he came to death... The more aggressive he gets.
That was why the ancient dragons once called him...
Birzoker, the Dragon of Death.
Everyone attacked again.
But this time, Something was different.
Dravyss was slower than before.
Not by much.
Just enough to notice.
The Dark Stone in her hand was doing something to her.
Birzoker ignored everyone else and charged straight toward her.
His eyes never left the stone.
King (shouting): "Everyone! Stay off the black platform!"
The soldiers immediately retreated while Wraith helped the injured escape the obsidian ground.
Dravyss kept defending the Dark Stone while Strom searched for another opening.
Since the chest stone has been removed... He no longer knew where to attack.
Suddenly a crystal bird circled above him before fading away.
Strom immediately understood.
Sam.
He quickly retreated from the battlefield and reached him.
Strom: "What happened?"
Sam (thinking): "I think I figured something out."
Strom: "Really?"
Sam: "Did you notice how much he struggles against mana? When I chained him, he barely moved."
Strom (nodded): "Yeah! I remember."
Sam: "Can you plant more glass blades into his armor?"
Strom: "Why not?"
Without wasting another second, he rushed back into battle.
One after another, small crystal blades formed around him.
Instead of attacking directly, Strom embedded them into the cracks covering Birzoker's crystal armor.
Meanwhile...
Birzoker grabbed Dravyss's arm, desperately trying to reclaim the Dark Stone.
Dravyss (struggling): "No!"
Birzoker (furious): "It's mine! My reward for protecting everyone!"
The more consumed he became by rage...
The clearer his voice became.
Birzoker: "You have your own!"
Dravyss (angry): "Shut up!"
Her claw shattered his jaw and tail ripped crystal plates from his body.
Birzoker answered with another slash that tore across her chest before reaching for the Blue Stone embedded in her armor.
His claws scraped against her scales.
Nothing.
Her royal armor refused to break.
Dravyss twisted free before another strike sent her sliding across the battlefield.
Before Birzoker could follow...
Sam (raised his staff): "Now!"
Every crystal blade embedded inside of Birzoker's scale suddenly glowed.
Thousands of mana chains erupted from them at once.
They wrapped around his arms.
His legs.
His wings.
His tail.
Blue mana burned across his obsidian body.
Birzoker roared as the chains locked him in place.
King (to a knight): "Call the reinforcements! We need bigger weapons!"
Knight: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
The royal knight rushed towards the castle when his Barbarian raced the winds.
More soldiers were coming to end the battle.
Or...
More regeneration for him.
____
Dravyss flew away with the Dark Stone and landed far from the battlefield.
She had planned to destroy it.
Then she looked back. And...
Even without the stone...
Birzoker was still standing.
Still healing.
Still fighting.
Still refusing to fall.
Her eyes drifted toward the deep wound across her own chest.
Then toward the Dark Stone.
Dark energy continued flowing from it.
Still connected to Birzoker.
Still strengthening him.
Still helping him...
Dravyss (quietly): "This power... can stop him."
She pressed the Dark Stone against her own.
For once nothing happened.
She tried again.
Then suddenly two stones pushed each other apart.
She try Again.
And the ripple effect happened again.
She forced them together once more then suddenly Blood burst from her mouth.
Her legs trembled and collapsed.
But she never released the stone.
She tried again.
Even more blood spilled across the ground.
This time...
The stones no longer rejected each other.
Dravyss (whispering): "Please..."
She struggled to lift the stone once more.
Dravyss: "They need me..."
The Dark Stone suddenly broke free from her hands.
Dark energy exploded around her.
The crystal reshaped itself into an obsidian crown before locking onto her helmet.
Her dragon blood rejected the foreign power.
So the Dark Stone forced its way in.
Taking enough blood to make room for itself.
After that her one claw turned obsidian purple.
Half her tail darkened.
One wing lost its azure color.
Dark crystal spread across nearly twenty percent of her body.
Her pupils narrowed into thin slits.
Her breathing became slow.
Cold.
And she slowly stood.
Dravyss (coldly): "Birzoker... Now you'll die."
With one powerful beat of her wings...
She vanished into the sky.
____
Meanwhile back on the battlefield...
All the archers had run out of arrows.
Strom was breathing heavily after creating hundreds of mana blades.
Sam could barely keep his staff raised from continued mana flow.
Yet neither of them stopped.
Birzoker had almost lost consciousness under the burning mana chains.
Then...
BOOM!!
Dravyss crashed onto him with overwhelming force.
The impact shattered every mana chain.
Her claw crushed his head against the obsidian.
Dravyss (cold): "No more holding back."
Birzoker twisted violently and broke free, immediately reaching for the dark crown on her helmet.
Dravyss caught his neck before he could touch it.
Her other claw carved a deep wound across his chest.
Suddenly...
A sharp pain exploded through her head, an unbearable pain.
She screamed in agony as something tearing her skull from inside.
The Dark Stone had begun demanding its price.
Birzoker stared at her for moments.
Birzoker: "Th... this... is the power... I've b... been carrying... Y... you'll n... never understand."
With one desperate leap, he grabbed a handful of nearby archers and threw them onto the obsidian platform.
Purple flames swallowed them before anyone could react.
Dark energy rose from their bodies and rushed back into Birzoker.
His wounds closed...
Only a little.
Far less than before.
Because now the Dark Stone has another master.
Dravyss looked at him.
Then touched the crown upon her head.
Dravyss (coldly): "I understand this power now."
She rushed forward.
One impact slammed Birzoker onto his own obsidian platform.
Both claws wrapped around his neck.
For a brief second...
Neither dragon moved.
Then...
CRACK!!
She twists his neck with brutal force.
Birzoker's eyes widened.
And Slowly...
They closed.
Because Dravyss didn't just break his neck, she almost ripped it out.
And that time her face no longer holds any anger...
It was something else.
Birzoker's breathing stopped. Silence spread across the battlefield.
The Dragon of Death...
Had finally fallen.
But the flames are still burning inside of Dravyss...
Chapter 6: When Corruption Takes Control
The battlefield finally sat on the throne of silence.
But it wasn't a peaceful silence anymore.
Every eye was locked on Dravyss.
Her breathing no longer sounded like her own. Her eyes had turned dark purple, and the way she looked at everyone...
It didn't feel like Dravyss anymore.
King (quietly): "Do you think she still remembers my height joke?"
Sam: "Shut the fuck up."
Strom swallowed hard and stepped forward, but Wraith immediately grabbed his hand and shook her head.
Wraith: "Strom... please don't."
Strom gently pulled his hand free and smiled a little.
Strom: "Don't worry. My mother isn't hostile."
Even as he said it...
A small doubt still remained.
He slowly approached her.
Strom: "Mom, we won. Can you come back now?"
Dravyss (coldly): "Why not?"
Her body shrank back to thirty-five feet.
Then she stopped.
Her eyes stared into the distance as though someone else had taken control.
Slowly, she looked at Strom.
Then her gaze drifted toward the blood covering her chest and the shattered scales across her body.
The wounds she had suffered while fighting Birzoker...
For them.
Dravyss (quietly): "You all left me to fight him alone."
Strom (frowned): "What?"
Dravyss (coldly): "He tore open my chest... and nobody came."
Strom: "Mom, we were there! We tried to stop him!"
Dravyss (roaring): "BUT IT WASN'T ENOUGH!!"
The valley echoed with her voice.
Strom instinctively stepped back, his face turning pale.
Dravyss (coldly): "Now... I'll take my revenge."
Without another word, she grabbed Strom and hurled him across the battlefield.
CRASH!!
His body smashed through a wall of rock before crashing onto the ground.
Blood spilled from his mouth as his breathing stopped for a brief moment.
Then...
Somehow he finally exhaled.
The battlefield froze.
Everyone had just watched the dragon who called him her son...
Throw him away without hesitation.
Dravyss slowly turned toward the army.
Dravyss (coldly): "You all will die."
A purple dragon fire burst from her mouth, sweeping across the battlefield. Soldiers scattered in every direction, but not everyone escaped.
The King was already running.
Nobody even noticed him leave.
And at the same moment, the reinforcement army finally arrived.
They saw the corpse of a gigantic dragon lying in the distance.
And another dragon burning their soldiers alive.
Sam immediately raised his staff.
Blue mana circles appeared beneath Dravyss before glowing chains wrapped around her body. The corruption reacted instantly, causing the mana itself to burn her.
Sam (pained): "I'm sorry... please forgive me."
Dravyss screamed.
THUNK!!
A massive siege bolt slammed deep into her chest.
Blood splashed across the ground.
Sam (shouting): "Hey! Not her!"
The reinforcement troops ignored him.
To them...
Dravyss was simply another monster.
Wraith rushed toward the soldiers.
Wraith (desperate): "Stop! She isn't the enemy!"
Captain Knight: "Stand aside, demon! Or the next bolt goes through your chest!"
Wraith (cold): "Don't you dare."
CRASH!!
A gigantic glass blade crashed into the ground between them, and the explosion shattered several siege weapons.
Strom slowly stepped out of the dust.
Strom (coldly): "Back away from her."
The captain hesitated, forcing his men to retreat a few steps.
Strom and Wraith immediately reached Dravyss while Sam struggled to keep the mana chains intact.
Strom: "Listen. We remove the crown, and everything goes back to normal."
Sam (struggling): "Then do it already... I can't hold her much longer."
THUNK!!
Another siege bolt pierced Dravyss's chest.
She screamed as blood poured across her scales.
Strom immediately turned toward the reinforcement army.
They had split into several squads. Archers prepared another volley while knights charged from both sides.
The reinforcements only followed orders from the King and the elite knights.
The elite Knights were already dead or escaped.
And the King?
Had already saved himself by running away...
Another volley darkened the sky.
Most of the arrows missed.
But others buried themselves deep into Dravyss's body.
Chaos swallowed the battlefield.
Sam struggled to hold the chains together while Strom and Wraith held back the charging knights.
The melee soldiers kept them occupied while the siege crews reloaded their giant crossbows.
Strom (firmly): "Not on my watch."
Then...
Dravyss slowly raised her head, her eyes no longer holding love.
Dravyss (coldly): "Your parents must be happy they died..."
Her eyes locked on him.
Dravyss: "...because they didn't have to raise someone like you, Strom."
For a single moment...
The world beyond him.... simply didn't exist.
Only him.
Only those words echoing.
His fingers loosened around the spear.
The blade slipped from his hand and struck the ground.
A knight rushed forward, raising his sword, ready to strike.
But Strom caught the man's wrist.
He didn't speak.
He simply tightened his grip until the sword slipped from the knight's hand.
The frightened knight ran.
Strom let him go.
Then quietly picked up his spear again.
He continued fighting.
Breaking swords.
Driving soldiers back.
Protecting Dravyss.
Never taking a life.
And never saying a word.
Wraith reached him and tried to remove his helmet.
He gently pushed her hand away and shook his head.
Wraith (desperately): "You know it wasn't Dravyss!"
Strom kept fighting, then finally answered her.
Strom: "I know."
Wraith: "Then why are you so quiet?"
Strom: "Dragon Knights don't talk while fighting."
His spear shattered another sword...
Strom: "And Strom has nothing left to say."
That was what her words had done to him.
Even knowing they weren't truly hers...
He couldn't stop those words from hurting him.
After that even Wraith fell silent.
Strom continued fighting the army.
There were two wars happening at the same time.
One on the battlefield.
And one...
Inside Strom's mind.
Chapter 7: Aftermath
Sam's body finally gave up.
He had pushed far more mana through himself than any normal human body could endure.
The moment his eyes closed...
The mana chains around Dravyss shattered into countless blue particles before fading into the wind.
Dravyss slowly lifted her head.
A smile spread across her face.
Then...
BOOM!!
She stomped the ground hard enough to shake the battlefield before charging straight into the reinforcement troops.
Warriors were thrown into the air as her claws tore through shields and armor.
With one powerful flap of her wings, she launched herself into the sky.
Purple dragon fire rained across the battlefield.
The flames melted steel, burned siege weapons, and swallowed entire formations.
Running wasn't an option anymore.
It was necessary for survival.
Wraith rushed toward Dravyss.
Wraith: "Please... that's not you!"
Dravyss didn't even look at her.
With a casual swing of one arm, she sent Wraith flying.
CRASH!!
Wraith slammed into a nearby tree before collapsing onto the ground.
Her right hand landed on the broken blade of a fallen sword.
The rusted steel pierced straight through her palm.
Blood immediately poured from the wound.
Wraith (crying out): "My hand!"
She gritted her teeth and pulled the blade free.
Blood continued dripping onto the ground.
Wraith stared at it, tears falling.
Then...
Wraith: "...My blood."
Her eyes slowly widened and a smile appeared across her face as she remembered something.
Wraith: "MY BLOOD!"
And after that without hesitation, she slammed her other hand onto the same broken sword.
The blade pierced through her second hand.
Even more blood flowed.
___
Meanwhile...
Chaos consumed the battlefield.
Strom had already guided nearly every surviving soldier to safety while Dravyss continued destroying siege weapons, searching for anyone still alive.
The bloodlust inside her refused to fade.
Suddenly...
She felt something climbing onto her back.
And before she could react...
Wraith thrust both of her bleeding hands against Dravyss's Blue Stone.
For one brief moment...
Nothing happened.
Then...
Dravyss screamed.
Dark energy erupted across her body as she clutched her chest in agony. The obsidian crown upon her helmet began glowing violently.
Wraith lost her footing and fell backward.
Before she could hit the ground...
A blue barrier appeared beneath her.
Sam, even not fully conscious, but spell casting is still there.
At that exact moment...
Strom moved.
His spear shot forward.
CRACK!!
The blade struck the obsidian crown with pinpoint precision.
The crystal fastening around it shattered.
The crown slipped from Dravyss's helmet before falling onto the battlefield, reshaping itself into the Dark Stone once again.
Only faint traces of dark energy still pulsed within it.
Then Dravyss slowly opened her eyes.
The darkness was finally gone.
Dravyss (quietly): "What... happened?"
Only silence answered her.
The battlefield had finally become still.
Only the four of them remained.
Everyone else...
Had either escaped...
Or died.
The battle was finally over.
___
Dravyss slowly looked around.
Broken siege weapons.
Scorched earth.
The massive corpse of Birzoker.
Then she looked down at the giant arrows still buried deep within her chest.
She slowly pulled one free.
Dravyss (confused): "Are you guys going to tell me what happened?"
Wraith and Sam exchanged a glance before walking toward her.
Wraith: "Just..."
Dravyss: "Just what?"
Sam (smiling weakly): "Promise us... you won't scare us like that again."
Dravyss rubbed the back of her head.
Dravyss: "Yeah... yeah. I promise."
Then her eyes finally found Strom.
He had quietly picked up his spear.
For a brief moment...
Their eyes met.
Then Strom simply lowered his head.
Dravyss (softly): "Did something happen?"
Strom remained silent.
Then...
He gently shook his head in no.
___
The journey home...
Dravyss carried them through the clouds.
The battlefield slowly disappeared beneath them.
Sam immediately collapsed across her scales.
Sam: "Man... these are way more comfortable than any bed."
Dravyss (chuckled): "Go ahead. Sleep if you want."
Sam smiled before looking toward Wraith.
Sam: "Actually... I've got a question."
Wraith: "What?"
Sam pointed toward both of her bleeding hands.
Sam: "Why did you stab yourself?"
Wraith (blinked): "Because my blood has purification magic."
Sam (frowned): "Wait... seriously?"
Wraith (rolled her eyes): "Don't tell me you still don't know why humans hunt blue demons."
Sam scratched back off his head.
Sam: "Honestly... no."
Wraith (sighed): "Our blood works as both medicine and purification liquid, you stupid!"
Sam (nodded): "That... actually explains a lot."
Dravyss smiled at their conversation.
Then she noticed Strom.
He sat quietly near the edge of her back, staring at the horizon.
He wasn't even holding onto her scales anymore.
One slightly strong gust of wind...
And he could eventually fall.
Wraith: "Now can you finally take that helmet off?"
Strom answered without turning around.
Strom: "I got hit on my nose."
Dravyss (worried): "What? That must hurt a lot!"
For the first time since the battle...
Strom spoke just a little softer.
Strom: "It'll heal."
Dravyss smiled in relief.
She believed he was talking about his nose.
Wraith lowered her head.
Sam quietly looked away.
They both knew something she didn't...
Dravyss remembered defeating Birzoker, but nothing after that.
Strom remembered everything.
And choose to stay silent, because this time...
Strom has nothing left to say!