As the sun dawned, the massive ball of darkness resting outside the capital faded. From its shadows, a massive white dragon fell to the ground.

The ice golems in the city faded with the first light, and everyone stared at them, surprised. “We won!” Screamed a wounded soldier.

“Take that! You **ing ice buckets!” A dwarf growled with a smile on his face, leaning on his hammer.

The city guards rushed to stand on the outer wall, staring as the dragon’s corpses slowly approached the city. Upon closer inspection, they can see Arad dragging it by the horn.

They started sweating, and one of them gasped, “He **ing took him down!” He glared at the other guards, terrified.

“Isn’t that the man that came with Princess Isdis? The one they said drove a purple dragon away?” Another guard mumbled.

“It’s him. I think his name was Arad,” The guard stared at Arad, seeing him drag the white dragon’s corpse toward the city gate. “I only heard of Alcott doing such a thing before.”

“Stand up! The royal guards!” Of the guards shouted, seeing an armed battalion protecting Isdis and her two brothers as they rushed across the city on horseback.

“Open the gate!” Charlie shouted, waving his sword.

The guards on top of the wall rushed to pull the portcullis up.

Charlie, Thomas, and Isdis rushed out. Seeing Arad almost reaching the gate, dragging the massive dragon corpse toward the gate.

Arad looked at them, his eyes glowing with a purple flame. His magic was still volatile from the fight.

“By the gods, you killed him.” Thomas gasped. He stared at the dragon behind Arad.

“Sweet heavens between Amaterasu’s tits, the dragon is dead with her dawn!” Charlie jumped out of his horse and approached the dragon’s corpse. He then looked at Arad, “You don’t drink milk, do you?”

“I do. Milk is good for the bones,” Arad replied, staring at the prince standing beside him. 𝗼𝐯𝐥.𝗻𝐭

“To be honest, the moment this lizard showed up I thought we were going to lose Isdis. There isn’t much we can do against such a monster without Alcott around. But that might change with you here.”

“Charlie! Don’t get too close to that thing. We don’t know if it’s really dead.” Thomas approached on his horse. “Is it dead?” He looked at Arad.

“What does it look like to you? Dead,” Arad kicked the dragon’s face.

“I mean, we saw no ice explosion.” Arad blinked, “Ice what?”

CRACK! EirwanKari’s eyes opened, his claw rushing toward Isdis with a blinding speed.

VROOM! Arad’s heart rumbled like an engine. His body twisted as he clenched a fist. Thwack! One solid smack to the skull sent EirwanKari rolling back. “Stay dead!” Arad shouted at the top of his lungs. This dragon is persistent.

BAM! BAM! EirwanKari’s body stopped rolling, his soul slowly fading. He could remember the mage that raised him from an egg till he grew young, ^You always rambled on and on about spells and their true effect. How we ice dragons actually use heat instead of cold, but your words always seemed meaningless to me.^

CRACK! EirwanKari opened his jaw, ^Selicia, had I known how true your words were. I might have carried you on my back for the rest of my life.^

A spark of flame emerged between EirwanKari’s teeth.

Cold is the absence of heat. To cool something, you must take heat from it. That was Selicia’s theory, and so, she experimented on EirwanKari for decades, trying to figure out where all that heat went.

Ba-dump! Arad could feel it in his heart, this was bad, absolutely bad. This dragon is about to blow the whole capital off.

CLACK! EirwanKari’s jaw opened wide.

All the heat my cold magic robbed for centuries was stored right here above my heart. A blaze of fire, a revenge for all of my life.

Arad turned toward Isdis, “Run!” He then turned back toward EirwanKari, rushing to block the breath.

^Tiamat, I only have one wish upon death…send my soul back to my mistress. This time, I shall serve her well.^

A brilliant flash burst from EirwanKari’s mouth, all the heat his magic robbed for decades, unleashed in one breath big enough to eclipse mountains.

Void Expansion Arad unleashed his void, trying to consume the fiery wrath.

The blaze of fire clashed with Arad’s expanding void. He growled. The fire heated the air increasing its volume, which was rapidly overwhelming Arad’s void by filling it faster than it can expand.

***

In the distance, a tanned woman lay naked on a stone bed, a fair maiden massaging her back.

“Hum?” The woman gasped, opening one of her eyes and looking at the ground.

“Lady Esther, is something the matter?” The maiden asked, fearing she harmed the dark elf queen.

“No, it’s just that I remembered something,” She closed her eyes, a purple spark raging in them.

“Is that so…” The maiden stared at her, confused. The one before her was Lady Esther. She became the dark elf queen two months ago when helped a bunch of drow escape from slavers. Seeing her bravery, the current dark elf king married her as his sixth wife, and surprisingly, she has been his favorite of late.

“Say, Ritana. Head or tails,” Esther pulled a coin out of nowhere.

“A coin toss?” Ritana stared at her confused, “Where was you keeping that?”

“Who knows? I have a big heart and a bigger chest. Now choose,” She turned her head with a smile.

“Tails,” Ritana replied with a confused face.

Esther threw the coin, and it landed on the ground. “Sadly, it’s heads,”

“What does that mean?” Ritana asked with a puzzled stare.

“It’s mean you’re joining me in the king’s room tonight. You had some things to ask about, right?” Esther stood.

“Really?” Ritana gasped.

“Now, do me a favor and close your eyes.” Esther smiled, “I will have you executed if you open them.”

With a gasp, Ritana closed her eyes.

Esther sat back on the stone, putting one leg on the other and pointing a finger forward. “You’re a handful. This is the second time I acted.”

Void Expansion

***

As Arad’s void clashed with EirwanKari’s flames, the sky that was turning blue with dawn turned back to black. Purple stars glittering in the sky.

Arad’s void got stronger and stronger. His power pushed against the flame. Something was enchanting his power, and he noticed it.

BAM! The flames deflected from Arad’s void, burning the farms on the sides of the capital.

The moment EirwanKari’s flames faded, the sky turned back blue, and Arad stared at it. “What was that?”

^I don’t know. Impossible to track.^

As Arad turned back, the city only survived since it was in his shadow. Otherwise, this would have been their end.

***

“Hoo!” Esther sighed, flicking her hand as she laid back on the stone, “You can open your eyes, Ritana.”

Ritana opened her eyes, “What did you do?”

“To everyone their secret,” Esther replied, scratching her long ears.

***

Later that night, in the dark Elve’s king bedroom. Ritana tried to poison Esther and the king. She attacked them with poisoned needles as they were in the middle of action.

She succeeded. As the maids heard screams, they rushed to the room to find Esther and the king dead naked and dead on the bed.

In the middle of the night, Ritana ran across the rooftops, hiding her face with a hood as her eyes gleamed purple. “Damn, from a slave to a queen and now to an assassin. Life never ceases to amuse me,” Thud! She lept from the roofs.

“There she is!” One of the guards shouted, pointing his bow at her. ^I can dodge this with ease. But no, a dark elf woman won’t be able to move midair.^

BAM! The arrow hit her shoulder, and she fell onto the roof of a barn, bleeding.

The guards managed to catch her as she struggled to stand.

“Sir! What should we do with her?” One of the guards growled.

“To the interrogation room. Torture her for any information. If you get nothing after two hours, have your way with her and only stop if she says who sent her.” The captain replied.

“Sir, she’s awake and listening,” One of the guards gasped.

“I want her to listen,” The captain pulled Ritana by the hair, “Fear makes people talk. Killing the king isn’t an easy crime to get off from.” CRACK! He kicked her in the guts, sending her rolling.

“Take her!” He waved his hand.

The next morning, Ritana was executed by burning on a stake. As she was tied to the pole, an armored woman approached with a smile on her face and glowing purple eyes.

Thud! As the armored woman approached the pole, she smiled, “I never expected a woman to approach me last night.” She smiled.

The woman tied to the pole opened her eyes, staring confused at the situation she was in.

“It was nice to meet you,” The armored woman smiled, igniting the flame and walking away.

“Seras, sorry you had to be the one igniting the flames.” A guard approached her.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. We agreed about it last night,” She smiled, “I also talked with her in our…private time. She didn’t seem to mind it being me.”

The guard scratched his head, “Yeah, you were the last to head to her cell. No one expected that. But, who I’m to judge.”

“You there!” The captain of the guard approached, “No time for rest. A group of goblins is terrorizing the western farms. Get your spears and rush in,”

The two saluted him. “Roger!”

Seras picked her spear and rushed with the other guards, thinking. ^From a slave, to a queen, to an assassin, then a guard. I’m really talented.^