Chapter 43

Crash!

A violent thump echoed throughout the castle. It followed with crisp sounds of shattered glass.

"Grab your weapons. We need to get to the throne room!"

Orion and I ran down the twisted tower stairs. We passed several guards running in the same direction.

The throne room was destroyed. Pieces of glass and crystal exploded throughout the room like ash from a cannon. The crystal chandelier was on the ground, shattered into a thousand pieces.

The queen was a few steps above the glass on her staircase.

"Apologies, your majesty. He can make such a mess at times."

The sound of his voice made my heart drop and my brain freeze.

"What is the meaning of this! How DARE you come and destroy MY home! GUARDS!" The queen yelled. A group of people dressed in armor with spears sprung into action.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You see, my dragon here could torch your precious castle and everything inside it. Is that what you want, your majesty?"

She turned her head to the side and signaled the guards to lower themselves. They obeyed.

"What are you doing here."

"I have been sent here on the King of Vendov's behalf. He would like to form an allyship with Naporia. He will allow you to keep your kingdom, under his supervision, of course."

"He will not take Naporia from me."

He laughed.

"Your majesty, that is the best option you have. Otherwise my dragon will kill all of your people and take your kingdom. So it really is in your best interest to join his empire."

She took a deep breath in.

"No." She said.

"Alright, fine. Don't say I didn't give you a chance. Dragon, Fla-."

I broke out of the frozen prison my mind was trapped in.

"No! Stop!" I ran out with my sword drawn, pointing it towards my enemy.

He looked similar to how he did before. His eyes were more sunken in. His facial and head hair had grown. His armor was decorated.

The dragon behind him looked the same. The undead dragon had the same exhaustion it always had.

Orion ran out next to me, pointing his weapon out. We acted as a wall between Samuel and the queen.

"Ah, my dear Princey! Didn't expect to see you here. Always snake your way into the most troublesome positions, don't you?"

"I am not your Princey. I was never yours."

"Quite the contrary. You were mine for a very long time."

"Leave him alone." Orion said.

"Wow, I finally get to meet the disgraced prince. I can see why you are your father's biggest disappointment." Samuel said, examining Orion.

"What's disgraceful is being nothing but my father's dragon boy. You are disgraceful to your own kingdom, and I can't wait until my father disposes of you like he does with all his pawns."

"You are going to regret your words. Men! Attack!" Samuel shouted, drawing his sword.

They came from everywhere. Men dressed in battle uniforms poured in from the doors of the throne rooms, proudly wearing the seal of Vendov.

"Move her to safety!" A Naporia guard yelled. Her guard's attempted to swarm her in a hive of protection, but they were not fast enough. Vendov soldiers darted towards her like hungry bears.

"We have to help her!" Orion said. We jumped into action, following the men going up the stairs towards her. Orion sliced the back of the knees if several men, causing them to fall backward down the stairs.

I pushed and fumbled my way past them, grabbing them by the back of their uniform and pulled them down.

One man drew his sword and swong it backward, narrowly missing my face.

I ducked, and aimed for his legs. He fell backwards, hitting his head on the stairs.

Orion and I pushed our way to the top, finding the queen.

"Are you alright?" I asked her. Her pale face was painted in fear.

She slowly nodded, her face still pallid.

"Zander! Orion!" Charles screamed at us from the bottom of the stairs. Galen was with him.

"Charles! We need to get her out of here!" Orion and I stood in front of her as active shields. We stuck out our weapons and fought our way down the stairs. The slain guards were scattered across the throne room. Many were still fighting each other.

We pushed our way down and reached Galen and Charles. His sword was drawn.

"Charles, Galen. Take her and keep her safe. Please." I pleaded.

We transferred her from behind us to behind Charles and Galen. Galen wielded no weapon.

Several Vendov soldiers jumped on Charles. He thrashed his sword against their skin and cut them in the throat with no hesitation. It was like something had snapped inside him.

"Tell us where to take you. We will find a way out." Galen told her, still maintaining a gentle tone. Charles guarded them as they ran out from the throne room, deeper into the castle.

We were circled. Guards from each of us began to back us into our corner. We held up our swords in defense.

"A visit from our dragon would be nice right now." Orion said.

"I don't know how!"

Please, please, please. If there were any superior spirits out there, I begged them to turn me into a dragon. I needed to ensure that Charles and Galen rescued the queen, no matter if it risked exposing me to Vendov.

"Come on, Zander! We need you!" Orion pleaded. But his begging could not change my physical form.

The guards trapped us into a corner of the throne room. I quickly counted eight of them. Orion and I had to try to take them out.

"FIND THE QUEEN AND BRING ME HER HEAD!" Samuel announced to the guards, after removing his sword from an enemy soldier of his. He strutted over with his bloody sword. The circle of men hadn't moved.

"You have no chance. We have already won, Princey. Where did the queen go?" He asked, stepping into the circle.

"Do not step any closer." I warned.

"Oh, I see. You've moved on. Found someone else to dedicate dying for. He'll break your trust too, Princey. You really have a problem with falling so easily, don't you?"

"Shut the fuck up, Samuel! I'm sick of you and all the ways you try to hurt me."

"Get the disgraced son." Samuel ordered his guards, and made eye contact with me.

All of them tackled Orion, pinning him to the ground. One soldier stepped on his wrist and kicked the sword out of his hand.

I jumped in and attempted to tackle the soldiers. There were too many of them. They grabbed my arms and positioned me execution style. Both Orion and I were propped on our knees.

"Why don't you just burn this damn place to the ground? The dragon is right there!"

"Oh, no. I have orders." Samuel reached on his belt for a dagger after retiring his sword into his sheath. It was as black as coal with a golden handle. He put on black gloves to match.

"Bring the pathetic prince forward." Samuel commanded.

The guards dragged Orion across the ground, ignoring the shards of glass on the ground.

I squirmed and kicked, but that only tightened their grip.

Samuel took out a small glass container with a tight cork on top. He dunked the tip of the black dagger into the mysterious liquid and swirled it around.

"Your father doesn't want you to just die, no. He wants you to suffer. He wants you to pay for defying him. And trust me, this will do just that. Your father requested me to do this just for you."

"I will kill myself before my father tortures me."

"Tighten your grip on him. Don't let him squirm away. Orders from the king."

Samuel closed the lid onto the mysterious liquid and returned it to his side belt. The liquid was odorless, and dripped off the dagger and onto the floor.

"I have heard a single drop of this touching your skin makes living unbearable. Let's see what happens when we pierce it right into your blood stream."

Samuel lowered himself to be able to reach Samuel.

Orion squirmed and kicked, but the guard's grip was no use.

"We have the queen!" A guard of Samuel's announced to him.

"Bring her over. She can join them."

It was like a fire had been ignited below me, and the heat was rising. I do not know if it was to protect Orion, or to protect my ally.

"No!" I screamed. I pushed off the ground and pulled myself off the grip of the guards.

Samuel had the dagger gripped in his hand. He wound up for a hearty stab in Orion's chest.

I moved as fast as I could. I tackled the guards and pushed them all out of Samuel's front view. He pushed his dagger down, stabbing it into me instead of Orion.

Orion pushed off the guards that their grip was loosened. He pinned them down and hit them.

"Always trying to be the hero, aren't you, Princey?" Samuel said, pulling the dagger out of my chest.

The fire fumed. My blood thickened and my head went numb. My limbs grew. The dagger was now the size of a scale on my body. With a flick, I tossed out Samuel's dagger like it was nothing.

"Run! He's a dragon! The rebels have a dragon!"