In the camp of King Belrad...
A large camp was set up on some rocky open plains. It held 500 tents and over a thousand soldiers. All were armed well with either spears, swords, bows, and the like. Some seemed jolly while the others were nervous. The nervous few were the veterans. The ones who's instincts had kept them from dying in fields littered with blood and corpses of their comrades. They all knew something was on the way. They just didnt know what it was. A large tent sat dead center of the camp with what seemed to be a stone moat and wall about it. Inside someone was yelling.
"I know the damned dwarves aren't to be trifled with! But you expect me to just sit back while the perfect sacrifice is just hours away and easy to retrieve?!" Silence followed an eerie ghostlike whisper that floated about the tent. "I know I'm brutal but I need to be else she won't come out. And we need her blood at least so we can't just blow the place to bloody kingdom come without the risk of burying her too." The men heard the talking and were almost certain the king had gone mad now. Not a soul was in the rent with him. That was till they heard the whispers that sent chills up their spines.
" The girl must be treated carefully my son. Else we risk a beautiful puppet I could inhabit. Now you wouldn't want the woman who gave birth to you stuck in this form for another 30 years would you?" The voice was like a serpent. Filled with venomous intent and sharp like a knife. It was chilling to say the least. The king bowed his head. " I would never dream of it. I want you back so badly..." A tear escaped down his cheek as his face took on a solemn appearance. "Then we need to move quickly." The voice whispered.
Outside the tent a couple of soldiers were starting to question the sudden incursion into the dwarven lands. "It's strange for two large kingdoms to go to war over a criminal." Said an older soldier to his fellow. "Feels like a contest between two boys over a girl to me." Another scarred veteran chimed in. "But his Majesty said to get her at all costs. What could it mean? That he's in love with her? I dont think we would've labeled her a criminal then." The souldiers all bantered back and forth.
As sudden as a cry of a bird, an explosive roar shook the air as an explosion rocked the ground. Screams of men echoed in the sky as flaming debri scattered into the surrounding encampment. The men flooded toward the area to tend to the wounded and fight whatever thing was in their camp. When most arrived they found a crater about 80 feet wide by 5 feet deep. No soldier was left alive within the crater. All that remained were charred corpses in a wide hole. Not a creature was in sight. "What the hell could have done this?" asked a soldier who had just joined the ranks a few weeks back. He hadn't even finished his training when the king forced him to join him on this reckless journey. Not a soul understood what happened except for an old dwarf and a dragonoid who laid on a hill a couple miles away.
"Bloody Hell that was loud!" said King Kyle who was sprawled on his back with ringing ears. "No wonder you had me where these things." He gestured to the earmuffs that adorned his head. I laid on the ground. Four of my arms were dug into the ground to keep me from moving. The blast had leveled any loose rock away from us and a dust cloud rose from our position. "What did you use for ammunition?" Kyle asked as he sat up and the ringing started leaving his head. I held up a shining red cone with a sharp tip. A carved fire monster core with steel encasing it. "That's an expensive thing you're using you know." He stated. I nodded. "But you can see why I use it." I said with a smirk. He raised an eyebrow and nodded. This was my cue to explain. "A fire monster core is very expansive but highly destructive when the power is very suddenly put under extreme pressure. At the speed that this thing fires I hypothesized they would explode under the speed and pressure of impact." He chuckled a little. I raised the gun again and he quickly covered his ears even though the ear muffs were on. I took aim at the pace I saw them carrying food and rations to and from. I stimulated the fire and air stones while my magnetic abilities forced the bullet to rotate at an unthinkable speed. A whine filled the air before the explosive boom roared out the barrel.
I checked my target and found I was a couple feet off. But that didnt matter. The two large craters now put the camp in a frenzy as I got up and handed Dragons Cry to one of my rear arms to hold. I picked up King Kyle and opened my wings. Soon we flew through the sky like an angel holding a cussing and swearing package. Dwarves hate flying. Despise it actually. Kyle called me several names in the process that made me consider dropping him but I knew Hargo would give me an earful if that happened. We soon landed in the City of Verst where we were escorted back to the castle by Kyles armed guards.
A day after our little escapade we received a letter via the same currier. We still found little to no mercy in our hearts from the letters contents. King Belrad was still threatening for war and he had started burning several towns to ground to try and take prisoners. We had heard from the City of Crystal. He had tried and failed miserably to break down their iron door. The settlement to the south wasn't as lucky. Many people died, but the adventurers guild was able to help with evacuations toward any of the nearby cities. Some came here while others were sent to Crystal. Thinking about Crystal brought back memories. I was once a lizard. No better than anyone else. Now I was a keeper for my companion. I looked at my body in nostalgia. My arms had changed so much in this past month. With the mastery of the elements my arms had changed colors. One for each element. The lower right was earthy green followed by my fiery red right arm in the middle. The top right one was white while the left was black. The lower two left arms were blue for the water element and pale grey. I imagined the grey was to separate from the green of earth but who was I to argue with the balance the elements within my body. I was brought back to the present by a maid who came in to open the curtains and ushered me over saying it was time for Sam's bath.
After the letter Sam had been catatonic. Not a word was said and the maids made sure she ate, drank, and slept. I sat close by her at her table on the balcony often. Her eyes were far away and it was obvious that she wasn't coming out of this any time soon. It weighed on my mind as I sat there with her. Everything we had been through over the past couple years had been enough for me to have grown to care for her. I now stood not even 5 feet away from her and she didnt even realize I was there.
My hands clenched as anger rose in my throat. I would kill the king for all this. There was no other way. I wouldn't make it quick either. I would make sure he suffered just like Sam had. Blood dripped slowly from my hands as my claws pricked my palms. I couldn't even feel the pain in my palms as I started walking toward the door. I ventured out of the castle and stood by the wall ( the guards had come to call the place my perch) staring out at the stone covered plains. The camp had packed up and was now moving closer to the castle. I waited as I watched the approaching army. Into the night I watched. They didn't stop or slow down. it was only when they were truly within sight that I saw why they were able to do so. A titanic monster covered in clouds and lightning was bearing their army and camp on its back. It was a large reptile like monster by the looks of it. It had large, curly, ram-like horns and a ice blue humanistic face. The monster floated above the ground and spread the sound of thunder as lightning struck below it in great spreads of destruction. Rocks exploded in large chunks at each lightning strike as it moved. The thunder made the ground beneath my feet rumble and the tiny stones to vibrate across it.
I pulled dragon Cry from my back just to hold it. It vibrated slightly at my touch. I was agitated so it made sense that the weapon would be too. When I had added my blood to it during its making I had made a semi-sentient weapon. It was connected not just to my emotional and mental state. But also my powers. As I grew so too would the weapon. Eventually I might have to rename it if it actually gets any more powerful. But that is another story. I watched as the enemy approached. It was dawn around the time they arrived outside the city. A messenger was received at the gates again. Thi time it was not a civil letter. "Bring me my woman and her pet or we will raze the city to the ground." Was all that it read. I merely laughed as a crackle seemed to enter the air. My arm seemed to heat up strangely. I looked at the one that was warming up. It was the red one in the middle on the right side. The mark of Aed was warm and glowing like a sun through the leather sleeves that had been made by the kings tailors. It didn't hurt but it certainly caught me by surprise.
" Aed... What is this." I whispered. Not long after I heard a friendly voice enter my mind. "It would appear that old Kuku has sent his giant to battle you while the army you're currently fighting against does battle with the dwarves." I shook my head and put a hand against my forehead in frustration. (Of course I forgot, I pissed off a God.) I thought. I felt a presence coming up behind me and turned to find Kyle standing there in what appeared to be his armor. It was Mithril with leather around the joints to aid in movement. His helmet was a roaring dragon with a tail leading down to the spine in the armor. The rest of it looked like pretty standard design for the soldiers. Pauldrons, grieves, a breastplate, and a waist covered in my handywork. Pistols with fire and wind stones inside. Wind and fire elements together make a really powerful explosion. The fire itself was enough to cause damage. As long as you could activate the stones the guns would always work.
I nodded and he approached. "That is the storm God Kukulkans champion. I have not seen it for 40 years..." He grumbled out. I raised an eyebrow. "Was he always this big?"
I asked curiously. He shook his head. "He's grown." I shook my head a little as I watched clouds move and an army unload from the giant. ( It's time for armageddon to begin... for them.)