This time, he didn’t have the opportunity to finish insulting her. Cassandra raised her head as she felt something warm drip on her hands. Vrehan was paralyzed, his face frozen from shock, as the dragon’s claw retracted from his throat. Cassandra was so stunned by the gruesome sight, it took her a few seconds to realize his shoulder was pierced as well. She slowly glanced to the side.
From the cage, Sire had suddenly lunged forward to extend its claws through the bars. Vrehan had been so focused on Cassandra and insulting her, he likely didn’t even notice the dragon’s presence lurking in the shadows. His body was now amply perforated by Sire’s claws. Gasping for air, he began making some horrible sounds and groaning, as if he were about to start coughing up blood.
Cassandra covered her mouth with her hands. Was he going to die...? However, the dragon started getting agitated in its cell and wriggled itself around violently. Cassandra saw the walls behind suddenly start to shudder under the pressure. Could the blue dragon break out of this cage? If she could manage to get Sire out, it could help Krai!
“Sire, keep pushing, please!” she yelled as she ran for her little sword.
As the dragon retracted its claws, Vrehan was left holding the gaping holes in his throat and shoulder with his own hands. The dragon blood was trying to heal him, but the pain was so bad that he couldn’t even stand straight and he stumbled trying to get to Cassandra. He was in a nightmarish condition, and his bloodshot eye was clearly giving away what he was about to do next.
The young concubine didn’t even have the time to be scared. She had her sword back, and as he approached, she held it up defiantly to defend herself. While Vrehan had dropped his sword, he was still coming for her, his hands bare but he still had a clearly murderous intent. The situation was unconscionable. With Sire going berserk behind them in its cell, the dragon threw itself against the walls, its cries and screeches were deafening. Cassandra slowly retreated, keeping an eye on them. The gusts of dust coming from between the stones left no room for mistake - that wall could easily burst from the angry dragon’s fit. It would just take a bit more.
“Uuuugh... You...”
It was all going to depend on the timing. If she could hold him off for just a little bit longer.
Vrehan approached slowly, no longer looking even remotely human. There was nothing left but a wrathful monster, out for blood and covered in it himself. She tried to control her sword and swung it in his direction when he came too close. She silently begged Sire to hurry up. She had one last crazy idea, and it might be her only chance to survive this.
“You... Die!!!”
He thrust his hand at her, still missing half of his fingers, but Cassandra managed to raise the blade just in time to protect herself. The Second Prince violently snatched the blade from her, cutting his hand in the process, and letting out another guttural screech. A cold shiver ran down her spine and she felt the control over her weapon leave her. Vrehan had torn it from her hands and thrown it out of reach, across the cell.
Cassandra realized she was about to die. Her eyes went towards the wall a final time as the stones started to give way. About to collapse, even the roof above them was now raining dust and little rocks.
She felt his hands brutally wrap around her throat. She gasped for air, fighting the violent pressure of his grip. He was strong, so strong she was sure her throat was about to collapse. Through the haze, she heard a furious growl from somewhere in the distance.
“Finally...” he gasped through his still-damaged throat.
The evil grin painted on his face, with his bulging eyes and ravaged figure, would be the worst sight to die to. Cassandra brought her hands up to grasp his wrists, desperately struggling to loosen his grip. Her lungs were already painful, but now she couldn’t even manage a puff of air, she couldn’t breathe at all. Her throat was so raw, she felt tears in her eyes.
Suddenly, a horrible ruckus resonated behind them. She saw Vrehan turn his head, panicked, right as the wall behind them started to collapse. Cassandra closed her eyes for a split second that seemed to last forever. As if her life was flashing before her, she saw her son’s adorable face frowning like his dad and staring at his little dragon plushie, she saw Kian jumping around in the water and running towards Krai to play. She saw Shareen and Kareen, sitting together in the garden and laughing, and she saw Kairen lying next to her in bed, whispering words she wanted more than anything to hear again.
Cassandra opened her eyes again, resolute, and in a desperate final attempt, she held onto his wrists as tightly as she could and pulled them both under the crumbling walls..
Chapter27
The Black Dragon and the other creature were surprised by the sudden collapse of part of the Arena, interrupting their fight. The rocks and stones continued to collapse for a long while as more and more of the structure was attracted to the destruction, falling like dominoes. Soon enough, an impressive portion of the Arena was in shambles, the bars of the cells down below now exposed to the sky. Both dragons stared at the massive mountain of rocks, blinking wildly from the dust that had been exhaled into the air. Once it had settled though, a long silence followed. For a while, nothing in the Arena moved.
Krai softly growled, as if calling for someone. Next to it, the creature retreated back, its sibling already lying dead in the dust a few steps away, and its rib cage exposed to the air. The fight had been horrible, the difference in strength was obvious. Not even two of them had been enough to take on the War God’s dragon. This little one wasn’t sure what to do. It glanced at Krai as it continued to retreat slowly, limping heavily on its injured leg. It seemed like the Black Dragon didn’t care for their fight anymore. No, Krai was focused on the pile of rocks. The Black Dragon began to step towards it slowly, limping from the pain in its leg. Krai growled again, pleading. Nothing moved.
Suddenly, the mountain started to grow, as if it had taken a sharp inhale, and the rubble began to shift. Blue scales started to uncover from the mess, as Sire struggled to free itself. The dragon had been injured and stumbled several times before it could fully get its body out. Krai walked over and both dragons briefly sniffed the other. Both of the siblings were in pitiful states. Krai had some sizable injuries from the fights, and was covered in both its own blood and that of the dragons it had fought today. It was so much that the dragon’s black scales were actually shining with a lustrous red under the sun. Sire was just covered in dust, but its body had been mauled in several places by the rocks, some of the blue scales had even fallen off or been damaged. Its foreleg couldn’t even seem to bear the weight of its body, its paw kept giving way with each step taken.
Sire suddenly turned its head towards the misshapen dragon that was left behind. The Blue Dragon growled, its eyes shining with recognition and malicious intent. As the larger dragon headed its way, the ugly creature tried to retreat, struggling against its injury to step back. It had lost all of its will to fight, the panic could be seen in its eyes as Sire came closer, growling furiously. The Blue Dragon, despite its injuries and damaged scales, was still in much better shape than Krai, and angrier too. This battle was about to end.
Meanwhile, Krai didn’t even care to look at the massacre going on behind. Its ears barely twitched, no matter how loud the younger dragon’s screeches were. The Black Dragon kept staring at the rubble, frozen in front of the pile of rocks. Krai didn’t move, waiting, the ruby eyes looking over as if it was expecting something.
Krai softly growled again. With its snout, pushed at the rocks, sniffing around to find her. The Black Dragon lifted its injured paw to start digging. It was like a dog, sniffing through the rubble, searching desperately. Behind Krai, Sire was done with the bloody work and watched without moving.
“Krai!” A male voice called.
The Black Dragon didn’t turn its head. It just kept digging, its movements getting more impatient than the last. Its claws were not made for such tasks, and the dragon growled in frustration every time it moved another rock.
“Krai!”
Kairen was confused. What was his dragon doing?
The War God stepped forward, ignoring his own pain. He was covered in black scales, especially his chest which was bare and covered in them and blood. A large portion of his face was also breaking out in the black scales, where the flesh was slowly recovering from deep burns. One couldn’t even distinguish the injuries anymore, his body just looked like it was half-way through some mythical transformation.
A wave of worry started invading his heart. His eyes glanced over to the dead dragons near Sire, but he just took the sight in. He was focused more on Krai, who was digging anxiously through a mountain of debris.
