“The young sorcerer accomplished her task admirably. I am now free! And I am here to fulfill my pact by serving the king.” The dragon’s voice was buoyant with joy.
Loran had only known it as a creature trapped in a cave, but the beast that crossed the sky before her was more like a beautiful sleek bird than a gigantic monster. The dragon was finally in its true element.
“Princess,” said Arienne, “we must get you to safety. If we get dragged into those two giants’ fight…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes grew wide.
“What is it?”
“Princess, your… back…”
Loran looked over her right shoulder. There was some kind of red membrane behind it. Her left side as well. They seemed to extend from her shoulder blades, which had ached a moment ago.
“Wings…?”
This had never happened before. She tried moving them. She couldn’t.
Arienne was looking Loran up and down, fascination in her eyes. All of Loran’s clothes had either been discarded or burned off her, with only the dragon scales covering her. This would be the first time Arienne was seeing her in this form.
Loran said to Arienne, “I cannot leave the battlefield. Lady Arienne, you must find shelter.”
“But it’s dangerous, even for you!”
“I am King of Arland. Now that I have called forth the dragon, I must fight by its side.”
“Only if the fight is one that humans can partake in!”
“Please, you must retreat. The gigatherion makes a sound that can easily destroy your ears. It is dangerous to be near it.”
Arienne looked from Loran to Clarios and back again. She nodded, reluctantly.
“I see. This place is indeed where the princess… I mean, the king should be. I hope to see you again soon, Your Majesty.”
Arienne unhitched Wurmath from her side and held it up with both hands, offering it to her king. Loran smiled, nodded, and accepted the sword. Giving her one last imploring look, Arienne, her heavy sack on her back, turned and fled.
Loran drew Wurmath in her right hand. Straightening her back, she turned toward the fight between the fire-dragon and Clarios.
Clarios was much stronger, and larger, but the dragon was superior in speed. Unlike the one from twenty years ago, this gigatherion did not fly. The dragon smashed into another of Clarios’s arms with its claws, creating a shower of sparks and the sound of metal bending and tearing. The arm fell off the monster, leaving only one on each side. Armor plates were also coming off here and there, revealing the inner workings of the machine.
Perhaps they would indeed win this battle, Loran thought. Perhaps losing it was not in their destiny.
The dragon made a half-turn to attack Clarios’s back. Its speed was incredible. Its aim was seemingly to decapitate the gigatherion. This was when Clarios made its earsplitting sound once more.
“Get away from it!” shouted Loran. The upper half of Clarios’s body swiveled around, a movement no living thing could execute. The rippling force that had devastated the fortress launched from the gigatherion’s head and hit the dragon squarely in its chest. Like a bird struck by a stone, the dragon spiraled to the ground at Clarios’s feet.
Clarios lifted one of its massive legs. The dragon tried to get up, but the gigatherion stomped on one of the dragon’s wings. The fire-dragon of the mountain, the guardian of Arland, gave a wretched cry of pain.
Clarios’s head swiveled, no longer minding the crippled dragon. It was turned to the fortress. No—it was looking toward Kingsworth beyond.
The Empire was truly powerful. There was no way to deny it. This was the guardian’s second defeat at the hands of the Empire. Hope was futile.
But wasn’t despair even more so? All that was left for Loran was to do whatever she was able to, at this moment. That was what she had been doing all along, ever since she left home for the volcano.
Loran was walking toward Clarios, Wurmath lowered to her side, when a voice shouted to her from behind.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, King Loran!”
Wilfrid. And not just her. All of Arland’s soldiers. Aside fromthe injured, they were all here before her. The battle between the fire-dragon and the gigatherion had kept her from noticing their approach. Arienne was among the crowd as well, half hidden among the soldiers. Loran had a feeling it was Arienne who had brought the people to her.
“Why have you come?” said Loran. “You will all die if you linger here. Please, escape with your lives!”
