Wrath of the Dragon, page 24
The winged demons’ screeches became higher-pitched and more frantic as they burned, and they tumbled down from the sky and over the edges of the castle. Then they hit the distant ground like blood-filled water balloons.
The sea of demons on the rooftop was becoming thinner as we fought, and I noticed there was movement at one of the left-hand side tower doors. A dark wooden entrance creaked open, and three huge higher-ups strode out. They had plates of silver armor over their chests and legs and held thick blades that were somewhere between swords and axes. They looked like they were the commanders, and they walked with much more purpose than the others did.
One of the armored beasts grabbed the first farmer woman he came to and held her in a chokehold as he pressed his blade to her face. But he didn’t cut her. Instead, he kept her locked in place and set his eyes on me.
Fuck. These guys were smart. They had a hostage.
“Give us the angel,” the demon snarled. “She will not die, but if you don’t give her up, then this one will.”
The farmer woman trembled, and the demon pressed the blade closer to her skin.
“Cyra,” I breathed. “Do you think you can carry that woman?”
“Probably for a bit,” the angel whispered. “She’s really skinny. Why?”
“I’ll need you to do that in about three seconds,” I said. “She’s about to fall off the rooftop. Now!”
I soared down toward the demon with a speed that surprised even me as Cyra followed right behind, but she broke away at the last second and flew over to the roof’s edge.
Then I slammed right into the head of the large demon with my snout, and the impact sent the purple bastard tumbling toward the edge of the castle roof as the bones of his face cracked. He held onto the farmer as he fell, but I whipped my tail around to give him the final blow he needed to stumble over the raised ledge.
Finally, the demon fell backward with the farmer in his arms, but he let go of her at last, and Cyra swooped down in a flash and grabbed the farmer woman by the waist. The pale-faced woman gripped onto the angel and screamed at the top of her lungs, and Cyra grunted as she flew back onto the roof.
Then the two women landed on the gray stone, and the farmer hurried back to join her group. The falling demon’s muffled screams ended as he hit the distant ground, and he became nothing more than a pile of guts and bones below.
“Bastard,” I snarled as sparks flew from my mouth.
A sudden rattling noise echoed behind me, and I spun around to see that the Demon King had gotten to his feet. His movement jolted the chains with him, and Nisha stumbled before she awoke with a jolt.
The petite angel’s eyes sprung open to reveal the most piercing silver irises, and they stood out starkly against her dark navy skin.
“Cyra?” she gasped as her eyes fell on the fire angel.
“Nisha!” Cyra called. “We’re here to save you!”
The night angel stared at her friend, and then her mouth hung open as she looked at me. It must have been a hell of a surprise to wake up to a flaming dragon soaring in the skies of the Night Lands, but we would have to save the explanations for later.
The two remaining armored demons were racing in front of their king, and they glared up at me as they snarled.
“Ryan!” Cyra shouted. “You can’t use your angel fire near Nisha, she’s a night angel, she won’t be protected.”
“Got it,” I said. “In that case, I’m going to need your help with some good old-fashioned beatings.”
I kept my eyes on the king, but he didn’t seem to be interested in moving very far from where his soldiers stood guard. One of the armored demons stood right in front of Nisha, too, and they made sure not to go near the edge of the rooftop.
I wasn’t sure how tough my scales were, but I had a feeling that a demon blade would be able to do some kind of damage. If these fuckers could capture angels, then I had to be cautious with my moves, so I surveyed the scene carefully for anything that could help me. Then I noticed Nisha’s chains had a faint glow to them, and they seemed to be leaving a silver stain on her skin.
“Are the chains magic?” I asked Cyra. “Do you reckon we can break them apart with force?”
“They’ll be laced with demon magic,” the angel replied. “It’s a dark kind of curse that only a Demon King can produce, and only after spilling a certain amount of mortal blood.”
“How do we break it?” I asked.
“There’s only one way,” Cyra said. “Killing the one who created it. Nisha can only be free when the king dies.”
“Shit,” I muttered, but then I nodded my massive, scaly head. “Let’s get the job done, then.”
I dove down toward the armored demon in front of Nisha before Cyra could respond, and he thrashed his blade violently toward my face. Then I swung my body around and used my massive wingspan to smack right into the demon’s armored chest. The demon was knocked onto the ground as it growled in pain, and I turned back, dove down at the beast once more, and grabbed the fucker in my talons.
Then I soared back into the sky and circled the castle roof. It was strange to use a new part of my body in a way I’d never experienced before, but I had a deathly tight grip on the demon. I constricted my feet as hard as I could, and I felt the armor buckle from the force as my talons crunched the demon’s ribcage. I heard the beast wheeze as it flailed in my grasp, but it only took a few seconds for the demon to die after that, and its blade dropped down to the castle roof with a crash.
One of the farmers quickly grabbed the huge weapon and raced over to slash an underling’s throat.
Then I soared over a crowd of three demons and dropped the dead body right onto their heads. The group tumbled over as the lifeless corpse hit them like a three hundred pound sack of flour, and the dwarves raced over to attack while they were down.
“Nice work!” I called down to the group. “We’re fucking slaughtering these bastards!”
I soared back around to see that the gray stone of the rooftop was stained with dark blood. Piles of demon bodies lay all over, and there were only a handful of higher-ups left with a couple of underlings. The prisoners did not stop moving, and they seemed to be growing more confident with every hit they delivered, but the last armored demon was trying to grab Cyra now.
Every time she dove down with her spear, he lashed out with his own blade to block her, and the whole time, the taloned fingers of his other hand curled to try and snatch her. The Demon King had his eyes on her, too, but he remained still as his soldiers fought for him all over the bloody rooftop.
“Be careful!” I shouted to Cyra. “The king has longer arms! Stay out of his reach.”
The armored demon was positioned close enough that the king would be able to reach me if I swooped down and took him out, and I couldn’t risk getting a wing snapped now. That fucker looked strong enough to do some serious damage, even to a dragon, so I would need to use my fire powers to get at him.
Nisha was only a few feet away, but I knew I could harness my powers and aim only at the demon. I had already gotten to grips so quickly with my angel fire, and I knew I would be able to direct the stream precisely if I kept my focus sharp.
I just had to make sure none of the other crazy shit happening up here distracted me.
“I’m going to use my fire,” I said as my fire angel soared up to prepare for another dive. “Cyra, I want you to keep an eye on Nisha.”
“Ryan!” Cyra hissed. “You might hit her!”
“I won’t,” I assured her. “I know I can create a focused blast at the demon, I just need to be careful. I promise, I won’t take a strike if I’m not positive she’ll be safe.”
The pretty angel bit her lip, but she nodded.
The armored demon was getting restless watching us up high, and it kept snarling and waving its weapon as if to try and taunt us to come down.
I focused on the demon and tried to block out everything else in my vision. The fiery warmth rose in my throat, and I kept my gaze purely on the armored asshole below me. Then my surroundings began to fade, and I shot a stream of fire out of my throat.
It sailed in a thin line straight toward the demon’s torso. The orange blast struck the fucker right in the throat and quickly spread all over its shoulders and down its arms, and then it worked its way beneath his armor. In less than a second, the demon’s whole body was burning, and it crumbled to the ground with a chilling screech.
“You did it!” Cyra cried. “That was amazing, Ryan!”
I didn’t have long to celebrate the victory as the Demon King suddenly moved. He swung his massive arms up toward me and Cyra, and we only just managed to soar out of the way of the thick talons.
“Dragon scum!” the king yelled. “Give me my angel!”
“She is not yours!” I growled deep in my chest. “This angel belongs to me.”
The second the words left my jaws, a fresh shot of heat jolted through me. My scales gleamed twice as bright while sparks poured from my wings with a vengeance, and I heard Cyra gasp at the sight, but I only focused on the demon bastard.
This motherfucker would never capture another angel. Not while I was in this world.
Now that I knew I could aim my fire so accurately, it was time to go for the king. All I had to do was burn the giant fucker to a crisp, and Nisha’s chains would be broken.
But then the king suddenly grabbed Nisha with one of his taloned hands, and he sneered at me as blobs of drool dripped from his mouth. The angel struggled against his huge fists, but she already looked weak from the effort.
“Let go of her!” Cyra screamed.
“Come and join her.” The king smirked. “Two angels will do nicely.”
He gave a deep belly laugh, and now that I couldn’t use my flames on him, he didn’t look like he was even fazed by the dozens of dead soldiers that lay at his feet.
I knew if I knocked the king off the castle roof, then Nisha would go down with him, and I wasn’t sure if she was strong enough to fly.
“Ryan,” Cyra hissed. “Do you have a plan?”
The Demon King cackled as he hoisted Nisha above his head, and he waved her around like some kind of prize while Cyra snarled with fury.
“I want you to be ready to help Nisha,” I said quietly. “I’m going to try to get her out of his grasp, and when I do, I want you to grab her and fly. She might not have enough energy to do it herself, but you can get her out of his reach at least.”
“But the chain!” Cyra argued.
“I’ll worry about the chain and the king,” I growled. “You get your friend out of there.”
“Got it.” The angel nodded.
Without another word, I shot over the king’s head, and he whipped around on his powerful legs.
“Dragon!” he hissed as I swiftly soared back around. “You cannot defeat me!”
I didn’t waste time on words, I just dove forward and grabbed the bulbous fucker by the neck with my talons. The Demon King’s scream gurgled in my clutches, and he dropped Nisha carelessly as if she wasn’t even a living being.
Cyra was ready. The fire angel swooped down like lightning and grabbed her blue-haired friend by the waist. Luckily, Nisha had a very petite frame, and it looked like the tall fire angel would be able to carry her.
The two friends embraced each other as they soared upward together, and I knew I had to get moving. The king could easily yank the chain back down, but I was going to make sure the chain was the last thing on his mind.
I sent a stream of fire right into the fucker’s face while my claws stayed locked around his meaty throat, but he managed to swing his massive arm up to catch the blaze just in time. He howled as his purple forearm lit up in flames, and he slammed it into the stone tower beside him to put it out.
Then I released the bastard, and the Demon King now had one charred arm while his eyes were wild from the pain and fury. He swung for me and leapt as he slashed at me with his thick talons, and he managed to pierce my scales on my underside.
It stung, but not nearly as much as it should have, and when I glanced down, I saw that the tear in my golden scales didn’t bleed. Instead, it started to quickly repair itself like magic. In just a few seconds, it was like the injury had never existed, and the scales gleamed hotter than ever.
Holy shit, that was awesome.
And now I knew I could be hurt by these demon fuckers, but maybe any small wounds wouldn’t be an issue. It wasn’t enough proof that I could just go into fights like this without fear of death, but it was just another reminder of how powerful my dragon form was.
It was like I was built for this shit.
I dove back down toward the Demon King and felt the fire in my throat blaze white-hot as I spat the stream into his broad chest. He spun around screaming as he tried to put it out, and in his panic, he tugged on the chain that brought the angels closer to him.
Cyra and Nisha both struggled against the pull, and the king managed to put the flames out before they could spread down his body.
The massive Demon King now had burned flesh all over his torso, and bits of purple and black tissue hung off him to expose his insides. I was amazed he wasn’t dead yet, but he was starting to stumble with every step.
“He’s getting weaker!” Cyra yelled. “You’ve got this, Ryan!”
“Don’t lose your hold on Nisha!” I roared back.
The demon hissed and spun around to look at the angels, and I swiftly flew forward and slammed into his face with my talons. He stumbled backward and crashed onto his enormous back with a force that shook the whole castle. Bits of debris tumbled down from the turrets, and the Demon King howled as his burned arm smacked the blood-drenched ground.
Then his good arm began to pull the chain down toward him, and I knew it was time to end this fucker.
I hovered over him and focused purely on his ugly face as I breathed my angel fire down on him. The blast of orange flames hit the Demon King right between the eyes and then quickly spread all over his skull, and a satisfying warmth washed over me as I listened to his death screams.
He made a horrific wailing sound that echoed all across the darkened lands as he tried to turn on the stone ground, but it was too late. The flames had spread down his neck and started to light his whole body up. He began to convulse as his purple skin melted, and his skull became exposed under the fire.
The Demon King was trapped now as he burned to death on top of his own castle, and I watched every second of his painful end as I hovered in the sky. The evil bastard that had caused misery to so many creatures would finally be defeated, and he stopped flailing as the fire reached his legs. He laid there in a pile of orange flames and melted flesh, and every inch of his body was soon consumed by the blaze.
I felt euphoric as I watched his lifeless body create a bonfire, but then I was snapped out of my thoughts as a loud crunching sound filled the air.
I spun around to see the chain attached to the king’s wrist was crumbling, and it seemed to be turning into dust as it broke apart.
Cyra carried Nisha down to the roof, and as the final piece of chain fell from the night angel’s wrists, she was free.
“You saved me!” Nisha cried as she flung herself into Cyra’s arms. “Sister, I can’t believe you came.”
Her voice was gentle and song-like, and I let the angels have a moment together as I surveyed the rooftop.
The dead demons were piled high, and the group of prisoners were just watching with open mouths as the king burned. We had finally done it. Nisha was saved, and the Night Lands were freed of the demons’ reign.
I soared around in the sky as I howled with laughter, and I took a moment to enjoy the powers I had been given. My golden glow illuminated the dark world like I was the sun itself, and I felt like I was riding a high that could never be taken away. Every beat of my wings renewed the heat that burned non-stop deep in my gullet, and as I let out a triumphant roar, a fresh wave of flames broke out across my scales.
“Ryan!” Cyra called, and I looked down to see the two angels smiling in awe up at me.
Then I dove down and transformed back into my human body as I hit the rooftops.
“Wh-What are you?” Nisha breathed as I approached them.
As I got closer, it struck me again how exceptionally beautiful the night angel was. Her navy skin stood out against her silver garments, and her face had soft features with a prominent cupid’s bow on her blue lips. Her bright silver eyes were almond-shaped, and she had a calming energy around her that made me feel at peace just by being near her.
Cyra had her arm around her friend’s shoulders, but then she took a running leap at me as she squealed.
“You did it!” the fire angel cried. “Ryan, you killed the Demon King!”
I spun Cyra around as I kissed her deeply, and my whole body felt electric by the time I placed her down with a grin.
“Thank you,” the beautiful angel breathed. “Thank you for getting me here, for saving her, for… for everything.”
“I’d do anything for you,” I promised. “You know that.”
The prisoners hurried over to join us, and they suddenly exploded into noises of excitement and confusion.
“You’re a dragon?” a Luna asked. “How is that possible? Where have you been?”
“You killed him!” a dwarf yelled. “You actually killed the Demon King.”
The prisoners kept cheering and talking, and I smiled at the two angels since I knew they wouldn’t calm down anytime soon.
“It’s good to finally meet you,” I said to Nisha. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“You took care of my sister.” The blue-haired angel smiled. “Thank you, Ryan. Thank you for getting her here and for saving me. I think we have a lot to talk about.”
I was about to reply when there was a sudden rumbling sound below us.
“What the fuck?” I muttered, and I raced over to the edge of the rooftop to look down.
