Sometime later, POV Vesuvius:
Large wyverns rose into the air, their grey scales reflecting the sunlight. In a matter of seconds, they pierced and reached the blue winter sky above the clouds.
The few people on their backs looked around with wide eyes.
They quickly rose higher and higher, turning only into a flock of small dots indistinguishable from birds.
The dragon watching them lift nodded with his head and looked towards the horizon. His minions were all slowly moving towards the volcano, the future heart of his kingdom.
‘With them gone. There is nothing left but to prepare for war and hope for peace.’
Rumours of an enormous bounty reached his ears a long time ago. There were rumours of famous mercenary groups marching towards him, all blinded by the vision of monetary reward.
He even questioned if it was the right decision to move so carefully and slowly, ‘They are going to trample over my land once more. Yet, I am just waiting here instead of destroying them before they even reach me.’
‘They are all like locusts, and the difference is just that instead of crops, they hunger for gold, not even caring about their lives.’
He simply flapped his wings and jumped from the tower. His destination was set for the first time outside of the barony, and he was ready to leave for a larger world.
His massive winged body covered in armour and crystals flew across the sky, the white frozen fields moving under him, turning into a single white blur.
He flapped his wings even stronger, the winds around him becoming even more potent as he accelerated.
Small settlements appeared and disappeared under him, his eyes scanning around.
He flew forwards with winds howling around him, and the frozen fields with small villages soon vanished, slowly turning into murky frozen swamps. Everywhere he looked was just ice and frozen mud with ancient willows.
Finally, he noticed a column moving down the road. Their carts were leaving trails in the muddy, dirty snow.
His eyes glinted in eagerness, knowing that his intel was right as he could already feel a powerful aura burning in the swamp under him.
‘This will be hard.’ he wasn’t worried about winning but about subduing his opponent without killing him.
POV Count of Amalisia:
An old-looking man rode a white horse, his long white hair and his cape undersown in white fur fluttering behind him.
The sound of clanging resounded from the collum of his knights following him. The ice covered everything around them, the brilliant crystals glittering in the morning sun.
Something changed. He rose up his hand, ordering his man to stop. His long experience and his highly trained senses told him that something dangerous was around.
‘Finally, it was getting boring.’
The horses neighed, wildly clicking around, throwing their riders from their back before running away in fear. The old willows creaked under the gush of wind.
“Is it just me, or is it getting hotter?” one of his knights asked, his voice bewildered as he rose from the ground.
The old count removed the massive two-handed sword from his back, its perfect blade covered in white runes reflecting the light in its mirror-like metal.
Suddenly a cold voice boomed across the swamps, “I thought you were supposed to be a hunter, but you forgot to look up.” It was so loud that the icicles growing from the branches on the willows rang.
Count immediately looked up, his eyes dilating in surprise and fear. But then he tightened the grip of his sword, his trained mind not allowing him to panic.
A colossal monster hovered above the swamp.
The wyrm was giant, its beautifully glittery wings looking like they could cover the whole sky.𝒪𝐯𝐋xt.𝗇t
Its entire body looked like an impenetrable fortress surrounded by weird dark armour with cracks filled with blue magma. Smoke kept rising out of its body, obscuring a large portion of it.
“Haha, such an honour to meet your Highness! I wasn’t expecting you here… What might be your Highness looking for?”
His eyes remained glued on the wyrm as he cursed internally. However, he remained polite, refusing to anger the wyrm.
He even felt respect towards the ancient beast, his warrior spirit acknowledging its power.
‘This shouldn’t be their territory. If I keep my cool, I should be able to get out of this.’
“Quiet mortal! Join me voluntarily, or I will force you! Accept my offer, and you will gain power and eternal life!”
‘Shhh, eternal life? I am already old. It would be eternal oldness?…’
The count didn’t respond. Instead, pure energy started to gather and glow around his blade. All the soldiers around him woke up from fear as the bright light illuminated them.
“No, I would rather die fighting than become a slave of a monster like you!” He swung his sword, its blade shrieking as it cut through the air.
An apparition of energy split from its edge, flying straight towards the wyrm in the sky.
Its shiny white blade looked like a forged out of moonlight as it rose towards the wyrm, all of the thick smoke parting before its energetic edge.
It kept growing and growing as it flew, the aethereal blade of energy turning into a large and sharp fan that could easily cut through a crowd of people in one go.
The blade hit the wyrm, the bright white light showing its whole outline hidden under the smoke. Giant crystals on its wings, claws, and horns glittered and refracted the light.
The blade has not dissipated. It instead lingered on the wyrms armour, slowly sawing through its layers, digging deeper and deeper, while drawing a glowing white line across its black armour.
Silently the wyrm opened its mouth, and a pitch-black cloud of smoke erupted out, descending towards the group of count’s knights.
The count put the force into his legs, his body turning into wind as he moved away, skipping a length of a tennis court just in a second, his glowing sword leaving behind a trail of light.
He felt an impact behind him, accompanied by a thundering shockwave and a loud bang.
He turned back to spot the black column crashing into their formation, exploding into a shockwave that threw his knights and soldiers into the air like ragdolls.
All the ice around them cracked and broke into thousands of tiny shards.
The runes on their armours glowed, the knights crashing and impacting against the frozen ground and trees while crying in pain, with steam coming out of their bodies.
Their metal armour glowed in red as the ice around them melted.
“What have you done, you monster? These were my men. They had families!” the count looked towards the wyrm, his eyes bloodshot in rage.
His aura and energy started to boil within his old body, pushing back all of his pain and tiredness.