I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.
Hail to the King
Cade slashed the giant spider as it passed over him, its body, which was larger than his own, splitting in half around his blade before crashing tot he ground. Another leapt off the wall at him, its legs spread wide, only for him to fire a sphere of explosive magic energy into its body, blasting it apart. A Beastie Dragon further along the path shrieked as Rose slashed one of its two long legs off. They were a green species of lesser dragon with a build similar to that of a Forest Runner with green scales, five short horns sticking off the back of its skull, all angled backward, and a pair of short, curled up arms. They were fast, and they could jump ridiculous distances, but they weren't very powerful.
"Cade, duck!" Miranda ordered.
Cade dropped into a squat instantly just as two seahorse-like dragons with a small blue fireball on the ends of their tails swiped their tails at him, missing, then died as Kongol's axe split them both in half. Just as he did, Cade launched himself forward, passing Meru just as her hammer crushed a giant spider, his own sword splitting a Beastie Dragon as it fell toward her, its legs' claws flexed to slash her, only for it to tumble down the cliff to Cade's right after he slashed it.
He turned, seeing Haschel and Dart each kill another giant spider as Albert and Miranda worked together to take out the only Wyvern to have swarmed them. Wyverns were a type of lesser dragon with blue scales, tiny legs, a pair of long wings that they were almost always being held in the air by, an elongated, rounded snout, a set of spikes on its tail arranged into a vertical line that wrapped around the end of its tail, which was its main means of offense, and a pair of claws per wing which were a secondary means that they almost never used. One of the claws was a long, blade-like claw that extended from the base of each wing and extended outward from their sides in front of their wings, moving with their wings, then a second claw that stuck out from just in front of the longer one and reached only about a foot, as opposed to the two-foot blade-like claws along their wings.
As the Wyvern roared in dismay and fell to the ground with multiple arrows in its chest, immediately being silenced by Albert stabbing it in the head, Cade looked around, seeing they'd finished the last of the monsters. This had become fairly common-place since reaching the Mountain of Mortal Dragon. Their arrival had been marked by a pair of still-rotting dragon skeletons with liquified flesh still partially covering them, then massive reptilian skeletons lining the sides of the trail for a ways before eventually stopping. And ever since they'd left the skeletons behind, they'd been fighting monsters in one huge group after another. When Cade had heard the mountains were extremely dangerous and filled with monsters, he hadn't taken that to mean that they were any more filled with monsters than the places they usually went. He was entirely incorrect.
"Come on," Dart said, taking the lead. "It feels like we're getting close."
The others nodded and they continued along the path, wrapping around the mountain for a ways before stopping as a deafening, angry roar shook the mountain, accompanied by two blasts from a powerful magic laser.
"That's coming from the top of the mountain!" Miranda said.
"That was a magical power!" Meru said.
"It was a very powerful, high-level magic power," Cade said. "I sensed the Divine Dragon's power from it."
Another blast flashed over them.
"Whatever it is, that is our destination," Haschel said.
"It's as if..." Rose trailed off for a moment as everyone turned to her, "he's unburdening his anger all over the world. The anger towards the Winglies who sealed him."
"And us humans who dominated Dragons," Albert added.
Miranda stepped up in front of Rose, gripping her shoulder tightly and trembling in rage. "Then, does that mean that Deningrad was chosen to be the place for the declaration of war!?"
Dart set his hand on Miranda's shoulder. "We will settle that on top of the mountain. Before the next town becomes a victim."
The Dragon roared again, firing another blast as Miranda nodded. They all turned, hurrying along the path, which began to slop upward as it snaked around the side of the mountain. After a ways, it turned into a crack in the mountain and they passed through it quickly, Kongol crouching and turning sideways to fit, before exciting onto a thin path surrounded by geysers. The center of the path was bowed outward slightly, but they passed through it before any monsters decided to turn it into a battleground. Through the tunnel at the far end of the chamber, they came out onto a path leading along the top of the mountain toward where Cade could sense the Divine Dragon. The path was flanked by stone spikes as tall as Cade and sloped up sharply before levelling out and widening. They all braced themselves as they advanced quickly. They were close now. However, they stopped as they heard the Dragon roar angrily, more so than before, and a hard clash that sounded like two swords connecting echoed from the mountaintop.
"The clash of swords," Dart said. "No way! Has someone already started fighting it!?"
"Lloyd!" Cade growled, sheathing his sword and drawing his magic sword's handle from the small pouch he'd made to hang it from his side, forming the blade instantly.
"Let's go," Rose said. "Regardless of who it is, we will have to join in. It has to be dealt with."
They all agreed, heading further along the path, the sounds of battle growing louder quickly. As they neared the fight, Rose glanced back at the others.
"It's not too late for you to turn back," Rose said, taking Cade's hand reassuringly to let him know she wasn't talking to him.
"There's no one that would think like that," Dart said.
"Um, may I excuse myself for a bit?" Meru asked.
"You are the representative of the Winglies of the Forest!" Haschel snapped. "Come on!"
"Are you going back to your forest to hide?" Miranda insulted.
"I-I was just kidding!" Meru said quickly. "When it comes down to it I can do it!"
"Until you fight a dragon, Miranda, you can't insult Meru for being afraid," Cade said. "You don't know."
"I'm not afraid," Miranda said.
"Then you're a fool," Rose said flatly.
"Yeah, well you're-"
"If the people of Serdio knew about this, they would all faint," Albert interrupted, stepping between them, seemingly unaware of their conversation, in order to cut it off.
"Looks like Lloyd's falling back," Cade said as he saw the man in question leaping backward toward them. "Should we kill him on the way to the Dragon?"
"Focus on the Dragon for now," Rose said. "It's the bigger threat at the moment."
Cade nodded as they all walked forward, only to stop as Lloyd landed heavily in front of them, panting sweating, and struggling to his feet, using the Dragon Buster to support his weight. "Having some trouble, Lloyd?"
"It is stronger than I expected," Lloyd said. "Well, it is the King of Dragons. Even with the Dragon Buster, which was made to kill Dragons, he still gave me a hard time. But he is almost dead. There is no need for you to interfere." He shot a glare at them, only to leap backward just as two blasts of magic hit the ground and exploded into massive fireballs, scattering Debris, which Cade blocked with a bright red barrier. "I see you finally decided to act like your species. And you made yourself a Dragon Buster."
"Not hardly," Cade snorted. "Yours is much better. hand it over."
"I'll pass," Lloyd said.
"Why are you fighting against the Divine Dragon!?" Dart demanded.
"You broke the seal of the strongest Dragon of all, but you couldn't control it!" Albert said. "Isn't that right?"
More blasts of magic began to fall toward them from above and Cade sent a sphere of explosive magic energy into them, causing them to explode in the air.
"What are you yapping about!?" Miranda demanded. "We can kill this man anytime! We have to defeat the Divine Dragon first!"
"The Sacred Sister of Mille Seseau," Lloyd mused. "I see. The replacement for that girl. How convenient for us."
Cade spun instantly, slashing at Lloyd, only for him to block three slashes, then flip over everyone, just as Cade had to block another pair of the Divine Dragon's blasts. As soon as he had, he looked back, seeing Lloyd was gone. Then, he felt the ground rumble as a growl rolled lethargically through the air. He turned, seeing the Divine Dragon's massive head and neck rising from the fumes below the cliff ahead of them. Its massive main eye shone with a fiery light inside of the slit pupil as it focused on them. Then, its mouth opened, the main eye being on its chin, and it roared at them, its teeth wiggling in its gums grotesquely.
Dart stepped forward instantly, holding the Dragon Block Staff out in front of himself horizontally and the jewel began to shine bright green instantly. Then, as the light began to grow blinding, he hurled the staff into the air over the Dragon, the light flashing before the staff began to hover, a strong wind being kicked up toward it. A gold ring formed around it as Cade sensed the magic power within each of the others' Dragoon Spirits suddenly dull as the staff sealed them, though the Divine Dragon's power barely seemed effected. Then, suddenly, the staff exploded apart, though the seal remained. Cade swallowed hard as Meru spread her wings as well, lifting her hammer more easily than when she didn't use her true power as a Wingly. The Divine Dragon roared, light beginning to shine from its neck at the base and traveling upward quickly.
"Scatter!" Cade shouted, launching himself forward instantly.
Everyone else followed his instructions, Meru taking off into the air just as the light shone blindingly from the Dragon's seven eyes before it whipped its head from its left to its right. Instantly, four massive lightning bolts exploded to the ground where they'd been, the electricity streaking back inward before exploding skyward. Cade reached the Divine Dragon and slashed it across the chest, noticing that its chest had a section of openings aligned into rows, the section as tall as Cade's entire body. He slashed up across the section and the Divine Dragon roared in pain, just before Meru's hammer crashed down on its head, sending its head crashing to the ground before the others who charged instantly. Albert drove his spear into the side of the Dragon's head instantly at the same time as Dart slashed it across the other side. Rose jumped, slashing it down the front just too the Dragon's left of its main eye as Kongol's axe tore through the head on the other side. Then, Haschel's fist crashed into the head just below the main eye, the force of the punch actually sending the Dragon reeling backward. Albert's spear tore free of the Dragon's head and he shouted in surprise, only for Meru to catch him as Cade's blade stabbed into the top of the Dragon's head, then began to tear down the back of its neck.
A wave of magic raced along its neck, repelling Cade's magic sword's blade and knocking it out of the Dragon's neck just before the Dragon whipped its head through the air and a massive sphere of super-compressed air fell from the sky, blasting into Cade's back and sending him crashing down on the cliff, fracturing the ground, though between the barrier he managed to form over himself and the wards on his armor, he wasn't hurt too terribly. He shoved himself to his feet and spun, swiping his hand through the air down to his left, then back up and right. A moment later, massive icicles began to form around the Dragon's head and the upper part of its neck, stabbing into it rapidly. The Dragon roared in pain and rage before lunging, its right foot's massive blade-like claws ripping across the ground at him and the others. Cade dove to his left, slipping between the claws, and most of the others were able to avoid the swipe, but Kongol caught the sole of the Dragon's foot to his entire body and was sent crashing into the wall of stone to his right. He groaned, then pushed himself up, huffing and hurling his axe at the dragon. It roared as the spinning weapon tore a gash into the side of its neck before Meru caught it and swung it around, planting it in the back of its neck.
Cade slipped his holt into its pouch and grabbed his bow off of his back just as Miranda set several arrows stabbing into various places in the Dragon's body. Cade drew an arrow and focused, a sphere of magic energy forming around the tip of the arrow before he fired, sending it into one of the openings in the Dragon's chest. A moment later, an explosion tore out of several of the openings in a spray of blood and the Divine Dragon bellowed in rage, flexing its wings. Meru ripped Kongol's axe free of its neck and leapt to the ground just as the Dragon jumped, beating its wings and rising into the air. Then, it roared in rage as the openings in its chest all began to shine before dozens of massive yellow blasts of energy, the same as those Cade had been blocking during the short conversation with Lloyd, began to spray out of them, filling the sky over them.
"Oh shit!" Albert shouted.
"Run!" Meru shrieked.
"Too late!" Rose said.
Cade roared in effort, wings flexing behind him, going from jets angled downward behind him to full fans reaching up to extend upward from his shoulder at their highest, just as a massive, shining dome of silver and white magic energy formed over them, the blasts beginning to explode against and around it, blasting the mountaintop apart, but not breaking through the shield.
"That's incredible!" Dart said.
"Amazing!" Albert said.
"He's so powerful!" Miranda breathed.
"Cade!" Rose shouted, fear clear in her voice.
Everyone spun, staring at Cade as his body shook and trembled under the strain of holding the spell, his left hand having clenched so hard it had crushed his bow's handle, jagged chunks of wood having stabbed through his left hand entirely, and blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose, and the corners of his mouth.
"He's converting his life energy!" Meru gasped.
Finally, the rain of magic blasts ended and the shield vanished, Cade crumpling into Rose's arms instantly.
"I'll heal him!" Miranda said, beginning to transform.
"No!" Rose shouted, but it was too late.
Light shone from Miranda's Dragoon Spirit, and she sent an arrow into the sky, only for the Dragon's right foot to explode into her, sending her exploding into the wall even harder than Kongol had hit, shattering it and instantly reverting her to her human form, blood coating her face and matting her hair, and her left arm and right leg both obviously broken, a chunk of bone jutting out of her right shin.
"Miranda!" Dart shouted, then swore ad he leapt backward from a swipe aimed at him as well.
"Focus on the Dragon!" Haschel shouted, sprinting forward and jumping, slamming a punch into the Dragon that rocked it backward, then landed and twisted slamming his other fist into it.
He spun, slamming a windmill kick into it, then an elbow, then another punch, the Dragon actually being forced back off of its front legs. Instantly, Dart and Albert sprinted forward, Dart slashing the dragon several times rapidly, not focusing on form as Albert's spear head slashed and stabbed the Dragon several times at his side. Finally, the Dragon roared, both feet falling toward them, only for Meru to yank them back out of the way. The Dragon's feet shattered the ground just as Rose managed to finish pouring a health potion down Cade's throat. He opened his eyes and groaned as he healed, then pushed himself up, swaying slightly, as the Divine Dragon's main eye began to shine, magic energy forming from the air in front of it and racing into the pupil before a wave of shining blue light raced down its neck. Cade swore as the Dragon leapt backward, landing on a chunk of stone a short distance from them and lowering its head out of the way, revealing a pipe-like piece of its body extended from its back between its two largest wings, one of which was long-since broken off. The cannon began to shine as the Divine Dragon's magic energy gathered there rapidly, then fired the same laser as they'd seen before, all within three seconds.
Cade sighed, having only just barely gotten Rose out of the way of the blast, the others having managed to escape as well, Meru carrying Miranda. As the beam ended, Cade held Rose against his side with his right hand, holding out his left. His extended index and middle fingers began to shine and he swiped his fingers in a head-sized circle starting at the bottom, then swiped upward as he finished. Instantly, the light from his fingers shot into the sky, shining blindingly as it did, before bursting as it got over the Divine Dragon, dozens of massive, white-silver magic blasts of his own, each roughly the size of his body and extending into a spike on the bottom, began to rain downward from the point where they scattered, some arcing slightly as the dispersed outward then fell but all leaving a blurred trail chasing after them. Then, they began to hit the Divine Dragon and the world around it, exploding on impact, each explosion roughly the size of a wagon. The Divine Dragon roared deafeningly, even the air shaking from the force, as the explosion enveloped it entirely, everyone staring in shock. Then, as they began to fade, the Dragon leapt into the air, roaring and beating its wings, rising into the air again, its chest beginning to shine.
"No," Cade growled, holding his left hand with his palm flexed and his fingers curled into a tiger claw position but with his hand rotated inward so his thumb was on the bottom, all five of his fingertips shining with a small red light.
Instantly, a wave of blood red magic energy rushed a single point in the center of the Dragon's chest from the area immediately around it before Cade formed a fist and twisted his hand outward sharply. The spot erupted into a massive fiery explosion that dwarfed the Dragon's chest, but a glowing red spherical barrier around the explosion to contain it. Then, when the Dragon's blasts began to be fired, the explosion already going off set them off as well, the barrier keeping all of the explosions trapped inside, along with the Dragon's chest. It shrieked in agony, thrashing and flailing, falling from the sky with the barrier resolutely stuck to it, the explosions inside continuing. The Dragon crashed down on a stone spire ahead of them, shattering it as the explosions finally faded, the barrier doing the same. Then, Cade flew forward, drawing his normal sword, Rose drawing her own. As they neared the Dragon, it rose, shrieking in rage, light beginning to race them along its neck. They reached the cannon first and their blades tore along the side of it, both hilt deep, before they veered off, Cade fleeing rapidly. Then, the canon exploded, the Dragon again shrieking in agony as the explosion sent it flying through the air before its upper half crashed into the cliff they were on, its claws digging in to keep it from falling again.
Cade flew down to the ground with the others, dropping off Rose before turning back to the dragon just as it seemed to finally have enough. It roared, lunging and snapping at him, only for him to narrowly escape the strike, slashing the underside of the Dragon's head. It roared, rearing back, and Cade shot forward, sword tearing along its neck to its ruined chest before ripping back out of it. The Divine Dragon shrieked in pain, swiping its right hand at him and he shouted in effort, forming a barrier over himself and his sword and slashed, his blade crashing into the Dragon's, only for him to go exploding backward along the ground. Then, as he landed, the Dragon's head exploded down on top of him like a whip, shattering his back and ribs, though his armor, thanks to being magically reinforced so much, survived and instantly returned to its original shape, rather than crushing him any more. He shouted in agony, just as Dart sprinted forward, stabbing his sword into the Divine Dragon's face. It roared, yanking its head upward, but Dart waited until its neck was all the way up before yanking his sword backward and kicking his legs downward. Then, his sword was splitting the Dragon's neck downward, his guard skidding along the Dragon's body's plating the whole way. Finally, he landed heavily on his feet, slashing his sword out of its body through its chest and the Dragon roared, rearing backward off of the cliff they were on, shrieking and roaring in pain and rage. Then, it fell forward, collapsing to the ground and shattering it, the sheer force which which its head whipped to the ground ripping it apart, transforming the area where they'd just fought from a flat clifftop to a series of stone spikes and pillars.
Cade groaned as Rose reached him, pulling the cork out of a special healing potion they'd found at one of the stores and splashing it over his body. It shone and sunk into his body through his clothes and armor and his wounds healed quickly, though not fully. He groaned, pushing himself to his feet just as Lloyd jumped onto the Divine Dragon's main eye, carving it open a small amount before jumping backward just as the entire main eye shone with a blinding gold and silver light. They all shielded their eyes before the light began to fade, shrinking down until all that remained was a shining crystal resting in Lloyd's hand.
"Th-That's..." Dart gasped, but trailed off.
"Yes," Lloyd said. "This is the Dragoon Spirit." He looked to it again as the light faded entirely. "This is the soul of the Divine Dragon. The flame of a soul that sparkles only at the last moment of a Dragon's life. Its crystal is the Dragoon Spirit. As I expected, it doesn't sparkle in my hands."
"Lloyd!" Dart shouted. "That was your purpose wasn't it!?"
"This is just a little prize for me," Lloyd said, slipping the stone into his pocket.
"A prize!?" Dart asked.
"I don't need additional power to destroy the world," Lloyd said. "The Divine Dragon was merely an obstacle to my ideal. I fought against it for that reason only."
"You're the one who formed the conspiracy to destroy the world!" Albert accused.
"The king of Serdio," Lloyd said. "What brought you all the way out here? Is it the frustration of having your Moon taken? Or your feelings toward your loyal friend, Lavitz?"
"Don't even say his name!" Dart snapped.
"It's too early to settle things now," Lloyd said, a light beginning to shine from his right hand as his left reached up to one of the Divine Dragon's smaller eyes, ripping it out. "Here. A gift from me to the only one in your group I respect." He hurled the eye and as it spun through the air, it shone, shrinking and compressing until Cade caught it as a pale green crystal small enough to sit inside of his thumb and index finger if they were looped with their ends touching, despite the eye having been bigger than his head before.
"I'll see you soon," Lloyd said, then flashed and vanished.
Cade swore instantly, stuffing the crystalized eye into his magic sword's pouch and tightening the draw string fully. "He teleported!"
"To where!?" Dart asked.
"It's a short-range spell!" Meru said. "He'll have to take the path still, or else teleport too many times to be practical!"
"I can sense him!" Cade said, spinning and sprinting away from the Divine Dragon's corpse, Rose hot on his heels. "This way!"
They sprinted back along the path as quickly as they could, Cade ignoring the throbbing, burning agony in his back and chest from exertion without being fully healed. However, as they reached a point at which several tunnels converged, a nexus at which they'd been ambushed by monsters before, Cade stepped around the corner just in time for Lloyd's wings to flash and a sphere of magic energy to streak across the short distance to him, exploding against his chest and knocking him out instantly, his body crashing into Rose before both toppled over the edge of the cliff opposite the tunnels.
Rose groaned as she pushed herself up, small chunks of stone still bouncing past her from the explosion. She shook her head, looking around, then froze as she saw Cade, blood coating the side of his face and lying motionless.
"Cade!" Rose gasped breathlessly, suddenly feeling like her heart were being clenched in a vice.
She held her fingers to his throat as she held her ear by his mouth. His heart was beating, though it was growing fainter, and he wasn't breathing. She tilted his head back instantly, beginning to breath for him, waiting in between each breath for him to start breathing on his own again.
"Cade!" Rose called out as loudly as she could manage while fighting off tears in between exhaling into his lungs. "Wake up, dammit!" She exhaled another breath into his lungs. "Cade please! Don't do this to me! Don't leave me!"
Just as she began to move to give hi another breath, he gasped harshly, almost as hard as he had after his nightmare, then began to pant and gasp for breath, eyes darting around quickly before settling on her. His breathing began to slow and his eyes slid closed as his hand took hers, Rose interlacing their fingers instantly, beginning to sob in relief. After a few minutes, Meru floated down next to them, Cade looking up at her, seeing the relief wash over her at seeing he was alive.
"You scared the hell out of us," Meru smiled. "Are you okay?"
"I will be," Cade said. "Do you have a healing potion on you?"
Meru nodded, holding out the one she'd brought and Rose took it, helping Cade drink it. Again, his bones, which had all rebroken during the explosion and fall, didn't heal all the way, not even as far as they had before, but it was enough for him to travel and fly himself. Meru carried Rose for him, for the sake of not risking tiring him out any more than necessary, and once they were all back at the top of the cliff, they headed back through the tunnel they'd first used to ascend the mountain, Kongol still carrying the unconscious and heavily wounded Miranda in his arms.
Leave a review.
