CHAPTER 32: HE WHO WAS FORETOLD

They couldn’t believe their eyes.

Every sword stilled. Every arrow lowered. Time seemed to pause as a huge shadow came from the sky and fell on the battlefield. Everyone turned their head to the sky, the soldiers, the generals, even those wounded. And there it was... a creature straight out of legend. A dragon. A huge and majestic dragon.

"No... It can’t be," the king muttered in disbelief. He was still on horseback, he had forgotten about his wounded shoulder. And his mouth was wide open as he was looking at the sky. He remembered the prophecy at that very moment, the words of Nysarra, whom he had killed years ago. "Could this be it?" he whispered. "No way..."

Many had heard the rumors of a dragon being in the kingdom; there were stories about it in the taverns, the streets, and meetings. But no one truly believed. Especially not the king, who had mocked the rumors every time they were mentioned.

But now... that ’rumor’ was flying above them in the sky.

And on the back of that mighty beast was he, Aeron.

They didn’t know who he was, they weren’t even seeing him. All they knew was that someone with a small body was riding the beast. He had mounted Draco, the dragon, and had finally arrived.

He looked down at the battlefield and saw the chaos his people, the Ivarion soldiers, were trapped in. He saw they were tired and falling. The Sandborn warriors had encircled them on the battlefield, and if he had come any later, it would have been a massacre.

But not today.

Aeron gave Draco a small signal, and the beast dived.

WOOOOOSH!

Fire shot out from Draco’s mouth and lit up the battlefield in a blaze. But the fire didn’t touch the Ivarion soldiers, it only struck the Sandborn warriors. They were the only ones on flames, and the fire was tearing their deadly circle open. Sandborn men screamed and scattered, their trap crumbling down in moments.

Draco soared high back into the sky, and then dived again, another blast of fire. Then up again. Then down. Each strike sent a huge fire to the enemy and they would scream and fall, with their steady decrease in numbers.

The battlefield became more deadly. Thousands of men fought, thousands burned, horses neighed and men shouted. Some Sandborn warriors dropped their weapons and fled, convinced that the gods had turned against them.

Still, the Ivarion soldiers hesitated. They had never seen a dragon before. Was it friend... or foe?

They were very confused as to what to do. Was this creature fighting for them or was he just on his own? They didn’t know what to believe.

But one person knew... Nyella.

She was still on her horse with her sword in her hand... "FOR IVARION!" She shouted as she continued fighting.

With the circle broken, she ran straight into the chaos and brought down the Sandborn warriors one by one.

The others saw her and became motivated too. "FOR IVARION!" the soldiers roared and joined her in fighting. They kept pushing forward behind their princess.

The tide turned again, this time, it was more fierce than ever before.

Aeron and Draco kept circling, and kept burning down the enemies of Ivarion who clustered at a now broken circle from the sky. Down below, the Ivarion soldiers fought with new energy and new spirit. It was as if the fire had entered their hearts too.

The Sandborn warriors were now completely disoriented and terrified they couldn’t regroup. Their formations were shattered and their spirits cracked.

Still, the battle wasn’t over yet.

Despite the fire from the sky and the burning of them badly, the Sandborn warriors refused to surrender. They pressed on and kept pushing forward. They had to keep going. They had to continue as they knew this could be their last chance of achieving their aim which was to destroy the Ivarion army and claim their kingdom once and for all.

They began launching everything they had; they threw spears, arrows, and even blades into the air, hoping that one would strike the beast flying above and burn them. But Draco was too fast and too powerful. He would dodge the weapons and fly very high, out of their reach, and then he would come down again and take them by surprise.

Aeron, who was high on the dragon’s back had a good balance and was guiding Draco with a firm grip. He saw the weapons coming and pulled hard on the reins, commanding Draco to roll and twist in the middle of the air. The dragon dodged every flying weapon.

It erupted from Draco’s mouth and different groups of Sandborn soldiers were wiped out in seconds. Aeron was careful with his strikes, he was careful not to hit his men. He was always targeting the thickest clusters of the enemy, which would be the Sandborns.

Still, regardless of all that was happening, the Sandborns didn’t run.

Some of them, even while burning, kept fighting, slashing, stabbing, and moving forward, just so they would not lose. Their determination was terrifying. They knew this was their final chance to destroy Ivarion. If they lost today, they might never rise again.

Then something changed.

The Sandborn commanders seemed to shift their focus. They began looking at the king of Ivarion, King Tharyn Elyndor, who mounted his tall horse in the middle of the chaos, swinging his blade and fighting like a warrior he was. Then they began to move, hundreds of them. They were closing in on him from all directions. He became their new target. ’Kill the leader and the sheep would scatter,’ that was their aim.

Tharyn noticed too late. He was surrounded, and though he fought fiercely, even the strongest blade can’t hold forever.

But then, Nyella had also seen that.

From where she was, she charged with her horse and her sword which she gripped so tightly. She reached where the king was and stood beside him. She began cutting down any Sandborn soldier who dared come close. The two fought closely together.

But more Sandborn soldiers came, more blades and more arrows.

Nyella parried a sword from the front, just in time, but didn’t see the one charging at her from behind.

Aeron did.

"No!!!" he shouted from above, his voice echoed across the battlefield and suddenly, something strange happened.

Fire exploded from the ground, not from Draco’s mouth, but from the very earth beneath their feet. It burst out from the already existing fires and burnt every enemy within her. The heat was blinding. The sound was deafening.

Even Nyella was thrown off her horse and landed so hard on the dirt. She coughed as she was covered in ash, and then stumbled to her feet again. Her sword was gone. Her ears were ringing.

But what she noticed shocked her.

She knew that fire didn’t come from Draco. It didn’t come from his mouth as he was far away from her. It came the moment Aeron shouted.

"No way." She said to herself.

She looked at him in the air. She was then seeing something different. She figured the fire wasn’t just being summoned, it was answering him. It was obeying him.

Nyella stared, totally stunned. What is he? she thought. Is he even human anymore?

But the battle still wasn’t over. It was still going on. But there were Burnt bodies everywhere. Scorched weapons. The Sandborn forces were in disarray. Their commanders looked terrified for the first time.

And then it happened.

One of them turned.

He didn’t blow the retreat horn. He didn’t shout a command. He just... ran.

Then another followed... And another.

And like a dam breaking, the mighty Sandborn army crumbled.

They dropped their weapons, turned around, and began to flee, tripping over each other in panic, running from a force they could no longer understand or fight.

The Ivarion soldiers looked around, stunned.

"Are they... retreating?" someone whispered.

Then came the cheers. Loud, wild, victorious cheers.

"WE WON!!!"

The battlefield was filled with celebration. Men screamed with joy, threw their helmets into the air, and embraced one another, crying and jubilating. Many dropped to their knees in relief.

Aeron guided Draco to the ground, landing softly near the king and Nyella. He jumped off, breathing heavily, his eyes still glowing faintly.

Nyella stood there, still staring at him, her hair a mess, her armor scorched. "That fire... it came from you." She didn’t say it out loud, not in front of everyone.

Aeron looked up at the sky, then back at the battlefield. "It’s over." He said.

The people began coming closer to him instead of being scared and running away altogether, they were coming closer. They wondered, who was that? Is he even real? They all knew that if not for him, they would have lost.

"He saved us. He saved our kingdom," One screamed, and they all cheered him.