Chapter 32 - From Behind

The next day, Tyrus, Alessia, and their army marched onto the mountain where Ixur's fortress stood. The moment they reached the front gates, Tyrus gathered fire magic in his throat. He aimed at the sky and let loose. A massive pillar of flames burst forth and lit up the morning sky.

Inside his fortress, Ixur stood surrounded by his brother and the generals of his army. "Today will be the day we fly to the royal palace and take what is rightfully ours. We will give no quarter to anyone who dares not submit. Our clan has waited for our turn to rule for far too long. All of that changes today." Ixur smiled as he looked back at Turux. "Stay alive a little while longer, brother. I want you to see your precious queen and princess fall."

The hall began to shake as one dragon ran inside. "Sir, Tyrus and the queen's army are outside our gates!"

Turux chuckled. "Oh, I will be sure to stay alive, but not to witness their deaths, but yours, dear brother."

"Gather everyone at the front gates. I will go and see my sister-in-law myself." Ixur walked out with his brother and generals following closely behind. He reached the front gates of his fortress, and as he approached, he transformed into his true form. Ixur was the largest dragon alive, his green scales covered with wounds and scars from previous battles. Two black horns curled upward three times from his forehead. He raised his head toward the sky and unleashed his acid magic. The pillar it created shook the ground and dwarfed Tyrus's ten times over.

The front gate opened. Ixur stood face-to-face with Queen Alessia.

"Queen." Ixur bowed his head.

"Stop, Ixur. This ends here, today."

Ixur chuckled as he looked over the army of dragons Alessia had brought. "For you, it appears. You openly walk into your own demise, and you couldn't even muster a proper force to come up against me. You really do have a death wish."

Alessia stood smiling at Ixur.

"I will wipe that grin off your face once and fo—"

"SIR!"

Ixur turned. "WHAT?"

"Turux is gone, sir! The guards inside the fortress are dead!"

Ixur turned back to Alessia, who was still smiling as Tyrus laughed. "What trickery is this? Have you no honor? No pride as dragons?"

Alessia chuckled. "We have our pride, but we have been shown how pride can be our own downfall. A lesson you will learn here and now."

Alessia gathered her ice magic and aimed it at the ground. As she released it, Ixur flapped his wings and lifted himself into the sky. Other green dragons quickly did the same, but some weren't fast enough. Ice began to cover the ground in front of the gates, catching the green dragons who hadn't escaped in time. Ice formed around their claws and traveled up their legs.

Tyrus roared once, and the army of dragons behind him rushed forward. Ixur and his brother flew back toward the inner fortress. Ixur looked back once. "Come to me if you can, Alessia." He looked over his army filling the gap between the fortress and the front gate. "Attack!" he roared as he flew away.

As Ixur reached the inner sanctum of his fortress, he transformed back into his humanoid form. He looked at his brother, clearly frustrated. "Who could possibly get into the throne room, defeat our guards, and rescue Turux?"

"I am uncertain, Lord, but you saw the army they brought. Insignificant. Once we defeat Alessia and Tyrus, we will find Turux again."

Ixur laughed as he swung the doors to the throne room open. As he walked in, he saw the carnage. Ten of his strongest guards lay dead on the ground, pools of blood running from their bodies. He looked up and saw a man sitting on his throne with his legs crossed.

Ixur stared at the man, then at the guards' bodies. "WHO ARE YOU THAT YOU DARE KILL MY GUARDS AND SIT ON MY THRONE?"

The figure on the throne began laughing. Ixur stepped closer. "Remove your mask and tell me who you are and why you are interfering in matters that don't concern you."

"Oh, me?" The figure took off his mask. "My name is Kade. And I didn't kill your guards. And, well, when it comes to the throne, see, we walked all the way up here, my legs were quite tired, and your throne looked comfortable. I was just keeping it warm for you."

"We? What do you mean, we? Queen Alessia and her pathetic army? They are surely being wiped out right now as you relax on my throne."

"Well, yes and no. I did come up with Alessia at the beginning. But see, I think you're mistaken on who's being wiped out right now."

Ryan's smile made Ixur nervous. He looked back at his brother and nodded. His brother turned to leave the throne room and check on the battle outside, but as he reached the doorway, Poyq stepped out and blocked his way.

Ryan spoke. "Also, how naive to think it was just Alessia and her army that came up this mountain. For beings that can fly around, you sure are lazy about checking for what can come from behind you."

Ryan snapped his fingers, and Fyz walked out from behind the throne. She stood between Ixur and Ryan.

Ixur stared at Fyz for a moment before he spoke. "You? What are you doing here? Did you leave your clan again to come looking for your lover?"

Fyz simply smiled and pointed toward the door behind Ixur. Ixur turned to see Poyq's hand tear through his brother's chest. In his hand, Poyq held his heart. He squeezed once and pulled his hand back as Ixur's brother fell to the floor.

Ixur turned back to Fyz. "Impossible. Why is the shadow clan here?"

Fyz smiled and looked back at Ryan, who had pulled out an apple and was casually snacking on it. He swallowed and leaned forward on the throne.

"Because I said so, asshole."

Ixur screamed. In a moment, a large ball of acid magic formed in his hand. Before he could let it go, Poyq had his hand pointed at the back of Ixur's head. Fyz had also moved, and a sphere of shadow magic was aimed at his abdomen.

"Fucking do it. I dare you."

"Kill me!" Ixur yelled. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR YOU COWARDS, YOU TRAITORS TO YOUR OWN KIND! YOU SPEND YOUR LIVES IN THE OUTLANDS! NOW YOU SHOW YOURSELVES AND FIGHT LIKE THOSE TWO-LEGGED CREATURES WE ARE MEANT TO RULE OVER! DISGUSTING!" Ixur spit at Fyz's feet then turned his head to look at Poyq. "Now have some honor as dragons and kill me!"

At that moment, Ryan stepped off the throne and walked up to Ixur. "It took a lot of convincing to stop her from killing you, so do not think for a second you are getting off that easy." Ryan took another bite of his apple.

Ixur opened his mouth to speak, and Ryan shoved the rest of the apple into his mouth. "You don't get to speak anymore."

Ixur's eyes went wide. He tried to swing his arm at Ryan, but it didn't move. Poyq had a hold of both of his arms behind his back. Poyq pulled out a black chain and wrapped it around Ixur's chest. "These are courtesy of the dwarves. They will stop you from transforming."

Ryan tapped Ixur on the shoulder. "Now come and watch the show with us."