Page 104 of Clash of Kingdoms

Storm took the lead and flew forward, a massive boulder clutched in his talons. He swooped over them and dropped the rock directly on the line, smashing them under the weight. The other dragons came, all following his lead, dropping massive rocks that made the earth shake.

They continued to run, their ranks breaking as they dodged the boulders that fell from the sky. Now when they perished, they were truly gone, no longer immortal. We would never see them again.

They came closer, their war cries louder, the vibrations from their boots loud.

I readied my sword.

Everyone else did the same, bringing their weapons forward to meet the onslaught.

My heart had slowed way down, bringing myself to an eerie calm. Demons a foot taller than me were running me down to cut my head from my shoulders, but I wasn’t afraid. I knew this would be over, whether I survived or not. My family would be safe. My wife would be a widow and my children would be without a father, but that would be the worst outcome.

I could accept that.

I was the first to step forward, brandishing my sword to strike down the first demon who came my way. When I was close enough, I realized the difference. They hadn’t worn armor before, but now they did—and it was made of solid gold.

This battle might not be as easily won as I hoped.

The lines crashed together, and the battle ensued. A demon swung his heavy blade right for my head, and I ducked, striking my blade against his gold armor and immediately bouncing off.

“Go for the neck!” Aurelias shouted from feet away.

His neck wasn’t easily accessible, not when he was a foot taller than me, so I blocked his hits and stayed alive but caused no injury in return. They were more formidable than before because now they had more to lose. The demon moved with powerful speed, crashing down on me and forcing me to dodge rather than fight. When I was knocked on my back, I swiped my sword at his ankle, and that luckily brought him to one knee. It only lasted for a second, but it was enough time for me to jump up and slice my blade across his neck. It only went halfway through, but the damage was done. The blood poured from the wound once I tugged my sword free. He collapsed and bled into the dirt.

But that was only one…and I had hundreds to go.

The dragons continued to drop their boulders and decimate dozens of demons at once, but with their golden armor, they were a much harder foe than I’d anticipated. If they’d worn this armor at the last battle, we probably would have lost.

We were slowly being driven back, pushed against our own gate because their assault was so intense. But the closer we came, the easier it was for the archers to help us. The arrows rained down on our opponents, piercing them in the neck. It took at least twelve arrows in the neck to bring them down, so it was still a challenge to fell them. But our men were starting to get crushed against the wall because we were being driven back so much.

“Forward!” I tried to push the demons back to avoid the screams that came from behind me, but their armor was nearly impenetrable. When I looked at the vampires, they were having an easier time taking them down, but it still wasn’t an easy victory.

“Roooaaaaarrrr!”

I looked to the sky, seeing Storm’s silhouette appear in the light of dawn, and then a line of fire torched the demons in the front. He flew across their entire defense, unleashing a powerful stream of fire that nearly burned me, just from being so close. They’re invulnerable to fire, Storm.

But gold is not.

I looked at the demon in front of me. The armor had lost its structure and was slowly melting off his skin…becoming liquid.

You’re brilliant, Storm.

Your wife is the brilliant one.

The rest of the dragons came, continuing to burn the demons and melt off their armor until it dropped to the soil. With a smirk on my face, I pushed forward, unleashing a fury of blows that felled my opponent in just a few seconds.

The demons behind him no longer looked jubilant. In fact, they looked scared.

Fucking scared.

“Forward!” I raised my sword in the air and commanded my men to rush ahead. We swarmed them, moving away from the gate as the dragons dropped additional boulders, their armor worthless. The demons were hard opponents even without the armor, but once they lost their defense, their hits and blocks became careless. The arrows fired down and took them out in quick succession. Soon, we were too far away from the wall for our arrows to reach, and we pushed back the remaining demons.

The ones in the rear tried to flee.

“Let none escape!” No demon would live while I remained king. They wouldn’t crawl back to their cave and regroup. They would all die—and we would have peace. “Get them all!”

I chased down the final group of demons and brought them down with the men who followed me. Not a single one escaped. Not a single demon would leave after decimating my people, after burning my wife, after destroying the peaceful world I’d forged. Blood had splattered all over me, and my armor was nicked from all the hits I’d taken.

I was tired…but fuck, it was over.

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