Dark Lord's Obsession

Chapter 15: Glimpse of Darkness

Third Party’s POV

After rotating around the castle once, a giant, winged reptile landed on the roof. Those thousands of greyish scales covering his body shimmered under the moonlight. He had a long flight from the Frozen Sea of South, but his journey didn’t go in vain. His four paws touched the cold, stoned rooftop as the wind under his wings hit the castle, making loud crackling. Slowly his wings shrined in size, so did his paws, and eventually, they disappeared in his back, and tanned skin replaced his scales. Those limbs turned into hands and legs, giving him human bone structure. That reptilic eyes were replaced with enticing blue ones. Dimitrov shifted to his human form with much ease. His face looked tired.

A servant rushed towards him quickly with trousers and a white button-down shirt. The darkness of the night was hiding his nudity. Dimitrov wore the trouser and the shirt, leaving the buttons open, showing off his smooth skin on the evenly toned chest. That cold blue gaze ignored the servant's existence and strode towards the north tower of the castle. The emperor must be waiting for him, and he had some news to share.

The Castle was wrapped in darkness; with his eyes, it wasn’t even a problem. Taking a right turn, he ended up in front of a garden. His legs didn’t stop until they found the wide metallic door. That muscular pair of arms opened it with ease, without even a knock and walked inside. His eyes scanned the room to find only one barely alive candle. With creases on his forehead, he stopped for a moment. Soon the emperor’s scent hit his nose, and his eyes looked for the source. That tall, familiar torso was standing on the balcony, facing those northern mountains. His night robe was hiding his pale skin. Those eyes were vacant.

Dimitrov grew up with him; even so, he found it hard to read those eyes, whereas only one glance was enough for the emperor to know what was inside Dimitrov’s mind. Dimitrov stood quietly behind him.

Without turning his head, the emperor questioned, “how was your visit?”

“Usual.” Dimitrov replied.

“And?” The emperor knew it wasn’t all, and his prediction was correct. Dimitrov came with news.

“Well, there is nothing unexpected. Not all the dominions are willing to corporate with the king. There’s a small island named Narodnye. They not only defied the king but also, a young fool claimed the title as the Duchess. As I mentioned earlier, a civil war may break soon, and that will be our opportunity.” Dimitrov briefed what he learnt from his last visit.

“Interesting.” The emperor smiled.

“There’s one more thing. I need two more warriors who can take down at least five to six people. Warriors who can control water element and will be able to mend well among the castle of Frozen Sea.” Dimitrov mentioned.

With furrowed eyebrows, the emperor asked, “why do you need them?”

“I have my reasons,” Dimitrov replied. The emperor turned to face him this time.

“Alright!” He didn’t ask anything further. " You look tired." The emperor spoke again.

“When are you planning for the attack?” Avoiding his statement, Dimitrov questioned.

 With a smirk on his face, he spoke, “Soon, Dimitrov; even before they can blink. But I want to stop those eastern first. They are making a lot of troubles these days. Those lowly peasants are flying too high.” 

Dimitrov knew this expression. Those orbs were changing into reptilic slits, and his long slitted tongue licked his lips once, showing how eager he was. Dimitrov knew him for ages, and he knew well how impatient he was towards the eastern.

“What is in your mind, Hayden?” He asked.

“To burn their shore to ashes,” Hayden, the dragon emperor, responded with fire in his eyes. His irritation was visible. Those lowly mortals had started to think too highly of themselves, which he detested most. They would receive what they deserved.

Dimitrov knew the hidden meaning of his words. With a smile on his face, he replied, “I will come with you. It will be such fun.”

Hayden smirked, nodding his head in approval. He knew he could trust Dimitrov with his everything. Only one man in the entire world who would never betray him. Dimitrov had his own crooked ways to deal with things, starting from being a killer to being a lover, and he had never disappointed him to date. 

“Then let the fun begin,” Hayden smiled again.

Two brothers looked into each other’s eyes for a second before jumping down from the balcony of that tall tower. Their body moved against the gusty winds, closing their distance towards the ground. The scaly texture showed up on their skins. Their hands and legs started to change shape. Their nails turned into claws, and their back bent to form a pair of extra cartilage structure. Slowly, their tendons grew thicker, adding height and weight to their frames. Before they could touch the ground, they shifted into two gigantic dragons. Those large wings carried them away from the ground, making them disappear higher in the cloudy sky.

Hayden looked down with his sharp red eyes. Those small villages and tiny fire pits around the castle were trying hard to erase the darkness of the gloomy night. The monsoon was near, and hence those mortals were preparing for it. Those haystacks proved him right. All these sceneries passed by one after another, and finally, they could see the dark water of the ocean of the East.

Hayden and Dimitrov were still quite afar from the ground, unable for the human eyes to catch their sight, especially in such darkness.

‘Keep the pace and the height,’ Hayden spoke in Dimitrov’s mind, using his ability.

‘I understand,’ Dimitrov replied and followed Hayden blindly. He knew Hayden did everything with a purpose.

The two brothers crossed the narrow part of the ocean separating the Midlands from the Great East. As they proceed, their eyes caught the hundreds of war marines standing in a row as if they were waiting for some order. Were they planning an attack? Dimitrov couldn’t help but chuckle. Weren’t those humans foolish enough?

The marine troops were sound asleep, resting by the shore of Great East. Those huge torches on the deck were enlightening the entire area, erasing the darkness. Those red fires looked like a wall separating the Great East from the dark empire.

Hayden flew further down the shoreline towards the villages. His sharp eyes quickly recognise those weren’t any typical villages, relatively little shelters for the army. The warriors with earth control ability were practising even at these late hours, showing their determination. Dimitrov could see why Hayden was irritated. If he wasn’t wrong, those Eastern were surely planning another attack, which would do no good.  No wonder Hayden was furious. His eyes were everywhere, and of course, he must have found out about it. The warriors from Great East were stubborn and strong. Though they had never defeated the dragons, they could cause enough damage to the emperor and his warriors since humans were also a part of his troops. If the Eastern attacked with North during Hayden was down south, it would cause a mess at Midlands. Dimitrov could see through everything.

‘Be prepared!’ Hayden’s voice rang in his mind. Dimitrov let out a low growl in response. Those two gigantic lizards looked into each other’s eyes. Nodding their heads together, they suddenly headed towards the ground. Two pairs of large dark wings carried them towards the shore.

Hayden inhaled and then exhaled deeply. His breath became steam, and the area near his long thick throat glowed up. Slowly the steamy breath turned into a bright, red flame and ran down towards those tents breaking the darkness, even before those warriors could realise. The tall flames of the dragon fire burnt those training grounds to ashes in a blink. Dimitrov followed him soon. Their warm breath encircled the entire shore; then, they focused on the marine warriors. Those huge wooden ships caught into the dragon fire quickly. Losing their balance, they started to move violently on the water. Those masts fell apart, breaking the deck, causing one ship to harm another. Hayden could see how the ocean water slowly entered the vessels, making them lose their buoyancy and gradually, they started to sink in the ocean.

Those eastern warriors didn’t even find a single chance to fight back. Chaos broke into the area. Those screaming and crying added to the smell of burning skin brought a distinct satisfaction to those animals. The scent of fear of those mortals was what they wanted. Hayden's lips curled into a smirk. 

Before the Eastern could even make any move, Hayden’s wings carried him up, high enough to go beyond their sights. Suddenly he realized Dimitrov was still down there, struggling to fly higher. Those filthy mortals took the chance and attacked him vigilantly, throwing massive rocks and hundreds of arrows at him.

Dimitrov tried his best to avoid them, turning and twisting multiple times while showering fire to stop them, which didn’t help. Above all, his dragon fire appeared like a fragile flame of a dying dragon. It took Hayden only a few second to understand the situation. Dimitrov was in trouble. His dragon was weak and at his edge. How couldn’t he see it earlier? That explained the tiredness. He was going through the darkest state of a dragon, the stage they all fear the most, the time which was most vulnerable for a dragon that could bring doom to their kind.

Hayden gathered his thoughts and rushed towards the ground again, rumbling loudly, releasing his fire breath to avoid any encounter with those humans.

‘Dimitrov! Shift. NOW!’ He ordered, using his authority which made Dimitrov shift immediately to his human form. He was panting while his torso was falling freely towards those warriors. The scaly texture didn't leave his skin. 

Wasting no time, Hayden blew his wings harder. In a blink, he reached near Dimitrov. Bending his neck, he flew down Dimitrov, making him landed over his back. Using his speed, he again flew high enough to go beyond their reach after releasing his dragon fire one last time, leaving those mortals in a more miserable situation.