Slay the Dragon

CHAPTER 4 - ERYS

The intense heat inside the volcano of Aggronar had kept the thousands of dragon eggs alive, even without their mothers’ warmth. Erys Doragon stood at the vent of the volcano, gazing at the small pool of boiling lava far below. Around it settled all the eggs over the rocky walls inside the volcano, with the heat radiating to supply them enough energy and strength. Some eggs already hatched, and some were glowing like embers in coal. Newly born dragons crawled on the rock surface, careful of not touching the lava as they still had grown no scales.

These hatchlings were the future of the Draconian Realm, Erys thought—and he would not let the humans destroy it.

A few moments later, a mondra flew out of the black smoke in the skies, heading towards Erys’ way, and landed beside him.

“My King,” the mondra said, bowing his head along his long neck. “The Lawdras have now been summoned at your command. They already await your presence on the Draconi Falls.”

Erys took a short glance at the eggs before nodding. He curved his back and grew out his wide wings of golden dragon skin. Hyborns like Erys could not shape-shift in their Primal Form anytime they wanted. They could only do so when extremely necessary, such as on dragon festivals, worships, and any battles. Besides, Hyborns could only shape-shift once a day at most because of its tremendous energy usage. So most of the time, Erys would only use his wings to fly around Draconos.

Erys flapped his golden wings, creating a powerful gust of wind around him, and began his ascent from Aggronar, through the dark smoke, then out towards the blue skies. The freshness of the sea breeze blew against his face as he looked down at the ocean waves.

The Draconos Isles were composed of nine varying sizes of islands. Erys just came from Aggronar, the second largest island with its active volcano that gave heat for the hatchlings.

Erys was now heading to Volcron Island, located at the center which had been the biggest volcano in Draconos. Four stairs had been built on the flank of the volcano leading towards the peak, with each one facing north, south, east, and west. These four, long steps symbolized the four pillars of a dragon’s strength; physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Two columns of stone statues lined in parallel on both sides of each stair. They were the hyborns from the past generations that ruled Draconos during their times.

Green plants and trees grew out to cover the peak of Volcron with abundance. At the center of the wide crater—they had created a flat, high ground tiled with stone slabs and a series of pillars on the edges. The dragon throne made of black glass rose the highest—and behind it stood the glorious, golden statue of Hylos, the God of the Dragons.

“Praise the glory of Lord Hylos,” Erys prayed in respect as he flew past the golden statue.

Ahead of Volcron, the Draconi Island rested with grandeur. It was where Erys grew fond of going on his fun days before all his time was occupied when he became king. The island was blessed with green hills and forests that gave them abundant resources of dragon fruits, finelities, berries, and more. Hundreds of dragon nests in the trees sheltered families of dragons. Erys couldn’t help but smile at the young dragons flying around with him. After the war his brother had caused, it had cost them more than half of the Draconian population. And what had been left of them were females, along with their young dragon spawns.

The anxiety came back to Erys once again as he remembered about the comet that was about to come soon. The Phoenix Comet had been given many meanings and revelations. But for Erys, it only meant destruction. The comet would boost the power of the orb which the humans had used to win the war. And now that it’s coming, Erys was certain that those merciless beings would use it again to bring annihilation to the Draconian Realm. With these in thought, he needed to open up to the Lawdras what Mondramyr Legad had told him earlier.

 A few moments have passed and Erys landed on the rocky shore of the Draconi River. He walked ahead towards the waterfall, cold and clear—coming out of the large tunnel from the mountainside. It was Erys’ owned spot as the sound of the waterfall felt therapeutic for him—light and gentle as it flowed down through the mossy rocks.

In front of the splashing waters of the Draconi Falls, several stones rose from the stream of water—and there, the five Lawdras settled. The old, wise men sat patiently on top of each stone, waiting for Erys’ arrival.

As Erys helped himself up to his vacant stone, the Lawdras stood and bowed their heads before him. “All hail, King Erys Doragon, Last of the Hyborn, Descendant of Lord Hylos, King of Draconos, and Ruler of the Dragon Realm.”

“Rise, my wise Lawdras,” Erys said. “Forgive me for the immediate summons, but I have spoken with Mondramyr Legad earlier this morning.”

The Lawdras exchanged glances before old Forsyr spoke. “Is this about his request again, My King?”

“I’m afraid so. I have given it a thought earlier and now, I would like to discuss further this matter with you,” Erys said. “I think it’s still not enough destroying those ships to prevent the humans from crossing the sea. Until we have taken the Orb of Phlareus from them, Draconos is still in grave danger.”

“It’s the best thing we can do for now, My King,” Mydrad said. “We don’t want to put more lives of our kinds at risk—if what you’re suggesting is going south to take the orb.”

“I have to agree with Mydrad, My King,” Forsyr added. “The humans couldn’t sail without ships from Ormir. The comet might only be days away, however, they wouldn’t have enough time to build their own ships. Even if they would ask ships from other harbors, it would take a week to sail and arrive here.”

Erys tightened his hold on his knees, squatting over the stone. ‘They have underestimated the humans,’ the words of Legad came back to Erys’ mind. He glanced down at the clear water flowing beneath them, seeing his own reflection. He’s the king, but he’s unable to make decisions of his own. He feared making the same mistake. He had strong instincts, he could say—but he needed to listen to the old. So all he could do now was to convince them.

“But what if they would come here while the comet is still at peak?” Erys argued. “We don’t even know when the comet will last. We can’t just stay here in the isles and do nothing … am I wrong?”

“We’re not doing nothing, My King,” Mydrad said. “Forgive me for saying this, but you’re acting stubborn like your father and your brother once did—right before they fled south and died. You’re still as young as a hundred-year-old dragon. As king, you have to listen to us.”

Erys squeezed his fists. He hated being compared with his family, but it’s true. They’ve taken for granted the advice of the Lawdras and it only led them to their end. As much as he wanted to take the orb, he needed to do his obligation of securing his realm to safety. And what would he even do if he went south? He could never trust humans. His father once trusted them to make peaceful negotiations, but his death only proved how monstrous they all were.

“I would agree with you all, but we have to do more than just destroying the ships,” Erys said.

“You might want to put this matter aside for now, My King,” Forsyr looked at him with worried eyes. “We bear some ill news.”

“What is it now?”

“Spreading rumors across the isles,” Hashir reported. “Some of our kinds from Seagrad Island were grouping to revolt against us.”

“Revolt?” Erys said, his eyebrows rose in surprise. “Why?”

“That’s what we’re still searching for, My King,” Mydrad said. “We need your thoughts of what you intend to do about this.”

Erys’ mouth froze open, his breath caught in his throat. There it was again, making hard decisions for the realm. Ever since the death of his family, he had grown afraid of deciding from his own alone. What if he would make a mistake? What if he would only cause the situation to grow worse than it did? He needed them. He needed guidance.

“I … uh … “ Erys cleared his throat. “What do you have in mind?” He clenched his jaws.

The Lawdras glanced at each other. Their looks told Erys they had already discussed this without him. “While we seek for more details, we advise you to strengthen the security in Volcron, My King. Place more mondras on guard, especially at night. We don’t know when they might cast this revolt,” Forsyr said.

“That’s wise, Forsyr … wiser than what I had in mind.” Erys smiled nervously, though he had actually none in mind. “If that’s for the best of our realm, then I’ll give the command to Mondramyr Legad.”

Their discussion led further to other matters concerning the mines of gold and diamonds, agricultural and fish harvests, and more.

The skies grew dark when they finished. Something about their discussion gave Erys an idea of what to do about the rumors. He waited for all of them to be finished before he opened up what he had in mind. But the Lawdras only frowned after Erys told them.

“A hearing?” Mydrad said with one brow raised.

Erys nodded. “I’d like to hear it personally from our brethren in Seagrad tomorrow. Maybe knowing what their problems are and what they wanted would help us prevent this revolution from happening. Would you agree?”

It took the Lawdras a short moment before they could reply. “That could be one way of addressing it, My King. However, most of the dragons from Seagrad were survivors under your brother’s men during his battle.”

“And what does that imply?”

“You may not find them very likable,” Forsyr pointed out. “They grew no love for you when you took your seat on the Dragon Throne. And we’re talking about men who wanted to revolt … they might kill you on the spot if you misspeak a word.”

Erys remembered. The men from Seagrad had begun to protest once they learned that he would not allow any dragons flying to the lands of the humans. But that’s the reason he wanted to hear their side of why they needed to go south. It would be hard, he knew. But he had to do this. Because if he couldn’t even solve the conflict inside his realm … how much more with the outside to the humans?