Chronicles From the End of an Age

The Dragonslayer and the Fire Queen Pt1: Titles

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The growls and grunts of the dragon language filled the atmosphere. Voices piled on top of each other, angry and snapping. A back and forth of constant disagreement and agitation. Threats and reasoning. Desperation and fury. The rather diverse group of red, yellow, and golden accompanying some of the most powerful dragons of their respective species. Despite the large size of the meeting chamber, they were in, the angry growls and snapping teeth threatened to overwhelm the space. The ashen black stone and cylindrical pillars quivering under the mere presence of the beings they occupied.

To Athaer, it was all just background noise. The fire queen lay on her raised platform, the tip of her long tail hanging over the edge while her wings lay relaxed and spread. Her gleaming red scales reflected polished firelight from the torches within the room, while her piercing yellow eyes gazed out into the room as though lost in space. Her right forepaw gingerly scratched at the stone beneath her as she studied the dragons before her.

There was the light king, Lumiane, and his son, the feathered light drake Kibre. Kibre's mate, and Athaer's daughter, the fire dragoness, Ember sat at his side hissing back at her brother, Yova, who sat on the other side of the group with the chaos representative, Agonel, and the lightning representative, Joy'el. Other various dragons were in the room as well, commanders and heroes of the recent war, each stepping in to give their own sway to the voice of the mismatched council. A couple of human servants skirted around the edges, wanting to stay as far away from the angry creatures as possible while they argued back and forth.

The argument was a simple one, in Athaer's opinion. Should the fighting continue? The war had already been dragging on far longer than any of them had wished for. Even the fire queen had to concede that point. But she had achieved her goal, at least in concept. The mental nation had fallen, despite help from many of the other nations in some way or another. However, the final words of her enemy haunted her, like a looming shadow that never quite went away, fuelling a deep anger and near fear within the fire dragoness that she couldn't deny.

Whatever arguments the others had, it didn't matter if they were for or against the continued movement into the other nations, they were irrelevant. Because, despite the obvious victory, the fight was far from over. Until the threat of corruption had been wiped from the planet's surface, Athaer wouldn't be satisfied. Until the darkness became ashes, she wouldn't be stopped.

She raised her wing, her first action despite the hours of arguing, and seeing the movement the noise quickly surrendered to her presence. The dragoness slowly and deliberately got to her feet, shuffling her wings and sitting down on her haunches, looking over her war council. She could see the expectancy in their gazes, their longing for her to take their side. They all knew that she was the one with the final say. She was the one to decide the fate of their nations and the fate of the rest of the world. She could see the frustration in Lumiane's face at the fact, the older drake not liking the power and respect she demanded, but unable to do anything about it. She could see the hope in Ember's eyes, almost begging for the fighting to stop. She could see the anger in Agonel, a bloodlust that demanded to be filled. None of it mattered.

"You're all wrong," the fire dragoness began slowly, "The other nations may have stood against us, and may even be looking at retaliation, but they are inconsequential. Our mission still has yet to be completed."

"What? Mother we...!" Ember began but was silenced by the queen's glare.

"They are still out there Ember," Athaer said, knowing and admiring her daughter's heart, "And until we wipe them from the earth, we won't be safe. You won't be safe, nor your hatchlings."