Book 3: Chapter 24 (1/2)

Daniel stood in front of a large window that had its curtains spread wide open. Outside, a group of six magicians were spread out in a circle in the backyard of the property. Daniel frowned as the magicians painted glowing red lines in the ground, using up a thick liquid from a barrel that they had created earlier. Nearly half the grand duchess’s fortune had been used up in creating that liquid. It made his chest hurt when he thought about the ingredients inside.

“Daniel.”

Daniel flinched and turned around. Standing on his table, there was a miniature person, Apollonia, who was flickering in and out of existence. Daniel dropped to one knee. “Grand Duchess,” he said. “The ritual is proceeding as planned.”

Apollonia’s image flickered as she sighed. “The banquet hasn’t proceeded as planned. That crazy, barbaric demon lord killed my clone,” she said while inspecting her nails. “I told her the ritual was taking place here. She said she’d let the ritual finish because she wants to kill a devil. Accommodate her when she arrives, but make sure she dies to the devil when she fights it. I don’t care about the methods you use: poison her, maim her while she sleeps, stab her in the back mid-fight, anything goes as long as she dies, understood?”

“Yes, my liege,” Daniel said, his expression unreadable. His face was still pointed at the floor. “I will punish her for killing you, even if it was just a clone. There will be—”

Screams rang through the air. Daniel shot to his feet, drawing the sword by his waist. A moment later, an earth-shaking roar echoed through the night, bringing silence to the whole fortress. Faint words drifted into his ears, but he couldn’t quite make them out. He whirled around, pressing his face against the glass of the window. The six ritualists outside were crouched down, covering their heads while trembling.

“What was that?” Apollonia asked. “Has she already arrived?”

“I’m … not sure,” Daniel said, a deep wrinkle appearing on his forehead. He opened the window, but before he could jump out, Apollonia’s image climbed up his arm and onto his shoulder. He glanced at her before lowering his visor. Then he leapt outside, landing on the ground with a heavy thud. “What happened?”

The six ritualists remained crouched, unmoving, and a heavy thumping sound answered him instead. The thumps resounded like a heartbeat, growing louder as time passed. The treetops swayed as gusts of wind pushed against them. Daniel raised his head and froze in place as a massive dragon hovered above the backyard, every flap of its wings causing miniature tornadoes to form on the ground with a booming sound.

“You … didn’t summon that, right?” Apollonia whispered. Even though she wasn’t present in her real body, her projection was pale and shivering from the pressure coming from the dragon’s glare.

The dragon’s head swiveled a few times as if it were looking for something. It landed on the ground, ignoring the trembling men, and brought its head closer to the barrel of glowing red liquid. Its nostrils widened as it took in a deep breath through its nose, sniffing the fumes coming from the barrel. Its head tilted a few times before it sniffed again. It blinked before turning its gaze onto the men, who were frozen like statues. A low growl echoed from its throat. “What is this?”

“Daniel,” Apollonia whispered directly into her trusted retainer’s ear, her face passing through the metal helmet. “Can you slay a dragon?”

Daniel nearly collapsed. “That’s impossible, my liege. Knights only kill dragons in stories.”

“Hey,” the dragon said, its tail thumping against the ground. The house shook, and the men fell over as screams shook the air from the distance. “I asked a question.”

“That’s—”

Before one of the ritualists could respond, another dragon crashed into the ground from above, knocking over the trees and destroying a part of the house. Luckily, the first dragon had lifted the barrel off the ground or the contents would’ve spilled over. Daniel swallowed his saliva. “My liege, what do I do?”

Apollonia’s head turned to face the first dragon. Then it turned to face the second dragon. They were so large that she couldn’t keep both of them in view at the same time. “Daniel, just do your best to survive. The ritual doesn’t matter anymore. I can’t lose you.”

“What’s that?” Alora asked, pointing at the barrel in Vur’s paw. “Juice?”

“I don’t know,” Vur said. “It smells like dragons though, right?” He lifted it, bringing it close to Alora’s face.