A King's Legacy Ch. 39

"Must you do that here?" The larger, winged dragon responsible for the sickening sound only turned to the panther, and grinned in delight before he tore another meaty muscle from the bones of his latest victim, scarfing it down after barely even chewing. Vimis Raxos, the imposingly powerful black dragon, spoke after gulping down the fleshy mouthful, his maw a glistening crimson from both the naturally red scales along his throat, and from the blood of his little snack rolling over his jaw in scarlet rivers. He answered in a carefree tone.

"They've been squirming around in resistance for two damned days at this point. It shouldn't have taken this long, and I'm hungry. Besides you shouldn't talk, considering how much blood has been running down your own maw." Jagón held his disgusted look firmly as the dragon dropped the remaining half of the human carcass beside himself. The right hand of the king spoke firmly to the lower ranked general, reserving no amount of his disdain.

"Using my bloodskill to land a quick kill is far different than what you're doing. They could speak, they had families, you can show some degree of respect." Vimis laughed genuinely as he wiped away some of the mess on his maw with his arm. The low chuckle was a sound that haunted the panther almost as much as the bones splintering beneath those pointed teeth had.

"Why would I EVER need to respect mere livestock? They are simply fodder for me, the same as any other creature I am superior to. We both came here to exterminate these furless, no-scale swine, and it's the last time we will ever have the chance to savor such a delicacy, so why waste good meat? Hunting purely for sport is frowned upon..." Jagón clenched his jaw angrily, he was about to shut the enraging beast up himself before Lady Alice stepped in.

"Jagón, a heavy storm is approaching. We can use this as cover to infiltrate deeper, and to break through the wall surrounding the palace. Victory will be nearly secured if we can, and perhaps we can leave all of this behind us a little more swiftly. Care to join me for some planning with the king? We are holding our current line easily, and it wouldn't hurt to let our medics catch back up a little." The panther turned towards the dragon once more, not really wanting to let this all go so easily, but turned and left with Alice all the same. Vimis Raxos watched the pair go with a malevolent smile still plastered over his blood-soaked maw.

===

Lunai awoke when the first barrel exploded, cowering in fear at the startling awakening. It was still a few hours before low tide, so her guard hadn't come for her yet. As the second barrel collided with the landscape, a low rumble could be felt through the castle. The young princess moved swiftly across her room, going to the larger portrait on her wall. She opened the hidden door effortlessly, and climbed inside, shutting the passageway closed when she was securely hidden away in her safe spot. There were very few that ever knew about those hidden access points scattered about the castle, but the princess hiding from the noise in one turned out to work exceptionally well in her favor, just as a certain deity aiding the humans had foreseen. Lunai grazed by certain death for the first time a few minutes later.

She heard a shout from the guard outside, and then she heard his dying cry as he collapsed to the floor. Reiner Candori and Rayos Sicario had been tasked with two objectives: To kill the shield bearer, and to take out as much of the castle guard before the main forces arrived as they could. The tiger had failed his first task miserably, and it had cost his mentor his life, but Reiner wasn't accepting two such failures, more so considering how angry and insecure he was feeling after losing to a mere human. His rampage through those halls left few survivors in his wake.

As the tiger passed into Lunai's room, he took a single glance around, saw no humans, and left without ever noticing the girl holding her breath just on the other side of that painting. The general made a large pass through the castle, and killed over half of the remaining staff before retreating when Calium returned.

The king realized what had happened when he finally returned to the castle after fending off the western forces. Calium cursed Death for leaving him out of the loop, and swore vengeance against the god the entire time he ran to his daughter's room. Death did not comment until after the princess had emerged, after she heard her father's voice calling out to her.

'I told you, some things were varying a little, but nothing ultimately changed. The rest of the children heading for the cavern made it safely, one of your knights acted swiftly to draw the tiger away while another led them away just in time to catch the tides. Lunai is the only one that wasn't reachable in her position in time.'

'She will still be fine, she apparently just needs to be here to see some other part of these events, she has another role to still fulfill here. The balance of fate is fighting me far too much for that to not be the case.' Calium answered mentally, merely embracing his daughter as he comforted her in that moment.

"You could've told me." Death disagreed.

'No, you would've only been distracted. I made it clear, I'm in charge of the finer details here, I only tell you what you need to know, and I ensure almost everything works out. She will be fine, just instruct her to wait in her hiding place for a little longer when it all starts tomorrow. She will find her way safely to the others after.' Calium cursed once more as the sound of thunder echoed across the third night. The dawn of Adamare's final day would soon be upon them, and the beast's would blow a hole through the outer castle gates before it's final dusk. The storm only grew larger as the battle dredged on.

===

Calium gazed down softly at his son as dusk fell around them on that final day. Of all the things the king had bargained for, the young shield bearer making it out with his life was the hardest to arrange. The goddesses of the sun and the moon were both aiming for his downfall, after all. They were both backing the sword as a replacement, and were far too aware of Solis's importance to ever let the boy disappear beneath the cover of the mountain. The beasts already aware of the young human heir to the shield aside, Death had quite a time figuring out a solution to such a puzzle, but he had found a perfectly balanced resolution that fate would accept. Death had found exactly what Calium needed to trade his very life for. For his son to survive, the king had no reservations.

Still, as the human king held his only son for the last time inside of his own throne room, he couldn't help but feel guilty it ever came down to this. Lunai was old enough that she would remember some of what life was like, Solis would remember nothing of Calium, of Adamare, nor of even his own people. Solis would be raised in a world of strangers, but it was better than the boy never growing up at all. Death somberly gave the king the warning.

'You should move him to location soon, my daughter will be caving in the front door along with a corner of your castle any moment now, and she will be taking down the door into this room only a few minutes after.'

Calium sighed, staring into his son's eyes warmly. Solis was getting quite sleepy by that point, timing that seemed most fortuitous considering what was to transpire shortly. The king bundled his son a little more tightly in his blanket, cradled him in his arm, and held his gaze warmly as he took the first descending step into the smaller room hidden behind his own throne. Just as the king placed his son down on the bed, a very loud crash echoed through the halls as the very foundation rumbled from the vastly powerful magical impact. Solis began to stir and fuss at the sudden frightening sound, and was just about to start crying again before his father intervened swiftly.

Calium laid beside his son on the bed, curled up next to the infant, and gently pressed his finger into his son's tiny hand, shushing him softly. Solis clung tightly around his father's digit as the child stared in innocence at the beautiful, golden eyes that still shone in even such dim lighting. Calium stared back into his son's own eyes, that softer brown base with only the tiniest flecks of gold barely visible in the infant's gaze at that age. The king inhaled deeply as he felt his heart lurch one final time at the realization; this would be the last time in this life that he would get with his son.

Aster faded off to sleep, the comfort of his father's presence outweighing whatever that scary noise earlier was. The boy released the king's finger as he faded off, as if he were giving Calium permission to go do what he needed to do. Calium never realized that letting go of someone's hand could ever be so hard. The king just wasn't ready... Solis had lost his mother, and he was too young to be without his father, but this was the only way he could ever have a chance at all now. Calium didn't want to let go, but Death had assured him Solis would be loved, so the king embraced what legacy he could secure for his son, and gave the boy a final, soft kiss on the brow as he said his goodbye.

"Live, my Solis... Survive their world, and use what you learn to rebuild your own... Your father will be watching you every step of the way, so don't you ever feel lonely... Don't you ever feel unloved, my sunlight, for there will always be those that care for you so greatly. The world will always need such light, no matter how great the shadow cast behind it may be."

The king stood on hesitant knees, on reluctant feet that didn't want to take a single step away from his son. Every instinct as a parent was telling him he needed to stay by his child, and defend him with his life, but the king knew that would never work. Death's idea made sense to him. The old god never lied to the king before, and the human was rather low on allies at that point. All he could do was trust what came after his final duty in this world. The king ascended the steps silently, slid his throne back to conceal the hidden room, and took a seat in the very throne blocking passage to his son. Calium only waited with bated breath.

The sound of the struggle beyond the secured throne room fell lower and lower as the time passed by. What was a noisy brawl of clashing steel at first died down to muffled groans in mere minutes. As it all grew eerily quiet in one final moment of faux peace, Calium couldn't help but speak the statement stoically.

"So, it is true." Death answered with a hint of intrigue.

'What is?' Calium elaborated with a whisper.

"It all goes silent just before you strike..."

The lighting flashed across the sky, the thunder barreled across the mountains, and the left door was almost entirely blown off the hinges with one final spell, courtesy of the king's cannon herself. Calium held his position on his throne firmly, already well aware he would be facing the beast king alone here. All Calium had to do was stall until Death gave the signal. The beast king stepped through the doorway as he shouted out his final order behind him.

"Search the grounds, kill any remaining human on sight."

Calium and Alocer gazed at each other decidedly, finally face to face as the clash of gods, beasts, and man came barreling towards its conclusion at long last. Calium stood to meet his guest with a genuine smile. The last few months had been harrowing, but finally seeing the face of the monster mostly responsible for such loss brought a strange sense of joy to the human king. Calium was going to enjoy himself in his last battle, he always did like punching bullies...

===

It was hard not to linger in one spot too long. I hope the scenes didn't seem too cramped because of it. Really hope you liked the reveal of Straga's father, been hoping I could make that scene as uncomfortable as possible with that dragon's reveal for a long time now. I'm sure you see where our little unhinged dragon from back in the beginning gets it from now. Super fun villains to write, and they have some fun parts coming book 2/3.

The fox Calium killed was Rust's biological grandfather, not his bio dad. Big book 2 Aschefell arc drama.

Calium can use the shield in ways Aster has not yet mastered, including holding more than 2 at a time, and holding them without his hands. sorry if that was confusing. Didn't even realize it may not be obvious what was happening there. Calium had the guidance to his power, Aster did not. I like slow growths though, I like my characters earning their "level ups," more than just giving them broken abilities that can't be beaten from the start. Calium gives our young human king some pointers tho! (And naturally, Aster gets more of that when he gets his hands on that book left by his father.)

Calium and Alocer should be fun. The largest remaining bomb drops next chapter, and there should only be one more major surprise after. Things start wrapping up after this. I hope this has given some insight to how some things played out after, and how some beasts were shaped going forward. (Reiner is terrified of that shield, which is why Aster was a priority on Richta's list, for example. [Daddy Aureus put the smackdown on that ass!] Also, stuff like the running tension between the venatus/raxos houses, etc.) Much of what you saw referenced was for future chapters as well, like syphur seeing the aftermath here, and using that to guide the prince in the future, and a younger Captain Rix competing in the rodent kingdom for a certain prize back then. *cough Mollis cough* But some of it we don't see become relevant again until book 3, so don't let me hype it up too much just yet.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy what comes next. Always happy to hear your thoughts.

-Pup Bayou