The Dragons Last Battle

The night sky was burning in a sea of black and red. From Estel’s back, the ruined kingdom sprawled beneath me like a wound carved into the earth. Flames bled across rooftops, towers crumbled into smoke. Shadows crawled through the streets in waves, shrieking with their jagged voices as the people fled. I could see some of the professors and other nobles hard at work evacuating people and keeping the hoards back as much as possible. Though for how long, was worrying. Estel and I had to make haste in getting Darren in control.

I clutched onto Estel’s white scales, the wind tearing at my hair, the cold of the winter sky biting my skin. His wings stretched wide, gleaming silver under the fractured moonlight as he carried me higher. But ahead of us, Darren towered.

The Black Dragon was no longer Rosaria’s half brother, no longer the Prince of this kingdom. He was a mountain of shadows. His scales glowing with red veins that pulsed like the creatures that came out of them. His wings blotted out the stars, each beat sending shockwaves that toppled people over like a tornado. His roar filled with raw grief from losing his mother… I could feel it in my bones, like it could tear the world apart.

“Hold on,” Estel’s voice resonated steadily despite the chaos. His mismatched eyes burned with a resolve I hadn’t seen in a while. “I won’t let him lose himself.”

We got closer and a hoard of creatures sprang out through the dark mist surrounding Darren, aiming their bodies at Estel’s dragon form. “Hold on Rosaria!”

The force of his wings nearly ripped me free, but I clung tighter, pressing my body against his spine as he streaked toward Darren. Estel opened his maw, and a surge of freezing air roared forth. Ice blasted across the air, crystallizing the ground and freezing the shadow creatures mid air as they shattered to the ground. They hissed and writhed, their briar-like limbs cracking as the frost swallowed them. For a brief moment, the people fleeing through the streets had a chance to escape.

But Darren’s roar split the dark sky, and he answered with a wave of fire and shadow. A torrent of blackened flame burst from his jaws, colliding with Estel’s ice. The two forces slammed together, sending shockwaves across the sky. Steam exploded outward, a storm of ash and frost scattering into the night. I shielded my face as the clash blinded me, my ears ringing and my face stinging from the misty smoke. Estel faltered under the pressure, his body trembling as the shadows tried to consume his frost, but he kept going.

I lifted my hand, summoning a shimmering shield that deflected the worst of Darren’s attacks. The heat scorched the edges of my magic, but it held. For now.

“Rosaria,” Estel said, his voice filled with conflict and hesitation. “Keep the barriers up around Darren, I want to try and encapsulate him to try and bring him back to reason. I can't just let him....”

“I know,” I whispered, though my voice was carried away by the wind. “We’re not letting Darren die. We’ll find a way”

Below us, chaos spread. Harry’s blade sparked as he cut down shadows, his coat torn, his movements sharp but efficient. Beside him, Allen fought like a storm, his sword gleaming as he carved a path for the professors and guards who led the people toward safety. Their shouts rose, rallying the civilians and kept them from the clutches of darkness.

Darren’s massive tail lashed through a bell tower, shattering stone like sand. His claws raked across the rooftops, gouging scars into the kingdom itself. His grief wasn’t just breaking the city. It was breaking the very foundation of it. I conjured up more barriers, trying to keep Darren from moving around and causing more chaos in his wake.

Estel shot higher, then folded his wings close and dove straight toward Darren’s chest. Their bodies collided midair with a crash that sent shockwaves across the kingdom. Claws scraped against scales, teeth snapped against the night. Estel’s jaws closed on Darren’s shoulder, ice flaring where his fangs pierced. Darren roared, shadows bursting outward, and threw him off with a violent shake.

“Darren!” Estel roared, his voice thundering as much as the clash of their wings. “You aren’t this monster! Come back to yourself! Weren't you the one always bragging that you loved this kingdom more than anyone else?! Was that just a lie?”

For the smallest heartbeat, Darren’s roar faltered. His molten eyes flickered with something-something human. But then the shadows surged, swallowing the light, and he lunged again.

I reached for my magic, my hands glowing with light, and cast another barrier just as Darren’s claws swiped at us. The force rattled my bones, sparks scattering across the sky as the shield shatter. The impact made my chest ache with the strain. I faltered and ended up falling off Estel’s back.

“Rosaria!” Estel yelled.

He quickly caught me with his tail, the impact knocking the wind out of me momentarily, but I was safely deposited back onto his shoulder.

“You okay?” he asked in a gentle and concerned tone.

I clutched my chest, still in pain from the pain, but I pushed through it. “I can manage.”

He nodded, looking back at Darren who seemed to be in a frenzy, but his eyes had that faltering humanity in them. “I can tell he’s still in there. We need to use our magic combined to try and get him back to normal.”

“You think that would work?” I asked.

“It’s worth a try.”

I pressed my hands to his scales, pouring my magic into him. The warmth of my light merged with his frost, his body glowing faintly as the two powers intertwined. His breath came sharper, steadier, as it burst higher into the storm of smoke and ash. A radiant light filled with speckles of glistening and colorful frost.

I could feel Estel weakening. His body trembled beneath me, his breaths coming ragged. He was buying time, not winning.

Darren unleashed another roar, the sound so deafening I had to cover my ears to block out the maddening shrill. Shadows poured from his body like a waterfall. They twisted into forms too jagged to name, their glowing eyes glaring up at us. The earth itself seemed to sink beneath their weight. Estel opened his jaws and released a storm of ice, freezing hundreds of creatures mid-climb. But the effort tore through him, his body shuddering as blood streaked down his scales. The injury from earlier seemed to have not fully healed.

“Estel!” I cried, clutching tighter. “Your injury!”

“It’s fine!” he rasped. “Just keep feeding me your magic.”

I pressed my forehead against his scales, forcing the light to flow out of me, into him. My magic burned, searing through my veins, but it fused with his, igniting something greater. His body glowed, silver and gold twining together, blazing against the night like a star.

“Now, Rosaria,” he said. “Lend me all the magic of a Saintess.”

I did so without a beat, pouring everything I could before I felt exhausted. The vibrant mana making both Estel and I shine a brilliant light.

The magic surged, a torrent of light and frost bursting outward. It spun between us, merging into a single force, a holy frost that glittered like shards of starlight. Estel roared, the sound tearing through the heavens, and together we unleashed it.

The blast shot toward Darren, slamming into his chest. The shadows writhed, shrieking as the frost tore through them, burning them away with light. Darren’s roar split the night, pain and rage mingling, but beneath it…I heard something else. A broken and sad cry.

“Darren!” I screamed.

The light and frost spread, searing into Darren’s core. And then, with one final roar, his body convulsed, the shadows exploding outward in a wave like popped balloons. I clung to Estel as the darkness dissolved, the creatures shrieking as they evaporated into smoke. The fires dimmed. The sky was finally clear again.

And Darren finally back as a human fell. He plummeted, twisting back into a human. Estel without a gestation, dived to get him, grabbing him with his tail, and landed us all safely on the ground. The shadows were gone. The kingdom still burned, scarred and broken, but the tide of destruction had stopped.

My body sagged against as we reached the ground , my vision swimming. Estel’s body trembled as his scales shimmered and melted away. His body shifted back, his arms catching me before I crumpled to the ground.

“We did it Rosaria,” he whispered, his voice raw but steady. His arms strong around me, holding me as though I were glass.

I lifted my gaze to the broken city, to the unconscious form of Darren lying not too far from us. My chest ached with exhaustion and grief, but a flicker of hope sparked within me. The Black Dragon’s reign of evil was finally over. The last black dragon, sealed forever. Darren was still alive, still breathing… And so was Estel. I…. We… had broken the cursed cycle that Historia has spent so long in defying.

Looking over, I could see a hysterical Historia sobbing. Her body trembled. And I could tell she was trying to cast magic, because she looked at her hand in horror, realizing that now that the Black Dragon was sealed, any last bit of Krono’s magic in the world was gone.