Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Epilogue (Patreon)

He looked at his hands and realized how much blood dripped from them.  His own laughter sounded off as he heard it echo through the room.

Lifting his eyes from the corpse at his feet, he saw the orcs who had come with their leader cowering.  None of them had ever seen a fraction of his power.

You should not have done that.  You are letting your emotions and temper undue everything we have done.  This is not what you promised me.

Turning on his heels, Stioks glared at Juthom, who lounged on the stone floor yards away, glaring at the orcs in the room.

They failed! After years of work and planning, they failed to uphold their promise!  I would almost fly out here with you and burn them to the ground!

Then what? We lose our allies who want nothing more than to help you destroy a kingdom?  It was not their fault that a dragon rider appeared and undid our plans.  You and I both know where the blame for that lies.

Screaming in rage, Stioks turned back around and picked up the heart he had ripped from the Magus’s body.  It had felt like it could talk to him like an equal.  That it could lay blame on his shoulders for their failures.

That mistake was why the corpse's eyes were still open from where he had pounced on it and pulled it out.

Holding the heart in his hand, he slammed it into the ground, sending a spray of blood and chunks of flesh flying.

“Listen to me,” he growled as he glared at the orcs who had lost all the bravery they so often claimed to be proud of.  “You will return and tell your king that I expect him to uphold his part of the bargain.  He does not want us to come there personally and explain the need for this.”

They all nodded and grunted.  Even though they were all taller and appeared stronger, they were nothing, and they knew it when compared to him.

“Now go!” he ordered, pointing to the door they had come through.

The ten orcs ran, almost tripping over each other, fleeing for safety behind the special entrance  he had built for them.

After they had left, the room had been deathly quiet for a while before Stioks finally spoke.

“I would carve Indyn into pieces if given that chance again,” he declared with a growl as he walked toward his black throne.  “You are right.  The blame lies on me.”

Juthom said nothing but watched as Stioks walked toward him and the throne he felt he must sit on.  His burnt face was leaking blood from the behavior he had just displayed.  That kind of exertion always left him bleeding.

We were both mistaken to believe we could break her.  She was too old and too proud.  That she had managed to do what she did reminds me of what I sometimes miss about my kind.

Plopping onto his throne, he laced his fingers together and closed his eyes.

“Have you considered my other idea?  Is there a chance at all?”

I have, and I still believe it is foolish.  You would risk leaving your throne empty for weeks, flying across the great waters and hoping that the dragons there would not tear us both in half, all while trying to convince them to give you an egg!  We are committed to this path we are on, and that one would only guarantee our death.

Stioks’s eye began to twitch.  Even closed, the pain in his face was excruciating.  His one eye felt on fire every moment he breathed.

“Why… why can’t those other three females conceive?  They give themselves to you every moment, and yet nothing happens.”

They are young.  I warned you that most dragons do not pursue a mate until they are over a  hundred years old.  After ‘capturing’ Indyn, we both realized finding younger ones who could be persuaded versus broken was better.  We have time.

Resisting the desire to touch his eye, knowing it would feel good for that brief moment before it seared with even greater pain, Stioks shook his head in disagreement.

“Time is not what we have.  The longer this takes, the older I get.  Soon, this will all be for naught if I cannot bond with a hatchling,” he stated as he finally opened his eyes, and a few drops of blood flowed.  “Elies should die soon, but how long will that take?  Will this new dragon rider pose a threat before that happens?”

The throne room echoed as Juthom laughed; his huge body shook, and the thrum it gave off seemed to assault the air around him.

It takes decades for a dragon rider to learn what they need to know.  Trust me.  We have time.