KING JARITH RYKOR
I thought I would die on the inside when I saw my brother drop Marissa. What a coward! He was willing to sacrifice her in order to get away. Why would I expect anything less? But my speed and my diving skills allowed me to catch her before she hit the ground. Only when she was in a safe place was I able to concentrate on the battle, on cutting the head off the snake, and that had was my brother.
I caught sight of him away from the battle; of course that is where he would be. I gave chase. I was going to get that bastard. He was swerving from side to side as though that was going to do anything. He knew that I was more skilled in battle than he was. Then I saw two of his warriors flying toward him, to protect him.
I was not afraid. I had single-handedly taken down five weredragons in combat before. The rage that I found inside toward my brother for killing our father and for dropping Marissa from the sky was enough to give me the power to take down one hundred weredragons if I needed to in order to get to him.
Bam! I hit one of his warriors straight in the belly charging him, pushing him back at a perfect angle where he would slam straight into the other warrior. I used my sword to slash at both of their wings, and in seconds they were spiraling toward the grass. Traydon looked over his shoulder in fear.
"I am coming for you, brother!" I shouted at him. He took off, flapping his wings faster and moved straight up towards the sky and into the sun. He was trying to use the sun to block my vision. This would not work on me; I flew towards the sun for fun. In fact, it would give me an advantage. Instead of chasing him directly, I flew vertical, straight up into the atmosphere. I saw Traydon look back over his shoulder looking for me. I was well above him, hovering high, looking down at him. He spun around in every direction looking for me, but he was only looking horizontally. This is why he was no good at battle. This is how I was going to defeat him. I positioned myself directly above him and then dove straight down as fast as a falcon.
Boom! I hit him hard and he didn't even know I was coming. His wings folded under him and I used my weight to speed him toward the ground and straight into a rock face. He hit it hard; it was the end of him. I flew up and waited for him to recover. He did not. I picked up his limp body and carried it back toward the battle.
As I approached, I saw Axon and our warriors gathering the defeated warriors of Traydon in surrender. As I approached, flying high with the body of my brother, our warriors cheered in victory. We had won. We had taken back the throne. We had achieved justice and vengeance for my father. He had been right: there could not be two kings to co-rule together. The desire for power was too great and one king would turn against the other, just as my brother had showed with his actions.
"Are you all right?" I asked Marissa as I landed on the ledge where I had left her. She ran to me and threw her arms around me.
"I am fine. Are you hurt?" she asked.
"No. I am not hurt. We have victory," I said to her.
"I am so happy. I was scared I was never going to see you again," she said to me.
"You never have to worry about that," I said as I grabbed her into my arms and wrapped her around me. Then we flew off, back to claim the castle.
I took the castle steps over the city of Cerista. My Drackon of the city had gathered at the base. My brother’s body laid at my feet.
"Drackon! Listen to me! I have sought revenge against my brother for taking your king’s life! We have victory! I reclaim this castle! I am now your king, King Jarith Rykor!"
The crowd cheered. I was glad to have their support. I continued, "Tomorrow, we bury our king with the celebration he deserved! We honor his life and his work as the greatest king that ever lived!" The crowd cheered again.
"After the week of proper funeral celebrations for our king, we will have my official coronation. I will be crowned your new king!" The crowd cheered again.
We climbed the steps into the castle and into the great hall. I took the throne. Before me, in the hall, was Marissa and my many warriors who all knelt down to me. It was a responsibility that I had dreaded for so long, but now I knew that I was the rightful king, and I would do right by the Drackon.