The Mateless Dragon King

The Trials-Part II

Flashback - 198 Years Prior

-

Valen’s POV

My mate was the most perfect woman I had ever seen, and no other woman could compare ever again.

I went to speak to her, to ask for her name, but no words could come out. She pulled away just enough to reach up and pull my face closer to her, placing a kiss on my cheek, as she and the surrounding balcony started to shimmer and flicker before dissolving into darkness again.

My eyes focused out of the darkness a third time, leaving me frustrated as I wanted nothing more than to return to my green-eyed beauty, but my mind was quickly brought to the disturbing scene in front of me.

I stood in a town center, filled with a crowd of people, shouting and yelling at a public trial happening on an elevated platform in the middle of the plaza. With my height, I could see the town’s alderman reading from a scroll to pass judgment on the accused.

What struck me, was between two town guards was the accused: a young girl of no more than ten.

“Kill the witch!” A man next to me shouted loudly. I frowned. This was a child. What could she have done to warrant such a treatment?

“Eloise Fawn, you have been accused of using witchcraft on your grandfather. What do you say to these charges?” the alderman's raspy voice rang out over the murmurs of the crowd.

“Grandpa was hurt,” tears streamed down the girl’s face. “I didn’t mean to, I just wanted him to feel better.”

The townspeople’s cries echoed around me, calling for the death of this innocent soul. I pushed my way through the crowd to the platform, through the throng of angry townspeople, my heart pounding in my chest. The cries for the child's death grew louder and more fervent, a mass of ignorant voices blending into a cacophony of hate. I was disgusted by their behavior.

As I reached the platform, I raised my hands and shouted to be heard.

"Silence!" My deep voice cut through the noise. "What madness is this, that you would condemn a child for helping her grandfather?"

The townspeople turned their angry gazes upon me, their eyes filled with suspicion. The alderman paused, his hand frozen in midair, the scroll still clutched tightly.

"Who are you to interfere with justice?" he demanded, his voice quivering with both authority and uncertainty.

"I am Prince Valen," I declared, standing tall. "And I will not stand by while an innocent child is condemned out of fear and ignorance. She acted out of love. Is this the justice you uphold? To kill a child who only wished to ease her grandfather's pain?"

Murmurs spread through the crowd, but before I could gauge their reaction, a man lunged at me, anger distorting his features. "Get him! He defends the witch!"

Chaos erupted. Villagers surged forward, their rage now directed at me and the terrified girl. I drew my sword, using the flat of the blade to fend off the attackers as best I could while shielding Eloise with my body.

"Stay behind me," I urged her, my voice steady despite the turmoil. "I won't let them harm you."

But the onslaught was relentless. Stones and fists struck me from all sides, and my strength began to wane. Despite my efforts, the crowd was too many. They grabbed the girl, dragging her from me.

"No!" I roared, desperation fueling my attempts to reach her. But it was too late. Her small, lifeless body crumpled to the ground, a man behind her holding a knife stained with her blood, his face grinning with malice.

I fell to my knees beside her, anguish and helplessness washing over me. The crowd began to disperse, their bloodlust sated, leaving me alone with my grief and rage.

I steadied my resolve, lifting Eloise’s tiny frame as I stood, ready to give her a proper burial, when the scene started to flicker.

“Let me bury her!” I screamed at the sky. I knew this was just a vision from the Trials, but it felt so real. I needed to do this. I needed this for myself.

Surprisingly, the flickering halted, allowing me to carry the child to the town’s graveyard where I found a shovel and started to dig. I lowered her gently into the ground, touching her forehead softly.

“No one should be judged for who they are,” I touched her cheek like my mother does to me, “I will do everything in my power to fight cruel discrimination such as this. Nothing like this should be allowed in Caelor."

I started filling the grave as the flickering surrounded me again, this time I surrendered, allowing everything around me to turn to darkness once again.

—-

I came out of the darkness again, to find a battle raging all around me. My sword was painted with blood. I quickly parried an attack, counterattacking and easily slicing the enemy down before looking around.

We were fighting outside the capital city walls, fighting other Caelorians. Was this a civil war? Caelor hadn’t had one of those in over a thousand years.

It was then that I heard a loud roar. I looked up to the sky, along with many other soldiers around me, to see a golden dragon, scales shining brighter than the sun. He flew overhead and then landed on the edge of the battlefield, snapping his mighty jaws towards the soldiers as they fought. The dragon was massive, larger even than my father’s blue dragon, Azariel. I turned my head away as his colossal wings sent gusts of wind that sent debris flying.

I had to get the dragon’s attention away from the other soldiers, so I ran to the eastern treeline. "Over here!" I shouted, waving my sword, catching the dragon's eye with the glint of its blade.

The dragon roared, a sound that shook the earth. It turned its massive head towards me, its eyes burning with an intense, golden fire. Without hesitation, the dragon dove, its jaws wide open, aiming straight at me.

I leaped to the side just in time, feeling the searing heat of the dragon's breath as it scorched the ground where I had stood moments before. I rolled to my feet and faced the dragon, raising my sword in a defensive stance.

I knew I couldn't match the dragon's raw power, but I had agility and strategy on my side. I remembered my father's teachings on a dragon's weaknesses. Not many people knew, since dragon kings preferred to maintain their demigod status among the masses. But my father trusted I would never use the information against him, and that I would never share it.

The dragon lunged again, and this time, I was ready. I dodged to the left, slashing at the scales behind the dragon’s ear. My sword met the scales, but I felt the blade bite just enough to draw blood. The dragon roared in pain and fury.

I took the opportunity of it being distracted by my hit to duck under its chest, its massive size preventing it from finding me for just a moment. A moment was all I needed to find my target. A loose scale on the chest. I swiftly found it and swung my sword again and again around the edges of that one scale. Each strike was precise, calculated, and driven by a desperate need to protect my people.

The dragon thrashed and roared, trying to get to me by reaching his neck under his belly or trying to crush me, but I refused to back down. I continued dodging all his attacks, while focusing my attention on that one spot.

Finally, I loosened the scale enough for it to fall off, and with a final, powerful thrust, I drove my sword to the hilt into the dragon's chest, aiming for its heart. The dragon let out a final, ear-piercing scream before collapsing to the ground as the surrounding view shimmered into darkness once again.