SWNOVELS Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns – Chapter 40
After two weeks of transporting lumber by wyvern, they’d accumulated hundreds of trees. However, even with how hard everyone was working on the island, they had to continue to gather lumber. At the speed they were going, it was possible to have the city built in less than a year. Devarius and Tynaer considered transporting by ship, but it would take decades to build a city. They needed a city on Adeth Peak Isle to have a chance to defeat the empire. Devarius traveled with them to Kaeldroga sometimes to practice aerial moves with Ayla. She wasn’t large enough to transport lumber, but it was good flight practice.
Devarius watched as another silver wyvern was loaded with lumber. The silver wyverns were the strongest, and able to carry the most. They only had five of them, so they used every one of them for lumber. Only four wyverns were with them, as one was already on its journey to Adeth Peak Isle. He watched as they tied the lumber securely to a wyvern’s back. Once loaded, the creature flew into the sky, west toward the island.
Devarius turned to look at the last three wyverns ready for their loads of lumber. Ayla sat by his side. Progress was going well.
“Come on, Ayla. Let’s go home.”
Ayla perked up, flapping her wings with excitement.
Devarius strode over to her, rested his hand on her neck, and was about to climb atop the saddle on her back, when a roar shattered their world into silence. Ayla shivered. Devarius trembled.
Both of them glanced up to the sky. A single dragonrider on a magnificent red beast flew above them. It slowed as it descended. The dragon’s mouth opened and a shriek filled the air, a shriek so loud that Devarius had to cover his ears. It landed at the edge of the camp, its crimson scales glistening in the sunlight. A light snow began to descend from the sky. Winter had begun.
The three wyverns turned to face the lone dragonrider. They were mere dogs to an elephant. The dragon was enormous. What chance did they really stand against a dragonrider? The dragon opened its massive jaw, and a flame larger than anything Devarius had ever seen before erupted from its mouth. He flinched. The three wyverns braced themselves, their scales turning into steel as the flame flowed around them. The men gathering lumber screamed as the fire consumed them.
Devarius’s eyes widened as the flame continued on toward him. He closed his eyes, hoping his death wouldn’t hurt too much. Nothing happened. He opened one eye to see Ayla in front of him, her jaw wide and an icy mist flowing out. When the mist and fire met, both ceased to exist, replaced with water droplets that fell to the ground.
Devarius exhaled. A dozen men rushed toward him, fear on their faces. Devarius’s heart leapt into his throat. One of the men who’d survived was Tynaer. When he reached Devarius, he clasped his hand on Devarius’s shoulder.
“We’re finished, lad. You need to take Ayla and flee from here. Warn the others. We were foolish to not bring at least a few practicing wyvernriders with us.”
Devarius’s jaw dropped. “I can’t just leave you here.”
Tynaer’s hand tightened on Devarius’s shoulder. “You must. If there is any chance to defeat the Dragonia Empire, it lies with you. You unlocked the secrets of the wyverns. They’re not as strong as dragons … but we have something they don’t.”
“What’s that?” Devarius asked.
“You. You’re smarter than all these wool-headed empire soldiers. But, you must survive.”
“I—”
“Go. We will hold the dragon off while you make your escape.”
A dozen more shrieks filled the air, all too far away to be from the dragon. They looked to the east.
“More are coming, there is no time to waste. Go, warn the others. We cannot defeat them … we haven’t had enough time to train,” Tynaer said.
Devarius stood there, motionless, dumbfounded. He didn’t know what to do. His vision blurred, he turned his head from the dragon to Captain Tynaer.
“That’s an order, Devarius.”
Devarius gulped. Tynaer squeezed his shoulder one last time before unsheathing his sword and running toward the dragon. Devarius watched as Tynaer climbed atop a wyvern’s bare back.
“Ayla …” he whispered.
Ayla turned to him, sadness filling her eyes. She knew what they must do.
“We need to leave.”
Devarius climbed atop her, securing himself in her saddle. “But despite what captain Tynaer says … I believe we can defeat them. We just need to reach the wyvernriders in time.” He brushed his hands through his hair. “We’ll return with an army of wyvernriders.”
Ayla leapt into the air, and they flew away as fast as the small wyvern could carry them.