The Dragon Prince

Alyssa

I followed Vincent as we flew to what looked like a burning lighthouse. It looked to have complex markings on it.

“Vincent, what is that?” I asked.

“This is the Tower of Air; it’s one of the four elemental towers that form a protective barrier around our Island. Each of the four towers is based on the original elements that make up the world. The Tower of Fire in the North, The Water Tower in the West, and the Earth Tower in the South,” Vincent explained.

We flew in circles around the tower, examining it.

“What do you think happened here?” I asked him.

“I don’t know, but this is not an accident,” Vincent said with worry.

“So anyone can enter the Island without the tower active?!” I was shocked.

“Destroying one tower isn’t enough to let many in, but the shield is weakened.

I saw many dark silhouettes in the distance, and Dahlia growled with rage. “They’re coming!”

“Vincent, I can see dragons approaching us,” I shouted.

Vincent looked back in the direction I was facing and saw four dragons closing in on us. I heard a loud boom as they passed the barrier. Oh crap!

“They’re flying towards the north tower. Alyssa, fly back to the castle and get help, I’ll handle these bastards,” Vincent said.

“No, I’m not leaving you, you need my help, I can fight,” I protested.

“I don’t want you in a fight, and I will never forgive myself if anything happens to you. Two against four and dangerous,” Vincent said.

“Because one against four is WAY better?” I said sarcastically. “You may have special abilities that might give you an edge in battle, but you’re not invincible,”

“Why do you have to be stubborn?” Vincent asked.

“Comes with being a dragon baby,” I winked as I followed him.

I took off after the dragons with Vincent right beside me. The Dragons were a few hundred meters ahead of us, and I don’t think they noticed us yet.

“An Ice Dragon, Lightning Dragon, and two Fire Dragons,” Vincent analyzed them. “Fuck!”

“What’s the plan?” I asked.

“Simple, stop them before they destroy the Fire Tower,” Vincent grinned. “Losing one tower won’t cause many issues, but losing another will be problematic. Can’t believe I let you come with me,”

“Well, it’s too late now,” I laughed.

Two of the dragons changed course and headed straight for us when the four dragons noticed us.

“The Ice and Lightning dragons, typical,” Vincent scoffed. The dragon was closing in fast; Vincent roared as she clashed with Lightning Dragon. Vincent’s spines glowed before his eyes as he fired a light beam from his mouth. The Lightning Dragon crashed to the ground. “ALYSSA, DIVE,” Vincent yelled.

I saw the Ice Dragon fire ice at me and dived under the attack. I saw Vincent raise his paw, and a Glaive of pure light appeared in his hand. His attack hit the Ice Dragon in the chest. The hit caught him by surprise, and he couldn’t do anything to defend himself. Along with the Lightning Dragon, he fell into the forest.

“Damn, and you thought he couldn’t get any hotter,” Dahlia moaned.

“That was only a fraction of what we can do, Dahlia,” Astarot smiled.

“You know I can hear you, right?” Vincent laughed.

I looked to see the Lightning Dragon flying back up toward us, roaring in anger. If I had been in my human form, my face would be bright red. And I guess that Vincent knew that.

“Alyssa, go after the Fire Dragons. I’ll handle this bastard and join you as soon as I can,” Vincent demanded.

“WHAT?!” I yelled.

“I have to take care of this dragon, but we’ll be too late to catch up to them before they reach the tower. You need to stop them,” Vincent said.

“A while ago, you were ordering me to leave you!” I said.

“I did, and I hate myself for asking that, but if that tower falls, many more dragons will pass the barrier and enter Varrfarrinn, and our people will be slaughtered. Please, you are stronger than you believe. I love you!” Vincent rushed towards the Lightning Dragon, and they clashed, creating a sonic boom.

I started making my way toward the other two dragons. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears; I was nervous, but I was not afraid.

“I’m with you, Alyssa; let’s kick some ass,” Dahlia said. I could see the Fire Tower in the distance; the two fire dragons were still about a kilometer from me. I tried flying calmly, flying as close as possible to attack them from behind.

“I don’t think breathing fire is going to work,” I said.

“Then what do you think we should do?” Dahlia said.

“Vincent, can you hear me?” I called out to him through the mind link.

“I’m a little busy right now!” Vincent grunted. “Have you caught up to them?”

“Yeah, I just don’t know what to do,” I cried.

“You told me you defeated a dragon when you escaped. You can do this, you just have to-”

Then, the link was cut off.

“I can’t hear him. Vincent? VINCENT! Dahlia, what happened?” I said with worry.

Dahlia reassured me. “Relax, we are still learning the mind link, we could have gone out of range or something. Vincent can handle himself.”

The dragon noticed me arriving, and I was too busy worrying about Vincent to notice. Suddenly, a giant fireball barely missed my head. One turned to face me in combat; he used his wings to hover in the air and shot at me. One missed my right wing but found its mark on my back. I could feel the heat but couldn’t worry about the damage. I started to observe the closing projectiles and managed to avoid getting hit again.

I was closing in on the dragon, who was getting pissed that he was missing his target every time he fired. He swooped down to meet me head-on. “Now what?”

“Watch and Learn!”

Soon, Dahlia took over completely. She rose to meet him and flew in a circle. I hovered in the air, looking down at the dragon. I felt my tail hit the dragon hard across the face, and he roared angrily. I saw fresh cuts on his face. Dahlia was grinning, having managed to hurt him. He crashed into me before I managed to react. We started to lose altitude as we fought in the sky. He tried to reach for my neck, but Dahlia could keep him away. I screamed as his claws dug into my sides, and the next thing that happened was blurry. The dragon was above me, with my back heading straight towards the ground.

“GET OFF OF US!” Dahlia screamed. Golden Light emitted from us, and he was pushed back. I regained control and turned in the air, barely managing to avoid crashing. I flew higher into the air, looking for the dragon I was fighting. I noticed his body on the ground, unmoving.

“What happened? Did that light come from us?” I asked Dahlia.

“I think it did, but there’s no time to think about that now; the other Fire Dragon is almost at the tower!” Dahlia said.

I looked up, and the other fire dragon almost reached the northern tower. I flew as fast as I could despite my bleeding wound from my side. “I don’t think I’m going to catch up with him in time, Dahlia,” I said.

I saw the dragon stop in midair and charge up his magic.

“NO!” Dahlia and I roared.

But then another dragon crashed into him before he could fire, bringing him down. They hit hard into the ground, making a load boom, smoke, and Lightning twirling around them. I covered my eyes to protect myself from being temporarily blinded. A Lightning Dragon rose from the smoke; he stopped to face me, and his eyes bored into mine. I looked into his eyes and saw familiarity in them.

Timothy?

He closed the distance between us and placed his forehead on mine.

“Timmy?” I said, letting down the barrier in my mind.

“I didn’t think you’d recognized me. What in the goddess’s name are you doing here?” Timothy asked.

“Vincent and I were near the Eestern Tower when it was destroyed. Four dragons were closing in, Vincent was trying to stop the first two, and I was trying to stop the other two from heading for this tower,” I explained what happened so far to Tim.

“Where are the other dragons?” Timothy asked.

“Vincent brought down the Ice Dragon in one hit, and I managed to bring the other fire dragon down,” I said.

“You managed to bring one of them down!?” Tim gave a shocked expression.

“I’m stronger than I look, asshole. When I left Vincent, he was fighting a Lightning Dragon. I lost my mind link with him, so I don’t know if he won the fight,” I was worrying about Vincent. I hope he’s okay.

“I’ll go help him, you go back to the castle,” Tim said.

“I’m going with you; I’m not leaving my mate, especially when I don’t know if he’s okay,” I said.

“But you’re wounded, you need medical attention from Dr. Solus.” Tim said.

“It’s just scrach, I’ll be fine,” I smiled.

“You’re supposed to be at the palace, not in battles,” Tim said.

“Just watch me!” I growled as I flew back to where I had left Vincent.

We flew over to where I took down the first fire dragon. He was still there, not moving. Tim was flying next to me, and I could feel his annoyance at me.

“I see you weren’t lying,” Tim said with surprise.

A part of me wanted to punch him in the face for thinking I didn’t take one of those fuckers down, but now was not the time. My mate needs me.

“Why are you the only one here anyway?” I questioned, “Where are the others?”

“I was going for a run in the forest when I heard the explosion. I was heading for the eastern tower when I spotted the dragons heading for the northern one. I called it in before I shifted. There was a fire all over the city beforehand, so everyone was handling that,” Tim explained.

“A fucking distraction!?” I looked at Tim in horror.

“It would appear so,” Tim shrugged.

“I stopped mid-flight, recognizing where the ice dragon fell to the ground. But the body of the ice dragon was gone. “This is where I saw Vincent last, but the ice dragon is gone,” I said.

“Vincent? Vincent, can you hear me?” I called out to him. “Baby, please talk to me!”

I never should’ve left him. Where is he?

“Calm down, you’re giving me a headache,” Tim said.

I slapped Tim out of rage. “MY MATE IS MISSING, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE. You would worry if you’re mate was missing. You have no idea what I’m feeling right now,” I said.

“Wait, THERE!” Before I managed to turn in the direction Tim was referring to, he took off. I looked ahead and noticed in the distance light flickering. Dragon Fire. I took off after Timothy.

Vincent

I lost contact with Alyssa when the Ice Dragon caught me off guard. Battling the Lightning Dragon was hard enough, but add an Ice Dragon to the mix; I’m in deep shit.

“Vincent, we need to use our power! We must copy their magic.

The Ice Dragon was doing the close combat while the other was hovering above us, trying to bring me down with the thrust of his wings. I tried to keep my eyes on both of them. I took my time before every attack I made; one mistake, and I’m dead. I fucking hate Lightning Dragons.

I grinned as I held a bolt of Ice Lightning in my claws. I threw it at the Ice Dragon, but the Lightning Dragon caught my attack. They looked at me with shocked expressions. They had never fought a White Dragon before, and now they know I copied their magic and can use the power of the Lightning and Ice.

The Ice charged at me and bit my shoulder, thankfully missing my neck. His teeth were cold, and my blood ran down my back. I flipped my body forward, taking him with me in a spin. I felt his hold on my shoulder loosen, and he let go. Now we were face to face. I grabbed him, held his mouth open as he struggled against me, and breathed white fire down his throat. I was holding his severed head as his body fell to the ground.

The Lightning Dragon brought me down to the ground with him. I howled in pain as my shoulder took the brunt of the hit. I tried to stay in Dragon Form, but Astarot was getting weaker.

“I’m sorry, Vincent. I can’t hold on much longer,” Astarot soon retreated to the back of my mind.

Blood covered my clothes as I shifted back. I looked up and saw the dragon hovering above me.

“I will finish what the elves failed to do,” said the Lightning Dragon as he forced his way into my mind and immediately severed the link.

Someone came crashing down on me, blocking the lightning-breath attack. I looked to see Timothy standing by me; he looked like he was in pain; his back was burnt. We looked up at the lightning dragon, and Alyssa crashed into him suddenly.

The lightning dragon let out a feral roar and tried to shake her off, but she wouldn’t budge. Alyssa sounded like she wanted blood to make this dragon pay for almost killing me.

Alyssa looked the lightning dragon dead in the eye and shot Golden Light from her mouth as the Lightning Dragon shot Lightning back. It fired like a wave, bursting through the Lightning, hitting him straight in the face. The force was so powerful that we all heard his neck snap.

Alyssa shifted back and ran to me. “Oh my god, Vincent!” Alyssa cried out. “I’m fine, Alyssa.” We returned to the castle, and I layed on Alyssa’s back on the way there,”

“I’ll get Solus, Alyssa, stay here with Vincent,” Tim said as he ran to get Doctor Solus.

“Vincent, are you doing okay,” Alyssa said.

“I’m better now that you are here. I’ll heal quicker with you by my side, a benefit we share from the mate bond,” I said as I noticed blood on her side. “Your hurt!”

“It’s a flesh wound, and you need to sit down,” Alyssa said. I sat on the nearby bench, and she took a look at me. She lifted my shirt to take a better look at my wounds.

“I said I’m fine,” I said annoyingly.

“You lost a lot of blood; I need to take it easy,” Alyssa demanded. Alyssa’s hand glowed, and she placed it on my hand. I felt a warmth from her touch; my wounds healed faster and quicker.

“I don’t know your doing, but keep doing it. It feels nice,” I said.

“Healing Magic, Dahlia taught me how to use it a few weeks ago; I was using injured animals in the forest as practice. Turns out Gold Dragons also has an aptitude for the healing arts. Good thing I learned how to use it in case of something like this. Are you feeling better?”

“Much better,” I smiled as I stood up.

“You should still be lying down!” Alyssa said.

I’m fine, but the question is, are YOU okay? You haven’t taken a life before, have you?” I asked.

“No, but it was kill or be killed; it was you or him, and I chose you. I don’t know what came over me when I rammed into him, but I had to protect you, Vincent; I can’t imagine my life without you; I almost lost you tonight,” Alyssa cried.

“I owe you my life, Alyssa. My parents might be worried sick about me. Let’s go inside the palace,” I said.

Alyssa and I entered the palace and heard Audrey crying; we ran to her. “Audrey, what’s wrong?” I said.

“It’s-” Audrey couldn’t finish, but I knew deep down what she was talking about.

“No, NO!” I ran towards my father’s study. “MOM! DAD!” I burst into my dad’s study, only to see my greatest fear come to life. My parents are lying in a pool of their blood.

“By the Goddess!” Astarot said as he woke up from his short nap. “No!”

“NOOOOO!” I screamed as tears blinded my vision.