Chapter 11: Fire bringer

Skyrax was annoyed that no one listened to him, he marched out of the the mountain with a fast pace, he was to return to the mission the emperor had sent him. he just stayed for the council meeting thinking that it was something important, possibly about the war, but he ended up to be present in their petty squabbles.

He had a bad feeling about this war, which was the reason for his anxiety and when he talks to anyone, including his wife, he would be told to relax,' there is no way, we would lose the war ' they said.

"Shit, I should have told Aatrox that they should move deeper into the empire, they are too close to the war", skyrax scolded himself.

'but will they listen, definitely not. those bunch of man child's will argue till the void creatures are at our gates, i will make sure we move when I come back ', skyrax thought as he got on his red maned horse and stroked his horse mane, ' perhaps there are advantages as she said' skyrax thought as he remembered the light green haired woman who rambles a lot.

"Let's go,girl", he said with a gentle voice while he kicked the horse belly gently and she burst into a high speed, racing through the grasslands, his shoulder blades length hair fluttered as the breeze swooshed across his face, he squinted his eyes and leaned down slightly, he needed to get to his destination and come back with the fastest speed possible.

As if reading his thoughts, fire bringer, his horse increased her speed, red runes began to appear on her seemingly ordinary body as her speed kept on increasing, suddenly flames burst out from her manes, tail and hooves. skyrax was not hurt in the slightest because he was a dragon blood, fire was the least thing to be afraid of and his clothes were enchanted so it couldn't burn. most of his clothes were inscribed with fire proof runes because of fire bringer and fire bringer sped through the grasslands leaving a trail of fire in her wake.

••••

"Mom I heard that the empire is at war, is it true", a little girl with red hair asked her mother who was at the kitchen preparing their lunch.

Turning back to face her daughter a woman who looked to be in her early thirties with long black hair said gently "don't worry dear, the empire is powerful and will soon end the war, okay".

"But where did dad go?, it's not safe right now", the little girl asked worriedly.

Walking towards the table, the woman dropped the dish and came to her daughter and she rubbed her head affectionately as she said "don't worry your dad is strong enough to protect himself".

"Are you sure", the small girl was still worried.

"Of course, your dad is one of the strongest people in the realm" the woman replied proudly.

"Yaay!"the small girl raised her hands in the air as she waved them erratically, in celebration of her father's safety. she was very happy as her mother had dispelled her worries, then she turned her eyes to the appetizing dish on the table.

••••

Skyrax rode for three days resting only for a few hours daily, if it wasn't fire bringer, any horse of low grade would have died.

As he approached the void zones the sky turned dark, he looked up and there was a large red moon in the sky and it had a crack at the middle, which looks like a large reptilian eye, with its devious red colour, it gave off an ominous feeling to those who gaze at it. there were cracks in the glass like sky, which was like a broken mirror. the odd sky made some places brighter while some areas where very dark with occasional howls coming from the dark areas, he turned his head and looked back to where he came from, the sun was still there, it just stopped at a dividing line where it met with the red moon, the two places where like different worlds.

"Tsk,what a broken world", skyrax mumbled, he knew they were dangerous but this view alone, heightened his vigilance but he still urged fire bringer to run at full speed at his level he couldn't be stopped without an army of at least a thousand, well except people of the same power level.

And so fire bringer was like a moving light signal as she ran in this dark world. She sped past many places filled with people, but they were just outcasts sent away from the empire or wanted criminals who ran away from the empire's domain to avoid getting caught.

He saw a hill at the distance, he was elated for according to the information the void creatures were gathering their armies around here, getting close he urged fire bringer to stop and she slowed down and stopped after a while. he came down, activated his runes and a red scaled armor appeared on his body, apart from his red eyes, no part of his body could be seen. placing his sword at good position, which would make it fast and easy to draw, he moved towards the top of the hill, his heart rate sped up as he approached his destination, he gripped his sword handle tightly and exhaled a breath of hot air as he looked down.

His eyes widened in horror when he gazed down, it was like his whole world crumbled"how is this possible", he muttered with disbelief, he turned back and ran at a super speed and whistled fire bringer, she never disappointed as she arrived almost immediately and he climbed on. he shouted with anxiety,"run at your best speed, girl", fire bringer neighed loudly in understanding and she burst into a breakneck speed, everything flashed past skyrax eyes in an instant, even her fire trials had already past before anyone could see it, only the heat could be felt.

****

Boom!, a huge door opened and a tall warrior wearing a golden armor entered with rapid pace.

The emperor and the war council were gazing at a huge magical map of the empire's territory placed on the table, with a black wave encroaching at it's borders, while they discussed which strategy could be used to defeat the void beings, a name given by the council members.

Seeing the warrior, the cheif guard of the emperor shouted,"impudence, how dare you barge into this council without permission,sieze him".

"Shing!,shing!!, sounds of swords leaving their scabbards filled the room as the guards surrounded the warrior, but the warrior did not raise his weapon he just kept silent.

"Kill him", the chief guard said coldly.

The emperor just raised his hands and the guards stopped, he spoke"you are impatient Caine". he stared at the cheif guard and cautioned.

"I'm sorry, your majesty", Caine knelt on one knee as he bowed his head in apology.

"Let's hear what the warrior would say", the emperor spoke mildly and beckoned the warrior to speak, the guards left him and went back their position.

"My liege", the warrior saluted as he knelt on one knee which was the standard salute. his voice turned grave while he spoke "we lost the battle at Khan plains, we had no information of their early arrival and the void beings were more powerful than we imagined we could not hold the borders, we were almost wiped out, the cities at the empire's borders are gone, all life exterminated and they have gone towards the territory of the dragon bloods".

"What!",the emperor shouted loosing his demeanor, but the other members of the council could not care right now, because the list of bad news the warrior brought was still devastating their minds, those were their men, their cities, their people, the loss was huge.

But a strange name rang in their heads,"who are these dragon bloods, your majesty, because as far as I can remember there is no race of such name", someone among the council asked the shocked emperor, the other members also spoke.

"Was this the people you where hiding, your majesty", another member said.

"A new race is not something that you can just hide like that your majesty and as far as I could see, you are very close to them," a centuar said angrily.

The other members began whispering as a new race was big news to them and they are close to the royal family, this could change the structure of power in the vastlands.

"If you want to find out, arm yourselves, we move to zelkmond at once", the emperor ordered as he walked out of the room and his gaurds followed.

"But your majesty,we have not planned our strategy", hollered a short man rushing towards the emperor.

"Our men have been decimated Cedric, no time to plan, what we need is quick action", the emperor said solemnly, he had to reach the dragon bloods before it's too late.